The current Fantastic Four series, written by Ryan North (The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Star Trek: Lower Decks), is one of the best Marvel titles published right now. It consistently boasts excellent storylines, solid artwork, and an accessible format that is easy to pick up. It has just been nominated for an Eisner Award for best continuing series.
This article is free of major spoilers!
The format is almost an anthology. Although there are some storylines and plot points that carry across several issues, most of the issues have a contained story. This makes them easy to pick up as new readers, with little context needed, unlike other series that can feel overwhelming to jump into. What makes it stand out among Marvel titles is how cosy it feels.
The Fantastic Four are one of Marvel’s premiere creations, known for having incredible adventures across the universe. What is at the heart of them as characters, which Ryan North understands, is the idea of family. The majority of their stories is how the Fantastic Four tackle problems together, like how Alicia supports Ben through his physical changes.
One of the most common complaints from comic book fans is when characters act out of character. North’s focus on family means there is almost zero internal conflict between the members. This is far more believable than having contrived conflicts between the Fantastic Four. Instead, when there is strife, it is generally minor, like Sue and Reed parenting the children, or humourous, such as Ben and Johnny competing to be best the best Cashier of the Month in issue #20.
What is interesting is how low stakes most of the series feels. For a team who regularly take on big, existential threats like Galactus, it feels fun to read an issue about Reed and Johnny digging a hole in the basement. Sure, there are still big threats, like a t-rex Doctor Doom, but North’s focus is more on how Marvel’s first family take on the challenge rather than the threat itself. You know these guys are going to come out on top, even more so than you normally would. The lesson is almost always that they will do it because they do it together.
There are quite a few other lessons in there too. If you are a parent looking for recommendations for comics to pull for your children, then North’s Fantastic Four is a great one to pick as there are lots of educational moments. Like when the blind Alicia gives us a history lesson on how the mayor of New York in 1945 read the newspaper comic strips over the radio, making the strips accessible to a whole new audience. Or Ben explaining how to create a pitot tube to measure speed. Or using the China Brain thought experiment as a villain.
All of this demonstrates how creative North is as a writer. He explores new angles to things we thought we had known for a long time, like new ways Johnny and Sue’s powers can interact. Or new ways to tell a Fantastic Four story, like the film noir syle in issue #19. Or interesting problems, like how the mirroring of cyanobacteria needs an intervention from the Fantastic Four to save the world.
North has to be commended too for working with the Marvel events. Events can often break a good run, interrupting a storyline, adding often unwanted issues. The anthology format makes it easier for Fantastic Four to work around this but North handles Blood Hunt in particular very well. Here, we get a memorable couple of issues of Alicia and Reed working together to help New Yorkers as the city is overrun.
Blood Hunt of course is the precursor to the ongoing event One World Under Doom and this is where there is some slight criticism. North is writing both Fantastic Four and One World Under Doom and it feels like the Fantastic Four should be front and centre of this event, however they feel a bit sidelined, with the Avengers more prominent in the main series. Admittedly, this is likely due to editorial constraints.
So pick up Fantastic Four and dive into a really fun series, with accessible storylines, great ideas, and characters faithful to their history.
Key Comics Vault 
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