I really should have thumbed through this one-shot special in the store before deciding to pick it up.
Aside from the title itself, what drew me to this Fantastic Four special was Karl Kesel's name. He's not only a skilled inker but a solidly performing writer who has rarely disappointed me in the past. Well, this is one of those rare occasions. The main story, which Marvel has billed as a significant development in FF canon, turns out to be quite inconsequential. It lacks any real impact. Furthermore, it's a rather short story, leaving the editors to fill the rest of the issue out with reprint filler. Sure, it's fun to revisit John Byrne's classic run on Fantastic Four, but the story selected was hardly one of the highlights of his stint.
It's spring cleaning day in the Baxter Building, and the Invisible Woman is on a rampage. She's after each one of her three teammates and family members to tidy up their corners of their super-hero headquarters, but their proclivity for simply hiding their messes rather than actually cleaning them proves frustrating. And when that leads to a lab accident, it proves to be deadly serious, as an other-dimensional monster strikes down one of the heroes -- fatally. The Human Torch is determined to reverse a mistake and restore his family to the way it should be.
Weeks's art suits the tone of this script quite well, as there's a strong 1970s riff at play in the storytelling. The line art captures a yesteryear look effectively, aided by the brightness of the colors. That more traditional, simpler approach is reflected in the lettering as well, so there's some solid synergy there. One problem, though, is that the lighter tone of the art is in sharp contrast with the grave tone for which Kesel strives in the middle of the plot.
There's absolutely nothing memorable about this story, and that's all the more irksome when the book is billed as a critical development in Marvel's First Family of heroes. The horrific moment of a loved one's death is rendered null and void by a time-travel plot device, and it makes one wonder why the FF has ever allowed a single tragedy to go unresolved in the past. What's also disappointing is that we never get to see the characters struggle with the trauma of losing a loved one. The tragedy is reversed all too quickly. The Torch is given credit for insight that he doesn't seem to exhibit as well.
The disappointing nature of the plot, the brevity of the story and the inclusion of more reprint material than original stuff left me wondering: what was the point of publishing the book in the first place? Is there a reason Kesel and Weeks's story couldn't have served as a fill-in issue for the regular FF series? Readers shouldn't waste their time with this book, unless one is a rabid FF completist. 4/10
