Joe Casey does for the Fantastic Four what he did for the Avengers in his Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes limited series. Casey delves beyond the superficial adventure storytelling of the Silver Age of comics and adds to the myths. He brings a more mature, cynical edge to the Fantastic Four's origin story, but despite that harsher tone, he still manages to maintain the idealism and inherent innocence of the concept. Casey's ideas bring added credibility to the impossible circumstances of the Fantastic Four, and Chris Weston's pencils are an excellent choice to bring that greater sense of realism to life. The detail Weston brings to bear here is staggering, but at the same time, like the writer, he is careful not to sacrifice a connection to the property's origins in the 1960s.
Reed Richards and his cosmic-irradiated shuttle crew have crash-landed back on Earth, and the U.S. military is quick to respond to the disaster. What's of greater concern to the army brass, though, is Richards's ability to penetrate security for his unauthorized mission and the possible threat each of the four newly empowered crewmen poses. Though each remains under close surveillance, Susan Storm's new powers allow her to escape notice and contact her friends. The only one she cannot seem to get through to is Reed, who is immersed in a superconscious state of mind through which he has contact with another, mysterious inmate at the military holding facility.
I enjoyued Casey's work with artist Scott Kolins on Earth's Mightiest Heroes, but Weston's performance on this title made me realize that a more realistic approach such as his, as opposed to Kolins's more exaggerated, stylistic art, suits the tone of such a story much better. This is all about examining the simple super-hero origin story through a filter of logic, realism and maturity. Weston's art helps to accomplish that goal. His vision of the army compound is meticulously detailed, and he conveys its ugly, uncomfortable qualities incredibly well. He also brings the super-hero genre elements to life incredibly well too. Reed's mindscape scenes reminded me a great deal of the sort of surreal, twisted and quirky images Weston brought to Grant Morrison's The Filth series.
The telepathic conversation in which Reed engages in this issue is intriguing, and Casey's dialogue immediately establishes that this is the prelude to a significant intellectual conflict. Actually, to describe the sequences as a conversation isn't accurate. There's unsettling quality to the other intellect's intrusion into Reed's grief and pain. There's a definite sense of malevolence at play, and it feels more like Reed's mind has been invaded as opposed to engaged.
My favorite part of the script is not how the soon-to-be members of the Fantastic Four deal with their scary circumstances but how the personnel at the facility react to them. Even though there seems to be little threat (and the reader knows the FF don't pose a threat), there's a palpable sense of concern, bordering on panic. Gen. Montgomery's grim demeanor and no-nonsense attitude also reinforce the pivotal nature of the events, and his powerful personality shines through. Casey could have easily approached him as a typical military man. 8/10
