Writer: Dan Slott
Artists: Racheal Stott, Phil Jimenez, Jason Keith & R.B. Silva
Color Artist: Jesus Aburtov
Cover Artists: Carlos Pacheco, Rafael Fonteriz & Marte Gracia
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: StoryBabbler
The Earth is under attack! What else is new? But it’s not just the Earth – the whole Universe is in a state of total war as an ancient alien race with deep ties to the Watchers has returned to reap retribution. And only the Fantastic Four know how to stop them as we see in Fantastic Four #40.
Review:
So, last issue established “The Reckoning” as the first alien race who were uplifted by the Watchers but they turned into warmongers and caused a war that nearly wiped out the cosmos. Now they’re back and the only ones who can stop them are the Fantastic Four, with She-Hulk and Jack of Hearts (who showed up in the new She-Hulk #1 back from the dead) tagging along. The last issue was mainly setup while this is moving the plot along now that we know who the main players are.
However, this comic is more setup as it tries to get things moving forward but that is the entire focus of the comic – moving things along. The comic breezes through the moon’s destruction and the Badoon’s invasion as non-essential, which partly adds up. There’s no natural momentum to the story here, it’s all informed tension and suspense that range from cliche to forced with some characters. There’s some brief action in the comic for a specific splash page and that’s about it. It’s really the FF talking about the situation while Reed Richards is the main catalyst here moving things along.
Reed is used by Dan Slott to get things moving here and kinda becomes Mr. Exposition. Reed is the one who gets the team to switch their costumes, for some reason. He’s the one who recaps everything about the Reckoning to the others, he’s the one who’s sending people to where they’re best suited. While the rest of the comic spends some time setting up characters for future issues in the storyline. By the end, the comic delivers two bombshells for the readers that harken back to previous story arcs from Slott’s run on the FF, but that’s about it.
SPOILERS:
One small thing I didn’t like about this comic, which ties into a bigger issue at Marvel, is how they use Gladiator and the Shi’ar Imperial Guard as the new villains’ punching bags. See, when Reed is sending his team to a planet in Shi’ar space, they find Gladiator and the Imperial Guard have already been curb-stomped by two members of The Reckoning. This would be a bigger deal if this wasn’t standard fare for Marvel writers to use them to show how “tough” their new villains are. So the shock of “These guys beat Gladiator and the Imperial Guard!” immediately goes away if you’ve been reading Marvel for the past five years, let alone the last decade.
Final Thoughts:
Fantastic Four #40 continues the Reckoning War and moves it into the next phase as the FF prepare to face the new villains. However, much of the comic book feels like more setup as it moves characters into place for future issues. It’s okay, but it looks like the next issue will kick things into high gear.