Part two of a two-part story takes place in Fantastic Four #24. It’ll have you pondering space travel, the carelessness of capitalist society, and whether or not Johnny Storm deserved to be choked. The FF encounters a lone alien who somehow survived while millions perished almost instantly. They got to Earth via particles, and now it’s time to determine if the last survivor is a friend or foe.
Fantastic Four #24 opens where we left off as a tentacled alien chokes Johnny Storm. Captions detail the reason why scientists never assume and always trust only what they can verify. Right now, Reed is figuring out if they can trust this alien and it choking Johnny isn’t helping.
To further the notion of verifying facts, North details a scenario involving planes. At first, it may seem like this verification backstory is erroneous, but rest assured, it all comes full circle. Due to this, the issue feels almost like a one-shot, albeit it carries forward the introduction of aliens who travel inside particles, defying time and speed.
Backstory time.
Credit: Marvel
The main thrust of this issue revolves around the aliens and how they got to Earth. It’s a classic story within the story as we learn why the aliens were traveling so far and so fast and how they accomplished it. The ties to the evils of capitalism are intriguing, making them a clear analog of humanity’s own selfishness.
The issue goes from great to fantastic in the last third as Reed boards a particle in a mad dash to stop the alien. It’s a bit brash in hindsight, but it leads to a moment of wonderment that seemingly defies science. Might North be setting up something for the future? It sure looks like it, and it’s exciting.
Be sure to keep reading past the letters page as the story continues for three more pages. After the rather gloomy main story, it’s a good injection of positivity and a possible setup for a future character to pop up.
Art by Carlos Gomez is good, with all the elements you want out of a comic with a lot of dialogue. Big splashy moments amp up an otherwise character-focused issue, with a few freaky Mr. Fantastic moments when he uses his powers. One particular page is packed with captions, and it only has three panels, yet Gomez creates a sense of utter hopelessness in the figures on the page. Just imagine that with the double-page layout of light and positivity, it’s a nice smash cut.
I continue to marvel at how much dialogue and captions Ryan North gets away with in this series, yet Fantastic Four #24 will have you on the edge of your seat. Everything said reinforces the family aspects or adds to the wonderment of science and space adventures. Little things like the family communicating via braille force fields thanks to Invisible Woman’s powers are just one tiny wrinkle in a book filled with cool ideas like that.
Fantastic Four #24 is both joyous and melancholy and astonishes with wonderment and adventure.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login