Fantastic Four #1 Preview and Spoilers

[Prof. Warren]

This is a difficult issue to critique for me. On a purely emotional level 'Signal in the sky' was excellent. I bought every beat, enjoyed the voices and like the developing themes. On the other hand I felt cheated of substance. Surely the first issue of a much heralded and anticipated book shouldn't feel like a prologue?

What I really enjoyed was the way Slott has Johnny at the apex of acceptance that Reed and Sue are gone, and how Ben is moving on with his life. The story was crafted perfectly to reach these points. It is a really good story. I am just not sure why it was in this particular issue. It feels like a linking story not a story opener.

Talking of linking stories, it feels wrong to me, to have the Doom story in this issue. Again, the story is good, and the way it is handled works, I just don't think it is right for the context of a #1. I am a fan of Bianchi, and I thought the choice of art was appropriate for that tale, but it certainly doesn't feel like a nine page story. It feels too drawn out for the substance we see here.

I don't add my voice to those that feel it was wrong to not have the team back together again. If the story is going to be about how the team reform then so be it, I am here for the ride. To some extent I think Marvel Two-in-One was always a red herring, I don't think it was ever going to contain the main aspects of the story, which rightly belong in this book.

Yes, I think it's right that Slott should have Ben and Johnny's coming to terms of life without the rest of the family happen in these pages and not just in the pages of 2-in1.

D'Zarsky has done fine work in that book but this has to be a proper part of Slott's story too and the emotional journey that Ben and Johnny have been on shouldn't just be footnoted here as "See recent issues of Marvel 2-in-1".

In some ways, this could have been labeled a #0 issue, one that sets the stage for the real #1 but I don't think that was necessary.

If this opening arc is about bringing the family back together, this issue, in every way, earns the right to be considered a proper #1.