Fantastic Four #35 review
Some positives:
I did like them breaking up each Kang's missions with individual chapters with it's own comic book cover. The only problem with it is I found it to be annoyingly inconsistent. Rama Tut's story uses FF #28 as the issue number but it has nothing to do with that issue in the FF run - it's a story featuring the X-Men coming for a visit. Just skimming over that original story by Lee & Kirby, I don't see how you could shoehorn Rama Tut's return (Rama Tut is featured in Fantastic Four #19)
JR jr. is welcome addition - he carries a heavy load with size of this story and needed 6 inkers. It's a shame it couldn't' have just been Scott Hanna (whose inked JRjr before ) and Mark Morales. The consistency of the pages was a bit wonky but one would expect it to be with that many inkers.
For the Scarlet Centurion's quest for the Prize the chapter cover page is issue #376. In the FF publication history, this is when Nathaniel Richards returned with dire predictions, etc and the Thing is bearing the scars of when Wolverine slashed his face. Slott jumps the story forward to a few months after Onslaught to show SC gathering up the Thunderbolts. Scarlet Centurion then whisks them back in time to face the FF of issue #376. In this confrontation, Scarlet Centurion obtains his Prize and ends the confrontation by causing Four Freedoms Plaza to collapse by aging one floor 1,000 years which causes the same kind of pancake effect when the WTC buildings came down on 9/11/2021. The Fantastic Four are bit notorious for having tenants in the building they've used over the years for their HQ, So this results in not only the FF's deaths in this reality (well, except for one), The Thunderbolts and anyone who was in that building.
Kang's time jump is more consistent and conforms to the story in the published issue. The cover used is for Fantastic Four #605, which is when Johnny returned from the Negative Zone and his "death" in a previous issue #587. So this one makes sense to me.
Reed does successfully thwart Immortus's competition and saves a member of each of the versions of the Fantastic Four encountered by the others. This team wins the day and thwarts the Kang Gang. I do admit I was surprised by Reed's disguise as "Scion".
Hint to Dan Slott: Read Christopher Cantwell's Doctor Doom series and take some hints on how to write Kang. Immortus comes across as a parental figure dealing with some squabbling children
IMO the biggest problem with Slott's story is that each chapters ends with the death of the Fantastic Four. In one these chapters Kang is seen hacking his victims to death with a sword. In the FF Freedom's Plaza's construction I feel like it's too close to what we've all been reminded us this September. This a pretty grim way to "celebrate" the 60th anniversary of the Fantastic Four.
One eyed Nathaniel shows up at the end to reveal that Reed has a heretofore unknown sister. My problem is this version of Nathaniel, who first appears in issue #375 in DeFalco's FF (not to be confused with Slott's story) was killed during the Great Hunt arc in Hickman's Fantastic Four. I always thought that meant that Hickman's Nathaniel was the only one left. But with time travel, etc. I suppose this could be just one of his visits that he undertook when he was alive. Since this Nathaniel was notoriously dishonest I view this development of Reed having a sister with much skepticism.
Nathaniel getting whacked in the Great Hunt...
I've always felt that he is a false Nathaniel or that is too say one from another timeline. The one we see in Byrne's FF was much different. For one thing, he was being hoodwinked by his wife Cassandra and had no idea of some of the thing she was up to. He also lacks the peculiar eyepiece that Paul Ryan draws him when he is introduced in FF #375.
This issue does have two "bonus" stories to finish things up. One is a brief 2 pager by Jason Loo called "family time" that depicts a typical family outing that ends up being interrupted by failed and even briefer encounter with the Mole Man. Cute.
The last one is yet ANOTHER rehash of the Fantastic Four's origin. This is written by Mark Waid and illustrated by Paul Renaud. Origin story? Again?? No......just no. Show me something new. It's a shame that IMO Paul Renaud is wasted here. There is a great two page spread as the saving grace of this story. Oh, and 2 of Reed's colleagues walk off the project because Reed doesn't want to accept their opinion that the shielding is inadequate for the spacecraft that Reed designed. C'mon, Reed. smh.
If I were to grade this issue, I would give it a C+....mostly because the artists save some mundane story telling