Here we are two issues into the latest Fantastic Four volume, in a storyline entitled, "The Fall of the Fantastic Four". Personally, I feel like we have been here a hundred times before, the Fantastic Four are apparently always in some state of "fall". Despite the staleness of the concept of this story, I am very much enjoying it so far. It is a breath of fresh air compared to the previous volume, which was one of the worst reads I've ever experienced in comics.
One of the first things we noticed visually are the new costumes. It is written in the back of this issue that they wanted to do something new with the costume, but chose red not just to be different, but also to show the Fantastic Four are in danger. I really like the red accents on the costumes, which you can see for yourself above.
As far as characterization, I most enjoy the fact that Reed is not only doing this science thing, which most writers always seem to do, but also he is using his elasticity powers much more, which have been neglected for a long time. Even during the critically acclaimed Jonathan Hickman run, Reed rarely used his powers. Here Reed's powers are on full display and I love it. Everyone else seems to be hitting the right notes, nothing yet stands out as bad or good. I find the absence of Valeria particularly interesting and I suspect she may have a part to play in what is happening to the Fantastic Four over the course of the storyline. Oh, there is some bit of characterization I did enjoy, but forgot to mention - Dragon Man and the FF. Since FF ended, they will only exist in the background in this volume, apparently, and we have seen a couple of instances of Dragon Man being protective of the kids and that is great.
The art by Leonard Kirk is great. I love the cartoon-like style. It suits the Fantastic Four much more than less traditional styles that Marvel often likes to play with.
Lastly, when I had heard James Robinson was going to be writing the Fantastic Four, I did some research into what other things he had written before. I was familiar with his modern gigs, but not his earlier work. I had noticed he has written the Fantastic Four before, one issue, bringing the Fantastic Four back from the Heroes Reborn universe. Needless to say, that matters to the current storyline and that is kind of cool. I love it when continuity matters.
Rating: B
