General Information
Title: Fantastic Four #536-537
Author: J. Michael Straczynski
Illustrator(s): Michael McKone
Original Publication Date: March and April 2006
Cover Price: Each issue priced $2.99 US, $4.25 Can
Past comic reviews can be found
here.
Premise
Thor's hammer returns to this plane of existence, and
Doom comes along
for the ride.
High Point
Ben's "wouldn't you?" moment.
Low Point
They recognised Doom among his Doombots by his voice?
Hasn't it been
established that the Doombots are indistinguishable
from Doom, and
have been used as decoys that fooled the FF on a
number of occasions?
Wouldn't that imply that they sound exactly like Doom?
The Scores
When it comes to originality, there are
essentially two
different scores for the two main plotlines. The
return of Doom was
inevitable; we know this because it happens so often.
We also knew
that there would be some sort of return for Thor, but
tying the two
together, and starting Thor's return in "Fantastic
Four" was not
something I'd have predicted when Disassembled
happened. I give it 4
out of 6.
The artwork is nice and clear, with the big
splash pages when
necessary. I give it 5 out of 6.
The story is well done. We rarely saw
interaction between
this team and Thor, but it makes sense to bring them
in on this point.
We also see repurcussions of Reed's recent decisions,
right back to
"Authoritative Action." There was a time the
government would have
asked him to lead the research team, and now they
didn't even want him
to know what they were researching. It nicely ties
together threads
from "Avengers: Disassembled" and "Civil War" right
into recent
"Fantastic Four." In short, it uses a lot of
continuity to tell an
interesting story without actually requiring that
you've read any of
the previous issues of any of the series. It's a
tough line to walk,
but it was done. I just wish the story didn't feel so
short. I give
it 5 out of 6.
The characterization didn't really have time
to come through,
as it's basically a two issue battle. There's a
little bit in the
first couple of pages, but it's mostly a combat story.
I give it 3
out of 6.
The emotional response was pretty good. Yes,
I'd have liked
more character moments (especially considering the
author's track
record in that regard), but it's still fun on its own,
and it forms an
interestting piece of the larger Marvel picture for
the year. I give
it 5 out of 6.
The flow works well, probably because the
entire story takes
place in two scenes. Reed and Sue talk a little bit
at home, and then
the team gets to the fight. The fight is well
depicted, so there are
no issues here at all. I give it 6 out of 6.
Overall, we've got an interesting story taken
as a part of
the Marvel Universe as a whole. It's fun for regular
readers of the
title to see Doom come back, but it's most interesting
in terms of its
implications for Thor and Reed's position with the
government before
the Civil War breaks out. I give it 5 out of 6.
In total, Fantastic Four #536-537 receive 33
out of 42.
Civil War Review Checklist
- New
Avengers:
Illuminati Special
- Amazing
Spider-Man
#529-531
- Fantastic Four #536-537
- Civil War #1-7
- Civil War: Frontline #1-10
- Amazing Spider-Man #532-537
- Black Panther #18
- Cable/Deadpool #30-32
- Captain America #22-24
- Civil War: Young Avengers and Runaways #1-4
- Civil War: X-Men #1-4
- Daily Bugle: Civil War Edition
- Fantastic Four #538-543
- Heroes for Hire #1-3
- Iron Man #13-14
- Ms. Marvel #6-8
- New Avengers #21-25
- Punisher: War Journal #1-3
- She-Hulk #8
- Thunderbolts #103-105
- Wolverine #42-47
- X-Factor #8-9
