Originally Posted by
newparisian
Fantastic Four (Millar/Hitch)- some amount of ink has been spilled over the years examining why this run wasn't super well received, given the creative team's pedigree. The problem I've always had with Millar's writing on anything is that I can picture him as a writer, sitting there at his desk, laughing at what clever plot twists he's cooking up... like, this ain't your daddy's superheroes fanboy, or, You didn't think about so and so's powers being used like THAT, did you; or, did you see that twist coming??? Etc. It always takes me out of the story. Like, when every Morrison story eventually veers into meta commentary, I don't mind it because it's woven in well and I'm immersed in the narrative. Not so, here.
There are charming moments here, like the first arc ending with Reed & Sue going back in time to watch themselves meet for the first time on an anniversary date. Or the final issue ending with Reed and Ben talking in a bar as friends. But even with the run ending with another creative team pitching in (Ahearne/Immonen), Millar's series of escalations and plot contrivances just felt more artificial than usual. Like, Ben getting married? We know that's not gonna happen or last. Doom has a master? I wonder if Victor will really bow down forever. The first arc builds to this giant robot trashing every superhero, so everyone's waiting for Reed to come back and save the day. But, what allows him to do it? Not his genius, but that his ex Alyssa had programmed the robot to not hurt Reed (among others). Ho-hum. And then Alyssa opines (as Millar knows fanboys have done so over the decades) about why Reed is with Sue and not someone more his speed in the brain dept. (or vice versa, why hasn't Sue left Reed for Namor or something). And Reed of course says it's because he loves Sue. That's not really an oomph answer, nor a thread that really needed to be unraveled. But as with most FF writers, the characters sort of reset at the start of every new run (i.e. Reed ignores Sue because of science, Ben feels he's ugly and has a beef with Yancy Street, Johnny is immature, etc.). Reading those tropes yet again didn't work for me, especially when mixed in with tired "well you can see where this is going" plot threads, like the new nanny turning out to be the yet-unseen character another group is talking about, or Johnny fooling around with a supervillain.
Hitch's art is top notch. But like I said, Millar's fingerprints are just too visible and they read not-great coming from this particular set of characters. Some of it is downright cringy. For example, in one scene Johnny is racing down the street in an expensive car. His manager (Johnny was trying to be in a band or something which, like Sue starting an all-female team or a new Defenders team being introduced, didn't go anywhere) is telling him to just park the car and fly over. And Johnny says "Are you nuts? What if some fat chick breathes on it and jinxes me"? hahaha Jesus H! About as bad as "Who's the daddy now, Mr. Osborn?", though not as bad as "Do you think this A stands for France?" 4/10.