This was a really good comic book.

I wish that's all it was, but it isn't.

Jonathan Hickman - a terrific writer - wanted to write a story about Johnny Storm's (apparent) death, and how the rest of the Fantastic Four react to it.

And why shouldn't he? That's a fine story idea!

But the Marvel marketing machine got a hold of it, and turned it into a polybagged, mainstream-media-leaked nightmare.

I'm one of the lucky ones: one of the first sites I brought up Tuesday morning was iFanboy, which had a big ol' spoiler warning at the top of the page. I shut down my computer immediately. I was also lucky to be headed downtown anyway, so I stopped by my LCS and picked up the issue.

Again luckily, I don't pay attention to solicits, so I didn't know that Ben Grimm was advertised as being busy with the Avengers for the next little while. I didn't know that there's a 'Spider-Man in mourning' issue coming down the pike. So I didn't know who was going to die. (I mean, 'die'.)

I just read this as the next issue of Hickman's run (or as much as one can given that he's initiated a personal media blackout and cut open a polybag). And it was a really good issue.

And I wish that was enough. But now I feel I have to participate in the discussion about the emotional impact of comic book death. I feel I have to participate in the discussion about the use of marketing stunts to help remedy the dwindling comic book fan base.

Well, maybe tomorrow. For now, I'll say again that Hickman's a terrific writer, and Epting's a terrific artist. All the characters here have distinctive voices, and act in accordance with their unique personalities, rather than the mere needs of the plot. The dialogue is never on the nose. The plot's unpredictable and exciting. The art style helps ground the fantastic elements of the story. The full- and multi-page spreads are awesome. I can't wait to see where it goes next. That's enough for me, and it should be enough for anybody.

And I wish that's all it was. But it's not.