They Were This Close To Losing Me

Fantastic Four Vol. 2: Original Sin
Marvel Comics
James Robinson, writer
Leonard Kirk, Marc Laming, Karl Kesel, Rick Magyar and Scott Hanna, artists

I've always liked the concept of the Fantastic Four: it is a fun idea that these four individuals are more explorers than superheroes, and that above all else, they are a family. And I've read a lot of Fantastic Four stories over my collecting years that I have enjoyed quite a bit. But I've never owned and read a run that felt like the definitive FF to me.

I decided to try again when the title was relaunched early in 2014 with writer James Robinson at the helm. Robinson has produced some stories I have very much loved, but also some that have left me disinterested, so his run wasn't going to be a lock. In fact, I'd intended to sample his version of the FF in trades borrowed from the library, but then I found a good deal on the first two trades (issue Nos. 1-10) of Robinson's run and decided to gamble.

The first volume, The Fall of the Fantastic Four, didn't boost my confidence a great deal. I'd read enough advance solicitation information to already know that Robinson planned to take the team down to their lowest point before, I assume, building them back up. The road taken to do the dragging just seemed kind of long and not too inspired. I was getting bored with the story: Some beasties escape from Reed Richards' lab in the Baxter Building and commence terrorizing the good citizens of Manhattan. Eventually, the team devises a way to neutralize the threat, but not before the monsters do a great deal of damage to life and property. And then it occurs to the New York powers-that-be that maybe it isn't such a good idea for these four very well-known adventurers to live publicly in the heart of the city, keeping all manner of nasty weapons and crazy scientific inventions and other-dimensional portals and who-really-knows-what-all-else in what amounts to their back room.

So the FF are put on trial. And even their friend and ally, attorney Jennifer (She-Hulk) Walters, isn't able to defend them against most of the charges. Part of the problem with this first trade was how long the set-up drags on. But also, it becomes kind of obvious early on that someone — we don't yet know who — is manipulating events to turn public opinion and the justice system against the team, but none of the FF seem to catch on to this fact. And neither do their friends, many of whom have been victims of such a strategy before. No, they all complain about how unfair everything happening seems, but no one questions beyond that.

All of that changed with this second trade, which not only continues the downfall of the FF but also ties into a company-wide crossover event, Original Sin. I haven't read Original Sin, but the basic gist seems to be someone killed Uatu, the Watcher, and once he died, secrets he has learned from watching the Marvel Universe all these years become known to some people. In the case of the FF, Benjamin Grimm, aka the Thing, learns that one of Reed Richards' early attempts to cure him of his deformity is accidentally sabotaged by Johnny Storm, the Human Torch.

Maybe part of the reason I liked these issues better than the first five is the focus on the Thing, my favorite of the FF members, but this trade doesn't focus solely on him. There are also continuing troubles for the other three members of the team.

Best of all, we finally begin to see the FF not standing alone against all that is happening to them. The first to stand up against all of the "unfair" charges and accusations is Jim Hammond. For those not in the know, Jim Hammond is an android with the ability to burst into flame, which earned him some fame as the original Human Torch during World War II. Hammond fought Nazis alongside Captain America, Bucky, Namor and his own sidekick, Toro, in the original Invaders team. Being an android, Hammond could still be around, and has recently been reintroduced into the current Marvel Comics Universe as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Along with all of the other charges against the FF, Reed and Sue Richards are ruled unfit parents. Hammond's S.H.I.E.L.D. unit is put in charge of their son, Franklin Richards, and a number of other children Sue had been working with under the Future Foundation program. Hammond not only sees the injustices being heaped on the Fantastic Four, but refuses some orders pertaining to his new charges. In defending his actions to S.H.I.E.L.D. director Maria Hill, Hammond learns that she also recognizes the bizarre nature of the events surrounding the FF and is also suspicious of the motivations behind the trial and subsequent developments.

This still may not prove to be that definitive Fantastic Four story I was hoping for, but I'm a lot more interested in the story and where it's going after reading this second trade. In fact, I'm interested enough to order the third volume when it comes out so I can see where Robinson and crew are taking things. Can't say I felt that way after reading the first trade, and if I hadn't bought both books together, I likely would not have bought the second, which would have been a shame!

Speaking Of Alternate Earths

Earth 2 1-2
DC Comics
James Robinson, writer
Nicola Scott, artist

Just a few days ago I discussed Action Comics No. 9, which took place entirely on a parallel Earth -- specifically Earth 23. Yes, longtime DC fans, the multiverse is back, and with this title, we have the return of Earth 2. But don't look herein for a rehash of the exploits of the Justice Society or other Golden-Age heroes, at least not like you might expect if you are familiar with their original tales. Don't forget, this is still the DCnU.

Teases before this series debut let readers know that some catastrophe befell this Earth in the past, robbing it of its greatest heroes. Just as the main DCnU's age of heroes began with the formation of the Justice League to fight off an invasion from Apokolips five years ago, this universe suffered from a similar invasion by the forces of Darkseid. While in the main DCnU, several heroes had been secretly operating for some time independently and came together to successfully oppose the invasion, on Earth 2, only five heroes that we know of existed: Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman and Robin and Superman's cousin, Supergirl. The three older heroes did what they could while trying to keep the junior pair out of harm's way, for the most part. But this "Trinity of Wonders" was not as effective in repelling the invasion as the larger group in the main universe. The world's human armies came together and fought as a single unit, and the brilliant tactical mind of Batman eventually devised a plan that stood a chance of success, but the three adult heroes died in the execution of that plan. (For more on the fate of Supergirl and Robin, come back next time.)

The ravaged Earth 2 tried to rebuild over the next five years without its heroes, always watchful that the forces of Apokolips might return to try again. A new, even darker threat to humanity is predicted, thus creating a need for a new age of heroes. Robinson seems to be taking his time establishing this new age of heroes as by the end of the second issue, we only have two definite heroes making their first appearances. The last of the old gods, the dying Mercury, appears to bestow his speed on a directionless young man named Jay Garrick. Jay doesn't so much take on the name of the Flash once he has his powers as the name is given to him by the first people he saves, a pair of civilians being attacked by rats mutated into monsters as an after-effect of the Apokolips invasion. Toward the end of this second issue, the new Flash literally runs into a winged woman I assume will be Hawkgirl or Hawkwoman. She is not named in this brief appearance nor are we given any history of the character, but she seems to have been expecting Flash's arrival.

A great deal of time has also been spent on developing the character of Alan Scott, a newsman who will become this world's Green Lantern, but as yet, he has no powers. The only other appearances by anyone with any powers in the present day scenes are Michael Holt and Terry Sloane. Michael Holt was the modern-day Mr. Terrific before the New 52 reboot. I did not pick up the title prior to this, but Mr. Terrific, starring Michael Holt, was also one of the initial 52 series that launched the DCnU in late 2011. That series ended after eight issues, but I'm guessing it ended with Holt mysteriously disappearing from the main DCnU Earth, since he mysteriously appears in the middle of Earth 2's Manhattan and isn't quite sure where he is. Upon his appearance, he is confronted by a man, again someone who seemed to expect his arrival, who introduces himself as Terry Sloane. Terry Sloane was the secret identity of the Golden-Age Mr. Terrific in the old DCU, but rather than being an ally as I expected, Sloane quickly attacks Holt, saying that Mr. Terrific is the only person who could stop his plans.

I'm trying to keep my pull list considerably shorter these days and be more picky about what I spend my money on now that I'm a father, but I'm going to stick around and see how this title plays out for at least a few months. I'm definitely intrigued right now. Oh, and I just love that Nicola Scott art!