A Family Reunited

[chocochuy]

Greetings, True Believers! (Had to sell the family car to pay for the royalties of Proteus_Lives but I will still use his greeting)

Family and Friendship are elements that must be always treasured and it's always neat to see those elements playing a key role on the modern mythology we call Comic Books (especially on this Ultra-Violent era for our beloved heroes). Today I am proud to give you one great moment from FF # 10.

Ben Grimm has alienated himself from the Fantastic Four/Future Foundation and has been brooding alone at the Avengers Mansion. You could say that the "death" of Johnny Storm and his evil possesion during Fear Itself have left Aunt Petunia's favorite nephew under the control of depression. Let's admit it, folks, the life of Ben Grimm has always been Grim (sorry for the silly pun) with all his personal tragedies. Well, help is on its way for Mr. Grimm, courtesy of certain friendly neighbor.





Personal Note : I love that scene with Spiderman eating his Jarvis Burger and Fruity Drink like a Boss. That and the other panel with him smiling with the Jarvis Burger could be great avatars.

Now this is the Spiderman I grew up with. Always a joker with a heart of gold and always willing to lend a hand to his friends. Ben and Spidey may not have very friendly but they had a link called Johnny Storm and Ben probably knows that Johnny wouldn't give up on hope so easily. Will Ben follow Spidey's advice? I think you might now the answer already but let's carry on, comrades.

Sue and Reed are discussing the current events that have been haunting their heroic family when they suddenly hear their Fantastic Plane (Correct me if that isn't the correct name) and they are about to receive a surprise.





It's funny to see Ben mixing some of his sarcasm with the wise cracks that are usually the territory of Johnny and Spidey. It's good to see some hope on modern mainstream comics. Make Mine Marvel!

Comments

[k_red]

I guess it's too much to hope the "I need a new girlfriend" line means Spidey and Carlie are through. Sigh.

[kevinroc]

I took it as a sign that not even the other Marvel writers give a crap about Carlie.

[cypherfdp]

Hell, I've always thought that the only reason Dan Slott worships her like a goddess is because Joe Quesada is always breathing down his shoulder.

[lonewolf23k]

I imagine that one of the first things that will happen at the Spidey-offices once Joe Quesada leaves, will be writers getting together to discuss getting rid of Carlie and hooking Peter and MJ back together again.

[blackruzsa]

To be fair, Carlie would be an awesome character if
1) they could decide on how she actually looks like and
2) she wasn't Peter's girlfriend.

*sigh*

[drmcninja]

Its like Ultimate Spidey gone bad. Its Quesada's baby now, and nobody is willing to touch it directly.

[kenwyn89]

But, but, even when ultimate spider-man had an off day it didn't mean we ever had a Carlie...!

[drmcninja]

We are talking like festering-dead-body-wakes-up-bites-people-and-makes-more-festering-dead-bodies bad. If only there was a short phrase I could use to describe this phenomenon!

You go, Ben!

[capt_satellite]

....and THAT'S the Ben Grimm I grew up with! Anyone else remember the Barry Windsor-Smith piece featuring Ben in Marvel Fanfare #15? Quintessential, as is this.

Re: You go, Ben!

[citygod]

is that the story about the practical jokes? It was excellent and we need it posted here.

Re: You go, Ben!

[causticlad]

I know I've got it, and I've only got a few more boxes left to go through. I was planning on posting it when I find it (though don't let that stop anyone else who finds it first do so instead).

[shadowpsykie]

what annoys me is that it will probably be all Hugs and Kisses for Ben. But it will be all spits and "fuck you"'s to Bruce Banner...

Yes, that's the one!

[capt_satellite]

Plastic straws for stubble!

[grazzt]

You would think Reed would whip up a cell phone that actually fits in Ben's hands.

[his_spiffynesss]

All things considered, Ben could just get an iPad and use it like an iPhone, but I get this sneaking suspicion Reed hates all things Apple and was doing his monomaniacal laugh when he heard the news of Steve Jobs' passing.

[grazzt]

Yeah, it would be kind of funny if Reed treated Steve Jobs with the same resentment Doom foists on Reed. It would be even funnier if Jobs was jealous of Dr. Doom, making a perfect triangle of envy.

[kaete]

What if Ben's rocky exterior does not work with touch capacitive screens?

;_;

[drmcninja]

I'm sure Reed could ever figure out a workaround, or just make him something better. Ben will never need to worry about his technological troubles. Well until that inevitable point where Reed dies for a few years.

[proteus_lives]

I bet Ben misses his stogies.

BTW, I expect my payment at the first of the month! :D

Time to Pay

[chocochuy]

Aye, Private Proteus_Lives! Are you still taking Spanish Doubloons or do I have to use American Dollars this time?

Re: Time to Pay

[proteus_lives]

Gold-pressed Latinium!

I'm doing business in the Ferengi Alliance later this month.

[cypherfdp]

Couldn't agree more on the girlfriend thing, especially considering how she is a spider and also probably the devil.

[bruinsfan]

and also probably the devil.

So the speculation is One More Day was just a Byzantine plot by Mephisto to get Peter all to himself?

[drmcninja]

No, not Peter... It's a clever scheme to actually work his way in with Luke and Danny.

[kd_the_movie]

DRAW EVERYTHING, BARRY KITSON!!

[lbd_nytetrayn]

Okay, so what the heck is a Jarvis-Burger? Because that thing looks kind of weird...

[donnblake]

Is it a burger that Jarvis makes for you?

[sethgray]

...I have no idea why, but that panel of spidey on the table with his mask off his mouth seems so porny. Gee, Pete, what could you possibly have been doing that would require taking only some of the mask off??

[stubbleupdate]

Eating a burger

And drinking a fruity drink

[sethgray]

Drinking a fruity drink--is that what we're calling it now?

[stubbleupdate]

Did you read the scan above?

Spider-man is shown drinking (and he himself mentions that he is drinking) a fruity drink.

Not gulping down man muck

[sethgray]

No. Not at all. I completely missed the burger and drink right there in his hands prominently displayed. Did you read the part where I thought it looked porny anyway?

Jesus.

[jlroberson]

These are a couple of the better bits. But it's been eating at me as I've been following this book since #1(and before that, maybe about 5 issues of Millar's before I got bored and forgot buying it, and before that, not since Byrne)...I hate to say this because I love Epting's art, but Hickman's FF--I have no idea what this is supposed to be about. I have no idea who most of these people are--seriously, it seems intensely dependent on VERY DEEP knowledge of the FF, recent knowledge, and you can't call this book welcoming to new readers. And potentially interesting plotlines trail off into a very dull nothing. It might just be that nothing interesting can be done with the FF anymore, but apart from the occasional interesting page, I don't think I like this book.

And Nathaniel Richards looks ridiculous in that purple fork suit he wears, and annoys me for reasons I can't quite name. And much of the time, it seems the FF themselves are beside the point. That can work in some books(SANDMAN famously being an example)but when the FF become walk-ons in their own book--that's a REAL problem.

I guess I was kind of hoping it might tap into a tiny bit of that VENTURE BROTHERS kind of vibe.

[salinea]

I read the whole of Hickman's run on FF last week - my previous knowledge of the Fantastic Four was pretty low (probably the big Marvel franchise I was the least familiar with from sheer fandom osmosis/pop culture savviness, really), and I didn't find it very confusing. The biggest point of 'what is this thing' was the nu city or whatever's the name, the one with the black hole? Which apparently was something from the run right before. Of course I've read S.H.I.E.L.D. so I was familiar with Nathaniel Richards.
The biggest issue is that because it a lot of plot threads setting up stuff somewhere down the line; it's great to read in one go, but I'm unsure if it works well on a monthly basis. I guess I'll see soon enough.

[jlroberson]

Look, CEREBUS (at least up to about GOING HOME or so) is one of my favorite series of all time, so meandering when reading monthly shouldn't bug me. But for some reason it seems there's a lot of set-up that doesn't seem to go anywhere in particular. Character motivations seem to be not much there--most of what I'm getting about characters' emotions and thus internal lives I seem to really be getting from Epting, not Hickman.

And I understand N. Richards has been set up somewhere else, and all these kids and just why Doom is working with that fool Richards. But Millar lost me long enough ago that I would need reminding in what, after all, was marketed as kind of a fresh start. It's one thing to go in with baggage, but it's recent baggage that needs just a little explaining that stuff seems to depend on in a lot of ways. Not something Marvel usually shies away from.

Considering that Hickman is obviously trying to set up something intricate, at least to him, here, some in-series foundation would have been helpful. There just seems this sense of a monumental weight slowly drifting to it, IMO. I've really been trying to like it--I didn't get ten issues because I hated it.

PS

[jlroberson]

And I'd also admit that much of whatever affection I have for the FF is Lee/Kirby-based, and that only carried over to Byrne(whose work afterward I actually don't care for at all). So I'm not inclined to inherently like a book starring them. It very much depends on who's doing it.

Re: PS

[salinea]

Dude, I wasn't telling you you're wrong for not liking it or something, I was addressing your "it seems intensely dependent on VERY DEEP knowledge of the FF, recent knowledge, and you can't call this book welcoming to new readers" line. I, a new reader with little to no knowledge of the FF, do not find this story confusing.

Do I find the characterisation working? Only so-so. There's a few good moments for each characters here and there, but none as of yet has made it to even my long favourite characters list. It seems more plot focussed storytelling that character driven, but the plot has been intriguing enough that's sufficient for me for now.

Then again I never read the Lee/Kirby run or the Byrne one; or any run with the FF before. So whatever affection I have for the FF is only due to Hickman's take.