The Fantastic Four, Marvel’s first superhero family, is embarking on a whole new adventure this Fall. Fantastic Four #1 kicks off a new series from The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl writer Ryan North and Venom artist Iban Coello. It follows everyone’s favorite clobbering hero, the Thing, as he tries to escape a time loop alongside his wife.
What to Expect From Fantastic Four #1
This new era begins with something going terribly awry in New York. As a result, the Thing and his lovely wife Alicia must travel across the country to escape danger. However, when the two stop in a small town for the night, things begin to get strange. In fact, the two end up waking up the morning before they arrive at the town. Now, they need to escape a time loop that has been altering things since before the two were even born.
And this is just the first issue! North and Coello will shift focus in the preceding issues focusing on the other Fantastic Four members. Issue #2 follows Reed Richards, AKA Mr. Fantastic, and his wife Sue Richards, AKA Invisible Woman. Meanwhile, the next issue focuses on everyone’s favorite hot head Johnny Storm, AKA Human Torch. Of course, each individual storyline will eventually culminate in a joint adventure bringing the Fantastic family all together.
What Else Do We Know?
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, North shared that the success of Dan Slott’s run helped shape this new series. Specifically, the recent “Reckoning War” arc that saw the Fantastic Four saving the Multiverse, gave North some perspective. He decided that he didn’t want to go as “big” as Slott, but instead focus on smaller stories about the Fantastic Four. As he puts it, “I want to do smaller, self-contained stories in the vein of 60’s Star Trek”. You know, the ones where they “go down to a planet, find a weird thing, fix [it], and move on”.
The idea of the Fantastic Four coming into town and solving a weird mystery or problem and then moving on is a great story structure. It allows the members of the family to shine as individuals, but also keeps things fresh and not feel like the same story told again and again.
Fantastic Four #1 hits shelves later this year in November.