When this story arc began, it really grabbed my attention. While celebrating the property's roots as a family and a team of explorers, the first chapter of "Hereafter" stood out as inventive and even important. Mark Waid was taking these science-fiction mainstays into the realm of the spiritual, and I was mesmerized. The second chapter of the book was a little less inventive and little more predictable, but it was nonetheless entertaining. This wrapup boasts that more conventional tone as well... at first, anyway. Waid really surprised me with the ending, and it's one that's going to bring a smile to the face of anyone with a love of the medium's history and those people who helped to shape it.
Reed Richards has led his family into the afterlife, and just outside the doors of Heaven, they have found their fallen ally, Ben Grimm. Reed is overwhelmed with despair and self-loathing, though, when he discovers that he has inadvertently robbed his best friend of his ultimate reward. The spiritual world begins to crumble around them, and it's Ben who realizes the truth of what's really going on. The chaos and resulting solution leads the heroes to an encounter in which they come face to face with God... or at least one possible incarnation for the Creator.
Wieringo does a great job of bringing this emotional story to life. The lighter leanings in his style maintain the sense of wonder that accompanies this property, but he also conveys a grounded sense of humanity and vulnerability in these champions at the same time. I do wish the penciller had adapted his art somewhat to resemble another artist's style in the latter part of this issue. Paul Mounts adds a great deal to the art as well, not surprisingly. I love how he instills a sense of the magical in the backgrounds of the afterlife scenes. The setting is one of natural beauty, but a dreamy quality floats beyond it thanks to the computer color effects.
Often in super-hero comics, writers employ the "perception is reality" plot, and this is one of those times. How characters perceive the problem and how they feel have concrete effects on their world of wonder. Waid still brings a twist to the situation, but it's still a bit easy to see the resolution coming.
The same can be said of the test Reed Richards is given, but not of the reward for his A+ on that test. Newer readers might find themselves a bit lost when they come face to face with a figure from the Fantastic Four's past, but for those of us who recognize him, it's a powerful payoff. The character's kindness, hope and imagination comes shining through in this delightful ending.
