Comic Review: FF #10

Review of FF #10

Writer: Matt Fraction

Artist: Laura and Mike Allred

 

Monthly superhero comics can get routine, which isn’t as bad as it sounds. The newest issue of Flash or Captain America can be something a reader looks forward to because they are guaranteed that the chapter they are about to read will be much like the ones that came before it- which can be both familiar and comforting. Fraction and the Allreds’ book, FF, is an experiment in the duality of many things from the bizarre to the adorable, the complex and the charming, and the new and the familiar.

In issue 10, FF does what it has for the past eight issues: something completely different from the previous issue. There are the continuing storylines from previous issues. In #10, we pick back up with the troubled Alex Powers who is being blackmailed with his parents lives from afar by Doctor Doom.  This kind of storyline might seem like the same old fare, but it’s in the way Fraction and the Allred’s present the story that makes the familiar feel new. Sure Doom is corrupting a youth to murder a member of the FF, but he’s doing it like a Diva in a throne, and Alex’s target is an insane Johnny Storm from the future.

The creative team is also continuing, very subtly, a series of call backs to the first run of Fantastic Four comics. These can be fun to spot, and in issue 10, we have Fraction, Allred and the editor, Tom Brevoort show up and interact with the FF about making a Marvel Comic based on their adventures. This might seem overly meta, but if you read Fantastic Four #10 from 1963, you’ll find Stan Lee and Jack Kirby lamenting within their own panels that they haven’t created a villain as terrifying as Doctor Doom for the next issue, only to be interrupted by Doctor Doom himself. These callbacks are great. They are including the creative team without making them seem pompous, and having a new approach on what could easily be a traditional superhero comic.

 

This issue continues a great run of surprising and delighting its readers. The Allred’s art is stellar, with fantastic facial expressions from Mike- which are surprisingly realistic for such an animated style, just check out Ms. Thing when she shouts “You guys ready to try it?” on page 7 for reference. Not to be brushed aside is Laura’s coloring on the book, which might be the most consistent technique in terms of style on this book. Finally displayed is Fraction’s ability to write a book (which remains at 3 bucks) that contains nearly twenty characters and giving them a unique voice and story, from Bentley-23’s little boy approach to being bad (check his bathroom graffiti) and Leach and Artie’s endearing kidnapping of a tiger. This series continues to be one of those books that bring together the superhero crowd and the crowd that might have been turned off by the usual coming out of Marvel and DC, and comes highly recommended. Let us hope we can expect something unexpected from issue 11.

Friendly Links:

Digital Comic of FF #10

Digital Comic of Fantastic Four #10

Fraction’s Tumblr

Brevoort’s Formspring (as referenced in the issue)

Wordballoon Podcast (Fraction reveals his connections in FF to Fantastic Four)

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