Fantastic Four #1: The Fantastic Streak Continues

It’s ironic that North splits the Fantastic Four into the Fantastic Ones five pages into Fantastic Four #1. And there is further irony in his use of the “Forever Stone,” a creation that has a scientific ring to it but is a fictional creation. Of the various qualities that characterize North’s run on Fantastic Four to this point, the team’s close family bond and general scientific accuracy have been two of the most significant. North actually goes against those tendencies here. And it works.

The Forever Stone sounds like something that could exist even though it only takes a few moments’ thought to realize why it can’t. But the dialogue North writes for Reed is perfectly reasonable were such a thing to exist. It essentially creates a four dimensional coordinate system, and someone with time travel ability should be able to track it. North may not have been able to use something that actually exists in Fantastic Four #1, but what he conceived is logical. The result is a plot element that adheres to the spirit of North’s reliance on actual science even if it is not factual.

Separating the team proves to be an efficient way to introduce each of them in Fantastic Four #1. Each character’s attempt to reach the Forever Stone provides an opportunity to demonstrate their powers. The internal monologue North writes for each character provides a limited explanation of their power, and the travel sequences give Ramos an opportunity to showcase them visually. While there isn’t much to show off in Ben’s case, it’s an effective strategy for everyone else. Those same internal monologues also let some of the characters’ personalities shine. By this point North knows the characters so well that a little bit goes a long way. That capacity for brevity works well since each character is focused on for only a few pages.

Readers don’t need to wait for each character’s individual section to get their first look at each one’s powers, though. A two page spread early in Fantastic Four #1 gives the characters a proper introduction, depicting all of them in action against a group of Doombots. It’s a dynamic scene and a strong introduction both to the team and the title’s artist.

Ramos’s style is somewhat broad. His lines are relatively thick, especially outlines of characters and objects. His method of shading also tends to be dark and less subtle. He frequently employs fields of black to create dimension and depth. When he does use more subtle shading (at least by comparison), his lines are still thick and sometimes, rather than patches of small lines, he will simply use one extended line in a kind of back and forth scribble.

Closeups on characters’ faces are the major exception to this style, though not a consistent one. Ramos’s lines in these instances are usually thinner, though still dark. Shading is also sometimes accomplished in small patches of lines rather than black fields or single thick lines. The comparatively subtle work helps describe facial features and express emotions less broadly.

Edgar Delgado’s standout coloring work is in some ways work that doesn’t stand out at all. The issue’s palette is bright but not overly so. The way he handles transitions into shadow due to implied light sources is gentle and consistent. But what’s most impressive is the way Delgado layers colors. This mostly happens with characters’ surroundings and powers. With Johnny, it’s an overlapping blend of red, orange, and yellow. This is especially effective at creating the illusion of Johnny leaving a three dimensional column of fire behind him as he flies. In Ben’s story, he blends many shades of gray together to create the explosion of sand and dirt when Ben impacts the ground. Again, dark and light shades overlap, almost smudged together to suggest the size of the impact. With Sue, it’s a slight whitening of the sky behind the edge of her force field as she slowly descends through the sky and then stands against the landscape around her. These are all subtle on the page but they add to the illusion of depth in the artwork.

Another characteristic of North’s Fantastic Four run to this point is a very sound effect lite storytelling style. That is not the case in this volume’s Fantastic Four #1. Lanham has a lot to work with here, and he does a very good job with all of it. The sound effects are typically at impact points, often shaped to reflect the type of impact or such other cause. For instance, when Ben impacts in the aforementioned explosion of gray sand and dirt, the WHAMMMM that accompanies it is curved around the bottom of the impact point. When Reed wraps himself around multiple Doombots in the present day sequence, the creaking sound effect that accompanies that goes up the length of his body atop the Doombots Reed is crushing. The SMAK! that goes along with Doom being slammed on the ground likewise looks smashed. These effective choices are seen throughout the issue.