Fantastic Four #1 Preview and Spoilers

[JKtheMac]

I wont be. A $6 book that has hyped itself as the long awaited return of the FF did not have Reed and Sue actually return. This was just another issue of Two In One. Either start big or dont start at all. The book failed to bring me in. And from what I hear from stores fans are demanding refunds like they did for Batman #50.

Series will probably still do well but I will spend my money on books that dont waste my time like the excellent JL Dark, which was a Fantastic debut issue.

You have to admit you are cherry picking there. JL Dark is just any other book compared to what many see as a potential flagship property. One could just as easily say ‘I prefer to spend my money on cake’.

It would be likely this volume will have been commissioned for at least 12 issues off the bat, whereas JL Dark would not have that luxury.

However you clearly make the point I was making. There is a lot of competition for our attention. I think it is irrelevant that the four were not back together, but from the teasing notes in the back matter I would have preferred to see some of those things in this issue and push the Doom story further down the path. I would have preferred the story to have featured each of the four properly instead of only really focused on two of them.

[Mike_Murdock]

Well, the title debuted at the top of comixology's charts, which is actually pretty unusual these days for Marvel titles.

Suffice to say, there's certainly interest in the title. A lot more than before, it's just for Slott and co to maintain the momentum now.

It's also useful to take note that, because it's digital, we aren't talking about the collectors market. Those sales aren't driven by speculators trying to buy variant covers.

That being said, is it units sold or price, but $6 a pop will certainly boost sales.

[Crimz]

On Pichelli's art. I think she does great, she makes the characters very expressive and I really like how she draws Johnny when flamed on. I think the problem is with the inker/colorist.

There were parts were the colors were on point and everything looked fantastic, but others where they weren't so good. I think they should rethink who will color and ink the book as that's dragging the art down a bit.

[Username taken]

It's also useful to take note that, because it's digital, we aren't talking about the collectors market. Those sales aren't driven by speculators trying to buy variant covers.

That being said, is it units sold or price, but $6 a pop will certainly boost sales.

It's unit sold.

It's pretty much a direct indicator of what people purchased.

[Username taken]

The real problem here is none of us know what that means. For example when people use a digital code does that reflect in a chart position? Because the time frame algorithm is unknown does a high profile release that everyone wants to rush and read without spoilers get undue prominence in these charts early on? Do people make purchasing decisions based on chart placement? The chart position is even more meaningless than Diamond figures which I am sure will show a high level of sales for this issue.

It will definitely debut top of Diamond's rankings because of various incentives and variant covers. None of which significantly influence digital buyers.

I actually know that the time frame does affect the charts because Marvel titles normally debut lower than DCs but they generally climb up as the days go by. Not to mention it doesn't take into account actual sales of the titles in the companies individual digital apps.

This being said, we know that the Comixology rankings significantly indicate the success of some books. When Ms Marvel was charting very high on the digital charts, it was said that Ms Marvel was selling more digitally than physically. Ms Marvel (and Miles Morales) being anomalies in that regard. DC comics even released a list of their most successful titles during the new 52 era and it generally matched their direct market rankings.

We honestly have no idea how FF will do going forward but the book topping the comixology charts (for the first time ever since i've been purchasing digital comics) would indicate folks went in on this issue.

[Magneto]

I wish Hickman was writing this title.

[Iron Maiden]

You have to admit you are cherry picking there. JL Dark is just any other book compared to what many see as a potential flagship property. One could just as easily say ‘I prefer to spend my money on cake’.

It would be likely this volume will have been commissioned for at least 12 issues off the bat, whereas JL Dark would not have that luxury.

However you clearly make the point I was making. There is a lot of competition for our attention. I think it is irrelevant that the four were not back together, but from the teasing notes in the back matter I would have preferred to see some of those things in this issue and push the Doom story further down the path. I would have preferred the story to have featured each of the four properly instead of only really focused on two of them.

Like you, I did enjoy the issue but I think this is a valid point. Marvel Two in One took care of the set up for this issue and I think there seems be lack of coordination between the titles as there should have been, particularly since Tom Brevoort is involved with both. I think both comics have suffered for it. MTIO was moving along well for the first 6 issues but the current arc is dragging IMO. The interlude on the crazy Spider-Man planet seems out of place and a momentum killer. Others have noted that Slott's FF story could have been mostly done in MTIO. IMO they should have caught up to Rachna, or Doom should have been able to snatch the Multi-sect back and then they all should have gone back home. Then when they got there, they could end the story with Reed's signal and a tease to buy Fantastic Four #1 for the continuation.

Ben's proposal to Alicia then would have been a bigger celebration instead of Johnny being upset because Reed should be there as best man. I hope they come up with a valid reason why Reed decided to stay out of touch with everyone. They sort of tried to explain in the MTIO annual when Reed tells Victor that he wanted him to believe that Reed was dead so as to give him a better shot at changing his life. But then that put everyone in the dark about Reed, Sue and the children. I really thought that was not a very good plan since Victor would find out eventually. And as we saw, it angered him just the same anyway that he was manipulated by Reed. I think it was a bit of a drag on Hickman's conclusion to SW in that IMO it showed that Victor finally "got it" without these extra machinations by Reed.

[BAS]

All I know is, I never knew I wanted an Impossible Man comic strip until Fantastic Four #1.

[CaptCleghorn]

Like you, I did enjoy the issue but I think this is a valid point. Marvel Two in One took care of the set up for this issue and I think there seems be lack of coordination between the titles as there should have been, particularly since Tom Brevoort is involved with both. I think both comics have suffered for it. MTIO was moving along well for the first 6 issues but the current arc is dragging IMO. The interlude on the crazy Spider-Man planet seems out of place and a momentum killer. Others have noted that Slott's FF story could have been mostly done in MTIO. IMO they should have caught up to Rachna, or Doom should have been able to snatch the Multi-sect back and then they all should have gone back home. Then when they got there, they could end the story with Reed's signal and a tease to buy Fantastic Four #1 for the continuation.

Ben's proposal to Alicia then would have been a bigger celebration instead of Johnny being upset because Reed should be there as best man. I hope they come up with a valid reason why Reed decided to stay out of touch with everyone. They sort of tried to explain in the MTIO annual when Reed tells Victor that he wanted him to believe that Reed was dead so as to give him a better shot at changing his life. But then that put everyone in the dark about Reed, Sue and the children. I really thought that was not a very good plan since Victor would find out eventually. And as we saw, it angered him just the same anyway that he was manipulated by Reed. I think it was a bit of a drag on Hickman's conclusion to SW in that IMO it showed that Victor finally "got it" without these extra machinations by Reed.

The end of Secret Wars is an undefined mess. No one has a definite idea who knew what when. The Power Pack legacy oneshot sticks out as a cruel result of lack of a consistent plot.

Granted at the end of SW, there was going to be no FF book and thus, no FF writer to deal with the ramifications of SW. Ben and Johnny went slumming with the lesser teams of the Marvel Universe, but as they really weren't part of SW, shoulder shrugs from them about it were OK. Bendis used Doom and didn't run too far from continuity. There was a change in Doom (AS THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN GIVEN SW). It's not up to how I interpret IM#600 and FF#646 to see how much of a change Doom is maintaining.

As good as MTIO is, it did a disservice to Ben in his belief about Reed's being alive. Victor believing it after the end of SW, sure. But Ben, based on what Doom says? And even if Doom isn't lying, I would hope these four would always believe they still live given the lack of evidence seen and the possibilities of being somewhere in the multiverse.

IMO, MTIO's arc should have ended with something similar to the end of FF #646 where Ben and Johnny realize Reed, Sue, and the kids are still alive. Even if they have no contact there should have been a positive result there.

And yes, I am assuming events should have in certain issues and titles. I know Marvel is going to go through all of these events and they will happen, possibly even explaining the past questions.

Had Hickman, Slott, and Zdarsky been able to work out something ahead of time, a lot of "this" might have been avoided. As it stands there are many of us who feel that "this" isn't an issue. I see their point. I also realize that the entitled fanboy in me thinks certain methodologies and numberings are more important than others do. But it ultimately doesn't matter.

Fantastic Four #647 comes out next month.

[Drakeon]

You have to admit you are cherry picking there. JL Dark is just any other book compared to what many see as a potential flagship property. One could just as easily say ‘I prefer to spend my money on cake’.

It would be likely this volume will have been commissioned for at least 12 issues off the bat, whereas JL Dark would not have that luxury.

However you clearly make the point I was making. There is a lot of competition for our attention. I think it is irrelevant that the four were not back together, but from the teasing notes in the back matter I would have preferred to see some of those things in this issue and push the Doom story further down the path. I would have preferred the story to have featured each of the four properly instead of only really focused on two of them.

My point there is that as a first issue JL Dark sold the premise right out of the gate. It instantly grabbed attention and made me want to come back for more.

FF#1 did not do that. It gave me no reason to pick up another issue.

[JKtheMac]

It's unit sold.

It's pretty much a direct indicator of what people purchased.

Yes it is in units, because low price sales send things up the charts. We don’t know for sure if they all represent sales given the digital copies that come with some floppies may count. We also know that the charts are continually updated multiple times per day so what they actually represent is mostly marketing potential. More ‘here is what other people are reading right now’ as opposed to ‘here is a ranked list of sales this week’.

I don’t think we can glean anything useful from a snapshot of shifted units that may or may not be sales.

[Scott Taylor]

The end of Secret Wars is an undefined mess. No one has a definite idea who knew what when. The Power Pack legacy oneshot sticks out as a cruel result of lack of a consistent plot.

Granted at the end of SW, there was going to be no FF book and thus, no FF writer to deal with the ramifications of SW. Ben and Johnny went slumming with the lesser teams of the Marvel Universe, but as they really weren't part of SW, shoulder shrugs from them about it were OK. Bendis used Doom and didn't run too far from continuity. There was a change in Doom (AS THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN GIVEN SW). It's not up to how I interpret IM#600 and FF#646 to see how much of a change Doom is maintaining.

As good as MTIO is, it did a disservice to Ben in his belief about Reed's being alive. Victor believing it after the end of SW, sure. But Ben, based on what Doom says? And even if Doom isn't lying, I would hope these four would always believe they still live given the lack of evidence seen and the possibilities of being somewhere in the multiverse.

IMO, MTIO's arc should have ended with something similar to the end of FF #646 where Ben and Johnny realize Reed, Sue, and the kids are still alive. Even if they have no contact there should have been a positive result there.

And yes, I am assuming events should have in certain issues and titles. I know Marvel is going to go through all of these events and they will happen, possibly even explaining the past questions.

Had Hickman, Slott, and Zdarsky been able to work out something ahead of time, a lot of "this" might have been avoided. As it stands there are many of us who feel that "this" isn't an issue. I see their point. I also realize that the entitled fanboy in me thinks certain methodologies and numberings are more important than others do. But it ultimately doesn't matter.

Fantastic Four #647 comes out next month.

Yah the whole process by which they got from the end of SW to now has been a bit of a bumbling mess. But I do get the feeling that Slott's answer to the mess may be to ignore all of that material - Infamous Iron Man, Two-in-One, and so on. This really felt a lot like the kind of issue you might get after the end of SW, then a looooong silence from all of these characters.

Its a legit way to proceed. Even if its a bit abrupt. Maybe Marvel is doing a kind of Bendis cleanse, I dunno.

[Crimz]

It has gotten mostly positive reviews which is great:

https://comicbookroundup.com/comic-b...-four-(2018)/1

[theoneandonly]

perhaps the return of Reed and Sue with the babies should have occurred in #1 and should have involved the cosmic heavy weights like Galactus the unseen and eternity tribunal etc. registering the return of the "maker" of the current marvel multiverse. also it's funny that all the former members of FF were interviewed but Spidey wasn't able to make it or doesn't his stint as replacement for Johnny in the future foundation count? If so then I would like to know how the FF considered themselves as having served as avengers and being called upon by them after heroes return when they were just "guests" living in the mansion and never granted official status or were they?

[CaptCleghorn]

perhaps the return of Reed and Sue with the babies should have occurred in #1 and should have involved the cosmic heavy weights like Galactus the unseen and eternity tribunal etc. registering the return of the "maker" of the current marvel multiverse. also it's funny that all the former members of FF were interviewed but Spidey wasn't able to make it or doesn't his stint as replacement for Johnny in the future foundation count? If so then I would like to know how the FF considered themselves as having served as avengers and being called upon by them after heroes return when they were just "guests" living in the mansion and never granted official status or were they?

Maybe Dan Slott didn't feel he had a good handle on Spidey?