FF #540

[steed]

I found this review on the FF Plaza site. I thought some of us would enjoy it.

www.ffplaza.com/library/?issue=ff540v3

[Tana Nile]

Thanks for posting this, I found it quite interesting.

The whole McCarthy era story made no sense to me if they have ret-conned Reed to being in his early thirties, but oh well...!

[Doctor Doom]

Most of you will know I am heartily in favour of Civil War.

You may also know I'm a massive Fantastic Four fan.

Sadly, I found myself conflicted between these and Fantastic Four won out. Now I wouldn't be as strong as Mr Fludd in mycriticism. THe issue wasn't that weak.

It just wasn't strong.

The writing just falls flat. It feels like JMS is going through the motions, no real passion or convictions behind the writing. Just doing what had to be done and ticking it off a list.

But if the issue wasn't that strong in it's own right, that's nothing next to it's most enormous problem.

It was a thoroughally unspectacular issue- fine. But it was the break-up of the Fantastic Four. I realise this has happened before, but that doesn#t matter- if you are writing the break-up of the team who FOUNDED the ENTIRE freaking marvel universe, the first family of Marveldom, the team without whom there would be no marvel universe, then you do it with STYLE.

In an issue that is supposed to be the break-up of the FANTASTIC FOUR, Johnny is nowhere to be seen, and nor is he in the next issue. And the Thing is only on a few pages. I was expecting so much better. In the end, Reed is weak. He just lets Ben walk out, and to be frank I cannot describe how little I need to see Spider-Man in ANOTHER comic these days for the second issue in a row when JMS apparantly can't fit in a quarter of the team the book is ABOUT across 4 issues!

This is the third in-CW issue of Fantastic Four, we're half-way through, and yet the entire team has been together for about 3 pages. And one of them was in a coma. Now I realise JMS couldn't wake Johnny up, but he's fully up and about by the time of issues 2, 3 and 4- just nowhere to be seen! This didn't feel like the FF were breaking up, it felt like they had a quarrel and they'd all be back the next day.

We deserved so much more. We deserved a double-paged glorious story of the four sundered seemingly irreparably, of the impact that the BREAK-UP OF THE FANTASTIC FOUR would have on the Marvel Universe. This shopuld be echoing across the entire Marvel universe, instead it's barely felt in it's own book.

Incredibly weak, certainly not what we deserved. At least McDuffie is writing the last third of the CW tie-in, including the double-sized anniversary. After his excellent special (which I tracked down, thanks those who told me when it came out!) I have some high hopes.

Most disappointing issue yet, I fear.