Comments

1. zlbenson says:

   December 27, 2011 at 12:32 pm

   Bobillo’s art isn’t for me, but still enjoying the story. I re-read the last issue, as the reaction to the art colored my enjoyment of the story too much, and I was able to enjoy the story more.

   Question for fans of Doom: Is there any kind of interesting reason that Doom sometimes wears robes of a different color? Green is the classic look, but he seems to wear this blue one a lot in these F4 titles. Im trying to determine if there is a significance to that.

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   • ctrosejr says:

     December 27, 2011 at 12:45 pm

     I think the blue robes are his Future Foundation costume.
   • zlbenson says:

     December 27, 2011 at 12:48 pm

     It’s strange that Doom would be willing to wear a different outfit for Reed’s team. Or maybe he does it because its Valeria’s team. That’s how I view the Future Foundation – as Valeria’s team. She has been my favorite character since the beginning of Hickman’s run. And her interactions with Franklin are some of my favorite parts.
2. HailScott says:

   December 27, 2011 at 12:46 pm

   Why does Valeria call him Uncle Doom?

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   • zlbenson says:

     December 27, 2011 at 12:54 pm

     Maybe because he just seems to be around so much? It’s like when you are young, you might call your parent’s close friend Uncle or Aunt?

     My familiarity with Valeria and her relationship to Doom is not as well developed as others, but wasn’t she originally introduced as Doom’s daughter? And that’s been changed and retconned a few times over the years… maybe there is something in there somewhere.
   • wangman31888 says:

     December 27, 2011 at 12:58 pm

     Isn’t it cuz the FF needed Doom’s help to deliver Valeria, and in exchange he got to name her? And I guess become a godfather?

     this is all kinda hazy now, but I guess this is why Valeria calls hime “uncle” which is kind of a catch-all term
   • ctrosejr says:

     December 31, 2011 at 6:39 pm

     Yes, Doom played midwife at Val’s birth and named her after his first love.
3. jonny says:

   December 27, 2011 at 4:55 pm

   I really hope I can get past the art on this. I want to love this book, but Jesus… wtf with Dragon?

   Anyway, I’ve dealt with bad art for a good story before. Hell, I’ve read every issue of Peter David’s current X-Factor run and there have been some pretty rough patches with that series.

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4. TheNextChampion says:

   December 27, 2011 at 6:30 pm

   Bobillo’s art is….different.

   His backgrounds and layouts are great but some of his character designs are down right hideous. But the first issue for this new run was solid in my mind. Anything involving Hickman writing Doom is worth the cover price.

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5. player1 says:

   December 27, 2011 at 11:33 pm

   Looking forward to another fantastic year of this.

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6. Klabberjass says:

   December 28, 2011 at 10:59 am

   I wasn’t really a big fan of the art myself, but the story Hickman is crafting here promises to be pretty good. I think I can suffer through some sub par art to enjoy a great story.

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7. HailScott says:

   December 28, 2011 at 2:49 pm

   Does anyone know how long Bobillo is slated to be on this? I usually take my time reading Hickman’s books, but I found myself rushing through this one because I could not stand the art. When did Valeria become a toddler Bratz doll? Ugh. It’s really not for me, and I’d hate to drop a great story because of the art, but I did not enjoy this one bit.

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   • adrianrigter says:

     December 28, 2011 at 8:21 pm

     At least until March. april is the start of a new arc, hopefully with a new artist.
8. zlbenson says:

   December 28, 2011 at 3:32 pm

   The art was more tolerable this time around because of some cool fantastical elements. Really enjoyed the story though. It always feels like their is something Hickman is keeping from us to prevent us from understanding the entire story. Characters speak to each other in riddle’s and though I never feel like I fully understand what is going on (ever), I am always intrigued.

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9. markish says:

   December 30, 2011 at 5:55 pm

   Not as awesome as last issue, but I still adore the art on this book. Diff’rent Strokes…

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10. jonny says:

    December 30, 2011 at 6:26 pm

    I can’t do it. I tried but that artwork is horrendous. I’ve got preschoolers in my class that could draw better comics. I feel like this has the potential of being a great story, but I will never know because of this rubbish they call art.

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    • Conor Kilpatrick">Conor Kilpatrick (@cskilpatrick) says:

      December 30, 2011 at 6:35 pm

      No, you don’t.
    • jonny says:

      December 31, 2011 at 1:00 pm

      You’ve read the last two issues I take it, so you have seen Bobillo’s character designs. That’s just flat-out irritating to go from Epting to this. So yes, I believe my preschool class could make more aesthetically pleasing comics out of stick people and basic circles and squares.
      When this book gets a new artist I’ll jump back on instantly. Maybe one day when I feel brave enough or if I jump back on and need to catch up, I’ll pick up the trade from the library and race though it.
    • Conor Kilpatrick">Conor Kilpatrick (@cskilpatrick) says:

      December 31, 2011 at 1:23 pm

      I personally think Bobillo is great, but that’s personal taste and I can understand why people wouldn’t like him. But to say preschoolers could “draw better comics” implies that they could construct a page and achieve panel-to-panel storytelling better than a professional artist and that is just flat out ridiculous internet fan hyperbole. It undercuts your point when you go to such an extreme.

      Of course, now you’ve changed your stance to aesthetically pleasing which, again, is a matter of personal taste.
    • jonny says:

      December 31, 2011 at 2:15 pm

      I will concede that perhaps saying that my class of preschoolers could make a better comic is a bit extreme, but I hope you understand that being such a fan of Hickman and Epting, I’m left feeling extremely unsatisfied by this artwork.
      My honest, straightforward opinion is this: his artwork is childish, and whereas this is a book about children, it simply does not match the theme. As a whole, his backgrounds aren’t horrible but they are not worth bragging about either. His biggest fault is in his character designs that make the children and supporting cast look like bad cartoon characters. I’d say that I’m surprised seeing such sub-par artwork in a major publishers book, but this is Marvel that we’re talking about and this is nothing new for the company.
      I know it is unfair of me to assume Epting to stay with the book, especially since I love that he’s back on Fantastic Four with Hickman, but I also don’t think that it’s unfair of me to assume that they replace him with talent on this one.
    • JohnVFerrigno says:

      December 31, 2011 at 4:42 pm

      I really like his art, but I feel it’s a bad fit for the tone of the book. Bobillo has a style that would look great for quirky, indy type books, but FF is a huge, sprawling sci-fi epic. Woody Allen is my favorite American director of all time, but I don’t want to see him direct Star Trek.
11. Soma says:

    December 31, 2011 at 5:45 pm

    I started reading F4 with the Mark Waid issues & have dropped & picked it up and dropped it again. Since Hickman took over it’s outshined every other book on my list. With F4 & FF it’s my new 52. The last line of this issue should go up for nomination if there was a category of “Most Badass line of the Year!”

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12. ctrosejr says:

    December 31, 2011 at 6:37 pm

    I don’t have an issue with the style of art. Initially, I even was even excited to see the new character designs. For example, I don’t mind that Dragon looks very different from Epting’s design. My issue is that there are flat-out mistakes in his work that make reading this book difficult. For example, last issue there was a panel with five children in it. WTF? There are only four kids: Val, Franklin, Alex and Bentley. In this issue, Alex’s goggles disappear and reappear throughout the issue, which makes it nearly impossible to tell him apart from Franklin. It would not be so bad if he differentiated the kids more, but their designs are so similar it is difficult to tell who is talking one panel to the next.

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    • filippod (@filippodee) says:

      December 31, 2011 at 7:38 pm

      I agree: there are some consistency issues in Bobillo’s rendition of the characters. Still, they’re no detrimental to my enjoyment of the title and I really like his art overall.
13. zlbenson says:

    January 3, 2012 at 11:36 am

    I re-read the entire Hickman run over the New Years weekend. Read in a couple sittings, the Black Bolt issues, and some other issues are actually much more enjoyable (as you might expect with Hickman) – where as read monthly they were either confusing or changed momentum to much. Things I completely forgot had happened in earlier issues linked up with later issues quite nicely.

    Unfortunately – the one thing it didn’t help for me is the sudden jarring art change with these latest FF’s. Inconsistencies became even more noticeable. I think I would like Bobillo’s art on a different style book. Or at the very least if it wasn’t coming in the middle of a big sprawling story.

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14. cahubble09 says:

    January 14, 2012 at 1:07 am

    Yeah … the story remains awesome, but the artwork stinks. If it ain’t broke, Marvel, don’t try to fix it …

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