Fantastic Four #9 Review
Written by Matt Fraction
Art by Mark Bagley
Inks by Mark Farmer
Reviewed by Steve Seigh
Recently, Ben Grimm revealed to the other members of the Fantastic Four that he might have had a hand in causing the accident that ultimately lead to the manifestation of Doctor Doom. Beside himself with a mixture of guilt and anger, The Thing begins to collapse in on himself emotionally and becomes willing to do just about anything to go back in time to that moment and make it right. In an attempt to put his dearest friend at ease, and prove to him once and for all that he was not instrumental in the creation of Doom, Reed arranges for both he and Ben to travel back to the moment of Doom’s inception. Now, I’d love to tell you that everything worked out and that we can all rest easy … but this is the Fantastic Four, so of course it all goes horribly wrong. Which is exactly the way I like it!
Matt Fraction’s Fantastic Four has been hitting high emotional beats like gangbusters since the start of this generation of the series, and this issue is no exception to that trend. The journey Ben and Reed take in this issue is one of self rediscovery and takes its time crafting the origin of Doom in a compelling and unique way. Alongside Ben and Reed we readers are transformed into ghosts, looking in on a time when perhaps some of our favorite characters were at their most vulnerable, and it is truly wonderful story telling. Working in concert with this compelling tale, is the art of Mark Bagley – which continues to be a fine compliment to the Fantastic Four and captures the spirit of the series by being both beautiful and immersive at the same time.
VERDICT
An absolute buy! This is the book (along with Fraction’s FF) that I crave more than any other each and every month and I’ve never once been disappointed with how it delivers the goods. Fantastic Four has got a certain sense of spirit that I don’t always shine as bright in other comics. So for that reason and so much more I highly recommend that you check it out.
– Review Soundtrack –
This review was written while listening to the self-titled album by the band Whirr.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLsk5ju2oWc[/youtube]
This review was written by Steve Seigh – Executive Editor of Talking Comics. You can hear Steve on the Talking Comics podcast, as well as find him on Joblo.com where he writes a featured column called Ink & Pixel. His Twitter handle is @dead_anchoress.
