Though some of the "new Marvel" editorial edicts are felt in this book (most notably by comparing the book to Knights 4 and seeing the similarities), in general this book has been all about Mark Waid taking the Fantastic Four back to basics. Re-establishing them as a family of adventurers, pitting them against Doctor Doom, showing off the friction within the team, though these have all had new twists put on them, Waid is playing up the old chestnuts and showing why folks loved them enough to make them a tradition. This story is his take on the Frightful Four, and so far, it's looking pretty intriguing, as he wises up the villains to make them more dangerous and seems to be building their plot not just on a physical threat to the Four but on the villains playing on their continual PR problems.
Artist Wieringo is M.I.A. for this arc, leaving Paco Medina and Juan Vlasco to step in and handle the art chores. The good news is, this is some of the strongest art I've seen from Medina, a touch on the Humberto Ramos/Francisco Herrera side of things but with a touch more of an attempt to emulate the bubbly, cartoony style of Wieringo that has been such a good match for this book. Though the style isn't entirely my cup of tea, I can't really find fault with the art, which features nice detail and emulates the basic style of the book and maintains the brighter, heroic tone. Where I can complain is in the design of some of the most generic costumes I've ever seen for this new Frightful Four, and while I can certainly see the appeal of changing the admittedly ugly, dated looks of these villains, if you can't improve on them, you should at least leave the classics alone. Although I am informed that these designs are Wieringo's, not Medina's, so he's off the hook there as well.
Fortunately, while the art doesn't improve on the look of the characters, Waid has made improvements on the characters themselves with his changes. We've all seen the villains wising up, finding new uses for their powers and looking unbeatable, only to be beaten by the heroes again, but that's part of the nature of superhero comics, and the trick of a good writer is to convince you that this time, the heroes really are in big trouble. Waid is pretty good at this kind of thing, and I love that he's taken the Wizard, Trapster and Hydro-Man, three of the most often-mocked (and deservingly so) villains and made them seem kind of cool. The Wizard's planning skills and mastery of gravity are emphasized rather than his goofy "gravity discs," Trapster seems more deadly and less, uh, glue-focused, and amping up Hydro-Man so that he has more control of water than just his own body is a nifty tweak of his powers.
Waid has also introduced a new character here, someone who helps out the Frightful Four with their schemes but who I'm guessing will have a more far-reaching role in the story as well. Her divided loyalties, not to the mention the hints that she might have abilities that the Wizard doesn't know about and the surprise revelation about her on the last page, make Cole a fascinating character. I also like that her introduction to the team, and the revelation of her role in the scheme, comes pretty quickly, and Waid manages to make her an effective infiltrator without reducing the intelligence or deductive ability of his heroes, notably Reed Richards.
I am a little nervous that these Fantastic Four PR problems continue, as it's starting to wear a bit thin, and even with Waid doing a more realistic take on it than Aguirre-Sacasa's attempt at the same in Knights 4, I'm starting to have trouble buying it. It doesn't fit the team, and it's an editorial edict that came from a boss no longer at the top, and I'm hoping that it will be relaxed or altogether dropped soon. Waid has done a pretty good job of taking that lemon of an idea and making lemonade with the "Authoritative Action" story and the two-part Spidey/Torch story, but it doesn't fit with the rest of the book, and the rest of the book is better, so it's time to maybe push that element of the story aside.
