FF #2

Review by: monkeyking

What did the
iFanboy
community think?

740
Pulls
Avg Rating: 4.3
 
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Story by Matt Fraction
Art by Michael Allred
Colors by Laura Allred
Letters by Clayton Cowles
Cover by Michael Allred & Laura Allred

Size: 0 pages
Price: 2.99

I’m not convinced that it deserves a 5/5 rating, but man this was a really great, fun book. There is a whimsy to the art that goes perfectly with the free-form flow of story and ideas, and it really makes me want to read more.

What’s holding it back is that the story beats are all quite familiar so far. Not only is there overlap from the main Fantastic Four title, but if you followed the solicits then you know all the major plot points that get developed here. Well, most of them– the cover gives you a clue to the ending cliffhanger, but it’s a genuine surprise to see it play out. Overall, however, this book is a great set up to see some fresh interaction and to breathe new life into the FF concept, but it hasn’t really been allowed to that yet. I hope that now the set-up for this team has been established, we can truly see them come into their own.

Also, as much as I like the Allred’s art and how it enhances the flavor of the book, there still seems to be a lot “missing” from the flow of the story. For example, the timing of the attack of the villain, and the wrap-up of the battle (in particular, whether or not Darla/Ms Thing was really involved) is lacking. If that’s a fault of the story pace or the panel space I can’t tell, but it makes that moment feel rushed and Darla’s character moment too random.

I’m a big fan of She-Hulk and of Scott Lang’s Ant Man. It was great to see the latter interact with Bentley, for example. It’s interactions like that (plus some promise of new twists) that make me want to just pick up this book and drop its parent title! Gasp! I know, right?

Story: 4 - Very Good
Art: 4 - Very Good

Comments

  1. I feel a lot like you do. It’s really fun to read and look at, but there is a feeling like I “missed” something. Not sure why, but its there. Feels like the story is about to get rolling though. Only gripe I have is the number of characters. I’m new to FF and I’m flipping to the front of the book a lot (thank god for that who’s who).

  2. I’m not sure what to think of FF either. It really holds together well, though, compared to some of the other new titles.

    A very impressive article all around. You should apply for a position with us at UTF. just shoot me an e-mail at editor@unleashthefanboy.com

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