Fantastic Four Fanfare #2
Writers – Johnathan Hickman, John Tyler Christopher, and Mark Buckingham
Artist – Dustin Weaver
Colorists – Marcio Menyz, Andrew McIntosh, and Dave Stewart
Letter – Joe Caramagna
Cover – Claudio Castellini and Dean White
Read the review of the previous issue in this series here!
“Dinner and a Movie”
Written by Johnathan Hickman with art by Dustin Weaver and colors by Marcio Menyz, this story takes place on Friday the 13th on the 13th longest night of the year. On this date, the FF are able to access a world of fear to try to help for one night.
Johnathan Hickman weaves a wonderful narrative in this story where the Fantastic Four get to interact with very familiar, yet legally different, horror inspired characters. The back and forth between the family members along with the surprise of who they were up against made this such a delight to read. The final panel reveal had me grinning from ear to ear, what a fantastic and shocking ending!
The art team on this story shined as they made each villain different enough that they wouldn’t get sued, but also familiar enough that I was never trying to guess who they were up against. Truly wonderful outing from this entire team!
“Future Uncertain”
Written by John Tyler Christopher and Andrew McIntosh, with John Tyler Christopher handling the artwork as well, this story finds Reed Richards spiraling deeper into fear and worry while losing track of time.
Christopher and McIntosh turned in a wild story for this one. Stretching (no pun intended…) the story across an unknown amount of time while watching one of the smartest men in the Marvel Universe unravel was a stressful affair. They did a wonderful job at conveying the depths of Reed’s obessive personality by making me feel like I was spiraling with him. The mystery was wrapped up in such a surprising way that I really never saw coming as a few unlikely people show up to break Reed out of his endless loop.
The artwork in this was perfectly suited to the story being told. The panel layout and color usage put me immediately in Reed’s mindset and really kept the story engaging.
“Hide and Seeker!”
Mark Buckingham penned and provided the art for this story that finds two of Dr. Doom’s minions frantically trying to find and retrieve an android called The Seeker after being tasked to monitor the machine.
Mark Buckingham put together a wonderful story that felt very much like it was plucked out of the silver age of comics. The artwork and writing style melded perfectly to finish off this issue with a light pallet cleanser that made me remember why comics are so fun. Dr. Doom was menacing and his minions were perfectly bumbling. Meanwhile, Reed and the Thing were great comedic highlights as Reed continuously put Ben up to menial tasks only to be met with grumbling and complaining. The final fate of the Seeker got an audible laugh out of me and just capped off a great issue in a fantastic way!
Overall Grade: 10/10
As I said in my previous review, the Fantastic Four have never been a must read team for me. However, two issues in to this series have me rethinking my stance on the First Family of Marvel. I have genuinely loved the first two issues of this book and I can’t wait for more. This is peak Marvel material!
Check Out More From Derek HERE
What did you think of this issue? Let us know in the comments!
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Leave a Reply