Dale Eaglesham

I have heard everyone and their moms ranting and raving about Jonathan Hickman's work on the Fantastic 4, and my curiosity was sufficiently high that it became an impulse buy on my last pass through the comics store.

The first 3 issues of the collection, "Solve Everything" are spectacular stuff -- Reed Richards encounters a multiverse-spanning Council of Reeds and works to join their ranks. There's great art, and great characterization of the Fantastic 4 as a family in addition to being a superhero team.

"Adventures on Nu-World" is my least favorite of the five. I had to spend a lot of time Googling to understand what was going on here, as I'm not someone deeply versed in the Marvel lore. This is the point in the collection where the art starts to drop off.

Finally, "Days of Future Franklin!" is a fun issue marred by some terrible art. It's obviously setting up the pieces for future issues in Hickman's run, but I was still able to enjoy it.

Overall, I wouldn't say that it's an amazing jumping-on point (there's not a lot of hand-holding when it comes to the plot, and I'm still confused as to whether or not this is the first appearance of the Council), but it's obvious that Hickman is a strong writer, and I'm willing to see where he goes next.… (meer)