The Fantastic Four have once again started back at issue 1, ushering in the start of Volume 8 of Marvel’s first family. This is despite Fantastic Four having essentially no break between volumes and having the same writer, Ryan North (Star Trek: Lower Decks, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl), continue his work.
You only have to see previous articles from Key Comics Vault to see there is no shortage of love for Volume 7 of North’s run. The series ended with its Fantastic Three, Fantastic Two, Fantastic One, Fantastic Zero run of issues and it was interesting to see where this volume would start off.
Spoilers ahead for the new issue!
Fantastic Four #1 kicks off with familiar scenes as the famous four face off against Doctor Doom (current Sorcerer Supreme and ruler of the world – see One World Under Doom). Doom easily handles this foolish attack and sends them individually to different places in time. This is where the issue really picks up.
What was great about North’s previous run was the anthology approach, where single issues contained a separate story, but one which fits into the wider narrative. This issue is not one of those, as it ends with a cliffhanger, but North hints at continuing this approach in a letter at the end of the issue. However, what North is definitely continuing is the thought experiment he clearly likes to do – what would the Fantastic Four do in this scenario? How would they use their powers and intellect to beat/escape/solve X?
Here, the problem is being separated and stranded across time, without knowing where the others are. In a feat of preparation that would make Batman take note, the team have planned for this. Each search for the Forever Stone, marking it with their date and location, knowing the person from the latest time will be able to save them. Of course, it could not be that simple and Sue Storm is unable to find the rock as she is the only one flung far into the future rather than the past.
While this issue feels like higher stakes than a lot of Volume 7, there are still elements of fun. Sure, a lack of oxygen is not ideal for the Human Torch, but seeing the Thing matchup against dinosaurs or Reed Richards contorting his body into a sailboat helps balance this out. The bright colours from Edgar Delgado (Ultimate Spider-man: Incursion) and Humberto Ramos’s (The Amazing Spider-man, Runaways) expressive pencilling also make sure it can never be anything but great sci-fi fun.
Once again, you can feel like you learned something from reading this issue. That was a feature of so many of North’s previous Fantastic Four issues, so it is brilliant that it continues. How do you get oxygen in a world before life began, before plants evolved? Well, North has clearly thought about that!
Pick this series up if you are a fan of fun adventures, that are not afraid to put big scientific ideas front and centre, presenting them in an accessible way.
Key Comics Vault 
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