X-Men Fantastic Four #2 - Review and Discussion with SPOILERS

[Metal Sphere]

I find myself agreeing with this commentary. You'd think after the events of the first six issues of X-Force and Excalibur, the Council and Cyke wouldve at least had some anti-infiltration protocols for the Quiet Council, at least. Old Cable would be so disappointed at the X-Men slipping like this, but if the X-Men were made to be remotely competent, that would kill the plot, simple as it is.

There are view few cape books in which characters are written as intelligent, multi-faceted human beings with full control over their powers... while having any type of plot. Because most of these altercations can be solved by simply talking things out. But we're here for silly outfits, grand gestures and punchy shoot-bangs.

[zinderel]

There are view few cape books in which characters are written as intelligent, multi-faceted human beings with full control over their powers... while having any type of plot. Because most of these altercations can be solved by simply talking things out. But we're here for silly outfits, grand gestures and punchy shoot-bangs.

Punchy Shoot-Bangs sounds like a hero with rocket powered fists. Or a rocket-powered haircut.

Either way, I want it.

Why have we not gotten a solo title for this guy yet?!?!

[Wild Fang X]

Punchy Shoot-Bangs sounds like a hero with rocket powered fists. Or a rocket-powered haircut.

Either way, I want it.

Why have we not gotten a solo title for this guy yet?!?!

Easy, they haven't got the movie rights for him, yet.

[Ferro]

reed opening the helmet to wake sue up was a pretty clever move not gonna lie

[Chris0013]

reed opening the helmet to wake sue up was a pretty clever move not gonna lie

He is a reasonably intelligent fellow.

[zinderel]

reed opening the helmet to wake sue up was a pretty clever move not gonna lie

Agreed. Banking on the sting(?) of psychic intrusion to startle Sue awake? Clever! Sometimes Reed earns his moniker. Other times...yeesh.

Anyway, I wonder what Emma left behind in Sue’s mind, tho...speed of thought trumps speed of hand, and all that...

[Ferro]

He is a reasonably intelligent fellow.

being smart is diferent from being a briliant mind ,

[Chris0013]

I do agree on writing and plot issues. Key characters are written out of character and unnecessary situations created to push the drama and conflict.

being smart is diferent from being a briliant mind ,

He has pretty much consistently been written as someone who cannot relate to people and has difficulty getting out of his mind. But when he does he does come off as a loving husband and father.

[jwatson]

I'm just going along for the ride on this one. I enjoy it and there are some clever things and some things that if i think about i know i would be all it doesn't make sense in a lot of ways. Like Kitty's team being locked up etc. So i'm just going to lean back on this one and overall it was fun.

[CoCoBandz]

Can Bobby pls just shut that idiot Johnny up for good.

IDEC give him a dirt nap Bobby...

[Iron Maiden]

-- Didn't Reed Richards defend Galactus in a Trial?
-- Didn't Reed Richards build a Gulag in the Negative Zone in appalling conditions to imprison without due-process superheroes during the Civil War? I seem to remember Susan Storm leaving him over that and joining Team Cap.
-- That situation blew up and led to Norman Osborn becoming "Marvel Top Cop" a fact which he took responsibility for in Dark Reign: Fantastic Four, the start of Hickman's run on FF (and the start of Hickman proper in Marvel 616 since the stuff introduced there ultimately paid off in SW'15).

And if Susan Storm cares so much about democracy,
-- how come the Fantastic Four are so buddy buddy with the Inhumans of Attilan, who are not only an absolute monarchy but enforce a rigid caste system, and whose monarch is also a polygamist to boot?
-- they occasionally pal around with Namor the Submariner, (and Susan Storm a little more than that), absolute monarch over the Kingdom of Atlantis?
-- Are first-name basis with King T'Challa, who ruled over Wakanda under the divine right of kings. In the case of the latter, TNC had them transition to constitutional monarchy, but still the FF supported Wakanda for decades when it was an absolute monarchy. And Susan Storm even went skinny dipping with the king at once, IIRC.

Krakoa isn't a democracy...right now. Because it has a Provisional Government, common to all nations in periods of founding. For instance the USA wasn't a democracy in the period after the Revolution, it was run by a loose government called a Confederation (not the one that came later in the Civil War) and most of them weren't really democratic, or effective. Krakoa doesn't have a caste system like the Inhumans, nor does it practice bloodline royalty or divine right of kings like Wakanda. And once the provisional government solidifies and finishes the institution building phase, it will transition to democracy.

Really, you're going to bring up the Namor stuff? Very disappointed.... This is what happened between them in Hickman's run and should settle it for good. I never understand writers who try ot revisit that since Stan and Jack themselves took care of it ages ago when Namor got his own title and Lady Dorma was introduced.



As for how Reed acted in Civil War, I lay that one at Millar's feet. JMS was getting frustrated with this kind of thing happening to the FF in crossovers so wanted to be taken off the Fantastic Four. Luckily, the late Dwayne McDuffie did a decent job fixing some of the fallout from Civil War when he was asked to write the FF by Tom Brevoort before the Millar/Hitch run would start.


Quote from JMS: "I’m all for crossovers if they benefit the individual books. But it was feeling more and more like the individual characters were being bent towards the event in ways I didn’t think were appropriate. I mean to make Reed Richards a bad guy in Civil War… I just never bought into that. And that Captain America would surrender to a mob? I never bought into that. The more you have characters doing things that they wouldn’t do, because you want it for an event, I just had an increasingly hard time with that. And you can see why after a while, I pulled back from that."

[Marvelman]

I enjoyed this issue. Not sure I believe Kitty would be so easily persuaded to trust Doom, but whatever.

[Agent Z]

1. Galactus is a vital natural force necessary for the continuation of the universe. Apocalypse is an extremely racist human.

2. No, prison 42 was actually very comfortable. You just couldn't leave, because it was a prison. Reed was not the warden of Shawshank penitentary.

3. No, Reed wasn't responsible for the rise of Osborn. He did blame himself, because people of exceptional moral character are capable of feeling responsibility towards others.

4. The Inhumans are no longer ruled by their former royal family.

5. They do not 'pal around' with Namor. That's the X-Men. Sue, although tempted, has never betrayed her partner, unlike Scott, Emma, Namor, Charles, Moira, Mystique, Betsy, Kitty, Alex, Bobby, Selene, I'll stop there, Krakoans are dirty and need to wash themselves.

6. Wakandans literally worship a magic cat who put T'challa's family in charge. And you were fine with it when Storm got to parade around in front of those people as their queen sooooo it's not okay now that she's just another Pew?* (Problematic ex-wife). Also, what's your deal with trying to slut shame Sue? Very ironic considering Krakoa's open doors policy re: bedrooms. And the fact she has a successful marriage, and most of your favorite mutants are comically unfaithful and promiscuous.

7. Read POX and HOX. Krakoa will never be ruled by anything other than this council.

I agree with most of what you said, but I've always found Galactus being vital to the universe to be bunk.

[Iron Maiden]

I can kind of see that when you consider no one had a solution for her difficulty back then. Reed was going through this issue of lacking confidence in himself because of the journal Sue found where it appears that he knew that they would all be exposed to cosmic rays during that fateful rocketship. He didn't want to be responsible for anything bad happening to Kitty if he attempted to cure her with some device had been working on. Doom volunteered himself to duplicate Reed's device and work on saving Kitty from fading away. So in that respect she did owe her life partially to Doom, even though he really had caused Reed's crisis unexpectedly. He had planted the journal somehow among the FF's belongings some years ago and later realized it had turned up only recently.

[Iron Maiden]

I agree with most of what you said, but I've always found Galactus being vital to the universe to be bunk.

Well, not really if you go back to the origin of Galactus that was in Thor. He is always there to trigger the rebirth of the universe in a kind of continuous cycle IIRC. We also know that Franklin will be there with him when it happens in some distant future.