Solitary No More
Highly Recommended!
Though this was mostly a filler issue, it did contribute quite a bit to the ongoing story and tied up a lot of loose ends that had been left dangling from a few issues back. The theme of this issue is "picking up the pieces". Once again the FF attempt to get things back in order after a long and exhausting fight to save earth. And as the relationship between future Franklin and Galactus grows, the personality cracks between future Val and present Val begin to widen. I am surprised at how normal their relationship feels. I guess it is easy to see they are separate characters through illustration, but to begin to fathom who they actually are to each other makes my brain hurt - let alone how powerful they are and their current states of mind. It will be interesting to see if any major story arcs come out of this strained relationship.
A trivial yet touching moment in the book comes when Reed unveils his proposal for the new FF uniforms. I thought it odd how while the core F4 team members numbering was right on, each one of the children were numbered in a way that didn't quite make sense - yet, I imagine. There are some more significant changes to how the FF will live and work going forward (especially for Spidey), but none of those revelations can match the last six pages of this book. And while I realize you probably already know what I am referring to, I refuse to ruin any of it in this review, as I was so excited when I discovered it on my own while unwittingly turning the pages... Suffice to say, it was pretty epic - especially if you were still mourning the loss of one of the best Marvel characters of all time.
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Story: 5.0 / 5.0
Overall it was a great filler issue - bridging the past loose ends and cliffhangers with a host of potential new story arcs. By the last page we know the focus of the next arc, but this series certainly has a lot going for it. As it should really - it has all the best characters from the F4 series on top of a multitude of mostly untapped potential. I believe the next arc in this FF series will once again differentiate itself from the ongoing parallel F4 series. I think it is great that the creative time has the ability to bring the two series together to show different perspectives on the same story when there is need, and yet keep them separate during mini-event "downtime". I believe the combined work they showed us between F4 Issues 600-604 and FF Issues 12-16 proved this point nicely.
Cover Art: 4.0 / 5.0
While the art itself was fine, fitting with the interior style, I just didn't get how it related to anything within the story. FF has a decent track record for the cover having something to do with the story being told - but that is certainly not the case for this issue. I understand that FF is first and foremost about family and playfulness, but this goofy illustration really fails to capture the essence of the book it covers.
Art: 4.5 / 5.0
There were times where the art felt "off", but for the most part it was rather nice. Some of the facial expressions seemed strange at different points in the book, and even panel to panel the same character may look different - but overall it was not distracting. This art team seems to have drawing children and their facial expressions down, while the art for the adults seems to suffer slightly. I can see the artistic "style", so I cannot discount it as a whole, but as I stated, there were times it just didn't agree with me.
Overall: 4.5 / 5.0
This is a Fantastic book. As the months pass, I continue to wonder whether or not FF could keep up with its sibling F4. Surprisingly, not only has it kept up, but I would say that may pages from FF are better than F4. Even with Hickman's reign coming to an end, I hope they stick with the "one author for both books" mentality. I adds a level of cohesiveness that is not possible with a disjointed creative team. And while the art could stand to be more consistent from arc to arc and series to series, it is not as important as the underlying stories being told. Nevertheless, I continue to be pleasantly surprised and always look forward to the upcoming issues for both these series.
