Fantastic Four #561 Cover

Wrapping up their second arc of their soon-to-be-legendary run on Fantastic Four, Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch released issue 561 of Fantastic Four this week. And let me tell you, as expected, they finished things off with a bang. If you’ve been reading this blog long enough, you know I have a serious passion for this creative team’s run on this book. They are doing an outstanding job and I really hope they never leave (though, I know they will).

You may recall that we are finishing off the Death of the Invisible Woman arc this month. You also may remember that last month, we were left with the shocking realization that the Richards’ new nanny is none other than Sue Richards herself, from the future. On top of this, we find out that this group of time-traveling “superheroes”, known as the New Defenders, plan to use Johnny Storm and Doctor Doom to power an inert Galactus to bring all 8 billion people from the future to the present. Damn. How will this all end? Well, you will have to pick up the issue to find out, but hit the break and I’ll tell you if this issue is worth buying (hint: it is!).

I’m not going to say this book is perfect. Trust me, it isn’t. But there is just something about Mark Millar’s writing that pulls you in and makes you want to read more and more. Probably why he is so successful. This issue reads with such a pace that you’ll be shocked when you reach the last page, as you will feel like you just started reading. One of the most amazing things I think Millar manages to do in this issue is take the “bad guys” from the entire arc and completely flip the story around and make you really feel for these people. By the end of the issue, you’re left with a feeling that everyone in this story is just trying to do what they think is right, and you end up liking the “villains”. Then Millar continues his greatness by giving us someone else to hate. An old villain to despise once more.

The only real downside to this issue is the predictability. If you didn’t already guess where this arc was going from the last couple issues, you’ll probably realize by at least midway through the issue how things are going to end. It’s a little disappointing when things turn out exactly how you thought they were going to, but nevertheless, Millar makes the journey fun, despite knowing the destination.

Art is again beautiful in this issue. I really think Bryan Hitch is starting to hit his stride with the Fantastic Four. I honestly cannot find a place where Hitch takes a misstep. Everything is well designed and perfectly executed. And what is most impressive is that Millar sits back and really lets Hitch tell a lot of the story in this issue. During most of the battling, Millar is content to write some witty dialogue and let Hitch bring the fight to us in all it’s visual glory.

I really think that any Marvel fan should be picking up Millar and Hitch’s run on Fantastic Four. They’ve really managed to take characters that a lot of people are pretty bored with and make them interesting again. I like Fantastic Four anyway, cause the mix of psuedo-science, family drama and superhero action really appeals to me, but Millar and Hitch really bring it to a whole new level. And they’ve managed to make it accessible by not drawing too much on continuity. Just really amazing work that everyone should check out.