The Fantastic Return

Now that shit is in the process of being sorted out with Fox, a new Fantastic Four comic is on the horizon.  I, for one, welcome the return of Marvel's first family.

At one time, The Fantastic Four was the cornerstone of the Marvel Universe, breaking new ground and blazing new trails with every issue.  Jack Kirby and Stan Lee created a run that was almost impossible to follow, introducing such characters and concepts as:

• Mole Man
• Doctor Doom
• The Silver Surfer
• Galactus
• The Inhumans
• The Celestials
• The Frightful Four
• The Puppet Master
• Rama Tut
• Black Panther
• Wakanda
• Vibranium
• The Negative Zone
• The Microverse
• The Watcher
• The Skrulls
• The Mad Thinker
• The Red Ghost and his Super-Apes
• The Molecule Man
• Diablo
• DragonMan
• Klaw
• Blastaar
• Annihilus

And that's all in the first 100 issues.

Unfortunately, because that was such a tough act to follow, few creative teams even tried.  There aren't a lot of Fantastic Four stories post-Lee and Kirby that don't mine the original hundred issues for seeds.  How many times will we be subjected to covers of Lee and Kirby's greatest hits?

Post-Lee and Kirby, the Fantastic Four has had limited success.  While it's my favorite Marvel property, it's a lot more prone to stagnation than a lot of other titles.

Part of the problem with the Fantastic Four is that when it was being created, there was nothing else like it.  The Fantastic Four was the blueprint for the rest of the Marvel Universe.  Now that there are something like 2500 Marvel super-heroes, the Fantastic Four isn't as fantastic as it once was.

Another problem is that the group's common origin makes lineup changes problematic.  Groups like The Avengers and the X-Men can swap out members at the drop of a hat.  Yet another factor is that the Fantastic Four is a family at its core, yet the family is never allowed to progress in any meaningful fashion.  Steve Engelhart tried it but it didn't take long for Marvel to restore the status quo.  I don't think it would hurt the book to move Reed and Sue into the supporting cast to raise their kids and send Ben and Johnny out on adventures with two other characters chosen specifically for that story.

All that being said, I'm fairly excited about the prospect of a new Fantastic Four series.  After Dan Slott's run on the Silver Surfer, I have no doubt the Fantastic Four will be breaking new ground once again.  Slott has shown, both on Silver Surfer and Spider-Man, that he's not afraid to take chances.  I think this run has the potential to be the best Fantastic Four run in decades.