FF #23

[sherkahn]

The FF as we have come to know them have come and gone, as this wraps up the last issue of the group and of the team as we know them, with a special emphasis on Franklin Richards, arguably the most powerful mortal in the 616. Older Franklin is teaching current Franklin the ins and outs of godhood, and making "one last tour of the field", as Future Franklin must leave.

The issue has a lot of stand out moments with Marvel-ous moments of mirth and wonder, but the true core of the Fantastic Four is, and always has been, why Reed Richards, Susan Richards, Johnny Storm and Benjamin Grimm and the people they love are the First Family of the Marvel Universe.



I love how a comic can choke me up....

.... older Franklin says his good-byes before he has to leave.





And we echo back to the sentence that linked to the cut.
The pocket universe Franklin is the Almighty in is connected to his closet...

Comments

[jaysonbyron]

My parental feels. ALL MY PARENTAL FEELS.

[brooms]

i loved this so much.

[wake_the_dragon]

Fantastic Four was the first super-hero team that I really grew attached to; I even got an omnibus of the comics as a present from my aunt and uncle. There's just something I like about the idea of a family of super-heroes.

I lost track of it over the years, to the point I stopped reading, but this scan makes me want to start reading them again. Thanks.

[brooms]

all of hickman's ff & fantastic four (but particularly the former) is worth reading, imo:

http://www.comixology.com/FF/comics-series/5660
http://www.comixology.com/Fantastic-Four-by-Jonathan-Hickman/comics-story-arc/113

[jaybee3]

Hickman's run on FF has been my favorite of all-time (and there have been some great runs like Byrne's and Waid's). He really did give each member a chance to shine and as much as I thought he was turning Valeria into his Mary Sue by making her (a 3 year old!) such a dominant character over her big brother (the most powerful mutant in the world), he turns it around and ends his run focusing on Franklin and the possibilities of the future.

[rainspirit]

This takes Fantastic Four off my "least favourite" list of superhero teams forever.

[jmacq1]

So, SO refreshing to see a (potential) future version of a child character that's well-adjusted, loves his parents, and hasn't turned into some megalomaniacal-oedipal monster for TEH DRAMAZ!

[jmacq1]

Addendum: Not to mention hints of a hopeful future rather than some disaster that needs to be averted at all costs.

[darkknightjrk]

Well, to be fair, the last bit with Future!Val at the end of F4 made me think that there was a little ominous seed there--nothing immediate, but very subtle, like there's a slim chance that what she builds could have other consequences.

[icon_uk]

Anyone else sort of reminded of this by that last couple of pages?

[theepicbeyond]

I read this and want to go... d'awww. Fantastic Four almost has Star Trek level optimism about the future sometimes, even if it's the small things not the epic ones

[vitruvian23]

So, basically Franklin is Skippyjon Jones, but everything in his closet is for real.

Or maybe everything in Skippyjon's closet is real, too. Not entirely sure, even though I've read like a dozen of the things to my little booger.

But, hey! At least this is better than my old Franklin metaphor, about the MU all being in his snow globe!

[terrykun]

This issue was... okay. That's all I can give it.

Don't get me wrong, I adore Hickman's work with this property and thought F4 ended beautifully for him. But this... it just seems very mournful for me, despite Franklin living out all his adventures.

The draw of this book for me has been the development of the Future Foundation as an evolving entity that is separate and unique, rather than just the accessory to the Fantastic 4. The other children, in all their varying levels of intellect, have been real characters, and integral parts of the storyline with their own storylines and developments. Bentley in particular has become a favorite of mine, so my relief over how his interaction with his predecessor/clone-daddy was handled was immense.

I'll be posting it myself later, but the non-Richards kids only got a very brief two page appearance in this 'final' issue, taking a backseat to Franklin and Valeria (and big Valeria and Mr Franklin). Don't get me wrong, it was still a fine appearance and was a pleasure to read, but it felt lacking, and only cements my worries about Fraction's impending run.

The time-distortion being used for F4 is an understandable and even very interesting way of telling an extended story for the Four + 2 going on some amazing journey, while still allowing other titles to involve them in active events of 616. BUT... the fact that Franklin and Valeria are being taken on the trip makes me really worried that the members of the Foundation are going to be an afterthought compared to Fraction's pet team of replacement Fantastics. I'd rather follow a slice-of-life/mad science hybrid story about the Foundation than follow Scott Lang's quest for revenge.

So... that's my two bits. We'll see where things go from here, but I've taken FF off my pulls, and will just be picking up the first issue of the new volume off the rack.

Your move, Fraction.