Dwayne McDuffie and Paul Pelletier's stint on Fantastic Four isn't a long one, starting at issue #542, and ending at #553. It's wedged between what were undoubtedly more highly-publicized runs, following (finishing really) J. Michael Straczynski's run, and being followed by a Mark Millar/Bryan Hitch creative pairing.
Worse, JMS departed before the book's tie-ins to Civil War were finished, so it fell to McDuffie to clean up and address that mess as best he could. His explanation for Reed's actions - essentially, Reed made psychohistory from Asimov's Foundation a reality and the math said Negative Zone prisons and cyborg murder-clones of Thor were the best path forward - does nothing to lessen my desire to see Reed get punched in the face. However, it does feel very much like the sort of thought process Reed Richards would follow.
Doesn't change the fact that while Tony Stark (deservedly) spent about 18 months getting his ass kicked literally or figuratively by people for what he did, Reed mostly dodges any of that shit. His place as Marvel's Gladstone Gander, the one things always work out for, unchallenged.
(Until the Hulk returns royally pissed off, but he's mad at Reed over things besides the Registration Act, and beats up a lot of people who had nothing to do with it anyway, so it doesn't really count.)
Not that McDuffie ignores it entirely. The Four were fractured by Civil War in ways I'm not sure they had been previously. This wasn't Ben or Johnny temporarily deciding they needed a change, or Reed and Sue deciding to focus on raising Franklin. Sue and Johnny joined essentially a rebellion against a force Reed was a public face of, and Ben decided to go to France rather than end up punching his friends over legislation.
Reed and Sue do have to patch things up, most of which is implied by their vacation on Titan. That leads to the Black Panther and Storm joining the team for about 8 issues. A Dr. Doom from the future shows up near the end to try and sow discord between the team, exploiting everyone's recent doubts about Reed. Doesn't work, naturally. The general theme seems to be Sue, Ben, and Johnny know Reed's not infallible, but they trust that his heart is in the right place. And Reed needs them for the times when he overreaches, or when they see something he doesn't.
McDuffie writes Reed as someone endlessly curious and not entirely aware of how brilliant he is, whose brain makes unusual intuitive leaps. Such as when he and Hank Pym are studying an alien messenger probe and it helps Reed decide he should bring Sue perfume of some sort. Ben feels things deeply (it's interesting how bothered he is by Gravity's grave being robbed), but is more observant and smart than some writers give him credit for. He was a qualified astronaut, he's gotta be fairly smart. McDuffie alternately plays up Sue's resilience and her presence as possibly the most dangerous member of the team, and her supportive nature. Johnny probably gets the short end of the stick, pretty much the impulsive goofball. Although it certainly takes confidence to try flirting with the Black Panther's bodyguards.
Black Panther and Storm make for interesting additions to the cast. T'Challa is brilliant, but in very different ways from Reed Richards. More cunning, more quick to suspect ulterior motives, and somehow both more blunt and more diplomatic. You can tell he's used to his decisions being followed, by how he goes for the throat when Ben basically tells him "you ain't the boss o' me" at one point. Storm's quite a bit more open with her feelings, probably because she's used to the sort of informal atmosphere the Four have. Ben and Johnny aren't going to seem that unusual to someone who spends a lot of time around Wolverine and Nightcrawler. And she tends to react similarly to the Thing and Torch. When she sees an injustice, she won't turn away or make a tactical retreat.
McDuffie has a bit of sport with the annoying fans who no doubt complained bitterly about things like the Black Panther handling the Silver Surfer. There's a panel where the Wizard dismisses Storm and the Panther as "B-listers with delusions" while looking at us. Which is hilarious coming from the Wizard of all characters.
Pelletier's art is pretty well-suited to what the story needs. It's very slick and classic superhero art, everybody with the perfect physiques, pretty straightforward presentation. No real wild layouts or character designs, but it always makes sure to tell you what you need to know. Shows the action and makes it easy to follow, expressive enough to carry the emotion of the story. The speculative look he gives Sue when she seems to be considering how she should kill the Wizard is a favorite. It's exaggerated, but Sue's also acting, so it makes sense she'd play it up. Pelletier's got enough design sense to make all the weird science stuff look futuristic and cool. It's too bad he and McDuffie didn't get more time on the book, I'd be curious what else they'd have done.
2 comments:
Gah. Reed is the worst.
He's definitely pretty awful.
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