FANTASTIC FOUR #51 (480)

By: Arnold T. Blumberg
Date: Thursday, January 24, 2002

For all those who felt the so-called "anniversary" issue last month was a virtual catalogue of mistakes and opportunities missed, this first regular issue since the big celebration manages to recapture much of what makes the FF work so well these last 40 years or so. Trying to balance a normal life - what's that?! - with the duties required of them as cosmic trouble-shooters, challengers of the unknown (heh heh) and protectors of the innocent, the FF find themselves embroiled in a predictable but entertaining quandary. Aliens have arrived to make their lives difficult, and just when things seemed to be settling in so nicely.

For one thing, Reed and Sue have decided to send Franklin to an exclusive boarding school in order to give the super-child some semblance of a stable upbringing. Kudos to Pacheco et al by the way for reviving John Byrne's old idea about Reed disguising his appearance via a subtle use of his stretching powers. But as they return home, a spacecraft arrives bearing the Inhumans, on the run from interstellar assassins. The outcasts have never been in more dire need of help and shelter, and the FF charges in to the rescue. As you might expect, however, there's far more seething under the surface of this latest confrontation with evil - something involving a conspiracy that reaches back to the days of the Third Reich and that just might involve our own government as well, including the supervillain security installation known as the Vault. But lucky Johnny, he's off playing the Rawhide Kid in a new film and is thankfully out of the fire this time around. Hee hee, you see, fire, because he's the Human Torch, and...aw forget it.

This isn't the FF I remember fondly, but after a certain point, your fondly remembered heroes can never be the icons you recall from your youth. Time passes. They can come damn close in the hands of a capable creative team, though, and with this issue, it seems clear that the First Family of comics is in good hands. Perhaps the highest praise I can offer is that even if I don't care for the plot threads or some of the artwork (it edges too closely to anime and storyboard style at times for my tastes), it still feels like the Fantastic Four. And that might be the most important thing in the end. If this team can maintain that feeling, they can continue the tradition set down by Stan and Jack when the Marvel Universe was still coalescing. It's Clobberin' Time! Amen, Ben.

FANTASTIC FOUR

Grade: B+

Issue: No. 51 (480)

Author(s): Carlos Pacheco, Rafael Marin, Karl Kesel, Mark Bagley, Al Vey

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Price: $2.25