FANTASTIC FOUR #610

Review by: TheNextChampion

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Story by Jonathan Hickman
Art by Ryan Stegman
Colors by Paul Mounts
Letters by Clayton Cowles
Cover by Ryan Stegman & Paul Mounts

Size: 32 pages
Price: 2.99

It’s so weird for me to see a creator leave a series after such a long run. The idea of a writer and/or artist staying for a long period of time is rare in today’s comic world. So how can I handle this when we only got three issues left to go? Well for one thing I’ll try to enjoy it and not be so darn depressed that ‘THE’ (more then likely) seminal run on Fantastic Four is over next month. Jonathan Hickman definitely starts the end on a right note by finishing a story he started in the first issue.

I know nothing of ‘The Wizard’ but Hickman has put a spin on him I can definitely get a hand on. He is batshit crazy. So crazy in fact that not even the people he runs, A.I.M., wants anything to do with them. This issue has a great mix of a typical FF issue by Hickman; some nice action moments and a twist to make the issue not your typical superhero story. There’s also a good amount of humor in this too and I definitely love the guys (Torch, Ben, Spidey) eating at an A.I.M. cafeteria. One thing that bugs me though, and it has been a constant since the FF change, is why is Spider-Man still with the family? He has served no purpose for the team even when Johnny was presumed dead. If he’s here just for comedy then I guess that’s okay but other then that he’s served no function other than that.

This is the second issue with Ryan Stegman and I’m really growing on his work. (He’s rarely in books I’ve bought but now I’m definitely gonna keep scouting for his work at Marvel) There are some weird panels though in this issue I’ve noticed. Not terrible panels, but some weird one’s where I couldn’t tell what was going on. Nitpicking panels aside, there is a lot to love about Stegman’s work. I love the attention to detail with the lighting and shadows in these pages. It’s a bit hokey that a mad scientist is in shadow, but like the Galactus issue from last month, Stegman uses those pages to great effect. There’s also some fun moments with the action and the image of endless A.I.M. soldiers getting knocked around is a great sight.

Just another fantastic (sorry!) issue of the winding down issues for Jonathan Hickman. I’m glad he’s ending his run from where he started with The Wizard and this issue, like all the others, was a lot of fun to read. Ryan Stegman’s art takes a bit to get used to but once you get used to it the art is gorgeous to look at. Shame he couldn’t be with this series a little bit earlier. As long as the final issues look and read this good, I won’t be that upset once October sees the finale.

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

Comments

  1. “that ‘THE’ (more then likely) seminal run on Fantastic Four”

    I’m enjoying Hickman’s run a lot too, but it seems absurd to put it above the Lee/Kirby or Byrne runs. Those runs have been written about way more than Hickman’s run, have influenced almost every team book after them, and sold about 100x as much as Hickman’s run. And Hickman has basically admitted that his run is full of nostalgia based on the Lee/Kirby and Byrne concepts.

    • Well I guess your right. It is tough to really compare it against Lee/Kirby and Byrne.

      I can’t rank all three of them but in my opinion all three of them are ‘the’ seminal runs if you want to read Fantastic Four.

  2. Like you said, it’s just fun to have Spidey around and Hickman has been having alot of fun with these final issues. He’s one of the unofficial family members like She Hulk, Wyatt Wingfoot, et al.

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