Reed Richards Is Not Useless

[history79]

from Marvel Knights 4 #4

8 pages of 24



















from 4 #28

Comments

[q99]

Ah, this is good :)

'Reed Richards is Useless' is more about the science end, and how his science never seems to spread out.


The hero end? That he can handle, and this is a very heroic story.

[crimsonmoonmist]

It's been a while since I've found myself tearing up over a comic book.
We've seen lots of "Hero stops someone from jumping" stories, but it's the second half that got to me.
The final scene becomes fairly predictable once Reed started connecting himself to the guy's head. But it still got me in all the right ways.

[shadur]

Just because a certain story turn is predictable or cliched doesn't mean it can't still grip you when it's done well. And this was, without question, done well.

[crinos]

I've said it before and I will say it again: Marvel Knights 4 is one of the best things Marvel ever produced.

Its pretty much my textbook example of how a "mature" comic SHOULD be written. (While other comics that claim to be mature, you know the ones, are usually as mature as doing armpit music.

[panelsarewindows]

I really loved Marvel Knights 4, even stuff I thought wouldn't work or be interesting was. Susan was also given a lot of good scenes. I'd say it's probably one of my favourite interpretations I've seen (although Waid's run is probably still at the top)

Another example of its quality...

[bewareofgeek]

http://scans-daily.dreamwidth.org/2148964.html

[beyondthefringe]

I'm kind of impressed that the payoff to the first scene came 24 issues later. That requires the sort of planning (and series longevity) that you don't get a lot of these days. Or so it seems, given the way creative teams change or books get rebooted.

Only 2 million dollars for a telepathic earpiece? (or was that per component and the full cost is even more?) I'm sure he could still find someone willing to back the cost for a bunch of them... unless it was also a case of rare components as well.

[cricharddavies]

I suspect that while he COULD manufacture them and make a bundle, most of them would be promptly bought up by the sort of people neither Reed nor any other sane being would WANT to have access to other people's thoughts. Any sort of telepathic technology runs into that problem, which is a good example of the sort of thing that makes Reed Richards Is Useless a knee-jerk trope, beloved by people who are ultimately a lot more callous than Mr. Fantastic is demonstrating himself to be in this story.

There is always a price for magic. Even science magic.

[indyreloadx]

I am not crying, ninjas are cutting onions :'(

[stubbleupdate]

The most incredible thing about this is that the b-story in #24 is also excellent as Sue Storm supports one of her employees who is experiencing domestic violence.

Roberto Aguirre Sacasa's MK4 is probably the best Fantastic 4 run of the last 20-30 years, and I say that as somebody who loves Hickman's run

[steverodgers5]

Thank you for posting this. I've never agreed with a lot of the criticisms of Reed, so this is like a real breath of fresh air. I seriously need to track down the back issues of this series..

[scelestus]

That was damn fine. Thanks for posting this. I've read the first half of this story, with the jumper, but never the end of it before.

[bradygirl_12]

*sniffs*

Thank you for posting this.

[lb_lee]

This is really great. I'm a total sucker for superheroes-talking-people-down stories, and I feel like Martin was a person I'd actually know in real life. Hell, I've BEEN Martin.

Superheroes, I feel at their best, are stories about people making a difference. It's easy to make that about battling gods and aliens, but at the core, it's about people. And this story illustrates that beautifully. Thanks for sharing!