FF Now

[spiderwasp]

Minor spoilers






I decided to pick the first issue of this out of curiosity. This has so much potential but the writing and art were awful. I love She-Hulk, Ant-man, and Medusa. I would totally be into a new FF title featuring the 3 of them. Choice #4 was ridiculous. I love Alex Power, Leech, Artie, Franklin, and Val but have not been a fan of their use in any of the FF books I've read. My question would have to be this. Why can't modern comic book writers find the line between dark and gritty or satirical silliness. I know it is possible to write comic book characters with personality and lightheartedness while still putting them into heavy serious situations. I know it is possible to make comics fun without making me roll my eyes. I know this because it was done for decades. I know this because it was accomplished in recent years in Young Avengers and Avengers Academy. However, most current writers have to either remove all the fun by having everyone brooding and operating as killing machines (Not to mention dying) or being so silly and frivolous that they seem more like satire than an actual story. The latter is where I felt that the current incarnation of FF fell. I love the characters and would love to love the book but it just didn't happen (Not even close) with issue #1.

[tomspasic]

It's true that Allred's art is something of an acquired taste. Personally, I quite like it. It has an old-school feel that appeals to me, though I will admit that some panels are a bit ...ugly. That seems like a harsh criticism but it's always been the case with his work for me.
As to the writing, Fraction is indeed balancing on that line between drama and whimsy, and not always pulling the balancing act off. Some of the "funny" stuff wasn't all that funny, but mostly I was OK with it. Even if it wasn't always hilarious you could see that it was light-hearted, and that this seems to be a large part of what the book will be about (I guess).
The "drama" part is a bit trickier for me. I thought Fraction mostly handles Scott Lang's grief reasonably well. Though I was struck by him either not knowing or not caring that he just came back from the dead himself. One might wonder, in his resurrected shoes, if one's recently deceased daughter might also be able to be bought back in some way.
I also don't understand why Reed would think it a good idea to put a recently bereaved parent in charge of a bunch of kids. Either Fraction is showing us that Reed is a bit of an ignoramus in matters pertaining to human emotion (which is in character, really). Or maybe a bit more time has passed since Cassie's death than I think, and Scott is ready to move on to a different stage of the grieving process, and Reed is helping him.
Choice #4 completely passed me by on the first reading, I actually thought it was just Ben with the new FF. Either way it seems like a team with 2 "bricks" and no ranged fighter is a bit unbalanced, but I guess it's not just about filling some MMORPG team guidelines.
Overall, I think I'm more comfortable with it than M'Learned Colleague spiderwasp seems to be, so I will stick with reading it for a bit.

[humanbelly]

I haven't checked elsewhere-- very uninformed-- but guessing from your conversation, is Member #4 Sharon Ventura in her She-Thing form? Really hated that development at the time it came out-- but actually liked it much better upon a re-read several years later. She was hampered by WILDLY inconsistent handling of her personality (and understandably severe issues) by too many changes in writers at the time, if I recall. Again, I'm not planning to pick the book up, I'm afraid--- but I'd toss in a vote to give her a chance, regardless.

Hmm. Two level-10 powerhouses, a powerful Inhuman queen, and. . . Ant-Man. Heh. Good ol' Scott-- and he's not even an Alpha personality. . .

HB

[tomspasic]

Ah, no, HB. It's actually Johnny's current amour, "Darla Deering" in the old Thing suit that Ben wore when he lost his powers. I can't even remember who she is or if she has powers or a history or what. She has pink hair, if that helps.
I would like to add to my defense of Allred's art, while I'm back. At first glance it looks rather simple and even crude. But on further inspection you see subtle body language, expression and postures, as well as some nice page design and layouts. This all hits me on re-reading, as usually his strong storytelling carries me through an issue with few pauses to admire the scenery.

[humanbelly]

So it's just that old exo-skeleton, huh? The one that supposedly could not be one by anyone other than Ben, EVER, because of the particular way it was keyed to his brain patterns, or something? While it's a clever way of holding to a "former members" convention, I have to say that I still would have preferred Sharon V. Nope, Darla Deering rings not a single bell for me, although I suppose she could've breezed through during one of those less-closely-examined periods (like the whole "Pier 4" contortion, for instance. . . ). Pink hair. Great.

So. . . Johnny is still showing no signs of maturing, then?

HB

[spiderwasp]

Dec 1, 2012 23:17:16 GMT -5 humanbelly said:

So. . . Johnny is still showing no signs of maturing, then?

HB

Absolutely not. [More spoilers] If anything, this issue has immatured him (Doubt that's a word, but you get the idea.) He made himself a note to ask Darla about the thing, but can't remember what the thing is so he just says "What do you think of the Thing?" and then "There, I asked you about the thing." By the time the team gets together, Darla still has no idea she's part of it. Makes Johnny look like a complete moron. I'm with the rest of you. I seem to recall having seen Darla once a long time ago. Otherwise, I know nothing about her. Would have much prefered to have seen the long missing Sharon.

[spiderwasp]

I was very pleasantly surprised by the second issues of both Fantastic Four and FF. The first issues of each book left me feeling a little unsure. They weren't awful but there was a lot wrong too. The second of issue of each book was actually quite good.

Spoiler -------

It appears that the addition of Darla was only a brief moment of silliness. I hope that's really all it is. Her removal from the the FF line-up makes it something that just might work.