Review - Ultimate Fantastic Four Volume 1: The Fantastic

For years, science prodigy Reed Richards has tried to unlock the secrets of the alternate dimension known as the N-Zone. Now with his best friend Ben Grimm and his colleagues at the Baxter Building by his side, he’s ready to make his first large scale attempt to break into the N-Zone. The experiment goes predictably awry, granting the team with strange abilities and leaving its most vulnerable member at the mercy of a disgruntled former employee of the Baxter Building.

Ultimate Fantastic Four Volume 1: The Fantastic collects Ultimate Fantastic Four #1-6, written by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Millar and illustrated by Adam Kubert.

The Fantastic is a six issue expansion and re-imagining of the Fantastic Four’s iconic origins. The cosmic rays and space elements are out, with our intrepid quartet instead acquiring their abilities as a result of a teleportation experiment connecting them to the N-Zone. It leaves them scattered across the globe, alone in trying to figure out what has just happened to them. Susan Storm awakes to find herself in the clutches of Dr. Molevic (AKA Mole Man) deep beneath New York City in the sewer system. She must bide her time while the others search for her. For the most part, this revision of their origins still stays true to the essence and narrative aspects of the original. They even fight a giant monster in their first major battle. Much like with Ultimate Spider-Man, this story takes what was originally a one-and-done and teases it out over six issues. This offers writers Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Millar the opportunity to develop the characters. Reed in particular gets a rather in-depth backstory. However, this prolongs the assembly of the Fantastic Four and it results in several lacklustre issues that have virtually no action.

I’m fairly split on how I feel about this arc. There are pieces of it that I enjoy – namely the revamping of the Baxter Building as the HQ to the government-funded think tank for young geniuses and the decision to portray Sue as a scientist. Tonally, Ultimate Fantastic Four gets off to the right start by maintaining a nice balance between humour and drama. With that said, Bendis and Millar linger too long on Reed. The other three characters get virtually no development in comparison and seem pretty disposable until they get their powers. The problem here is that it takes roughly three issues for them to get those powers and even then they don’t get thrown into action right away. We have to spend time watching Johnny how to control his abilities and seeing Ben agonize over his physical transformation. This wouldn’t be such a big deal had they acquired their powers earlier and become a team mid-way through. Instead, what we get is a total slog. (As an aside, I’m also not a fan of Sue being sidelined and effectively filling the role of Damsel in Distress until nearly the very end of the bloody arc)

The art that Adam Kubert provides seems rushed and barely recognizable. When it comes to Kubert’s style, I’ve long felt the faces he draws have a distinctive quality to them. They are part of what makes his work unique. However, the pencils present here lack that quality. Everything appears pretty generic and it brings down the overall aesthetic appeal. Still, there are some impressive artistic moments scattered throughout. There are a lot of splash pages and double-page spreads, particularly as the arc goes on. These help to provide a larger scale to the action and give the book a more cinematic appearance.

Ultimate Fantastic Four Volume 1: The Fantastic is a perfect example of how tricky origin stories can be. As important as they are, these types of narratives are often less exciting than those that flow out of them. Too much time is spent setting up these characters and giving us background information. The Fantastic could have been a great three issue arc. As it is, it leaves a lot to be desired. Regardless, the foundation is pretty solid for this book and is at least given a pretty fresh start to what could be a very modern take on Marvel’s iconic quartet.

RATING: C+