FANTASTIC FOUR #587

Review by: 360Logic

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Avg Rating: 4.5
 
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Story by Jonathan Hickman
Art by Steve Epting

Size: pages
Price: 3.99

Alot of people are paying attention to this comic book. This also happens to be a very well made comic book. Unfortunately, those two statements have nothing to do with each other. Like “Buffygate,” the media spoilers around the event in this book has the entire internet discussing, bitching, venting and dismissing the nature and handling of comic book events and deaths. As it’s only the first day and I’m already tired of it all, this review isn’t going to deal with any of that and just look at this comic book for what the creative team meant it to be: a comic book.

This issue is going to have two types of readers. A) The long term readers who have been following Hickman’s run from the start, and B) Those jumping on out of curiosity over the media hype. Being of the former, I think I can say that this issue reads much better as the finale of a chapter than as a single story, so mileage for the first time readers will greatly vary. Even though the suggestion won’t convince anyone, I would go so far as to suggest people to at least buy the rest of the issues of the “Three” arc before reading this issue. Reading this without doing so would be like watching the final 20 minutes of a movie without any context of what happened earlier.

Anyway, as for the issue itself, it’s an intense climax to a tapestry of tension and suspense that has been building for months. Seeing each team members story and situation resolve within this single issue made each page turn incredibly satisfying, as every question you’ve been wondering for months just floods you in a single sitting. As opposed to much of Hickman’s run, I think most of the writing’s strength lie in what is actually being plotted and acted out, as opposed to impressing the reader with scifi technobabble and clever concepts emerged within witty banter (though it still had it’s share of that too). Don’t get me wrong, I love when Hickman writes that way, but it was nice to have every plot point come through with such a satisfying enactment. Also, oddly enough, this issue has one of the best Namor/Sue moments I’ve ever seen. If you’re into that sort of thing.

Epting’s art was, as always, very solid. He does the big cosmic spreads extremely well, though I still feel his rendering of faces is a slight weak point in his art, as their anatomy sometimes feels off or awkward. However, despite that fact, his storytelling in the end of the issue managed to be very emotional and hit me in a way it hasn’t in any of his other issues.

Overall, I thought this was a great conclusion to the story arc and a very promising start to Hickman’s next part of his FF epic. I know many people will be jumping into this just to see who dies, and if you are one of those people (and like what you see), then I cannot suggest enough that you go back and read the rest of Hickman’s run. Because this is only a chapter in what I truly believe is the best FF run since Byrne’s, and the greatest of my lifetime.

Story: 5 - Excellent
Art: 4 - Very Good

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