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doomfans2013-11-22 12:31 am
nomadicwriter) wrote in doomfans2013-11-22 12:31 am
Fantastic Four #14
New artist for this issue, Raffaele Ienco, and again, it's Karl Kesel writing to Fraction's outline.
We resume where we left off last issue, with the F4 on their ship together with the old John Storm from the parallel universe. Reed has put everybody in special suits that will slow down the way their powers are degrading. Old John takes them to his own reality to try and change his history. Down below, the alternate F4 are facing Doom, Kang and Annihilus. (Does this mean it's an AU Doom we've been seeing all through this storyline? None of this is really very clearly explained...)
Doom attacks the F4's ship. Old John flies out to tackle the missiles, as the only one who can safely use his powers. The bad guys spot him, and realise he must have come from the future due to the cybernetic arm he didn't have a few minutes ago. Annihilus says they should destroy him, but Doom says it's clearly a suicide run and "I won't give him that satisfaction". Instead he uses a dimensional transporter to send him off to a random destination. (Is this how he ends up in the FF book? I'm losing track of these details.) Annihilus flies off in a huff, prompting Kang to ask why Doom included him. Doom says he has his uses.
The F4 can't make it to the escape pods, as Sue's lost the ability to use her forcefields. However, she does have the emergency dog whistle Medusa gave her way back in FF #1. (Except I don't think we actually saw that happen in the issue, making the 'flashback' here a bit of a retcon cheat.) Sue summons Lockjaw, who takes them down to the planet. However, Johnny gets a cut on the arm that damages his containment suit, causing him to flame on uncontrollably. They send the kids home with Lockjaw; Sue manages to close Johnny's wound by risking using her powers, but he'll still die of dehydration in time if he can't flame off to drink. However, potential help comes in the shape of the arrival of the alt F4.
Elsewhere, Kang confronts Doom, suspecting Doom's plan is to use him and Annihilus to take control of both the Negative Zone and time travel for ultimate power. Doom tries to blast him, but Kang is only a projected hologram; he reveals that he's been slowing Doom's perception of time in order to have his men search for the cosmic power siphon that he knew Doom would have built. (Let's face it, Doom, you're kind of predictable on that front.) Now Kang has the siphon, and plans to make himself Kang the Annihilating Conqueror, master of time and space.
...Whew. There has definitely been a massive increase in plot-per-issue since Kesel took over the writing duties. It's a bit hectic and some of the details of how everything clicks together are kinda fuzzy, but it's definitely a great improvement over the super decompressed early issues.
Kesel continues to give good Doom, and I like the new artist's take on him too. In fact, I really love this art in general, except for some slightly distracting facial expressions. (The amount of expressiveness in the characters faces is actually pretty great - very clear 'acting' with plenty of visible emotion every panel - but the artist seems to have a bit of a thing for exaggerated mouth-open expressions showing teeth, and it reached a point where I was distracted by the constant toothiness.) But that's a minor quirk in an otherwise beautiful looking issue.
All in all, very good stuff, with a small but nicely characterised role for Doctor Doom - I just wish this whole run had been like this from the start.
We resume where we left off last issue, with the F4 on their ship together with the old John Storm from the parallel universe. Reed has put everybody in special suits that will slow down the way their powers are degrading. Old John takes them to his own reality to try and change his history. Down below, the alternate F4 are facing Doom, Kang and Annihilus. (Does this mean it's an AU Doom we've been seeing all through this storyline? None of this is really very clearly explained...)
Doom attacks the F4's ship. Old John flies out to tackle the missiles, as the only one who can safely use his powers. The bad guys spot him, and realise he must have come from the future due to the cybernetic arm he didn't have a few minutes ago. Annihilus says they should destroy him, but Doom says it's clearly a suicide run and "I won't give him that satisfaction". Instead he uses a dimensional transporter to send him off to a random destination. (Is this how he ends up in the FF book? I'm losing track of these details.) Annihilus flies off in a huff, prompting Kang to ask why Doom included him. Doom says he has his uses.
The F4 can't make it to the escape pods, as Sue's lost the ability to use her forcefields. However, she does have the emergency dog whistle Medusa gave her way back in FF #1. (Except I don't think we actually saw that happen in the issue, making the 'flashback' here a bit of a retcon cheat.) Sue summons Lockjaw, who takes them down to the planet. However, Johnny gets a cut on the arm that damages his containment suit, causing him to flame on uncontrollably. They send the kids home with Lockjaw; Sue manages to close Johnny's wound by risking using her powers, but he'll still die of dehydration in time if he can't flame off to drink. However, potential help comes in the shape of the arrival of the alt F4.
Elsewhere, Kang confronts Doom, suspecting Doom's plan is to use him and Annihilus to take control of both the Negative Zone and time travel for ultimate power. Doom tries to blast him, but Kang is only a projected hologram; he reveals that he's been slowing Doom's perception of time in order to have his men search for the cosmic power siphon that he knew Doom would have built. (Let's face it, Doom, you're kind of predictable on that front.) Now Kang has the siphon, and plans to make himself Kang the Annihilating Conqueror, master of time and space.
...Whew. There has definitely been a massive increase in plot-per-issue since Kesel took over the writing duties. It's a bit hectic and some of the details of how everything clicks together are kinda fuzzy, but it's definitely a great improvement over the super decompressed early issues.
Kesel continues to give good Doom, and I like the new artist's take on him too. In fact, I really love this art in general, except for some slightly distracting facial expressions. (The amount of expressiveness in the characters faces is actually pretty great - very clear 'acting' with plenty of visible emotion every panel - but the artist seems to have a bit of a thing for exaggerated mouth-open expressions showing teeth, and it reached a point where I was distracted by the constant toothiness.) But that's a minor quirk in an otherwise beautiful looking issue.
All in all, very good stuff, with a small but nicely characterised role for Doctor Doom - I just wish this whole run had been like this from the start.