Fantastic Four #564 (Marvel – Millar / Hitch)
Dear Readers, you have our word that nothing this lame happens inside this very special Christmas issue. Yours sincerely, Mark and Bryan.
That snippet also appears on the cover. So, does that mean they didn’t get a cover done in time and they had to use a piece of stock art for it? That’s okay, because this seemed like a stock story that they have time to fit in now (hint: a Christmas story in March).
But, just because it’s stock, it doesn’t mean that it’s not good.
Mark Millar shows that if he takes away the over-the-top violence, the crazy big-picture shticks, the epic storylines… he can still write a heck of a book. Millar presents us with a 2-part suspense story involving a small town, a hidden ancient monster and missing children, feels like it’s part out of Gaiman’s American Gods and part out of a M. Night Shyamalan screenplay. And it’s all good!
This was very refreshing. This issue was non-battle centric, non-big name villain and non-Dark Reign related and it seems as if this two-parter is a perfect prelude to what is coming up next. Millar has promised that the next story arc deals with the mentor to Dr. Doom and will tie into his 1985 series and the Old Man Logan storyline. It should be excellent!
In years to come, this will be know as one of the “glory eras” for the Fantastic Four!
Grade: A
