Fantastic Four By J. Michael Straczynski Volume 1 Premiere HC [Hardcover]

I've been reading the "World's Greatest Comic Magazine" for nearly four decades now, in that time sampling a lot of FF stories, some good (the first Galactus story in issues 48-50, the culmination of one of the better Dr. Doom story arcs in issue 200, much of Byrne's and Simonson's runs), some bad (any issue with the She-Thing, for instance). The good stories have emphasized two things--humor, even when the chips were down, and family, whether the team was enduring one of its numerous breakups or enjoying one of its myriad, but welcome reunions.

I'm glad to report that new FF scribe J. Michael Straczynski (hereafter JMS) gets this. Let's look at his first story arc, penciled by the able Mike McKone (in a style with echoes of Kirby AND Byrne AND Perez!) , inked by Andy Lanning, colored by Paul Mounts, and lettered by VC's Randy Gentile.

As he did when he took over the writing chores on The Amazing Spider-Man a few years back, JMS revisits the FF origin story. Wisely though, he doesn't reinvent the mythology, as he did with Marvel's other flagship book. JMS goes back to basics, but adds his own little spin to the story, proving that you don't need to reinvent this particular wheel; the quartet's history is so rich, the storytelling possibilities so broad, one will never have to resort to silly story lines in the FF on a par with the regrettable Spider-Clone Saga or even this latest "Evolve or Die" nonsense.

The saga began in issue #527, in a story titled "Distant Music". There's much to like about this issue, where we discover that Reed, Sue and Johnny are broke, but Ben is richer than Midas. Ben's wealth starts him thinking in new ways, and Reed's poverty forces him to hire himself out as a contractor to the US government. Highlights for this issue include Ben's query, "How many hotdogs are too many?" (we learn the number for Ben is seventeen), the FF's droll accountant Mr. Onoffon ("the most boring man on the planet," according to Reed), and the last page, which delivers a roundhouse punch of a cliff hanger.

The second chapter, "Random Factors", asks a good question-why didn't the cosmic rays affect Reed, Ben, Johnny and Sue in the same manner? Nice touches in this issue include the appearance of social worker Ms. Debouvier, Ben and his bling (Johnny's "Fantastic Three and their pimp" comment was priceless), Ben's inner dialogue with his human self conducted via mirror, and Reed's realization that the project to recreate the FF's first journey into space cannot proceed. My knock on this issue is the way Reed goes about sabotaging the project-surely the world's smartest man could figure out a more subtle way to achieve his goals?

The next chapter is called "Appointment Overdue". Here, Reed tells his teammates that they have an appointment in space, perhaps with the entity that is responsible for endowing them with their powers. The highlight of this particular segment had to be Reed's escape from the government compound.

The next two chapters, "Truth in Flight" and "Many Questions, Some Answered", could have, at least in my mind, been condensed into one issue. Here, JMS explores a kind of "The Day the Earth Stood Still" scenario, dropping an alien into the FF's midst. The alien, searching for the ultimate knowledge (knowledge that in the DC universe lead to the original Crisis storyline), is being pursued by hostiles, intent on terminating his quest. The FF side with the underdog and try to shield him, ultimately resulting in Reed and the Alien traveling to the beginning of existence, where they join together to design reality (it seems to take them only moments, not the assumed six days).

My knock on this is that it's a little too cosmic, especially only a couple of years after the FF went to Heaven, rescued the Thing, and met the Creator, for pity's sake. We find out why Reed had to be there in the next issue, but it's a little pretentious. Good things about this segment-Ben's wisecracks on the trip in, and his nonchalant reaction to the alien's abrupt appearance.

After slowing down considerably in the previous two issues, the story's momentum picks up as it rounds the bend towards a satisfying conclusion. Issue 532's "Any Day Now...I Shall Be Released" was pretty neat, as Reed has an "It's a Wonderful Life" moment. Returning to the Baxter building after witnessing events that would probably shatter a lesser man's mind, he rediscovers what's important in life-being with his friends and family, and the little "moments" that result. Grace notes in this issue include a woozy Susan complimenting her pliable husband's sexual prowess, Reed's reaction to Ben's question about his new custom made duds ("Hey, Stretch, so whaddya think, is it me?" "Ben, it couldn't possibly be anyone else.") , and the final, guaranteed-to-choke-you-up panel, showing Ben admiring his image in the mirror with a single tear of happiness running down his rocky cheek.

Although I have my quibbles with parts of the saga, I think JMS's first extended FF tale was a success. He's left some intriguing plot threads dangling; it will be interesting to see where he takes them. But, better than that, he's shown he understands the characters and their relationships in all their humanity and disfunctionality. He also knows that humor is as important a part of this book as Reed's intellect, Sue's quiet strength, Ben's crabbiness, and Johnny's daring. That bodes well for future tales, at least to this old school Marvelite.

I like comics a lot but I find that mega-classic characters (XMen, Spidey,...) have stories of irregular quality, all the more deteriorated by the fact that each new writer feels obliged to try and present the same mythology again and again from a supposedly fresher perspective. Still, a lot of them fail in their ambition to re-invent classic characters. Not Straczinski. I am not a big fan of the F4 and I think it's because of their seemingly all-too-well balanced group: the F4 are complementary but never in real opposition (their arguments have a comedic sense in my opinion) and thus, there is not a lot to feed on once you have scratched the surface of the characters. Having said that, the only reason why I bought this book is because Mr Straczynski wrote it. I had found that Midnight Nation, Rising Stars and Supreme Power had great story-lines but most of all, the charaterization of the protagonists (the main ones but secondary roles as well) was brilliantly exposed and written. And here again, careful attention is brought to both characters AND story.

Rather than trying to re-invent the F4 for the reader, Straczynski shows the characters re-inventing themselves. Reed Richards is caught in an intergalactic plot that goes back (via a time travel paradox) to the very accident that created the F4. The story analyzes how and why the F4 became what they are in a very modern, yet not cynical, manner. In a few pages, you understand the links between the F4. Richards is definitly the brain of the group and the leader, you will see why. Those superheroes suddenly turn into quasi-divine figures as you see that their fate is linked to the very existence of Earth... and the rest! Welcome metaphysics into the world of the F4!

JMS takes over this cornerstone Marvel comic after a memorable run by Mark Waid, and does a pretty good job keeps this book in the same style of cosmic but human storytelling. However, his efforts to introduce a silly subplot revolving around a child welfare officer and the FF and a rather poorly executed subplot featurng Ben Grimm almost derail the book before it gets going. Fortunately, once the focus lands on Reed Richards, ideas flow and the book starts to sing.

The only question is, once you've done with the heroes what first Waid and then JMS did, what's left to do?

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