Writers: Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Millar
Artists: Adam Kubert (p), Danny Miki (i)
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Plot:
The book opens by introducing us to a ten year old Reed Richards who is already a force to be reckoned with, as his invention of a device that is able to send objects into another dimension earns him the attention of S.H.I.E.L.D. who we discover has created a program that has gathered together a number of children of extraordinary intelligence. We also see one of the teachers in this program is a Dr. Storm, who has two children named Sue and Johnny.
Comments:
To put it simply I love the Fantastic Four! They were the first team book that I latched onto when I first became a comic reader, and the fact that John Byrne began his classic run soon after I discovered the title certainly helped to form a secure foundation for my present day loyalty to the group. So while I understand the concerns about the market being unable to support three Fantastic Four titles, I have to say based on this first issue I have little trouble not imagining why this book won't follow the regular pattern of the Ultimate titles by outselling its parent title. Now Brian Michael Bendis' influence is felt more strongly in this opening issue than Mark Millar. In fact, by the end of this issue we're still eleven years in the past, as we follow a ten year old Reed Richards whose experiments with instant transportation manage to catch the eye of S.H.I.E.L.D., who in turn place the young genius in a program for children who display phenomenal intelligence. One also has to love the scene where Reed's parents are told their child is a genius, as the dialogue is a classic display of what Brian Michael Bendis will bring to this book. Of course when the Fantastic Four start to become involved in their classic grandiose scale adventures I'm sure I'll be thanking the comic gods for having the foresight to make Mark Millar a co-writer on this title, as this has the potential to be the coolest comic book ever put out by Marvel.
As for the art, Adam Kubert is one of the best artists when it comes to delivering action that jumps off the page, so much like Mark Millar I'm sure I'll be more delighted with his presence on this title once the action kicks into high gear. At the moment however this issue isn't exactly big on the action scenes, as the only real action we get in this opening issue is Reed's encounter with the bullies, and I have to say I did enjoy the visual of Reed's "swirly" hair. The art also does a pretty fair job of delivering the more fantastic elements of the story, as the scene where Reed shows off his invention at the science fair is impressively rendered, and one has to love the stunned expressions on the faces of the people watching this display. The final page shot of the N-Zone is also quite impressive, though I suspect Dave Stewart deserves the lion's share of the credit for this scene. We also get a great looking cover to this issue, that looks like Bryan Hitch's work to me.
Final Word:
The one regret that I've always held as a comic fan is that I wasn't around when Stan Lee and company were in the middle of the creative firestorm in which the cornerstones of the Marvel Universe were created. Every single character on my top ten favorite Marvel characters list emerged from this period (with the notable exception of She-Hulk), and while the creation of the Ultimate Universe isn't nearly as momentous an accomplishment, I imagine it does manage to nicely approximate the feeling of discovery that readers must've felt in the early 1960s when Marvel comics was arriving on the comic scene. There's a wonderful sense of discovery to these early issues, as Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Millar work their magic in their reworking of the Marvel Universe. I truly hope that this opening issue draws in a ton of new readers, as the Fantastic Four are a great concept that perfectly capture the scale that comics can operate at, and this opening issue just scratches the surface of the potential I feel this book could have, with the final page being a particularly impressive display of the sense of wonder that comics can instill in the reader.
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