Fantastic Four #556 (Marvel – Millar / Hitch / Neary)
That’s the problem with Utopias—they’re all-too-often built on a foundation of human tears. When an organism designed to abolish war is set into motion, and it decides that the only way to accomplish its objective is to eliminate anyone who could possibly pick up a weapon, there’s only one foursome to turn to if humanity is going to survive!
Let’s start with the really positive, Hitch’s new look for the book (art and design) is fantastic! The book is void of frame lines which really add to the ebb and flow of the story. Hitch, as usual, makes you feel like you reading a comic book version of a major blockbuster. And the Nu-Earth story is pretty well told as an overall arc.
The flatpoints start with the cover. Sue and Johnny torn-up and Ben begging Cap for mercy:
1.) in typical Marvel fashion, not a scene in the book anywhere
2.) lame, very lame
Next we move onto the threat of “Cap”, a seemingly all-powerful robot built for defense that the U.S. Military can’t come close to defeating… and that takes out forty Marvel heroes including the X-Men, Avengers (mighty and New… with the Sentry), Ben, Sue and Johnny combined all in under eight minutes. The last scene is Reed telling everyone to hold tight because he is coming to save the day… a tad pompous even for Reed. Even with that being said, a fun book. Not as good as the two previous issues but still fun.
Issue Grade: A-
I do enjoy Mr. Hitch’s art which for me is amplified by the amazing coloring skill of Paul Mounts. But the story really leaves me dry. Maybe I missed something, but when is this story supposed to take place? The X-Men, Avengers (mighty and New… with the Sentry) all responding to the call and being trounced doesn’t sit well with me. The whole thing gives me a “bad dream / trapped in VR” vibe.