Fantastic Four #12
J.A. Fludd
Recap
Here’s a really interesting coincidence. The 12th issue of the original Fantastic Four series, back in 1962, was the first meeting of The Fantastic Four and the incredible Hulk, and had a brief skirmish between The Hulk and The Thing. Now, in the 12th issue of the current Fantastic Four series, guess who’s coming to the Masters-Grimm honeymoon…
It’s all the fault of Dr. Doom and The Puppet Master. As we saw last issue, Doom found clay irradiated by the Power Cosmic in the soil of Latveria after the fateful adventure of FF #6-10, and sent a stash of it to the incarcerated Puppet Master. And The Puppet Master, who only seemed to be accepting of his stepdaughter marrying his sworn enemy, The Thing, back in last year’s Fantastic Four Wedding Special, has thus fashioned that clay into the shape of an intruder to Ben and Alicia’s tropical honeymoon. The results of this are nothing short of horrifying.
Our story addresses the uncomfortable question of exactly how The Thing and Alicia are supposed to, ahem, consummate their marriage, anyway. (Remember the “rockslide” joke in the movie Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer?) But there is of course a workaround for that. Back in the Jonathan Hickman issues, “The Future Foundation” came up with a way for Bashful Ben to become human again for just two weeks out of the year—and Ben and Alicia have timed their honeymoon to fall at exactly those two weeks. It’s all a bit reminiscent of the old Vulcan Pon Farr in Star Trek. Anyway, off they go to a tropical island, where an unscrupulous bellboy has been paid off to inform someone of when the Grimms arrive for their honeymoon.
We have a lovely scene that explains that Ben’s wedding band is made of Vibranium and is thus indestructible, no matter what Ben hits and how hard he hits it, but it is not adjustable and will fall from his hand when he transforms. So before that happens, Alicia takes a knee on the beach at sunset and presents Ben with an interim, human-sized wedding band for the period when Ben will be human and they can be truly, completely together. It is one of the sweetest, most touching and romantic scenes we have ever witnessed in a Fantastic Four story. It is also, naturally, short-lived: for thundering up onto the beach with them comes the ever-incredible Hulk, under the control of The Puppet Master, seeking to punch and pound the life from The Thing!
From the strange things that The Hulk is saying—like how he’s always wanted to yell, “Hulk smash!” when we know that’s one of Greenskin’s most oft-repeated phrases—Ben knows there’s something “off” about his longtime sparring partner. But there’s no time to dwell on that, as The Hulk’s induced rampage not only throws Ben around, but also demolishes the tropical resort, critically wounds at least one civilian guest—and traps Alicia and others under an avalanche! And worse yet, while time is running out for Alicia, it’s also running out for Ben. He has less than a minute remaining as The Thing, and The Hulk is looming over him for the kill. To be continued…
Review
The recurring battle of The Thing and The Hulk is the greatest ongoing grudge match in the medium of comics. Like the clash of The Fantastic Four and Dr. Doom, it’s a story that always comes back for an encore. Almost every writer/artist team who ever worked on The Fantastic Four has done a Thing vs. Hulk story. (Though, curiously, John Byrne did not.) This bout between Marvel’s two “monster” protagonists promises to be one of the most dangerous episodes in that theme, as this issue’s cliffhanger leaves us with the daunting prospect of Ben having to face Greenskin not as The Thing, but as his human self! This is one of the most dire predicaments that we’ve yet seen befalling The FF (who are famous for their dire predicaments), and we know the jeopardy of Alicia under those fallen rocks has to play into it somehow. Philip Masters, The Puppet Master, has always had a grotesque and perverse relationship with his stepdaughter, with his toxic love for Alicia and his hatred of The Fantastic Four that has put her in harm’s way more than once. We may assume that Dan Slott’s story this time around will come to some very ironic conclusion, with Masters’s use of The Hulk against The Thing being what has put Alicia in such unspeakable danger. Slott has set up this conflict very skillfully. And thankfully we won’t have to wait very long to see the payoff. Fantastic Four #13 is scheduled for release August 14! Try not to bite your fingernails to the quick while waiting a couple of weeks to learn the fate of Ben and Alicia.
Now, as for the art this issue. The latest artist in what has become a Round Robin of Fantastic Four pencilers is Sean Izaakse, of whom I can say he’s almost as good as Aaron Kuder was. Isaakse, unlike some of the other artists they’ve brought on to draw the current series, has the virtue of actually knowing how to draw The Thing (Yes!), and does a fine job with the rest of our Foursome for the brief time they appear in this story. (Though no one yet has convinced me that I should like seeing Reed with a beard—PLEASE, MARVEL, GIVE MR. FANTASTIC A SHAVE!) Izaakse has an especially nice way with The Invisible Woman. This issue has a backup feature that is a lead-in to the forthcoming Future Foundation Miniseries; the backup is by Jeremy Whitley and Will Robson and makes me wish that Izaakse could have drawn it as well. The art style in this brief story begs for a return to an earlier and more classic style of Marvel comic book art; it can’t seem to make up its mind whether it wants to be dramatic or cartoonish. And this issue’s cover painting by Esad Ribic is one of the worst we’ve yet had, and that’s saying something. My other plea to Marvel is to get a comic book artist who works in a traditional Marvel style to do the covers of The Fantastic Four, and please make it someone who knows how to draw the characters. This book deserves to be fronted by much better covers than it’s been getting.
Final Thoughts
Dan Slott once again turns in a good story that leaves you wanting more. The backup feature jacked up the price of this issue by a dollar, and it’s a dollar I would rather not have spent for that artwork. And I’m really anxious to see the outcome of this latest, and possibly most fateful, battle between The Thing and The Hulk. Come on, August 14, 2019!
Fantastic Four #12: Bring on Da Noise, Bring on Da Hulk!
- Writing - 9/109/10
- Storyline - 9/109/10
- Art - 8.75/108.8/10
- Color - 8/108/10
- Cover Art - 4/104/10
