Fantastic Four #12 – When in Rome / Si fueris Romae

What happens when a temporal alarm triggers at the Fantastic Four’s Farmhouse? The Fantastic Four leap into action to save the world as they always have. Yet what happens if there weren’t a Fantastic Four but a Fantastic Two? What if someone, tired of losing to the Fantastic Four, decided to try to fight them in a new way?

Creative Team

Writer: Ryan North
Penciller: Pat Boutin
Inker: Serge Lapointe
Color Artist: Edgar Delgado
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Cover Artist: Humberto Ramos
Cover Colorist: Edgar Delgado

Writing

I am convinced Ryan North is trying to see just how weird he can get with the Fantastic Four, and I love it. The previous arc and so far this one as well have been adventure stories with a little bit of horror elements. Yes, we all know that Reed Richards can stretch his body, but how many of us ever think about what that truly means? With Fantastic Four #12, North really asks us to think about what that means.

North gave us a little bit of everything in this issue. There’s Latin, the Roman Empire, ancient weaponry, and some good banter between Johnny and Reed. Johnny continues to be both hilarious and hilariously self-unaware. North continues to show us why Sue Richards is the most patient women in the Marvel Universe because if there’s anything that we’ve learned, it’s that being married to Reed Richards while being the sister of Johnny Storm has to be one of the most exhausting things ever.

Art

Pat Boutin, Serge Lapointe, Edgar Delgado, and Joe Caramagna teamed up for a really great issue. I thought the team did a really amazing job capturing ancient Rome. While I don’t know that they all sat down and studied Roman soldiers down to the detail, the pencil, inks, and colors let even the most casual observer immediately know where the setting for this crazy Richards adventure is.

Speaking of Richards, Thanks to Boutin, LaPointe, and Delgado, I was completely sure for a minute that I was reading a Motorhead comic rather than the Fantastic Four. The Lemmy version of Reed Richards might be more troubling than Johnny’s biker stache. Joe Caramagna helps guide us perfectly through the story capturing the humor and seriousness equally.

Final Thoughts

This was a weird issue of Fantastic Four but I loved it. Everyone has their Roman Empire, but for Reed and Johnny, it was a literal Roman Empire. I love that North integrated latin into the story. It felt like a neat way to further tie you into this setting to go with the roman numeral 12 on the cover.

Overall Grade: 9.5/10

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