Fantastic Four #18 is out this week, and it harnesses secrets, science, and an asteroid threat that could annihilate all of Earth! It’s just another day for the Fantastic Four, especially with writer Ryan North at the helm. The issue had folks talking over the weekend due to the preview hinting at some Franklin Richards secrets being unveiled, and if you’re a fan of canon, it certainly does.
Issue #18 opens with Franklin Richards narrating via captions about his secret. It appears he still has great powers, but he only allows himself to have them one night a year. While recounting the amazing future he will have and the amazing powers he harnesses, North does a good job of making sense of his complicated nature. We thought he had no powers recently, but North makes sense of that while reminding us he’s the only survivor when the universe reboots.
He wakes to see asteroids headed to Earth, and the narrative soon switches to the rest of the Fantastic Four on the scene. As North details the rather dangerous and near-impossible problem they must resolve, we’re also given a lesson in the power of asteroids and what happened to the dinosaurs. The stakes are very high, and only Invisible Woman can save them.
It’s pretty wild to think Franklin is just a kid but has been through so much.
Credit: Marvel
That is until things get all supernatural and weird with the powers. Once again, Mr. Fantastic pulls off some crazy powers, such as his eyes popping out of his head, while Invisible Woman creatively uses shields. This all builds towards a happy ending, but wait…there’s more! In the final sequence, we get to see an even more clever way these superheroes can combine their powers, further showing the creativity of problem-solving for the first family. Considering these are decades-old characters, it’s amazing creators are still finding new ways to show off their abilities.
One gripe is the use of Franklin, who is more of a narrator and bystander in the story. There’s a promise he’ll do more, but really he’s sort of off to the side with a tease for more to come.
The artwork is by Carlos Gomez, the colors are by Jesus Aburtov, and they don’t disappoint. The weirdness of the powers continues to be on full display. There’s also an impressive visual of the team riding invisible horses. Other highlights include a nine-panel grid recounting the events of the book, a great sequence showing Invisible Woman’s powers at work on the asteroids, and plenty of Kirby crackle.
I haven’t felt like more of a broken record when reviewing than I have on Fantastic Four, but dammit, this series is truly special. The latest issue gives us new tidbits on Franklin as the series continues to impressively give the entire family focus while also introducing a big science problem resolved via clever writing.
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