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FF by Jonathan Hickman Vol. 1 (Epting Cover)
by Robert Greenberger
When talking about marvel these days, the company has become quite the haven for writers with big ideas or a gift for gab. You ask for names and immediately you get Brian Michael Bendis and Matt Fraction. These two have formed the core of the marvel universe but they aren’t dealing with the first family of Marvel. That falls to Jonathan Hickman, who may be the most literate of the new generation of marvel writers. His work on fantastic four was nothing short of superlative and as current convention has it, that meant ending the long-running title and relaunching it to mark a new era.
No sooner did FF #1 launch than we get word the first hardcover collection is coming. FF by Jonathan Hickman Vol. 1 collects the first five issues and the title alone shows where the emphasis is being placed and it’s richly deserved. None of this is to slight Steve Epting, artist on most of the run, spelled by Barry Kitson for one story.
For those who may have missed out, the book has once more returned to the notion of mind-bending concepts, stories that go from the personal to the cosmic, building off the original title. The reboot came in the wake of 3, the story that saw Johnny storm sacrificing himself, overwhelmed by Annihilus’ minions in the negative zone and presumed dead (we all know better, right?).
“Structurally, I looked at what Geoff Johns did with green lantern and how he made it a relevant property again, because part of my job when I got hired was to make this worth something again. I looked at what Geoff did on green lantern and how he made it an interesting re-introduction to the character and the re-imagining of all that stuff,” he told the audience at Heroes con earlier this month. “We got a new, fresh look at the FF. Then, we took that and we re-injected that into the marvel Universe. The third part of which is that FF becomes a marvel universe book where you postulate what goes on, everything else revolves around it. That’s what we’re doing structurally.”
FF by Jonathan Hickman Vol. 1 (Acuna Cover)
In the wake of Johnny’s absence, the team has evolved into the Future Foundation, run by Reed Richards. joining him in the new operation are Alex Power; Dragon Man; Moloids Tong, Turg, Mik, and Korr, Artie Maddicks , Leech, and a clone of the wondrous Wizard named Bentley 23. sue continues her role as leader of an ancient undersea civilization on the brink of civil war and Ben Grimm is feeling lost. The children, Valeria and Franklin, have played increasingly important roles, making this a true family story, complete with Grandpa Nathaniel, who has also played a role in Hickman’s shield title. things go haywire when Reed learns his daughter has invited “Uncle” Doom to join the foundation.
When needed, the heroic team springs into action, having added Spider-Man as their new fourth. In their white and black-trimmed outfits, they look fresh and exciting.
In an era of decompressed storytelling, Hickman defended the pace of his adventures, telling the con goers, “If you look back, the death of Johnny storm arc was five issues and that was the longest story arc that we told. He pointed out his first storyline, solve Everything, was deliberately crafted to match the classic Lee/Kirby pace. The stories contained in this book involve the past, the microverse, and the future along with personal dilemmas aplenty. Oh yeah, and zombie pirates.
The ideas are huge but doled out in easily digestible chunks with crackling good dialogue and well cast artwork, grounding the high-faulting ideas with realistic artwork that is most welcome. You can expect a very entertaining reading experience and it likely will stand up to repeated readings, making this a much desired volume.
Purchase
FF By Jonathan Hickman Vol. 1 (Epting Cover)
FF By Jonathan Hickman Vol. 1 (Acuna Cover)