It’s a typical Fantastic Four predicament: universe-ending consequences, barely any time left to reverse course, and they’re on their third or fourth plan. Which is usually around the time you watch them do something incredibly clever.
Case in point: using the combined magic of the Sorcerer Supreme (hi, Wanda!) and Bullseye’s perfect aim to bring the Fantastic Four and the Invincible Woman all the way across the universe to defeat a surprise alien invasion. An invasion that seemed a bit much for the Future Foundation and assembled heroic friends, and easily dispelled by the Invincible Woman.
As you’ll recall, an alternate version of Sue was revealed in Fantastic Four #8, who in one fell swoop killed everyone on Earth and, unable to bear to live with the emotional consequence of such an act, lobotomized herself and went on to search for more Sue Storms to make just like her.
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Invincible Woman, now on 616’s Earth, is dead-set on destroying all life on Earth. What follows is various heavy hitters and tactics trying to take her down to no avail. Finally, a secret invisible encasing is used against her as she’s powering up to microwave the entire planet, instead trapped in the energy herself. She’s not dead, instead taken into custody by the new Future Foundation/S.H.I.E.L.D unit.
That’s all well and good but they’ve still got a major problem: Galactus is dying.
Some of my favorite pages of the issue revolve around showcasing both Sue and Invincible Woman’s sheer amount of power, nearly whiting out whole pages to exhibit their brunt force. Sue’s own photon-wielding moment is no less impressive, but with warmer colors and she uses a fine-toothed laser to save the world devourer.
In North’s expected fashion, there’s weird science: a black hole inside of Galactus with the only woman powerful enough to stop it is our own Susan Storm. In a brief moment of Susan Storm, Herald of Galactus, we see her maneuver to great lengths to keep the cosmic entity from death.
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As a long believer in the Invisible Woman and the sheer strength of her character, every time in North’s run we’re reminded that she’s not only one of the most powerful people alive, but through her continued choice to wake up and be a good person, she uses that power for the greater good. A sentiment slightly elevated and/or undercut depending on your feeling on the final set of panels. I won’t say what, but I expect the final page of this week’s Fantastic Four to at least cause a little commotion.
This arc of the First Family’s story may be over, but it leaves plenty of open doors: Valeria’s continued use of Doombot’s and her selective truth-telling to her parents, Maria Hill’s involvement with the Future Foundation, and the comatose Invincible Woman.
While the ending was, in some ways, expected, that makes it no less one of the most exciting books currently coming out of Marvel. Every month, North’s Fantastic Four feels like a perfect mesh of the cosmic wonder, fantastical science-fiction and down-to-earth family that encompasses the First Family.
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