by Randy Lander

FANTASTIC FOUR: 1234 #1 "1: Once Upon A Time...on Yancy Street" Recommended (7/10) Marvel Comics/Marvel Knights imprint Writer: Grant Morrison Artist: Jae Lee Colors: Jose Villarrubia Letters: Comicraft Editors: Nanci Dakesian & Stuart Moore Price: $2.99 US/$4.50 CAN I'm not the biggest fan of the Fantastic Four, and though I've grown to enjoy most of Morrison's work, his take on the psyches of these characters sounded a bit off when he first expounded on them in a Newsarama article a year or so back. As it turns out, I did find his take on these characters a bit off, a slight left turn away from what they've shown up as in the past, but if you can view this as simply a standalone examination of a superteam that bears a slight resemblance to the Fantastic Four (along the lines of Astro City or Planetary) and drink in the beauty of the Jae Lee artwork, you might have a pretty good time. It has often been said of the Fantastic Four that their high concept is that of an adventurous, dysfunctional family. Morrison's own wild ideas hint at the former, but this series is focused on the latter, and with Lee's art keeping things fairly dark, this time out the family feels even more dysfunctional than usual. Everyone's personality has been distilled into a more pure form, with Reed's isolationist scientist nature, Ben's grumpy self-pity, Johnny's flamboyant selfishness and Sue's den-mother tendencies all being pushed in lieu of anything more nuanced. It fits Morrison's style, and it definitely fits Lee's as well. Lee's work at Marvel has shown a darker side of the universe, something I've appreciated. The Inhumans, shrouded figuratively in mystery, were shrouded literally in shadow, and the Sentry's identity, similarly shadowy, was depicted in a Manhattan that was dark and moody as well. Lee does the same thing here, making even the gleaming corridors of the Baxter Building or the open spaces of Manhattan feel a bit claustrophobic, and giving Reed's technological womb the feel of something immensely dangerous and foreign. He is also a fantastic artist for the depiction of the Thing, really playing up his monstrous tendencies. Though Morrison's arc clearly has some over-arcing story, connected through one of the Four's oldest foes, each issue is also a focus on a particular character. This issue serves a dual purpose, being the focus on the Thing as well as the basic intro of all four characters, and that fits, given that the Thing is probably the most well-established personality of the bunch. His gruff exchange with the ungrateful cops and firemen sets the tone for the self-pity of the issue, and while we do see quite a bit of both Sue and Johnny as well, we view them through the eyes of someone who is down in the dumps and angry. In the midst of the bickering of the family over familiar issues (Ben and Torch's rivalry, Reed's distance from Sue) there are the usual Morrisonian ideas: It seems Alicia has gained some kind of control over her father the Puppet-Master's clay, which is fitting given her role as a sculptor, and the notion of her sculpting "puppet-fish" for Sue is a nice glimpse at the unreal life that the Four lead. The same is true of Reed's experiments, which seem inwardly focused and more dangerous and wild than anything a real-life scientist would attempt. I'm not sure how this will go over with the traditional Fantastic Four fans, as it's definitely not a traditional Fantastic Four story. But it is one that takes the base concepts of the characters and looks at them from a new angle, a sort of "Vertigo-ization" of the Four, and the talent involved have made it a worthwhile read. Email Randy Lander comments about this review.