Declaration of Fantastic:

*Goes without saying, this review may totally contain spoilers. Giving you a heads up.

So I will be doing a new comic book review, this will be a single issue review today.  The book I am looking at today is part of the current Marvel Now line, it's the 10th issue of the first family of heroes, the Fantastic Four. You know I got to say, the Fantastic Four doesn't get enough love or credit now in days. Having two terrible movies doesn't help either. But it needs to said, the Fantastic Four rock! A perfect comic mix of science fiction, humor and action. Serious when it needs to be, but always a great read that reminds me why I love reading comics in the first place. And while each one of the Fantastic Four can seem like a cookie cutter made character, there is so much more to each of them, especially Mr.Fantastic with all the secret plans and action that he has done with the Illuminati Avengers. But let's take a look at the book now, and I want to start off with displaying the awesome cover on this one, I mean if this isn't one of the best covers out there today, I am not sure what is. And oh yes, it is clobberin' time! 

The book starts off in Philedelphia 1776, as we see the deceleration of independence being written and discussed by Americas founding fathers, but of course we know one of them has got to be a Skrull, but why are they here and what piece of history are they trying to alter? Deep in space, we see that Mr.Fantastic, The Thing and Sue Storm are sick, the powers that made them are slowly taking them apart slowly. So far the family, the kids included have been searching different planets and galaxies for a cure, something Mr. Fantastic has tried to keep a secret. The kids don't take the news well, especially Valeria Richards. But if they only knew what there dad was doing in the pages of New Avengers. Reed then figures that what is happening to them seem to be a deliberate attack, but where and when is the question here. It's quickly discovered that someone is doing this somewhere in time, and that this someone are the crafty shape shifting foes of the Fantastic Four, the Skrulls. The team goes back in time and comfort there intergalactic foes and stop them before they alter anything in the course of human history. The Skrulls were attempting to keep slavery in the constitution, as a way to prepare mankind for there own slavery at the hands of the Skrulls. The issue ends with Reeds somehow mainplulating the Skrulls into shaping themselves into cows for eternity, or until turned into steak and burgers. But we also see the sickness taking a toll on The Thing, as he slowly is chipping away.

As a stand alone issue, this was a lot of fun to read. I love seeing the Fantastic Four going back in time and fighting to keep the time line and history of the world intact. There practically the only team of heroes who can do this, without screwing everything up completely, at least for the most part. Matt Fraction keeps the language appropriate to each time, keeps the dialogue going along during family fights or Reed explaining the infinite possibilities that are out there. And Mark Bagley does great work on drawing this issue out, especially with showing Sue Storms sickness taking place, being invisible in random spots and showing her insides, literally, you can see her brain and organs through the book. I did feel however the pacing was a bit off, especially in the last two pages, it felt everything was kind of cramped together in the last minute. I would have suggested less scenes of the founding fathers talking among themselves, if we wanted to read that we would look it up, but something had to be done to avoid this mess in the last two pages. A reduction on the amount of panels on some of the pages would have been nice as well, maybe even a two page spread when Sue and Thing were fighting against the Skrulls. That being said the issue is a lot of fun to read, and honestly it works as a pick up and read or as the continuation of the series all together. With both Fraction and Bagley at their best, Fantastic Four is a lot fun and great for all ages of comic book fans. Give it a go when you get a chance.

 So that's what I think of this crazy little adventure from the first family of heroes, I got a lot of books to read in the following days including a few independent books from fellow friends and crew mates. But hey, I am always open for suggestions on different books to read, so leave a comment below if you know a good book or two. And also, I updated my YouTube page today with a new video, so be sure to check it out below...

So there's another video update, and yeah be sure to check back every weekend, I am going to try and be on the ball about these. But let me know how I am doing as well, feedback is really important for me, so holla back. The more interaction I have, we can do things like contest and giveaways and all that good stuff, so tell your friends and what not. Anyways I need to get going, thanks again for reading and watching, keep chasing the storm.