This is the ending I had in mind! Last issue of Fantastic Four was good, but didn’t have that big of an emotional impact I was expecting for this historic run. But with this final issue of FF, and of Jonathan Hickman’s run, this is what I wanted for a finale. I almost cried over a bunch of characters that don’t exist. That’s how you know you did an amazing job with a run. When a reader is so emotionally involved he/she is depressed it is all over.

This entire issue is about Franklin Richards (both of them) and how his futuristic self is finishing loose ends before leaving for good. Most of it is him hanging out with his younger self and I loved every second of it. Hickman is able to blend a lot of imagination and heart into these pages. We get a lot of ridiculous images such as Vegetarian Werewolves and Space Chickens, but they aren’t played for laughs. The tone is more warm and heartfelt and it feels like you’re watching a montage right before the final credits of a movie. But you do get some funny bits in this especially with Johnny and Ben so not all of this is one long heartbreak read. Also, we get one final moment with Val and it makes me sad Hickman will never write her again (or at least for now). How he is able to write children so well and make them powerful comic characters I’ll never know.

I’m glad Nick Dragotta was able to do this final issue because his art really set the tone for this series. His old school aesthetic makes it feel like you’re reading an old issue of the FF but it still looks modern. Those pages of the various imaginary moments looked amazing. It had a PROPHET vibe to it on how weird they look. But he handles the emotional moments just as well and I nearly teared up with future Franklin talking to his parents for the final time. I could look at these pages all day and see how much work Dragotta put into his final pages on this series. It’s clear that he loved doing this series as much as he can and it really shows in these pages.

This sucks, this absolutely sucks. I cannot accept that the Jonathan Hickman run on Fantastic Four is over. Everything about this final issue shows just why his run was so damn perfect. You got the heart you saw in all of these issues coming from Franklin’s love of his parents. You have some nice humor in this with Valarie lecturing or Ben learning his embarrassing future. Finally you have a great artist, with Nick Dragttoa, drawing all of these things in one gorgeous issue. I’m really bummed that all of this is now finished and Marvel’s First Family will not have a great run for a long time. That isn’t a knock on anyone who will write these characters in the near future but let’s face facts: Jonathan Hickman helped writing one of the best runs in Fantastic Four history.