 |
| There are a couple different covers this just happens to be the one I have |
(Marvel is counting the issues of the first 11 issues of the FF comic as those "missing" issues but unless you know that in a few years when people are looking for back issues of Fantastic Four might be a bit confused where those 10 issues are.)
This is the 2nd over sized book I've bought from Marvel in the last few weeks. The other one was their Point One anthology. Both of these books have some similarities:
- Both are longer them an average 32 comic book: Point One is 64 pages, Fantastic Four #600 is 100 pages.
- Both are more expensive then an average comic book (which ranges from $2.99 or $3.99 most times): Point One was $5.99 & Fantastic Four #600 was $7.99).
- There are multiple stories in both (Point One has 6 stories, Fantastic Four has 5).
- Both are preparing what future comic books (Point One has a bunch of stating points for stuff Marvel is soon to put out & Fantastic Four #600 is a getting you set for what's happening in future issues of Fantastic Four & FF).
But as I said when I talked about Point One I got the book half off from my local comic book store because they didn't anyone would spend 6 dollars for it & of the 6 stories I'd only read 1 or 2 of them. Is Fantastic Four #600 any better?
Oh heck yeah!
Of the 100 pages in the book, 6 pages are ads. That's 94 pages of story. (Point One had 10 ads but also has almost half as much pages). In those 94 pages, writer Jonathan Hickman packs in a lot of story. Things that have been building since around the time he started writing the book which he's done for 30 or more issues.
My 1 complain about the last few issues of "FF" was that it all felt like set up & I was getting tired of reading the set up without getting much of a payoff. This issue was the payoff & then some. Oh man, was it a pay off. I did not mind at all the $7.99 price tag: I got my money's worth!
The 1st/main story was almost the length of an average comic (27 pages, no ads in that story). If that 1 story was all we got in a double sized issue of "FF" that would have been awesome & worth the cover price. But this being a 100 page book & we are only on page 27: we still got a lot more to get to.
With the reveal at the end of the 1st story, we our first ad before getting to the 2nd story which takes of most of the book (The story is 46 pages long with 2 ads). In it we find out what *SPOILER CHARACTER* has been up since we last saw them & they have been busy which is partly why I think it takes up the majority of the book.
I felt the art change from Steve Epting in the 1st story to Carmine Di Giandomenico in the 2nd was if a tonal change but Carmine's art did fit with the location (The Negative Zone) & for the Bug Horde that is present. But I found how the characters are drawn to be a bit wonky or at least for me. They can look a bit odd at time when I don't think they are meant to look odd.
We flip the page for 3rd ad of the book & past that is the 3rd story of the book a 7 page story involving the Inhumans & we see how Medusa & Blackbolt "talk" to each other. Once again the art changes (each story has a different artist but all the stories are written by Hickman). The art for the 3rd story is by Ming Doyle & nicely goes with the story.
I will say this that all the art in the book while it changes from story to story they all compliment the story nicely if as I said might look "wonky" at times.
On to Story #4 with art by Lenil Francis Yu it is set on the moon with Reed & Sue talking Galactus. They talk about the future of Earth & how it's not going to be a great one. It's only 6 pages long but it sets up a lot.
On to the 5th & final story, it's 7 pages long & the art is by Farel Dalrymple (They also letter the story, too). It's a story involving Franklin Richards & Leech. The art has a childlike quality to it (That is not a bad thing). There is also a mysterious white man. They are completely white. Just the outline of a man with nothing but white in the outline. The "white man" also seen in 1 panel standing partly outside the panel I partly think this is "white man" the writer, Hickman talking to Franklin & Leech but I might be wrong.
And with that we end the book on a text page with some words from Tom Brevoort (Editor at Marvel among other things), Stan Goldberg (Artist & the original colorist for the Fantastic Four comic book) & Paul Mounts (the current colorist for the book). The very last page is the last ad for issue 601 of "Fantastic Four" & Issue 12 of "FF".
From the looks of the ads, what I've seen elsewhere & read elsewhere, the Adults (The Thing, Reed & Sue Richards, *SPOILER CHARACTER* & maybe a few others) will be the focus of the newly restarted Fantastic Four where the "Kids" in the Future Foundation will be the focus of the FF book now. Which I don't mind I think Hickman has enough to fill both books. But this does mean that I now have one more book to read a month :)
Now this wasn't the only book I picked up last week (It certainly couple have been given that I was that good). There were 3 others but I'll talk about them when I talk about the books from this week & that will be a post for another day.
Until then: Stay Jazzy everybody!
- Brian
No comments:
Post a Comment