Roger Ash

by Roger Ash

What sets the Fantastic Four apart from nearly any other super team is that they’re a family. That’s the template Stan Lee and Jack Kirby set for the characters. To forget the family aspect makes them just like the Avengers, JLA, X-Men, or almost any other super team you can think of. Since Stan and Jack left the book, the creator who perhaps combined the family and adventure elements best is John Byrne. I think that’s why his run on the book is so fondly remembered. Current FF writer Jonathan Hickman gets what makes the team special.

Fantastic Four by Hickman 1

When I first heard that Jonathan Hickman was writing Fantastic Four, my first thought was, “The guitar player from Cracker is writing comics now?” I checked and no, it was simply two guys with the same name. And since I wasn’t reading the FF at the time, I didn’t think much more about it. Then I started reading some buzz on the web about how good Hickman’s run on the book was, so I decided to give it a try. I decided to start with Fantastic Four #575, the first part of the Prime Elements storyline, and I’m glad I did.

It was obvious from that issue that Hickman could write a rousing adventure story, but through character interaction, he also showed he had a grip on these characters as people and as a family. And the more issues I read, the more I realized that Hickman understood and respected the Marvel Universe. Let me explain.

Prime Elements wasn’t so much a four-part story as it was four themed stories. The Fantastic Four encountered four new civilizations that have ties to classic Marvel stories; part one featured a previously unknown Moloid city which ties into the Mole Man, part two featured a new Atlantean civilization, part three introduced new Inhumans, and part four took place in the Negative Zone. All four of these stories had strong ties to Marvel history, but put a fresh twist on them while respecting what had come before.

Fantastic Four by Hickman 2

Let’s examine this a bit more looking at part three from Fantastic Four #577. If you haven’t read that story yet, I will discuss a couple plot points, so you can consider this a spoiler warning. The Fantastic Four travel to the moon where they learn that there are four other Inhuman races. If you don’t know the history of the Inhumans, in the distant past the alien Kree came to Earth and monkeyed with the genetic makeup of some humans. Their goal was to create a species of living weapons they could control. What Hickman posits is that Earth wasn’t the only planet the Kree visited. They visited four other planets including the homeworlds of the Kymellians (the seahorse looking aliens from Power Pack), and the Dire Wraiths (the villains who originally appeared in the comic, Rom). So Inhumans were created on four other worlds as well. Hickman added a piece to the Marvel Universe that seems natural (why wouldn’t the Kree have tried their experimentation on other worlds?) and also incorporates classic Marvel alien species into the mix. The story also ties to the history of the Fantastic Four as the Inhumans were introduced during Stan and Jack’s classic run on the book.

The final issue of Prime Elements contains an adventure featuring the Human Torch in the Negative Zone. And while it is certainly an exciting story with some nice ties to the Marvel cosmic books, what struck me most was the ending. The mission goes well, but Reed chastises Johnny for doing something that endangered the family. Not the team; the family. Hickman gets what makes the FF special.

Prime Elements was beautifully drawn by Dale Eaglesham, including a wonderful silent underwater battle in issue #576. However, Eaglesham has left the book and the current issue is drawn Neil Edwards. He does a nice job with this quieter issue, and from checking out his blog, he definitely has the chops for the more action-oriented stories as well. And you know there’s more coming as there are hints that the four places visited in Prime Elements are more tightly connected that it may initially have appeared.

Fantastic Four #581

Marvel has published a collection of Jonathan Hickman’s first Fantastic Four stories which I recommend purchasing and reading. I’ll be doing that soon myself. And there’s a second volume on the way. Or you can buy the latest monthly issue. No matter how you decide to read these stories, they are definitely worth your time. The Fantastic Four has long been called the First Family of comics and Hickman, along with artists Dale Eaglesham and Neil Edwards and cover artist Alan Davis, are once again making the FF “The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine.”