By Keigen Rea — Welcome to Rereads, where I, Keigen reread comics for various purposes, potential reasons including; not “getting it” with previous reads, not liking it at all the first time, experience and time providing a different perspective on the work, forgetting what happened, and whatever other reasons I may come up with. The idea is to reread with purpose more than just comfort, largely because a comfort read doesn’t interest me in the same way that a purposeful and critical read does, but I won’t be surprised if a comfort read sneaks in at some point in the future. Anyway, welcome!

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Fantastic Four by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo.jpg

This Rereads will focus on the famous and critically-acclaimed Fantastic Four (2002-2005, read digitally through Marvel Unlimited) run by Mark Waid, Mike Wieringo, Karl Kesel, Mark Buckingham, Howard Porter, Casey Jones, Paul Mounts, Paco Medina, Danny Miki, Allen Martinez, Larry Stucker, Juan Velasco, Norm Rapmund, Matt Milla, Richard Starkings, Chris Eliopoulos, Rus Wooton, Randy Gentile and Albert Deschesne.

Why Fantastic Four?

When I was finishing the Mister Miracle Reread, I realized I had done an Image comic and then a DC one, so I wanted to do a Marvel comic, and really, this was the first thing to come to mind. I’ve also been thinking about Mark Waid a lot recently, between rereading Kingdom Come and 52, and contemplating his forthcoming return to DC Comics with anxiety, so it feels like an okay time to revisit one of his most beloved works.

Pre-Reread thoughts?

The first time I read this would have been sometime in 2014, between January and August. I read it because I loved Matt Fraction’s FF and Jonathan Hickman’s Fantastic Four runs and, I wanted more. I know I didn’t dislike it at that time, but the problem is I don’t really remember much of it at all. Coming into this re-read, I don’t really have an opinion on the run because I only really remember the last issue and that Doom does some weird possession stuff with Valeria. How did I forget so much of such a beloved run? Depression, probably!

My other main thought about this reread is the length. The length means I’ll focus on some part of the run to keep this a manageable length, but I’m not really sure of which part, or parts, yet. At 36 issues, it’s twice as long as all of Phonogram and three times as long as Mister Miracle, and I guess I’ll see if that’s a good thing or a bad one!

Fantastic Four

Uh…

I liked it!!! I tweeted this around 18 issues into my reread, and the back half is a little weaker than the front half, but I think it still stands. The purpose of Rereads isn’t to compare different runs so I won’t do that here, but @ me coward!

I’ve got a ton to say about the series, so I’ll start with my little nitpicks first, so I can end this with gleeful shouting. For one, the logo and cover dress is hilariously dated, which is forgivable, but the arc entitled ‘Sentient’ is not. It’s terrible.

Look at it! I hate it! And no, it does not make it better that it kinda makes sense. Booooo! Even then, the logos get waaaay better with issue 509 and I mean, it’s just the cover! Barely even a nitpick

My other nitpick comes with some caveats, but it’s that everyone calls this run ‘Waid and Wieringo’s Fantastic Four run,’ which, I get it, but it’s unfair to Karl Kesel, and Paul Mounts, who both worked on more issues of the book than Wieringo did. This is obviously a problem that the comics industry has in general, and it absolutely is the nittiest of nitpicks, but this book would not be what it is without them (even if Kesel co-wrote the worst arc of the run).

Last nitpick, but as I noted above, the back half isn’t nearly a strong as the stretch (lol) from Unthinkable to Hereafter. There is really good stuff there, with Disassembled through the finale being great stuff, but I think it lacks the strengths of the middle bits, and doesn’t have as big of moments either.

But sweet baby Kirby those middle bits.

Truly, that 16 issue streak might be unmatched by any other superhero comic. I think most people condense it down to just ‘Unthinkable and Hereafter,’ but everything in between is magical too, with ‘5th Wheel’ having some of the best F4 stuff I’ve ever read. Going from Doom attacking the family, to looking at the Family’s trauma, invading and occupying Latveria (!?!?!?), Ben dying, then being brought back by “the Creator,” is a delightful journey, and one that will be remembered this time! Probably!!!

The run works on different levels though, so hyping and hyper focusing on the big moments doesn’t even really do it justice. There’s a scene where Johnny takes Reed back in time, hands him a rifle, and tells him to murder young Doom. It’s amazing. A guy confronts Johnny about occupying Latveria, and Johnny gets defensive, even when he didn’t really support it. The door to the Creator is made of Thing skin beneath some machines designed by Reed as an obstacle for Ben. Moments like this are slathered in all the big moments, so it didn’t feel like I was waiting for Doom to get out of hell, or for Ben to come back because good stuff was constantly happening.

To hop back to nitpicking for a second, I don’t love the depiction of Doom in this, and Sue definitely gets shortchanged. I’m not sure I’d say it’s totally worth it for the Good Jonny, Reed, and especially Ben moments, but it is worth mentioning. It’s also probably worth mentioning that most F4 runs have these problems to some degree, and that this one isn’t unique in its problems.

Oh, but those Johnny, Reed, and Ben moments are really really good. I think it’s the Johnny stuff that really makes me love this run though. Notable F4 runs are almost always focused on Reed and how he ruins everyone’s lives, and every writer has at least one good Ben Grimm story in them, but I think this run stands above others because it consistently puts Johnny at the center. Toward the beginning of the run he’s put in charge of the F4’s business, and toward the end he becomes a herald of Galactus and comes up with a plan to save the day. It’s a great arc, and it full of wonderful moments that bridge them, just like the run as a whole.

Part of reading this series, and this piece by Justin Partridge at Comfort Food Comics has me thinking about the F4, and how they’re really the quintessential superhero book to me. They weren’t my first comic by any means, but to me, the F4 will always first and foremost be a comic book idea, which isn’t true for other properties. To me, the F4 are the definitive Marvel 616 superheroes. They’re not necessarily the most important, or the best, or even my favorite, but to me, they are the characters that the universe forms around, the ones that are Marvel comics at their core. My love for other superheroes like Spider-Man, Hulk, the X-Men, and Batman all started in other media before I eventually read comics, but I didn’t get the Fantastic 4 until I read their stories. When I read good F4 comics it excites me unlike many other Big 2 books because of that. My love of comics is undeniably linked to Marvel’s first family, even if I still don’t think I’d call them my favorites.

All that said, I think the moment that solidified this as a classic run for me was in the first issue, which, I mean, it’s an amazing first issue by any standards. But it’s big statement in the beginning is so simple.

This run is classic, and it feels like it’s classic, but it still feels so new, and it says so, right upfront. It essentially tells you, hey, they’re gonna do a little bit of colonizing, and they’re gonna meet god and go to hell and have a bad Wizard story, just like everyone else. The trick is that it’s extremely good.

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I have no idea how or when it happened, but in the middle of reading this I realized that Wieringo’s version of the Thing is the version I imagine when I think of the character, and it feels like it’s been there my whole life. And really, that’s how this whole run feels. Even when Latveria is being occupied, it feels like a “real” Fantastic 4 story. It’s 36 issues of comics that you could hand to someone and say, “all this stuff definitely happened to Sue, Reed, Johnny, Ben, and the kids,” and its just true. It’s that kind of thing (not Thing) that has made this Reread special: it’s given me a new classic superhero story.

Thanks for reading! Next time, I’ll be Rereadsing Casanova: Luxuria, by Matt Fraction, Gabriel Bá, Cris Peter, and Dustin Harbin.

Fantastic Four by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo (plus many others)

Fantastic Four By Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo
Writer: Mark Waid
Artists: Mike Wieringo and many others
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo take the reins of Fantastic Four and deliver some of the most daring and humorous adventures these heroes have ever seen! Giant bugs! Living equations! Johnny Storm, CEO! Exploding unstable molecules! The secret behind the Yancy Street Gang! And witness the antics between the Thing and the Human Torch heat up like never before! Prepare to laugh and cheer at once!
Buy It Digitally: Fantastic Four by Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo Book One

Keigen Rea is going to actually start classes next month, and is once again feeling the stress pulling him forward in time, as if that’s even a thing that exists anymore. Find him @prince_organa on Twitter, where he’ll probably be talking about comics, but might be live tweeting a debate.