Last month, Marvel published the first of two one-shots featuring the Gargoyles and the Fantastic Four crossing paths. It was a fun, action-packed romp that highlighted how different, and yet how similar, both groups were. Despite the Four being cosmically powered superheroes and the Gargoyles being a clan of mythical beings, they both share the idea of being a family. Dynamite continues to explore that dynamic in Gargoyles X Fantastic Four #1.
This one-shot plays out a bit differently from Fantastic Four/Gargoyles #1. Instead of one singular story, there’s two: Gargoyles Broadway and Angela, joined by the Human Torch and the Thing, run afoul of the Mole Man while the rest of the Fantastic Four and Clan Manhattan have to deal with an incursion from the Negative Zone. Not helping matters is the fact that Valeria and Franklin Richards, alongside the young Gargoyle Gnash, find themselves trapped in the Zone – and at the mercy of Annihilus!
This split-structure story is reflected quite literally in the art, as George Kambadis splits his time between depicting the Negative Zone adventure and the battle against the Mole Man. The former sequence takes its time, building up to a grand battle between the Four, the Manhattan Clan, and Annihilius’ disciples, while the latter is mostly action (especially when it comes to the Thing punching out Mole Man’s monsters.) Kambadis has perfected drawing the Gargoyles thanks to his work on Dynamite’s ongoing Gargoyles series, but he also has a knack for drawing the Four. Under his pencils, Reed Richards feels less “stretchy” and more flowing, while the Thing’s craggy skin and bright blue eyes stand out.
Greg Weisman also deserves props for continuing to lean into the family dynamics at the heart of this crossover. Both the Manhattan Clan and the Four have a personal stake in this crossover, since their children are in the Negative Zone, and it even turns out that one of the villains has their own personal reasons for seeking out Annihilus. If that wasn’t enough, Weisman continues to prove he has a great handle on the Four’s dynamic, whether it’s Valeria and Franklin pooling their mutual talents together, Johnny and Ben butting heads, or Reed and Sue acting like an actual married couple. Between these one-shots and his excellent story with Mark Bagley in Fantastic Four: Fanfare, I wouldn’t mind seeing Weisman writing more Fantastic Four stories.
If there’s a downside to Gargoyles X Fantastic Four #1, it’s that the Annihilus subplot completely overrides the Mole Man one. Both of these characters are big enough villains for the Fantastic Four and Gargoyles to handle, but the Negative Zone plot feels far more engaging than the Mole Man one does at times. Compared to Fantastic Four/Gargoyles #1, which came up with an ingenious way to connect F4 villain Diablo to Gargoyles lore, it feels as though Weisman and Kambadis needed more room to let everything breathe.
Gargoyles X Fantastic Four #1 offers another excellent, if slightly overstuffed, story that features the best of Marvel’s First Family and the Defenders of the Night. The final pages tease that there might be more of these crossovers in the future, and I hope Weisman, Kambadis, and other creators continue to try and top themselves, as this is one of the few crossovers that works far better than you’d expect it to.
