CBR REVIEW: Fantastic Four #611

[CBR News]

Jonathan Hickman wraps up his run on Marvel's first family with "Fantastic Four" #611 and brings one of the most epic Doctor Doom stories to a close.


Full article here.

[Ravin' Ray]

As some posters mentioned in the spoilers thread, the Doom-verse storyline is way too compressed and could have fill at least three issues, with details on how the Infinity Gem wielders came to overthrow Doom and why he assigned Science to Law (or Light) and Magic to Chaos (or Dark). But otherwise a masterful story, and soon we'll get to see how the two Franklins take their turn at being a god in FF #23.

[Mechano]

You're complaining about something being too compressed? Haven't heard that in a while...

[BeastieRunner]

As much as I want a long Parliament of Doom arc, I think this was perfect.

[ArmsHeldOut]

As some posters mentioned in the spoilers thread, the Doom-verse storyline is way too compressed and could have fill at least three issues, with details on how the Infinity Gem wielders came to overthrow Doom and why he assigned Science to Law (or Light) and Magic to Chaos (or Dark). But otherwise a masterful story, and soon we'll get to see how the two Franklins take their turn at being a god in FF #23.

What are your thoughts on Fraction and the direction he's taking both teams in? Having read most of Fear Itself and some of Fraction's work on Thor, I'm a little worried.

[Ravin' Ray]

What are your thoughts on Fraction and the direction he's taking both teams in? Having read most of Fear Itself and some of Fraction's work on Thor, I'm a little worried.

I'll wait and see. Honestly I'm only familiar with his Fear Itself, and the Tanarus and Everything Burns arcs of Thor. Some say sci-fi is his true forte rather than myth fantasy, so I hope it pays out.

[Plawsky]

What are your thoughts on Fraction and the direction he's taking both teams in? Having read most of Fear Itself and some of Fraction's work on Thor, I'm a little worried.

I'm definitely on the fence. I'm definitely bummed about the new direction for FF, especially. With Mike Allred on board, I would have loved to see more adventures from the kids; that cast was one of my favorite parts of Hickman's run. The new FF has a decent enough concept (though it could be painful seeing these four minutes stretched out over several issues), but I don't think it's an improvement at all. As for Fantastic Four, I think it has potential to be really good if Fraction hits it right. But if it ends up like Fear Itself or his Uncanny X-men Run, then I'll be very disappointed. And, unlike Immonen on Fear Itself, I don't think Bagley is good enough to distract me from a bad story. Allred might be, though.

[ArmsHeldOut]

I'll wait and see. Honestly I'm only familiar with his Fear Itself, and the Tanarus and Everything Burns arcs of Thor. Some say sci-fi is his true forte rather than myth fantasy, so I hope it pays out.

Yeah, that's what I've heard as well. And I'll definitely give his interpretation a chance. That said, I'm not sure what to make of what little was shown so far. Franklin having 'mombots' and crying out, "I want my mommy!!!" in the middle of the night seems a little odd to me. I certainly know about Marvel characters aging slowly and all that (we all do), but the little guy shouldn't be talking like a 4 year old anymore.

[Paladin King]

What are your thoughts on Fraction and the direction he's taking both teams in? Having read most of Fear Itself and some of Fraction's work on Thor, I'm a little worried.

You've only read some of Fraction's worst work. Fear Itself sucked and the current crossover and the preceding arc have really been the only bright spots of his run on Thor, imo.

Now, if you'd read Defenders...well, you'd probably be a lot more optimistic about his run. I think Defenders is indicative of what his approach to Fantastic Four/FF will be and it showed that these are the perfect books for him right now.

[ArmsHeldOut]

I'm definitely on the fence. I'm definitely bummed about the new direction for FF, especially. With Mike Allred on board, I would have loved to see more adventures from the kids; that cast was one of my favorite parts of Hickman's run. The new FF has a decent enough concept (though it could be painful seeing these four minutes stretched out over several issues), but I don't think it's an improvement at all. As for Fantastic Four, I think it has potential to be really good if Fraction hits it right. But if it ends up like Fear Itself or his Uncanny X-men Run, then I'll be very disappointed. And, unlike Immonen on Fear Itself, I don't think Bagley is good enough to distract me from a bad story. Allred might be, though.

Agreed. I still wish they got Louise Simonson and Jon Bogdanove to take over the Future Foundation. As for F4, my hope is that Fraction won't retcon too much of what Hickman was able to accomplish during his critically acclaimed tenure. It still strikes me as odd the way Marvel stood aside and let Fraction basically erase carefully established plot lines from Straczynski's run on Thor when he took over the book from his predecessor. "Loki manipulates Thor into killing Bor roughly 7-8 issues back? Oh, never mind that. Never happened. Bor actually lived a long life and even had another son by the name of Cul" Then there's the whole Asgardia nonsense and the umm.. all-mothers. Really?
So, yeah.. I'm hoping we don't see Fraction do more of the same with FF. I'm obviously less than optimistic though.

[ArmsHeldOut]

You've only read some of Fraction's worst work. Fear Itself sucked and the current crossover and the preceding arc have really been the only bright spots of his run on Thor, imo.

Now, if you'd read Defenders...well, you'd probably be a lot more optimistic about his run. I think Defenders is indicative of what his approach to Fantastic Four/FF will be and it showed that these are the perfect books for him right now.

Can you recommend any standout issues?

[apoehler]

""Fantastic Four" #611 brings Jonathan Hickman's master plan for the first family of the Marvel Universe to a close."

No it doesn't. As the last page clearly states: "To be concluded in FF#23!"

When the first line of review is blatantly erroneous, it spares all the trouble of bothering to read its remainder.

[Imraith Nimphais]

I think this was perfect.[img]http://www.*************/a103.jpg[/img]

...and delightfully so.

I will miss Hickman's F4 and FF but at least I will be picking up New Avengers.

[Doesitmatter]

What are your thoughts on Fraction and the direction he's taking both teams in? Having read most of Fear Itself and some of Fraction's work on Thor, I'm a little worried.

Absolutely loved his Iron Man run. Assuming a science based FF will run close to that.

[ArmsHeldOut]

...and delightfully so.

I will miss Hickman's F4 and FF but at least I will be picking up New Avengers.

Yeah, he's still going to be writing Reed in New Avengers, which is good news. He also mentioned on his Formspring page that he initially wanted to use Adult Frank and Adult Val in his Avengers book; for some reason, it didn't work out that way though.