Fantastic Four, Vol. 2: Four Stories About Hope

Fantastic Four (2022)

by Ryan North, Iban Coello (Illustrator), Ivan Fiorelli (Illustrator)

Reunited once more! The Fantastic Four settle into their surprising new home - unaware that a mysterious threat has made it there first! As their knowledge of language itself begins to melt from their minds, the members of the First Family sink into disarray - and the greatest villain of all time grasps the chance to seal their Doom! Then, Sue and Alicia spend some quality time together in town. But when they return, everything is different - and a very different Fantastic Four is formed! Can they save the reality that only they remember? Ben Grimm wakes up to find himself - alongside the house he was sleeping in and everything in it - in freefall through a colossal metal hole…falling all the way to the Earth's core, where he'll be cooked, crushed and destroyed! What a revoltin' development! Collecting FANTASTIC FOUR (2022) #7-11.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Superheroes, Science Fiction, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics

136 pages, Paperback

Published January 2, 2024

About the author

Hi, I'm Ryan! I was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada in 1980 and since then have written several books. You can read my Wikipedia page for more, or check out my author site at RyanNorth.ca!

I'm the author of the webcomic Dinosaur Comics (that's the comic where the pictures don't change but the words do, it's better than it sounds and I've also done crazy things like turn Shakespeare into a choose-your-own-path adventure, write a comic for Marvel about a girl with all the powers of a squirrel, or mess up walking my dog so badly it made the news.

I'm working on more stuff as we speak, hopefully it's good

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Ryan North Fantastic Four experiment(?) continues; in this volume are non-related short stories set in and around the Fantastic Four's new temporary home, Aunt Petunia's! Staying out of the limelight from their estranged NY community, police, and the other heroes, the team still managed to get caught up in intriguing and well thought out mystery thrillers. As standalone adventures they entertain but lack any real character development or long-term storytelling; however depending on how the season progresses I am still on the fence whether it is a hit overall, because the short story telling and main plot are pretty good. This volume includes the #700! A solid Three Star 6 out of 12, with potential for improvement on rereading the season as a whole.

2025 read

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet but not particularly memorable.



The FF have to fight a memory monster. <--that's not the name, but whatever. Basically, it wants slaves, and it just steals people and makes everyone else forget they ever existed.
Sue and Alicia save the day.



Then the FF are hiding out from SHIELD at Ben's Aunt Petunia's house.
Does she have a ghost or...?



A somewhat silly story about Doctor Doom time-traveling around with the intent to bring Valeria and the other kids back before the year is up. It's fiiiiiiine.



Ben and a stray dog he doesn't want go through an ordeal and wind up saving the rest of the FF from {insert bad guy that I can't remember here}, who has put everyone in a deep sleep so they can...you know, rule the world or whatever.



I thought they were cute, and I didn't have a problem reading them, but nothing really stuck to my ribs later.
You could do worse.
Recommended. Ish.

[♥Milica♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Princess Masters-Grimm deserves the world, such a good dog.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's fun to spend time with these characters no doubt but must the plots be so massively convoluted and speculative? These issues felt like some of the more far-out episodes of Star Trek at times.


Ahhh! I sense letters of the alphabet arbitrarily disappearing from my mind!

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Another lackluster volume. I think I just don’t jive with Ryan North’s writing style. It’s long winded, feeling like he goes around the world to get to the point just for the point to be not that interesting. The stuff with Doctor Doom, the arc with Xargorr, and the stuff with Miracle Man all seem extra basic. Noting cool or exciting. The only story I found kinda cool was in issue 11. Don’t think I’ll be continuing with this run unfortunately.

[Oscar · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.3 🌟

[Alex Sarll]

An odd one, this - a comic I think of myself as faintly disappointed by, indeed was considering dropping, but whenever I pick up an issue and get around to reading it (because it tends not to top the list, because see above), it's actually classic Ryan North. Not dissimilar, really, to the two-part story here about a mindwiping alien straight out of Marvel's old monster comics era, which manages to fit small-town mystery, new FF members, high-concept combat, internet in-jokes, and questions of memory and identity, into those 40 pages - not to mention getting Alicia Masters-Grimm to narrate an issue, interesting from both formal and representation angles given she is of course blind. Or there's the story where the team forget a letter of the alphabet at a time, along with any concept requiring that letter. exactly the sort of high-concept stuff which made Unbeatable Squirrel Girl so compelling. There's even a whole issue about Ben reluctantly befriending a small dog! So what's the problem? I still think the art night be part of it - Ivan Fiorelli comes closer here than anyone else who's contributed, but an Allred, Henderson or Rodriguez would really help firm up the distance between this book and default superheroics. Mainly, though, I think it's down to some weird science fiction affliction that's going to need Reed's stretchy brain to figure out.

[Drew Canole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another good collection of FF tales. The best was the Fantastic Four helping out a derelict colony ship trapped near Earth and Ben Grimm dealing with a Mysterio style villain called Miracle Man. Not as good as the first volume. Some of these I struggled to really see the point and there's not quite enough character development - Ben starts to care for a dog.

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was good, especially first half, the Doctor doom and forgetting issue were fantastic. But the later half, especially last two issues, kind of lost me. I'll see if I'll continue this one down the line.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't like this as much as the first volume but it was still good. I don't think I've mentioned this yet but Ryan North writes Alicia in a way that actually makes me interested in her.

[Vinicius · Rating 3 out of 5]

Após descobrirmos o que aconteceu com o edifício Baxter e com os filhos dos membros do quarteto, embarcamos junto dos personagens rumo à casa da tia Petunia, que dá início a esse segundo encadernado.

O Quarteto Fantastico é bem recebido pela tia Petunia, e a vibe do quadrinho se torna bem Slice of life/Comfort show, pois, a equipe transforma a casa de campo em sua base, mas para isso, precisa trabalhar para arrumar o local, bem como realizar serviços de campo para sobreviver.

Enquanto isso, o primeiro embate da equipe em sua nova casa, é o Senhor Destuno, que está bravo pela situação que o Reed colocou a Valéria. Logo, o Destino irá tentar resolver o que o Reed não conseguiu para resgatar sua afilhada.

Outrora, temos aventuras envolvendo Sue e Alicia, que tentam solucionar um mistério que impactou as pessoas da cidade, bem como o Reed e o Ben.

No geral, são tramas criativas, que mesclam o sobrenatural com ficção científica, mas com um caráter mais "bobo", priorizando a relação familiar entre os membros da equipe.

Ademais, destaco a história que dá ênfase nos poderes da Sue e do Johnny, mostrando que ambos podem materializar e criar formas com seus poderes, bem como combiná-los para algo diferente.

[Machiavelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished Fantastic Four: Four Stories About Hope. Ryan North’s run continues to shine with big sci-fi swings and an even bigger heart. I especially loved the earlier issues — full of warmth, character, and classic FF charm. Some of the later stories didn’t land as well for me, and one barely featured the team at all, which pulled away from the emotional core that made the previous volume so strong. Still, plenty to enjoy here — and that painted cover? Instant classic.

[Benjamin Kimble · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ryan North continues his feel good run on the Fantastic Four with five issue telling us four different stories. The first one is him tackling Doctor Doom. His voice for Doom is strong and very good. Doom is arrogant and egotistical, powerful and terrifying. Doom wants to change the past so the FF’s kids aren’t trapped in time for a year, he wants to prove he’s better than Reed Richards. But he can’t. He fails in spectacular different ways. But Doom can’t fail, so he changes the past again. This story features are from Iban Coello and it feels bombastic. Doom is terrifying and his massive spread page fights scenes are epic. The next story is a two parter where people are disappearing in a small town and everyone seems to forget about them. The leads for this one are Sue and Alicia and I loved seeing their relationship! Inevitably Reed and Ben are taken leading to a more urgent investigation, it’s a lot of fun. And the villain goes all the way back to Tales to Astonish from 1961. Ivan Fiorelli uses his Manga inspired art in this story to deliver sick action and a pretty cool mech scene. Then Ryan North and Leonardo Fernández tackle a horror story set in space. The last surviving member of a species are all on board a ship where one wakes up every hindered years to be the sole crew member. They’re meant to be trained by the previous but they keep dying mysteriously decades before the next one wakes up. They see a burning man, a huge monster banging on the ship, force fields lock them inside, and strange tentacles sprout out of the walls. It’s a very interesting story. The last story sees Ben Grimm falling down hole with a dog that’s been bothering him. The whole house is falling too. Basically the point of this issue is to see Ben grow attached to this pet that he didn’t want initially, it’s very wholesome. Overall this run continues to be great and I hope Ryan North continues to write the Fantastic Four for a long time.

[Roman Zarichnyi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Раян Норт написав хорошу арку в першому томі рану про Фантастичну Четвірку. І в другому, який отримав назву «Чотири історії про надію», я очікував того ж рівня. Й отримав це. Цей том складається, як ви здогадалися, із чотирьох коротких коміксів, які плавно продовжують попередню сюжетну лінію.
⠀
У #7 випуску Фантастична Четвірка шукає притулку на сімейній фермі Бена, якою опікується тітка Петунія. Та вони стають жертвою нанітів, сконструйованих Думом, які позбавляють їх здатності розуміти мову. Мотив Дума — протидіяти Ріду Річардсу і команді, який відіслав дітей у майбутнє. А як саме? Змінивши минуле. Незважаючи на його зусилля, команда залишається на правильному шляху.

Номери #8-9 розповідають історію, де Ксарґорр, величезна кам'яна істота, переписує спогади людей і поневолює їх для служіння. Це все почалося, коли деякі члени команди пішли просто на закупи. Команда намагається розібратися в цій катавасії, але зникнення Бена та Ріда, разом із втратою пам'яті Джонні додає великих проблем.

Наступний #10 номер пропонує історію, де команда допомагає інопланетному кораблю, що опинився в пастці простору-часу. Завдання, яке займає для Фантастичної Четвірки лічені хвилини, для прибульців триває понад 400 років.

А #11 номер, який для мене виявився чи не найвеселішим, ставить у центр Бена, який протистоїть вторгненню Диво-Людини. В той час, як будинок, де перебуває Бен, потрапив часову петлю. А найвеселіше те, що палки найбільше вставляє собака, якого вони згодом забирають до себе.

Хоча я не дуже люблю короткі історії, але в цьому томі вони виявилися хорошими й цікавими. Ця серія продовжує бути чудовою, і я сподіваюся, що надалі Раян Норт буде писати в такому ж дусі.

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ryan North continues his excellent run of the Fantastic Four! Issue 700 was a banger and issues 8/9 were a great mini story. Read as individual comics, ratings below:
#7= 5 stars
#8= 5 stars
#9= 4 stars
#10= 4 stars
#11= 4 stars
Overall rating of 4.5 stars

[Frédéric · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'll probably have forgotten all about it by tomorrow, but it would be dishonest to say that it was really bad. But apart from the special number 700 with Doom, which was at least a little engaging, the rest is kindly and politely... bland.

[José Vitor - zetalendo · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5 estrelas.

Um pouco decepcionante esse segundo volume, em comparação com o primeiro. Foi bem ok.

Eu estava esperando um pouco mais desse encadernado, em relação ao grande plot dessa versão da equipe do North. Mas aqui é muito mais issues fechados, contando pequenas histórias que não levam a ponto algum, que não me importei muito com o que estava acontecendo, e que apresentam vilões de forma bem tosca.

Apesar disso, consegui tirar coisas boas desse volume.
A relação entre os personagens do quarteto está muito boa. A Alicia é uma personagem que está me surpreendendo bastante nessa fase. Esse é meu primeiro contato com todos eles nos quadrinhos, mas ela e a Sue estão sendo destaques pra mim.
Também curti muito como North explora os poderes de cada membro, mostrando que eles podem fazer muito mais do que aparentam, principalmente juntos.

Eu tô gostando da arte desse quadrinho, não tem nada que me incomode nos desenhos.

No mais, são histórias que pouco se destacam pelo conteúdo, mas sim pela relação entre os personagens do quarteto.

[Katherine (Kat) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 Stars
Individual Issues Rated below -

Fantastic Four #7: 3.5/5
Fantastic Four #8: 3.5/5
Fantastic Four #9: 3.5/5
Fantastic Four #10: 3/5
Fantastic Four #11: 4/5

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.
A pretty good Volume of Fantastic Four that picks up right where the last left off. Seems like they might be taking a step back a little bit, perhaps in preparation for something massive coming.
Highlights:
This Volume (predictably by the title) is broken into 4 stories:
1) Hiding out on a farm in Ben's family, the team is infected with nanites that take away their abilities to comprehend language, by Doom. He does this to counteract their new found ability to create an extinction event (see last Volume) and travels throughout the past to try their past to stop it from happening. He can't. They are on the ideal path.
2) While on a shopping trip, Xargorr, a huge stone creature, overwrites peoples memories and enslaves them to serve. Sue is able to turn the waves back on the creature.
3) An alien spaceship gets stuck in a fragment of space-time. What takes the team a few mins to help with takes the aliens over 400 years.
4) Ben Grimm has to take on Miracle Man when he invades their area. He does so with the help of a dog that they then adopt.

Overall, a decent read, but it will be nice to see them move on to something huge, hopefully when the time lock on the Baxter Building goes away.
Recommend.

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despretensioso e incrivelmente divertido. É assim que posso definir esse encadernado e também a nova fase do Quarteto Fantástico por Ryan North e seu colaboradores. Ele não quer fazer o novo épico do Quarteto Fantástico como muitos escribas anteriores tentaram. Ele faz histórias geralmente autocontidas com conceitos fantásticos muito legais. E quando eu falo em fantástico não quero dizer que se refira apenas aos conceitos de super-heróis, mas do fantástico mesmo, aquele gênero literário que tem como característica principal tirar o leitor da realidade em que vive e colocá-lo em outro espaço, onde as leis do entendimento funcionam de outra maneira. É isso que North faz com o Quarteto edição atrás de edição. Se tem algo a dizer de ruim desse encadernado foi que não gostei da primeira história, que envolve o Doutor Destino. Contudo, as histórias seguinte são muito boas para desestabilizar o leitor, mesmo aquele acostumado com as mesmices dos super-heróis da Marvel e da DC Comics.

[Rahul Nadella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable and fun. One off stories are great but I'm starting to look forward to a connection towards a greater plot point to make these side quests more meaningful. Hard to do but I hope North can pull it off. Coello back on and it fits well. North leaves me confused at times. A lot of his writing is terrible, but this run has been unusual, separated, but full of unique one-shot ideas. I can't tell if he is getting more editorial help or less, but whatever the change is, it is working well for him.

[Jiro Dreams of Suchy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute collection of stories, the FF crew live in a small farmhouse and solve some local oddities, deal with dinosaurs, a wood queen and a time warp- lots of fun simple stories. This is their feel good FF that you imagine.

[Jesse A · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit underwhelming

[Tesutamento · Rating 4 out of 5]

North'un serisi keyifli ilerlese de problemler olduğunu kabul etmek zorundayım. Her bölümde farklı bir hikaye olup bitiyor. Bu biraz tercih meselesi fakat ben uzun soluklu hikayeleri daha çok sevdiğimden keşke demeden edemedim. Seride en büyük problem North'un kurguculuğu diyebilirim. North'un hikayeleri yer yer seksenlerden çıkma gibi geliyor. Hikayeler biraz manasız yere karışık hale gelmiş olabiliyor ve de asıl meseleye giderken yolu uzatıyor gibi hissettiriyor. Okurken yorulduğum hikayeler oldu.

Fantastic Four her dönemde gizemleri aydınlatmaya, bilinmeyen ve anlaşılamayan olaylara mercek tutmaya odaklı bir seri olsa da buradaki durum biraz daha farklı. Bu bahsettiğim olaylar bilim adına kıymet taşıyan şeyler olurdu fakat burada ise alacakaranlık kuşağından çıkma duran durumlar yaşanıyor. Perili köşk, hafızasını yitirmiş bir kasaba gibi daha doğaüstü olaylara yönelen bir hikaye dizisi var.

Bir diğer dikkatimi çeken nokta ise North'un Sue için ortaya koyduğu çaba. Bir önceki ciltte Sue'nun artık Dr. Sue Storm olduğunu görmüştük. Bu ciltte ise güç alanı yeteneklerini geliştirmesine tanık oluyoruz. Sue'nun her zaman güçlerini tam anlamıyla kullanmadığı bilinirdi fakat buradaki ise biraz abartı geldi. Artık Green Lantern'den hallice bir kullanım söz konusu. Belki yaklaşan sinema uyarlamasıyla alakalı bir karardır, bilemiyorum. Yine de güçleriyle mecha yapması biraz fazla bence.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ryan North's Fantastic Four run continues to be enjoyable, if wordy and low-stakes. It almost feels like a throwback to silver age comics, where our heroes battle something goofy, like a living volcano that can take over people's minds. Oh wait, that's because our heroes are battling that same goofy villain from 60 years ago. Maybe not the storyline that needed rebooting?

Some of Four Stories About Hope is better, such as Ben Grimm befriending a dog (and falling down an infinite hole). The framing for each issue feels unique, such as when Alicia Grimm narrates an issue about forgetfulness by focusing on how she navigates the world as a blind woman. (Our heroes also spend an issue losing letters of the alphabet and the concepts that require knowledge of those letters.)

Heady stuff, mixed with throwback punchfests. It all feels very clever in a smirky way, like Ryan North is saying "did you see what I just did there???" I'd appreciate a more robust plot where I can care about stakes.

[Mike Jozic · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's all just so...pedestrian.

The family dynamics are one-note. The science is wiki-level unremarkable. The adventures? Just not that captivating. I expected so much more but this volume and its predecessor feel very much like YA lite. No complexity. Little drama.

The one thing it does have is a lot of earnestness. It's not enough to pull this series out of the mediocrity it lives in but it does add a little.bit of charm.

I know some people are enjoying this iteration and I honestly don't get it. I gave it a year in single issues and it's definitely not for me.

Oh well.

[Christopher · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not a huge fan one one-off stories, let alone having them in a collected volume, but it feels like the Doom-related plot point set up in vol. 1 is going to come back around at some point. Just not here.

[Myles Gerber · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun volume though it feels lacking. Wish there was a more cohesive narrative going on- not a fan of the short stories format, especially when they’re so disconnected. But there’s still some fun character moments in here and it does look nice.

[Edward Covington · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25/5 💫

Not quite as strong as the first trade, but still a ton of fun. Not sure what else you’d want from FF.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars