Fantastic Force #1 Review: In the Year 2525…

Hey, everyone…Two reviews in two days. I feel all popular or something. I’m guessing this is going to be a semi-regular gig so I hope everyone is enjoying the extra reviews.

Fantastic Force #1 cover Fantastic Force #1
(preview | thread)
Writer: Joe Ahearne
Penciler: Steve Kurth
Inker: Serge Lapointe

SPOILERS BELOW…

QUICK BACKGROUND: 500 years in the future the world is ending. The last seven heroes travel back in time in attempt to save the last 8 billion survivors. Their leader, Sue Storm, infiltrates the Baxter Building as a nanny to steal parts for their time machine while team member Psionics gets really close to Johnny Storm. In the end, with the help of one of the scientists, Alyssa Moy, the team manage to save the surviving humans and transport them to an artificial world called Nu-World. But their leader, Sue Storm, dies during the mission.

TEAM MEMBERS: Hooded Man (Logan) – I assume everyone knows him. Robert Banner Jr. (descendant of the Hulk and Logan’s stepson) – super strong but prefers to use his brain. Lightwave – alien with light powers and father of…  Psionics –  alien and telekinetic. Natalie X – Most powerful telepath in the world. Alex Ultron – Robot descended from Ultron.

RECAP: The story opens with the team arriving on Nu-World and saying goodbye to the Fantastic Four. As soon as they leave, the portal back to Earth is destroyed by Ted Castle. He is the the owner of the planet and attempting to evict the survivors. He is also Alyssa’s ex-husband but he is not willing to listen to reason. He attacks the group with a variety of robots. While the team is fighting the robots, Natalie X reads the plan from Ted’s mind although doing so causes a backlash that knocks her out.  He apparently has help from a very powerful telepath. The true plan is to disconnect the planets heating at the core and freeze out the refugees. But Banner with Alyssa’s help self-destruct the backup portal and trap Ted on the planet causing him to abort his plan.

The group then gathers to rename themselves and pick a new leader. After a message from Sue Storm, they decide on Fantastic Force as their name and pick Lightwave as the leader. The meeting is interrupted by Banner’s mother in Harpy form.

MY TAKE:  I enjoyed this issue more then I had expected to. There was definitely confusion on what was going on to start with but the story quickly sucked me in. It started with a big fight which I felt showcased each characters’ personality although I confess to some initial confusion on the which character were really which when they started using real names. The tactics showcased went from Logan’s violence to Banner’s planning. And it was nice to see intelligence work over brute force in the end. It is rare in comics where thinking trumps smashing things.

Even though these are all pretty much new characters, their personalities and relationships seemed to come through despite or perhaps because of the quick conflict they are exposed to. The plot is simplistic but is moves fast and it becomes a page turner. It’s not great fiction but considering it is a a short limited series it works for quick plot development.

I think it would have been a better read if I had been able to read the initial run in FF but I was entertained anyway. They struck a good balance between recapping the issue and moving the plot forward. If the hints that they dropped in this issue pan out I believe we will be in for a good run of the series. It seems like Marvel reduced the number of issues for this series from five to four. I think this was a bad move because this could be the start of a new and exciting super team for Marvel.

This is my second review for Wolverine Files this week, so  please feel free to give me any feedback. I expect I will be doing one or more reveiws each week so I would like to know if this format and style is working for the readers.

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jrpbsp
14 years ago

Thanks for the comment. I’m happy to get any feedback but it’s always good to know other people agree.

jrpbsp
14 years ago

I read a little of the Ultimate and definitely got the Zombie issues but in the end the dynamic and the characters just don’t interest me much. Miller usually has interesting takes on things but often it twists the inherent group personalities to the point it annoys the long time readers.

jrpbsp
14 years ago

Yeah I vaguely remember that series but not being a FF reader I never got it. But they did mention the name being reused in the comic which I thought was cool.

14 years ago

Yeah. I don’t really like Fantastic Four titles.

With the exception of Marvel Zombies being related to the Ultimate FF universe. And I did pick up a issue with the New Fantastic Four appeared, but it was only for the appearance Logan made.

Mark Miller’s recent stuff is interesting though.

jrpbsp
14 years ago

Thanks muchly! Glad you enjoyed it.

14 years ago

Good review like allways dude ^^

14 years ago

Pretty accurate review.

My thoughts on the comic are almost identical to your own.

14 years ago

A interesting fact is that there was a Fantastic Force a long time ago.

Link.

I guess this one was all about Franklin Richards, it’s no wonder why it only lasted 18 issues.

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