“FF” has been my favorite current Marvel series. That’s why it pains me to call issue #6 what it is – an unmitigated disaster. The series has been in the middle of the stellar “War of the Four Cities” storyline but it’s completely pushed aside for an issue focused on Black Bolt and the Inhumans. Now I love Black Bolt and love the idea of his return. But why do it here and bring the feeling of accomplishment and momentum that the series has gained to a screetching halt?

Hickman has a knack for high-browed scientific lingo. Here he interweaves a lot of it between different flashbacks that touch on a variety of things including The War of Kings and Black Bolt’s death and eventual return. The problem is Hickman’s mode of storytelling doesn’t really work here. For example we get a long sequence of The Supreme Intelligence uploading and processing information. It’s a device intended to push forward one of the issue’s stronger plot points but instead comes across as boring and uninteresting. Another problem is that the issue has no heart or emotion. Hickman shows us the Inhumans after the loss of their leader. We even get brief scenes of genocide. But none of these scenes pack any emotional punch which pretty much renders them pointless.

Perhaps an even bigger problem with the book is it’s terrible look. Greg Tocchini’s art is hard to look at and after the first few pages I knew I was in for a long read. The art completely distracted from a story that already felt out of place. Cluttered panels, some horrible looking characters, and flat uninspiring colors from Paul Mounts. This is an example of what a book should not look like.

Hickman does give us some decent backstory in this issue but it’s nowhere near enough to cover the book’s glaring flaws. It’s basically boring and lacks any real feeling. Tocchini’s art is really rough and in light of how great this series has looked, this was a big letdown. After great issue after great issue, my expectations were so high for this book. Talk about being brought back down to Earth!