Warning: SPOILERS for Fantastic Four (2022) #1
Marvel Comics has re-started the Fantastic Four ongoing series after four years, and with an unexpected premise: the Fantastic Four no longer exist. The new series, written by Ryan North with art by Iban Coello and Jesus Aburtov, with gorgeous covers by Alex Ross, begins with the team disbanded after a mysterious incident caused by Reed Richards (who else?), which allows the story to focus on each character singularly, before the inevitable - and already announced - reunion.
Despite being Marvel's first official characters, the Fantastic Four are perhaps the most troubling property of the House of Ideas. Barring some successful runs from acclaimed creators, such as Jonathan Hickman, it's been decades since the Fantastic Four were a hot property for Marvel. In 2014, the company even canceled the ongoing series with a controversial move that was part of a dispute against Fox for the characters' movie rights. In 2018, the Fantastic Four returned to publication with much fanfare, but Dan Slott's run, while long and eventful, has not been able to find the secret formula to give Marvel's First Family back its spot among the company's best-selling properties. Ending his run with the incredibly disappointing Reckoning War event, Dan Slott left the stage for Ryan North (The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Adventure Time), who took an interesting new approach.
Fantastic Four (2022) #1, by Ryan North, Iban Coello, and Jesus Aburtov, opens with Ben Grimm, aka the Ever-Lovin Blue-Eyed Thing, and his wife, Alicia Masters-Grimm, arriving in the town of Cedar, Pennsylvania, for what is supposed to be a quick stop in their trip through rural America. This being a Marvel comic book, the town is stuck in the 1940s due to a time loop, and the couple has to investigate and find a solution. In its final pages, the issue reveals that, due to something that Reed has done, the Baxter Building and a whole chunk of New York have disappeared, so the entire world now hates the Fantastic Four. The story is well-paced and intriguing, and the issue is enjoyable on its own while giving just enough clues regarding the overarching plot of the series. Coello is not as impressive as he was on Venom, but he probably still has to adapt his style to fit the tone and setting of the story.
The Fantastic Four Are More Interesting When They Are Not Together
There are a few interesting things in this new beginning for Fantastic Four. Ben and Alicia are alone, without the Kree and Skrull kids they adopted during Slott's run. This allows the story to focus on their relationship outside a family dynamic, which makes Alicia's character shine like she hasn't in years. Of course, the same is true for the absence of the bigger family, the Fantastic Four. While being a family is what makes the FF stand out from other Marvel superhero teams, it also makes it difficult to develop the single characters in the group. It's a delicate balance that not every Fantastic Four writer was able to achieve. North decided to break up the team before the series even started, which is a bold move that could yield very interesting results.
The separation of the family, with each character going on their own adventure, also allows for stories on a smaller scale than usual: from big, space-faring sagas to self-contained sci-fi themed stories in the vein of the early Star Trek or the Twilight Zone. While this approach looks refreshing and promising, however, it's one that will not last, as Marvel has already announced that the team will reunite after issue #3. When that happens, North will have to show how he can avoid the same pitfalls that have made the Fantastic Four the least interesting of Marvel's classic characters.
Fantastic Four (2022) #1 is available now from Marvel Comics.