REVIEW: ‘Fantastic Four’ Issue 2

Fantastic Four Issue 2 is published by Marvel Comics. Written by Ryan North, with pencils by Humberto Ramos, inks by Victor Olazaba, colors by Edgar Delgado and letters by Joe Caramagna.

Stranded across time, the Fantastic Four must find ways to communicate across millennia in Fantastic Four Issue 2. This second chapter focuses more on two of the members. Reed and Sue are very, very far apart, and yet it falls to them to keep the whole family alive. The level of danger is intense, with a severe ticking time bomb for Sue. Reed is in the medieval era, before any form of science, technology or any industrial revolution. Sue is at the end of the world, with a planet surface that’s unbearably hot and with no hope of escape.

The pacing and structure are fascinating as the story is being told in two locations at the same time, with things being left in time for others to find. The tone of Fantastic Four Issue 2 is gripping, building in hope and joy as ingenious methods and powers are used, utilizing the very fabric of the world itself and immense sacrifice to reconnect.

But even when it looks like they are victorious, there is a reminder of the world they may rejoin, one that’s even more dangerous and still ruled by Victor Von Doom. It makes the ending a gut punch, one that’s not willing to let the Fantastic Four celebrate their reunion for very long and keeping the comic gripping right until the final moments.

Fantastic Four Issue 2 explores the depth of the characters’ intelligence and commitment to helping each other. After so many years of living with and loving each other, Reed and Sue are able to predict what the other will do and what they are thinking. As they work independently, they develop an even greater admiration for how devoted their spouse is. Each scene is like a one-person show, heavily leaning on the captions to explain what’s happening.

Both have to use their brains and their abilities in creative and extraordinary ways. It stretches their capabilities to extremes. Especially the Invisible Woman, who not only has to use her force field to stay alive, but also in many other ways. These are things that have never been seen before in Fantastic Four comics, highlighting that there are still new stories and possibilities after decades of the same family.

The art is phenomenal, pushing superpowers to their limits. At first, Reed is transforming his hands into shovels, something that’s exciting to look at but doesn’t seem too strenuous. But later in Fantastic Four Issue 2, he has to stretch and contort himself to a point where it looks painful. For a man who is so comfortable inside laboratories, the manual labour that he had to perform in order to help his wife is astounding. The landscape that Sue is in is superbly illustrated.

The sun is large in the sky, inescapable on the surface of the Earth. What was once luscious and green is now harsh and rocky. Earth has become like Mars. Invisible Woman has to stay invisible, trying to avoid the murderous rays from the giant star. There’s a huge scale to Fantastic Four Issue 2, with the size of the planet a crucial element across all four points in time. The action is muted at first, but when Invisible Woman starts moving and the comic kicks into gear, energy stays crackling. The book bursts into life, also electrifying the pace.

The colors brilliantly help to portray the various times the heroes now occupy. Reed is in the Dark Ages, where there’s barely any light. In contrast, Sue is in a place where darkness is scarce. She’s desperate for somewhere cool and secluded, shelter from the inescapable heat. Delgado is crucial to the storytelling and highlighting the urgency of the heroes’ actions to save their lives. The lettering is comfortable and easy to read, even if the text for Sue’s dialogue and narration is slightly faded.

Fantastic Four Issue 2 reveals a connection that can completely traverse time. The family have contingency plans for every eventuality, but it’s more than just their brains that are responsible for keeping them alive. It’s their trust and faith in one another. They rely on their family to pull them out of the fire, even if it takes all that they have. It shows how formidable and clever they are, with so much experience coming into play.

North keeps up an incredible energy that is always evolving. The end of Fantastic Four Issue 2 feels rewarding and satisfying, but it immediately transports the team into a situation where they can’t rest on their laurels, maintaining a constant momentum.

Fantastic Four Issue 2 is available where comics are sold.