For as much as Fantastic Four by Ryan North Vol. 4: Fortune Favors the Fantastic is about super-powered geniuses going to extreme lengths to halt potentially world-ending threats (asteroids, Cosmic Cubes, vampires), the book is strangely occupied with limitations.
Throughout the five issues in the volume, the members of the Fantastic household push themselves to the ends of their abilities, find their limits, and find ways to work within those limitations; as with much of the most recent run of Fantastic Four, the solution most often comes in the form of collaboration, but it also comes through understanding that there are strengths within limitations.
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Over the course of the final two issues presented here – the two Blood Hunt tie-in issues – Reed Richards discovers that the illogical nature of vampires and the occult are outside the realm of his expertise, no matter the extent of his scientific genius. One can’t solve for undeath, after all.
This doesn’t mean that Reed is helpless – he stretches himself to the limit (literally) to help people, and hurts himself in the process. But while he can provide refuge for a handful of survivors, Alicia points out that he cannot reasonably hope to think as big as he usually does to provide the world-saving solution he usually does in moments of global catastrophe. Curing vampirism is outside his purview, so it’s best to apply his genius to something more immediately necessary: invent a vampire-repellant device.
The book seems to say that knowledge of one’s limits is just as important as knowledge of one’s strengths. In this volume’s first issue, it’s revealed that Franklin is still very much in possession of his godlike powers. Still, his understanding of his inability to control them means that he’s locked them away from himself except for one night a year (when he does a bit of prophetic world-saving). That same issue sees the FF realize that they cannot stop an oncoming wave of invisible asteroids. Once again, Alicia proposes a solution: invent new ways of working together, utilizing their powers in ways they’ve never done before.
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The book also has some of this volume’s trademark absurdity: the world turns noir as we follow an old-timey Alicia, Private Eye, and then we get a nice aside in which Ben and Johnny get jobs at the local supermarket. These stories provide just as much insight into our characters, exploring their unique personalities and relationships, as any of the ‘big threat’ stories; perhaps they allow for more of that exploration.
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Fortune Favors the Fantastic continues the impeccable, delightful quality that Fantastic Four has excelled in under the pen of Ryan North; this book marks 22 issues of nearly-flawless fun and adventure. His artistic collaborators Carlos Gomez and Ivan Fiorelli (with colors by Jesus Aburtov and Fer Sifuentes-Sujo) understand the assignment: even in the dark of Blood Hunt, these books are illustrated with a brightness of character, a care for humanity, and an outright joy of the absurd.
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