Quick Rating: Paced for the long run
Title: The Fantastic: Part 2

Writers: Brian Michael Bendis/Mark Millar
Pencils: Adam Kubert
Inks: Danny Miki
Colors: Dave Stewart
Letters: Chris Eloipoulos
Editor: Ralph Macchio

The titan has reared its head again. Ultimate Fantastic Four has moved on to its second issue. Only two comic pamphlets outsold it last year (Batman 619 and JLA/Avengers 1). And yet:
-more people can name all six Friends then all four of the FF
-more people watched the cable golf channel last week than read this comic book
-more than a hundred times as many people bought Shazam comic books at their peak as bought Ultimate FF
–Stan Lee, as a character, has appeared in more released movies than Reed Richards
-the person standing on the left in a comic panel still speaks first

I bring this up because your perception of the Ultimate line is going to color your perception of this comic book; because your perception of Marvel is going to color your perception of this comic book. The Ultimate line is a huge money-printer hidden in its basement that Marvel has revealed finally and it’s the beginning of the end of that great house of ideas. The Ultimate line is the natural progression of the House of Ideas as they meander into the new century. The Ultimate line is the greatest contribution to the comic book art form since Will Eisner first decided to draw circular panels.

As neutrally as possible, this issue of Ultimate FF proceeds with Reed Richards’ introduction to the youthful think tank that is the Baxter Building. We get to meet characters that give off that wonderful frisson of acknowledgement, déjà vu, and foreboding. We also get to see the further development of Reed’s research into the N-Zone. That’s it.

For the folks who like Marvel and the Ultimate line, the issue does a great mass-media job of portraying scientific research, even if it is mostly bogus. How often do scientists get credit for hard work? Nothing much happens, but anyone with any knowledge of the history here can tell where we’re going and simply enjoy the slow movement. A lot of groundwork is being laid here and who can complain about a lot of groundwork when you want to hold up a building for a few decades. Smoldering tension is not necessarily a bad thing. The art is lovely, glossy, and professional.

For the rest of you, the issue gets by on clues and innuendo. It is slow moving- too much time establishing relationships that won’t matter for months, by which time we’ll all have forgotten the bases that were laid. The artwork is thin and worried.

So, the Ultimate line is probably doing nothing to bring in new fans to the comic book nation, despite Marvel’s best efforts. I don’t think a Fantastic Four movie would change that either. The people who are buying this comic are the same people who buy any other comic- just more of them are adding this to their pull list than Battle of the Planets Meets Pirates of the Dark Water. And you’re reading this because you want to like it or want to hate it. That’s the nature of the fan. So, share these first two issues with your friend’s kid brother and let him get to know what should be a cultural touchstone.

January, 2004