The third Fantastic Four title comes in with severe handicaps, mostly the result of competing with two excellent Fantastic Four titles. Aguirre-Sacasa was going to have to work hard to bring something new to the table, but what he's done is instead bring a slightly different version of what Waid has been doing with the book, and it's a vastly inferior version. The story doesn't work logically in my head, the dialogue is a little off and the premise seems like exactly the kind of thing I don't want to see done with these characters. There are two saving graces, however. The smaller one is that the artwork, by Steve McNiven, is drop dead gorgeous, probably the best of any of the three Fantastic Four titles. The larger one is that Aguirre-Sacasa's tale is running parallel to Waid and Wieringo's Fantastic Four rather than replacing it, because it only looks a bit superfluous rather than like a complete travesty that it has replaced a superior product.
In these troubled economic times, everybody is struggling. That's not a bad premise, and honestly, the idea that even superheroes might be feeling the pinch, while a little bit too "real world" for me, isn't horrible. Waid has had the Four lose some of their reputation and money as a result of the events in their title, and I bought into that without much trouble. The difference is, while Waid's story uses it as a backdrop, Aguirre-Sacasa puts this notion front and center. The Fantastic Four, through a ridiculously contrived combination of embezzling, government cutbacks and bad timing, is now broke and they have to get regular jobs, which they're going to have trouble doing. That's the story. And it's ridiculous. Even if I didn't think Mr. Fantastic could whip up some kind of invention, patent it and make millions (which I do), I have trouble believing that these four capable individuals would be stymied by a rough job market. So at the heart of this story is a premise that is pretty boring (really, are financial difficulties and job-hunting the kind of thing superhero comics should be about?) and ridiculous as well.
Leaving aside that Aguirre-Sacasa's take on these characters doesn't ring true to me, the specifics of the storytelling also don't really do much for me. Overblown, overwritten captions fill the pages, giving us such gems as "Sue Richards. Invisible Woman. Mother. wife. Super hero. Substitute teacher?" Aguirre-Sacasa gives each character a set of captions like this one that is supposed to define them and give a mildly humorous twist on their new jobless situation. In fairness, these captions and the introductory sequences that they cap off are probably pretty good introductions for new readers who know nothing about these characters. The problem is, they both miss the point of the characters for the most part and this isn't really a book that's going to hit a new audience anyway... the people reading Knights 4 know who the Fantastic Four are.
While I didn't really enjoy the story, I did very much enjoy the artwork. McNiven, Morales and Hollowell serve up lush, beautiful artwork that actually hits the superheroes, yet real world style that Aguirre-Sacasa is aiming for in his script. I believe McNiven's take on New York City, and I love how real his various characters look. Sue Storm has probably never seemed this real and this beautiful, and McNiven's take on The Thing is fantastic, giving the sense of his size and power and texture but still feeling like it can coexist in this more realistic world. The art reminds me of the work of Travis Charest, stylized but very realistic and almost painted in appearance. If you're an art fan, Knights 4 might just be worth the purchase for that alone.
Unfortunately, while Knights 4 is a beautiful book to look at, reading it had me rolling my eyes. The characters don't feel right, both in minor ways (Reed saying "baby" to Sue just feels weird) and more significant ones (Johnny's arrogance is conveyed only by others telling us he is, not by his actions or words), and the story has both a ridiculous premise and is kind of boring at any rate. There is a way to bring real world issues like politics, religion and big business into the Fantastic Four while still maintaining the fun superheroic elements of the characters... that way can be found in the regular Fantastic Four title, not in the pages of Knights 4.
