This is it, folks... the issue at which the creative team really hit its stride on the title. Waid explores the more serious side of these characters, and it makes for some great reading. The Fantastic Four has always been lauded as the "first family of the Marvel Universe," and the writer examines that notion of family and the potential for stress and conflict within a family unit. He and the artists dress it up in some inventive and beautiful sci-fi elements, and in the process, they offer up their best issue on the title yet.
Badly injured, Sue and Ben manage to slip away from the other-dimensional creature of mathematics (or is it the other way around?), and head back home so Reed can try and repair the potentially fatal damage that the creature inflicted with its ability to dissemble matter. Meanwhile, Johnny is approached to broker a deal involving some of Reed's more common but well guarded technology, and Reed fumes over the fact that someone has tampered with his equipment.
Simplcity and detail collide to achieve a visually entertaining result here. Kesel's inks bring an extra level of detail to Wieringo's cartoony style, making for richly textured visuals. Wieringo injects a delicious level of Silver Age wonder into the art as well, but at the same time, conveys some outlandish but disturbing notions at the same time, such as Sue Richards's disassembled arm and her efforts to protect herself. Mounts's colors add another level of energy to the art; he conveys the weird and wondrous nature of the heroes' and antagonist's powers nicely as well.
I have to admit that I remain a bit skeptical about Waid's choice of direction of the Human Torch. Trying to get the guy to finally grow up has a lot of possibilities, as does throwing him into a regular job, but I can't help but feel that Johnny comes off as far too dim. My first real exposure to the Fantastic Four was during the John Byrne stint in the 1980s, and he portrayed Johnny with a bit more maturity, as more of a man than a man-child. I guess I'm having trouble rectifying that image of the character with what I'm seeing here.
Modulus is portrayed as completely alien and thoroughly creepy. Waid's dialogue conveys the immensity of the threat it presents, making for a suspenseful read. Of course, Reed's grim and even angry demeanor reinforces that notion as well.
The strongest moment in this issue -- and the one that made me realize just how good this title is going to be -- comes when Reed fails. He doesn't fail as a scientist, but as the patriarch of this family. He loses patience with and makes assumptions of the people around him, the people closest to him. It paints him in a much more human light, as opposed to superhuman.
