Fantastic Four 554-565
Mark Millar shares Warren Ellis and Jonathan Hickman’s knack for insane, grand scale, batshit crazy ideas. It’s no wonder that he followed Ellis on Authority, but his concepts are less insidious and more appropriate for a summer blockbuster. And unlike Hickman, Millar is much more capable in his follow through. There’s a cogent storyline that ties together the “wouldn’t it be cool if!” selling points springing out of his brain.
That said, Millar exceeds even his own levels of absurd excess with this run - A man-made planet Earth in a parallel dimension. Anti-Galactus armor. A time machine powered by a captive Galactus. A robot capable of destroying the world’s nuclear arsenal in an afternoon.
I couldn’t tear myself away from these twelve issues (I didn’t buy the last four in the run, I might in the future) but little details constantly prevented me from completely enjoying the experience:
The finances and resources required to construct a second Earth (and moon) could not possibly exist, even by comic book logic standards.
The CAP robot was powerful beyond believability, and the fight was stupid - It’s strong enough to knock out forty of Earth’s Mightiest with ease, but not kill any of them even though it clearly has the intent and means. And four pages later, they all wake up at the same time, ready for round 2. And Reed’s Anti-Galactus Armor takes it out with one punch? Nonsensical. (Though I like Reed’s comment that it takes a billion dollars a second to run. It answers a lot of questions, while bringing up a lot more.)
Really? Civil War is put on hold for this extinction level event? Stupid. Then what, they all go back to their separate corners and continue fighting each other as if nothing happened? Blech.
Bryan Hitch surprised me with uncharacteristically problematic art. Thing’s face looks way too human, which is also why the Chiklis Thing looked so horrible:
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| Ugh. |
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| UGH. |
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| Ah, Ringo. This is the way to do it. The smaller nose and exaggerated underbite are mandatory. |
His snow effects during the CAP fight obscured all the action, ruining what could have been some amazing panels.
What is Alyssa doing in this picture???
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| I think she's sitting on the couch arm, but it just looks like she's mounting Sue. |
Hitch can’t hold a candle to Byrne when it comes to smashing Ben through a series of buildings:
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| That's it? |
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| That's more like it! |
But I’d like to end with some of the things that I liked (in addition to the batshit crazy ideas):
Reed’s anniversary dinner with Sue, when they traveled back in time to see the first time they met. Well played, sir.
Hyper intelligent Val is terrifying but amazing.
For all my nitpicks, Hitch draws the hell out of this run:
Regret buying? No
Would buy again? Yes
Would read again? Yes
Rating: Nice
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