'X-Men Fantastic Four' #1 Review: A fun Franklin-centric book slightly ruined by adults who should know better
Spoiler alert for 'X-Men Fantastic Four' #1
The X-Men and the Fantastic Four are two of Marvel's oldest superhero teams. They're no strangers to title crossovers and the classic pattern of misunderstanding, fighting, then teaming up to fight a greater threat is something they should be used to by now. One would think that by now, they would have found a way to avoid coming to unnecessary blows, but that's something that's beyond the world's two greatest minds as a discussion about Franklin Richards's future ends in a fight and does no one any good.
It's not that there isn't great writing in this issue. Chip Zdarsky has proven to be very adept at diving deep into Marvel's complicated history and bringing a fresh perspective to it. The data page of this issue - something that's become a trademark feature of this current era of X-Men - brings up a potentially fascinating solution to a very fundamental question as to how the Fantastic Four's powers work. Ben Grimm, the Fantastic Four's rock in more ways than one, has some of the issue's best moments as he tries to defend Reed Richards and he questions just how safe Krakoa really is. There is planning, thought and heart that went into this book so this makes the forced conflict all the more frustrating.
The X-Men should really know better. The last time they entered into major conflict with another superhero team, it was because the Avengers wanted to take the ultra-powerful teenaged Hope from her home. In this issue, Professor X believes that with Franklin's powers on the decline and the mutant nation of Krakoa in need of powerful mutants, it's time to bring Franklin to Krakoa. To that end, he and a team of some of the most powerful X-Men all show up at the Fantastic Four's home at Yancy Street without so much as a phone call.
Aside from Kate Pryde, who still has a bond with Franklin from the time he saved her life, the X-Men come on pretty heavy-handed - thought the Fantastic Four are hardly blameless either. The issue feels like it knows that a fight is inevitable and wants to get it out of the way as soon as possible. Now that it has done so, the series will hopefully move on to what's really going to make it interesting - the story of Franklin Richards.
Where the issue is strongest is where it makes Franklin the central character. Another one of the reasons why the antagonism between the X-Men and the Fantastic Four on display this issue is so frustrating is that the otherwise compassionate characters show zero interest in asking Franklin what his opinion is in all this. Franklin has been through some pretty big things with the loss of his powers. He's frustrated with his father without vilifying him, he's curious about life on Krakoa and exploring his mutant heritage in a way that he really hasn't ever done before. Terry Dodson's art sells the bright, fun energy of a comic book that's meant to have a good-hearted teen protagonist figuring his place in a complicated superhero world. The art team of Terry and Rachel Dodson sell a fantastic range of facial expressions infused with liveliness. The scene between Franklin and his uncle Ben in a diner, as Franklin vents his frustrations about his father, is the highlight of the issue.
Dodson's women continue to be a little more glamorous than anyone has any right to be, but what's interesting is the issue's take on Grimm. The manipulative actions and general shortcomings of Richards are not sitting well with him and while he has some of the issue's best lines, the art really puts the grim in Grimm. Also sold endearingly well is the bond between Kate and Franklin, two characters who have not spent a lot of time together since the first X-men-Fantastic Four crossover event.
The comic feels like it ought to be Franklin's book, but the X-Men and Fantastic Four's conflict is trampling all over it. Now that they've fought and an actual villain has appeared, the two teams can put aside their differences and team up. It's tradition, after all, and one that neither team is apparently able to escape.
'X-Men Fantastic Four' #1 is written by Zdarsky, drawn by Terry and inked by Rachel, with ink assistance by Dexter Vines and Karl Story, color art by Laura Martin and lettering by VC's Joe Caramanga.
