FF, Vol. 4

Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman #10

by Jonathan Hickman, Nick Dragotta (Illustrator), Gabriel Hernández Walta (Illustrator)

Superstar writer Jonathan Hickman bids farewell to the FF! In a story that kicks off in Spider-Man and Human Torch's bathroom (?!), the Future Foundation explores the farthest reaches of the Marvel Universe - from Wakanda to the Negative Zone - encountering the Wizard, the Universal Inhumans and the Negative Zone's dark overlord himself, Annihilus, along the way! And in the heartwarming conclusion to Hickman's run, Old Franklin teaches Young Franklin "How To Be a God!" COLLECTING: FF 17-23

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

168 pages, Paperback

First published December 5, 2012

About the author

Jonathan Hickman is an American comic book writer and artist. He is known for creating the Image Comics series The Nightly News, The Manhattan Projects and East of West, as well as working on Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four, FF, and S.H.I.E.L.D. titles. In 2012, Hickman ended his run on the Fantastic Four titles to write The Avengers and The New Avengers, as part the "Marvel NOW!" relaunch. In 2013, Hickman wrote a six-part miniseries, Infinity, plus Avengers tie-ins for Marvel Comics. In 2015, he wrote the crossover event Secret Wars. - Wikipedia

Reviews

[Terence · Rating 2 out of 5]

Future Franklin Richards intervenes to stop the Inhuman-Kree War.

It took me a while to locate the last part of the Inhuman-Kree War. It wasn't great, but I wanted to know what happened. I just need to find one more little part of the Inhuman story to be all caught up with their history since 2000.

I really see the MCU appeal to developing the Inhumans. So many other comics have been developed so much that even the new stories at times become stale or contradictory to previous stories. In the case of the Inhumans they mostly have a framework. They have the Royal Family, their history. Terrigenesis, a few minor characters, and that's about it. The room to expand without contradicting prior works is enormous. If they are handled right they could easily become a powerhouse for Marvel. I look forward to see how the Inhumans are cultivated and I hope for great things from them.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Johnny and the Future Foundation have further adventures in the Negative Zone? And there's a measure of Aaron-esque (a la Wolverine and the X-Men) humour to them? Well shit, where do I enlist? (As long as I don't have to cut my hair - hasn't happened in 19 years, no reason to start now...)

Then we get another chapter in the tensions between Kree and Inhuman (one of the Kree's grand experiments) and I find I'm bored again by the loves and losses among these far-flung dramas. Why is it that when a giant green floating head decrees genocide, I just yawn? Is it my assumption that of course the Inhumans will be allowed to live? Or is it that I care so little for the survival of a bunch of neo-mutants that their peril gives me little pause?

I really should feel more invested in the Inhumans - they're almost human after all, and under these constant threats of war from other species - but somehow they've always been out of reach for me. Black Bolt might as well be your grandfather for as little of his vulnerability and ambitions you ever see; his wife Medusa is always powerful and talking for him and all Inhumans (plus she has that magical red hair). The rest of the Inhumans seem interchangeable - only the mad brother stands out but mostly as a cartoon figure. Oh, and I suppose the drooling teleporting dog - but he's mostly just as enviable as Man-Thing. No personality, just a biological transport.

The final issue goes for a little tear-jerking and...almost succeeds. Pretty good wrap up, even if this post-event book seemed a little low energy.

[Artemy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was underwhelmed by the last two volumes of FF, so I’m happy to say that this final book was really good. Not a lot of overarching story here, these issues were mostly standalone, but they did wrap up some of the loose ends and provided a heartfelt closure for the Future Foundation. There was yet another insufferable Inhumans-centered issue which earned this book four stars instead of five, but even so, this was probably the best volume of Hickman’s FF. This series was an interesting experiment, but ultimately wasn’t as good as the main Fantastic Four line — it could have been so much more if Hickman focused more on the (adorable) kids living in the Baxter Building instead of all these Inhumans, celestials and universe-threatening crises.

[James DeSantis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This...this is a hell of a way to end things. All about family.

So FF to me remained quality through almost its whole run. A few misses here and there, and even in this volume, there is a issue that didn't work with me. However, for the most part it's been good-great. This volume is mostly broken up stories, first starting with a little Peter and Johnny dispute and friendship moment. I read this before but enjoyed it again here. Then we get a space trip with the kids, which is pretty adorable. We also get some build up with the Inhumans and black bolt returning to earth. Last but not least Franklin (adult version) teaching his younger self how to create universes while also saying goodbye.

I liked almost everything here with the exception of the inhumans stuff, it was a little fuzzy and not that interesting. All else ranged from super fun and enjoyable to downright cry moment with Franklin saying goodbye. This touched on what Fantastic Four is about, family. A easy 4 out of 5 for this one.

[Jesse A · Rating 5 out of 5]

About a year and a half ago I started reading Volume 1 of this series but I couldn't get into it. So I stopped and pretty much decided it wasn't worth my time. Then after a year of reading Hickman and understanding and purely enjoying his amazing skill I decided to pick it up again. Best comic decision I've ever made. This whole series marks for me the best thing that Marvel has ever done. Just outstanding!

[Subham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was quite cool!

It starts off with Pete and Johnny being room mates and having parties and Annihilus in their bathroom, then elections in the Negative zone and surprisingly the former person winnings the elections and they have to return him there but the sequence of events leading up to it was hilarious. Then they go to wakanda and ride the elephants, meet this girl Onome and fight the Hyena tribe which was a cute story for the children and finally some moments where Johnny teaches the children and the coming of the Inhumans and wrapping stuff with them and setting them up for some other events to come. It was a cool story and just Hickman wrapping things up and setting things for the future.

And finally in one of the greatest volumes we have a send off by children to their parents as what metaphorically means is they dive into the uncertain future and there are such great, heartful moments between the different members of the family which was so good to see and finally reading the author's letter at the end was cherry on the cake! This whole run has been a blast to get through and is just about a son trying to save his father and family coming together despite innumerous threats and them holding strong because they are a fantastic family! Great run and one of my favorites!

[Sam D’Antonio · Rating 5 out of 5]

There’s something oddly nostalgic and horrifying about talking to your younger self and being fully aware of their future while simultaneously they have no idea of what’s to come, and that none of it can change. Perfect end to Hickman’s Fantastic Four/Future Foundation runs. Pretty damn emotional.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great final entry in Jonathan Hickman's Fantastic Four/FF run. This one works a little more as a denouement for the entire run as a whole than Fantastic Four vol. 6 did, genuinely resolving the last lingering conflict between Black Bolt and the Kree Supremor. It's solid, crazy-science writing, and exactly the kind of stuff Hickman excels at.

Not to mention the adventures. There's a bunch of them. There's even an entire issue devoted strictly to present-day Franklin and future Franklin having an almost infinite amount of adventures in a single day. Between this feeling of the joy of exploration and Dragotta's perfectly-fitting art, this book feels the most like an homage to the original Lee/Kirby FF (or even the Byrne FF), while still fully maintaining its own sense of modernity. I'm not nostalgic for "the old days" of comics at all, but I'm always very satisfied to see the old ways and the new ways converge into a perfect storm of comics, and this one is almost that. Hickman has kept the spirit of the Fantastic Four alive in FF while exploring new ideas and avenues in Fantastic Four itself.

I'm very sad to see this end. It's been such a great ride, with so many unusual stories grounded by characters that really care about each other (I mean, even Doom seems to care about Valeria). There's a reason Hickman is the one of the top architects at Marvel, and these two series are it.

[RG · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great ending to a great series.

[Mike Jozic · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd like to give this collection a 3.5, alas...

As Hickman's run on both the parent Fantastic Four title and FF came to a close I found myself enjoying FF far more than the almost pointless adventures of Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Ben. Something about FF, both in art and story, was quieter, more intimate. It's somewhat fitting, then, to have the emotional epilogue, the true finale to this ground-breaking run, appear in this book.

Hard to recommend unless you followed the whole thing from somewhere resembling the beginning but a decent end for these characters and this storyline.

[Alex Sarll]

In which the toys are put back in the box (including, alas, Annihilus being let off Johnny Storm's lead) - and Hickman turns out to have more heart than I'd previously credited.

[Tomás Sendarrubias García · Rating 5 out of 5]

Y se acabó. Con la publicación del último de los tomos de Los Cuatro Fantásticos de Jonathan Hickman en la biblioteca Marvel Saga, con el tomo Correr, que reúne el último número de sus 4F y los últimos de Fundación Futuro, con el epílogo a toda la etapa de Hickman al frente de la Primera Familia. Y es que Hickman resultó ser un niño muy ordenadito en cuanto a sus juguetes: los sacó todos de la caja, jugó con ellos y luego los devolvió todos a la caja para que el que viniera después pudiera jugar de nuevo. Y por cierto, que hasta recoloca algunos de los juguetes que Mark Millar había dejado por ahí tirados al finalizar su etapa en la colección.

En este último tomo, Hickman cierra los pocos cabos que había dejado sueltos: el destino de los terrestres del futuro de Alyssa Moy, la relación entre los Inhumanos y los Kree, la vinculación entre Bentley y el Mago, la despedida de la Val y el Franklin del futuro, y lo más importante, el rescate del Doctor Muerte, que ha descubierto su faceta demiúrgica, una trama que Hickman siembra aquí y desarrollará en Los Vengadores y Secret War.

Así que nada, no queda mucho más que decir de una etapa que es prácticamente perfecta, que tiene de todo y todo bueno.

[Connor · Rating 2 out of 5]

This whole book felt like extra stuff, tying up loose ends from the previous volume. I would definitely recommend reading Fantastic Four, Vol. 6 before this. This felt unnecessary because most of the action happened earlier. Like a lot of the earlier books in this Fantastic Four run, there are a bunch of different storylines here. Almost every issue is a unique tale. There were a couple that interested me, and the rest were just alright. Peter Parker and Johnny Storm try living together. The beings in the Negative Zone elect Annihilus as leader. The kids go to Wakanda to recruit another kid. I didn't understand the Inhuman stuff at all. Bentley sees the Wizard. And the older version of Franklin from the future says goodbye.

[Brandon Daniels · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid ending, though it does feel a bit odd in terms of pacing. It feels like Hickman was finally given more room to breathe and used it (as he should have). But it would have been nice if he had been able to start the series off with this amount of character focused work.

[don’t sweat the little things · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just not good

[Joselyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Esto es tan pero TAN hermoso. Esta tan lleno de amor en todas sus expresiones. Simplemente bello.

[Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much better in collected format than reading it month to month. Hickman working his magic!

[Kevin Morrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful send off for the FF and Franklin Richards. Really fun, extreme creative…I love Hickman’s run.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was under the impression that the last 6 months of Jonathan Hickman's FF/F4 run would be inconsequential stories to pad out the end of his run. I couldn't have been more wrong.

These tales conclude all of Hickman's longstanding plotlines whilst leaving some threads danging for other writers or Hickman himself to pick up on later down the road, as well as prepping certain characters for Hickman's Avengers/New Avengers plans too.

These stories are alternatively funny, clever, heart-breaking, and all absolutely flawless. The art from Dragotta, Walta, and Araujo is not your mainstream comic art, but works wonders on these familial stories which are all fairly light on action but high on emotional beats.

Thank you Jonathan Hickman for another superb collection.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wheras Hickman's last volume of the Fantastic Four was a let-down, his FF continues to be great. It seems to be all about the characters: not only is he writing characters that are more malleable here, but he's also able to get deeper into their heads. However, he also has a different style of writing for FF, one that's more thoughtful and more emotional, and that's what keeps FF a great comic all the way to the terrific end.

[Jeff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably my favorite volume of the four, for any number of reasons - the fun parts, the tying of loose ends, the art...everything came together incredibly well in this volume in a way I didn't expect given the sometimes scattershot previous volumes.

Ultimately glad I stuck this one out. A good showing.

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's ok. The art is mostly enjoyable, but the conclusion is underwhelming. 3/5.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collects FF issues #17-23

This is one of the best modern Marvel stories I've ever read, but be warned that you can't start with this volume. There is a lot to read before you can appreciate what happens in this book. In fact, I don't believe you could read this book, and fully understand all the intricacies of what is happening.

Before reading this, you need to read the following collected editions:

Dark Reign: Fantastic Four
Fantastic Four (by Hickman) volumes 1-4
FF (by Hickman) volumes 1-2

Then you have to take turns between Fantastic Four Volume 5 and FF Volume 3. For example, you will read the issues like this: Fantastic Four #600, FF #12, Fantastic Four #601, FF #13, and so on and so on...

Now that you know all that, I definitely recommend reading this legendary run by a remarkable writer, Jonathan Hickman.

SPOILERS (from both Fantastic Four and FF for continuity's sake):

Fantastic Four #605:

-Reed and Nathaniel travel to New York City in the year 3012.

-In the future, humanity has aligned itself with the Shi’ar and Badoon in an oligarchy. Meanwhile, the Kree Empire now holds the Skrulls in slavery. There’s a Fantastic Four in the distant future, and Franklin and Benjamin Grimm are both members. It turns out Ben doesn’t age when he is in his Thing form, so the only time he ages is when he takes the formula that the Future Foundation developed for him. If I remember correctly, that means that for every one year, he ages one week.

-Reed wants to go further, but they haven’t explained why he wants to check out the future. They travel to NYC Territory in the year 4012. Thing is still alive, and he is giving a commencement address to the 4012 graduates of the Future Foundation. Franklin has left to go “run with gods.”

-Reed wants to go further. They travel to The York Prefecture in 5012. Thing is alone, visiting statues of Reed, Sue, and Johnny. Franklin hasn’t returned yet.

-Reed wants to go further. They travel to the TNY Orb in 6012. Franklin stands over the Thing’s dead body.

-After this, Reed wants to go home, and while there, he spends some quality time with Thing and Bentley, as they watch some boxing. Ben seems surprised that Reed would take the time to do this, and tells him that he’s missed him.

#605.1:

-In this issue we get to know more about one of the members of the Council of Reeds. It is the one with the long beard and the Infinity Gauntlet (which he calls the God Hand). This Reed’s story is that he is from a parallel universe where the Nazi’s are ruling over modern day Germany. The Fantastic Four are Germany’s first astronauts. Reed kills Doom to steal a piece of his brain, and then goes into space. Ben becomes a different version of the Thing. Johnny becomes an Iceman-like being, and Sue becomes the Human Torch. They are all bad guys, and all but Reed are killed when Reed uses the Thing to kill Hitler. Reed takes power, and fights against the likes of the Avengers and the X-Men. He later decides to build the Bridge, and that’s where he met the Council. I think this issues exists to hammer home the fact that the Council is (overall) bad, even though their mission statement was to “solve everything.”

FF #17:

-This issue was a humorous break from the dramatic story that has been being told so far. The whole thing centers on how Peter doesn’t like having Johnny as a roommate, and ends with Johnny getting kicked out.

Fantastic Four #606:

-Willie Lumpkin is dying of cancer, so the Fantastic Four go on a mission to find a cure.

FF #18:

-Reed is trying to help broker a peace between the Inhumans and the Kree, as Kid Franklin and Mister Franklin help heal Hala’s sun. Mister Franklin later tells Black Bolt that he has to accept peace with the Kree because he is needed on Earth. It is the focal point for some sort of coming disaster. Future Franklin tells Black Bolt that he won’t be able to help him, though, because he isn’t going to make it. Meanwhile, in the Negative Zone, Johnny has brought the Future Foundation kids there with him as he addresses a revolt. It turns out the creatures there want free elections. Bad news…the voters of the Negative Zone voted Annihilus back into power.

Fantastic Four #607:

-To celebrate the Black Panther’s marriage to Storm, the FF visit Wakanda. But T’Challa has other needs for Reed, and an ancient evil now threatens Wakanda again. The biggest thing I took away from this was the line, “Everything die,” spoken by T’Challa. This was meaningful to me because I know that Hickman will again use this as a theme during his Avengers/New Avengers run.

FF #19:

-The FF kids have an adventure in Wakanda, led by their super smart guide, Onome. Onome impresses them, and Val tells her that she is going to talk to Reed about letting Onome join the FF. During their adventure, they stop the villainous Hyena Clan.

Fantastic Four #608:

-It seems like this is the introduction of Necropolis, the Wakanda City of the Dead. I have read future storylines where Black Panther rules over this land, but I believe this is the first time that Necropolis is mentioned in the Marvel Universe. It isn’t so much a neighboring city as it is a city in a pocket dimension.

-In the City of the Dead, they meet a goddess who assesses the desires of T’Challa. The goddess foreshadows events that will happen in the 2012 Marvel Event, "Avengers vs. X-Men," and she also foreshadows events that will be primarily addressed in Hickman’s Avengers/New Avengers run. Knowing that T’Challa has to be there to help save his people, she makes him King of the Dead, ruler over Necropolis. T’Challa’s sister will remain the ruler over Wakanda, though.

-The goddess also tells Reed and T’Challa that Reed’s presence at this moment will bind their lives together until their death. Their fates are now intertwined, and when the world faces the great trial that she has foreseen, the two men must face this danger together.

FF #20:

-Mister Franklin tells Black Bolt, “Everything dies.”

-Knowing the date, Future Val stops young Val from writing a journal entry, which is actually a prospectus on how to defeat and subjugate the Kree Empire. The Vals still hate each other, but the Franklins have fun together.

-Mister Franklin is really open to telling Kid Franklin about future events.

-Medusa tells Crystal that she has to come home to Attilan.

Fantastic Four #609:

-Lame story about the people of Nu-World, which felt like an in-story way of getting these characters out of the narrative. They
were never my favorites because I didn’t know their back story. Also, I thought Galactus did something with the corpse of his future, dead self a few volumes ago. He was really mad at these people then.

FF #21:

-Black Bolt explained to the Supreme Intelligence that they should work together until the “everything dies” scenario, and peace is achieved.

-This is why Medusa summoned Crystal. The Supreme Intelligence demanded that Ronan return to him alone for peace to be agreed upon.

Fantastic Four #610:

-Dr. Andrew Forson and the Wizard are the villains in this issues as the FF takes on A.I.M. This issues marks the first recognition of Barbuda as A.I.M. Island.

-Reed becomes the U.S.A.’s ambassador to A.I.M. Island.

-The Wizard, in his madness, says that he had a vision of Reed (as a man of half light and half darkness), and he also saw with Reed other men of day and night. I believe this is a prophecy about the Illuminati.

-Wizard tells young Bentley that he is him, and implies that Bentley can’t escape his destiny.

FF #22:

-This issue went hand-in-hand with Fantastic Four #610, with a focus on how Val and Bentley experienced the events. At the end, the two youngersters hold hands for the first time, and Bentley tells Val that he loves her. Val reminds him that she is only three years old.

-Bentley, though he has a hint of evil in him, seems to be breaking away from the villainous nature of his “father.”

Fantastic Four #611:

-This seems to be the end of the story that Hickman has been telling since the beginning of his Fantastic Four run. There are still some plot threads left dangling, but overall, things have come to an end. Nathaniel and Reed save Doom from the world that he created with his Infinity Gauntlet. It seems like there was more story that could have been told there, but instead, they wrap up the whole Doom story in one single issue.

-Nathaniel announces that he will now use the Nexus to travel to all other parallel universes where orphan Reeds exist to try to help out. Val says she is going to stay and help her grandfather, but she really wants to stay at the Nexus (the former home of the Council), because in her words, “Here I can build.”

FF #23:

-The issue opens with Future Val and Franklin talking about how it is time for goodbyes with their present-day family, and they always knew this is how things were going to end. We are told that this issue will act as an epilogue to Jonathan Hickman’s 3-year run with the Fantastic Four family.

-Mister Franklin, Kid Franklin, and Leech go into Franklin’s closet universe and act out a lot of adventures. There, Future Franklin tells his younger self not to be intimidated by Val’s intelligence. She will one day recognize that it is Franklin’s creativity that makes him so special because he can see things in ways that others cannot. Intelligence without imagination is useless.

-Mister Franklin, as he helps Kid Franklin into bed for the night, tells him to remember that the door to the closet is more than it appears to be.

-The door is more than it appears to be. It separates who you are from who you can be. You do not have to walk through it. You can run.

-Future Franklin then starts saying his goodbyes to everyone else. He tells some funny stories about the future to Ben and Johnny. He explains to his parents that the universe is sentient, and that if she realizes there are two Franklins, she won’t be happy. He also tells his parents that Franklin will manifest soon.

-The most touching scene is when Sue and Reed, right before Future Franklin leaves, confess that they always have doubts about their parenting. They ask him is they do a good job, and Franklin tells them that they do a perfect job. Seconds later, he fades away, possibly back to the future.

[c · Rating 3 out of 5]

at the end (of the main portion) of Hickman's run on Fantastic Four and all in all I did love it. of course I'll have to hold final thoughts until I finish Secret Wars but that's still a little ways away for me. if you compiled the average rating I gave these books individually it'd probably work out to something like 3.5/5 but with the big picture *mostly* clear to me now I would bump that to a 4/5 overall. a little messy due to a lot of time being dedicated to, in my opinion, very goofy side plots with no real character development of furthering of the overarching plot arc, but when this run goes into all-wheel drive it really starts to hum. Hickman came into this story with an already very good understanding of these characters as well as an understanding of what he wanted to explore with them, and it just got better and better as he spent more time with them over the course of his run. really enjoyed overall and I'm kinda sad that I'm pretty much at the finish line! that is except for Time Runs Out (choosing to protect my peace and not read the rest of the Avengers run because frankly I don't really care about the Avengers books 🤷‍♀️) and ultimately Secret Wars, which ya know we'll see!

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Esta reseña aplica tambien a Fantastic Four vol. 6 de Jonathan Hickman.

No se si en mi vida he estado tan satisfecho con una serie de cómics en mi vida. Desde el preámbulo de Millar hasta ahora, me he convertido en un ávido fanatico de los cuatro fantásticos. El manejo de absolutamente todos los personajes me pareció interesante, inclusive los personajes no tan desarrollados y los personajes que Hickman tomaba prestado de otros títulos.

Leer esto en conjunto con FF fue una experiencia que me abrió los ojos al manejo de personajes en diferentes géneros con diferentes intenciones. En Fantastic Four, la trama es más seria y toca temas más adultos, pero como los niños son la figura central de FF, se lleva más suave hasta en lo visual.

Hablando de lo visual, estoy encantado con cada uno de los artistas que pasaron tanto por este como por FF. Desde la portada hasta la última página, se nota el amor y la dedicación que le puso Hickman a la dirección de cada panel y al uso de la narrativa paralela.

Es fundamental leer esto junto con FF, de hecho, es una estupidez si en el ómnibus los capítulos no están intercalados entre cada título.

[Benja Calderon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mientras los demás miembros adultos de la Future Foundation, la clase termina bajo el mando de Johnny Storm, decidido a hacer lo mejor para la Zona NEgativa, ahora que es su legitimo gobernador. Pero las buenas intenciones de este no contemplan muchas variables, incluida la estima del pueblo sobre el antiguo monarca Annihilus

Viajamos tambien a Wakanda, mientras los adultos tratan temas diplomaticos y trascendentales, lo jovenes de la FF recorren el pais africano, sumando un nuevo integrante a sus filas

El conflicto Kree/Inhumans busca ser solucionado de una vez

Bentley toma la decisión más importante para su futuro

Así termina el ciclo de Hickman en el mundo de los 4 Fantasticos, dejandonos una sensación de que con tiempo, paciencia y buena pluma se pueden armar grandes historias en el mundo de los comics

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Fantastic Four writers know that they have to balance cosmic powers and a touch of space opera with the bittersweet drama of the importance of family (and, especially, extended family) in the modern world. Jonathan Hickman ends his run on FF and Fantastic Four with closure where closure is needed, yet plenty of opportunities for future adventure. In doing so, he sets the stage for another amazing run on this series by Matt Fraction (which, of course, I read first. I'm not so good at doing things in order.) A great ending to a series of story arcs that took a while to set up but are highly satisfying -- one that developed some great characters, let overlooked characters get a chance to shine, and answered key questions about the cosmic and alien side of the Marvel Universe.

[Christian Zamora-Dahmen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This last volume of the Future Foundation was simply perfect. It was beautiful in its joy and how much love these characters gave and, in a way, how it forced me as a reader to give back as well.

Volume 3 was a bit disappointing since it depended too much on the main Fantastic Four series. This one stood on its own feet and didn't ask permision to rely on these "second rate" characters who could be just as outstanding as the old Fantastic Four we all know.

I couldn't help being moved over and over again, and it was amazing realizing how much love Jonathan Hickman had for these characters. He made them alive. My only complaint, if any, is that it should have lasted longer.

[Henry Blackwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

The thing I love most about this run is how Hickman writes the dynamics between the family and the characters he has introduced. It’s a real beautiful thing to see, it makes for some of my favourite standalone issues when characters are developed and that’s what most of this trade is - Winding down from the big cataclysmic event that happened at the end of F4 vol 5.

I don’t really have any pointed complaints only praise in that Hickman seems to have been foreshadowing his X-Men run from this point and maybe even earlier which is insane to me. His run on marvel is one of my favourite entries to comics ever and deserves much more praise than it gets.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of this is wrapping up some loose ends from the rest of the run. The actual ending, with the goodbyes from the older Valeria and Franklin, were the highlight. Fantastic Four set up for more stories, but most of this final volume of FF is closing off some character arcs. Bentley comes face to face with the Wizard, we get an epilogue of what happened to Doom, and all of the Fantastic Four get a glimpse at what the future holds for them and what's worth fighting for. It's one of the few times where I think FF is better than the Fantastic Four title, I love the emotional payoff we get here. And that final issue, FF #23? It's a perfect capstone to everything Hickman did in this run.