Fantastic Four, Vol. 3

Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman #3

by Jonathan Hickman, Neil Edwards (Illustrator)

Collects Fantastic Four #579-582. Faced with the death of imagination and growing pandemic of tomorrow fear, Reed Richards takes the future of discovery into his own hands. Think the world is a bad place, everything is going to hell, and the end times are surely around the corner? Not with the Fantastic Four around...

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

106 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 10, 2010

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

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reed Richards assembles promising young minds and forms the Future Foundation. The Human Torch takes Franklin and Leech shopping. The various versions of Nathaniel Richards, Reed's father, are hunting one another through the time stream until only one remains...

Hickman's guiding of Marvel's First Family continues. This time, he plays with B-list Fantastic Four foils like Arcade and Impossible Man. The formation of the Future Foundation sows the seeds for the Future Foundation's own title down the road, as well as giving The Thing something to look forward to every year.

By far, my favorite storyline in the collection was Nathaniel Richards snatching college-agedReed, Ben Grimm, and Victor Von Doom for a jaunt through time to combat another version of himself. Maybe it's because I've been watching a lot of Doctor Who lately but I really dug this story.

Still, it wasn't all peaches and gravy. Dale Eaglesham is gone, replaced by the not-quite-as-good Neil Edwards. Just as with the previous two volumes, it feels a lot more like setup than standalone tales. While I know Hickman's got something huge brewing, I don't know if I have the patience to stick around long enough to see it.

All that being said, I love the sheer amount of ideas Hickman is throwing at me. Even if the pace isn't as fast as I prefer, the man knows the Fantastic Four. 3 stars.

[Artemy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This just keeps getting better. The third volume is still mostly buildup, but the final issue was awesome and absolutely insane at the same time. Can't wait to see what's coming next! (Although I do know at least one huge spoiler from the next book).

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I continue my run on Fantastic Four and, have we finally hit the great volume that will change James's mind and see the greatness? No. But we're getting better.

This volume has a few stories all coming together. Johnny takes the kids to the store to grab some new toys, Reed builds the foundation of geniuses to solve problems he can not alone, and we get a little flash back of Reed and his father back in Reed's younger days where they team up with young doom. All of this happens, as always, in just a short little graphic novel.

Good: I really enjoy the human moments with Johnny and the kids, Reed with his foundation, and even sue with her daughter from the future at the end. The big twist at the end was fucked up and leads to exciting ideas. I also enjoyed the Grimm moment and it made me so happy to see his reaction.

Bad: The story can still be convoluted as shit. Some things happening in the background seem to build but no explanation. The art seemed kind of iffy here, some moments kind of ugly which is very odd.

Overall this was fun but not amazing. I really want to love this series, and so far it's good, but I want great. Still, it's ramping up so we shall see. A 3.5 out of 5.

[Donovan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm progressively getting worse at keeping track of what's happening because A. it's crazy, and B. I'm just enjoying it. Multiversal Nathaniel Richards in a death battle with himself, time traveling, Doom, and the fascinating Nu-World. Yeah. If that doesn't sell it...

[Jesse A · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slightly weaker, more convoluted volume. Still mostly having fun with this series though

[RG · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little step step down from the previous volumes. I felt like Hickman got caught up in too many time jumps.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating - Reed rips apart something he created ten years ago and creates a new mind-bending replacement, Reed's father comes back on a universe-altering quest, and the kidlings come from the future on an incredible mission. And Johnny & kids battle an old (sad) foe. Lots of great threads left open for further great storytelling.

Hickman continues to warp FF reality with a lot of wonderful ideas, and weaves them into a plot building towards foreshadowed, bigger things. I *think* Nathaniel's appearance is tied to the SHIELD: Architects of Forever storyline, but I don't remember enough of the details to be able to tie it together.

I love how Reed gives a group of genius kids no-limits learning opportunities and they attack one of the chronic challenges of the FF universe. It's touching and surprising.

This Nu-World storyline was weird enough that I finally had to google it - found out it was a recent addition by Millar, and that it's something Hickman is trying to tie off like a gangrenous limb.

The art as always is great - not quite as imaginative as previous volumes but it more than makes up for it in dynamism. The action and perspectives are so fluid and evocative - makes me feel like I'm watching from a big-screen theater.

[Subham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was quite good! Its the foundation and beginning of future foundation, a think tank of youngsters that Reed believes is the future of Humanity and the way he goes about it is fascinating and also the recruitment and then Johnny and Franklin go for a shopping spree which was cute and running into villains and all, and the other one is Nathaniel telling Reed of the multiversal hunt he has been involve din and so young Reed, Doom and Be must team up to take out his counterpart and save him, meanwhile strange stuff happens with Adult Val and Franklin and so man more revelations happening and the entire run is coming together like a picture!

I like how this volume connects everything but at the same time has the idea of a family and fathers and sons and the price of intelligence and looking at the future and also the art is just solid, each panel a delight to look into and great stuff with Johnny for sure!

[Sesana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hm. The first couple of issues were just ok. I kind of feel like anyone who wants to use Arcade in a storyline at this point should just re-examine their life choices. The second half is a strange, cross-time thing with Reed's dad recruiting college age Reed, Ben, and Doom to help him defeat his alternate reality self. Which is about as confusing as it sounds, even though I did like it quite a bit. It probably helped that Doom could show up and be hilariously arrogant.

[Ronyell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Introduction:

After reading the first two volumes of Jonathan Hickman’s highly acclaimed “Fantastic Four” series, I was a little skeptical about reading more from this series because:

a) The stories in the first two volumes were confusing to me and I thought that I would never get into the stories no matter how many volumes I have read from this series.

b) I did not quite enjoy the second volume as much as the first volume, so I was not sure if I was going to enjoy the direction this series was going.

But, I went on to read the third volume of “Fantastic Four” and I actually enjoyed it way more than the second volume! It seems that the events that happened in the first two volumes are starting to come together and we will start seeing massive changes happening to the Fantastic Four!

What is this story about?

The story starts off with Reed Richards deciding to start a school for young gifted students called the Future Foundation while Susan Storm was off to the Four Cities acting as Earth’s diplomat. Meanwhile, Johnny Storm takes Franklin to the toy store only to run into an old enemy Arcade while at the same time, Valerie offers a cure to Ben for his rock form! While all of this is going on, Nathaniel Richards, Reed Richards’ father, time travels to Reed’s past in order to receive his help in defeating a mass murderer while also receiving help from none other than a younger version of Dr. Doom!

What I loved about this story:

Jonathan Hickman’s writing: Once again, Jonathan Hickman had done an excellent job at writing the relationships between the characters and trying to set up a much larger story in the future. I loved seeing the relationship between Johnny Storm and Franklin Richards as they have a love-hate relationship with each other and every time those two are involved in any kind of adventures, you can bet that the adventures will definitely be hilarious! Probably the story that really caught my interest was about Valerie possibly finding a cure for Ben Grimm as I rarely see a “Fantastic Four” story line where it focuses on Ben Grimm possibly being cured of his rock form and I really cannot wait to see where Jonathan Hickman is going to take this plot in the future volumes. I also loved the way that Jonathan Hickman portrayed Reed Richards’ character as Reed is shown being intelligent and doing everything in his power to save the world and I am loving the idea about Reed opening up a school for intelligent students, which I cannot wait to see whether or not the students will play a major role in the future “Fantastic Four” stories.

Neil Edwards’ artwork: Even though I preferred Dale Eaglesham’s artwork from the previous “Fantastic Four” volumes, Neil Edwards had done a great job at detailing the characters’ facial expressions and I loved the shadowing on the characters’ faces whenever they have dark thoughts about the situations at hand. I also loved the images of the buildings as they look truly realistic and my favorite image of the buildings was when Spider-Man was briefly seen swinging on the buildings!

What made me feel uncomfortable about this story:

One of the main issues I was having with Jonathan Hickman’s run on “Fantastic Four” was that every time I read a volume from this series, there is just too much going on and I get way too confused with what is going on in the story. I would have preferred it if the volume focused on one storyline and then wrap that singular story arc into the next volume so that way each volume would make much more sense. Also, the reason why I gave this volume a four star rating was because there are many slow scenes that I slightly bored me and I was waiting to see some kind of action happen to the characters. Also, there is some violence and language in this volume, although it is not as bad as something you would read out of any Vertigo or Image comic book.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “Fantastic Four Volume Three” is a step up from the previous volume as everything is starting to come into place and I cannot wait to see how things will unfold in the future volumes!

Review is also on: Rabbit Ears Book Blog

[Michael Emond · Rating 2 out of 5]

What happened? Volume 1 and I am all "so fresh! this is a great new take on FF the oldest of super-hero groups! Yay, Hickman!!
Volume 2 and I was...um okay ...feels like he is building up to something but doing a bad job advancing the story in an entertaining way.
Now this volume and I am - maybe volume 1 was the outlier. Maybe Hickman doesn't know how to write an entertaining story that makes any sense. Two of the issues focus on Reed's dad Nathaniel Richards and the fact that all the alternative Nathaniels have been killed by one Nathaniel because a super being told them "fight it out!" and only one other Nathaniel remains and he goes into the past to recruit Reed, Ben (the future Thing) and Doctor Doom before he was super evil (just arrogant). While I thought the counsel of Reeds (all the alternative reality of Reed Richards) was a cool idea in volume one - already Hickman is repeating his magic trick. And in the stand alone episodes - one is the lamest of lame stories with the Torch babysitting Franklin and running into Arcade and the Impossible man. It was such a lazy story I was shocked. It would have fit right into the bad writing of a 50's DC comic book. The other "stand alone" issue was an incoherent mess of future daughter talking to her mom Sue Richards - while we got incomprehensible flashes to Nu-Earth (I still don't understand what that is 3 issues in). Hickman is playing around with realities, alternative dimensions, and past/future. Which in and of itself isn't horrible but he is not a capable enough writer to allow the reader to understand what is going on. A little mystery is exciting - when NOTHING makes sense it is frustrating and off putting.
This is a badly written volume. I am turned off of Hickman. Boo!

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I continue my run on Fantastic Four and, have we finally hit the great volume that will change James's mind and see the greatness? No. But we're getting better.

This volume has a few stories all coming together. Johnny takes the kids to the store to grab some new toys, Reed builds the foundation of geniuses to solve problems he can not alone, and we get a little flash back of Reed and his father back in Reed's younger days where they team up with young doom. All of this happens, as always, in just a short little graphic novel.

Good: I really enjoy the human moments with Johnny and the kids, Reed with his foundation, and even sue with her daughter from the future at the end. The big twist at the end was fucked up and leads to exciting ideas. I also enjoyed the Grimm moment and it made me so happy to see his reaction.

Bad: The story can still be convoluted as shit. Some things happening in the background seem to build but no explanation. The art seemed kind of iffy here, some moments kind of ugly which is very odd.

Overall this was fun but not amazing. I really want to love this series, and so far it's good, but I want great. Still, it's ramping up so we shall see. A 3.5 out of 5.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

[review for volumes 1-4]
I've not been a huge Hickman fan. I think my first conscious exposure to his writing was Infinity, which seemed unnecessarily confusing. Around the same time, I was struggling with East of West and Manhattan Projects and I realized the connection between the three. His ideas are very high concept, reminiscent of Grant Morrison (who also consistently confuses me), but he isn't able to execute them as successfully as Morrison, who usually manages to balance character development more effectively while totally baffling us plebes with his high concepts.
However, this doesn't happen here. Hickman's run on FF is some of the best writing for the series I've read (I'm through volume 4 so far, and still reading). Reed is a perfect outlet for Hickman's high concepts and because Richards's personality is well-established, it keeps those ideas in balance with the character development.
[Spoilers] Johnny Storm's "death" in volume 4 is moving and emotional, and Hickman builds to it perfectly. I'm looking forward to reading more!

[Connor · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a lot going on here and not many conclusions. It all feels like storylines that are starting only "to be continued". It's alright I guess. Reed Richards starts a new group of smart kids to figure out things he can't. The Human Torch takes some kids to a toy store. There's some confusing future stuff with the Fantastic children. A college-aged Reed, his friend Ben Grimm, and Victor Von Doom help one version of his dad fight another version in the future.

[Brandon Daniels · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still good. Still building to what it will end up becoming though. The art is still a mixed bag.

Make sure you follow along with the correct reading g order of this series; it’s tricky.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Things are heating up now! With a lot of the setup and groundwork out of the way, Hickman really leaps forward in this volume. Now we've got time traveling multiverse dads, parallel worlds aging at accelerated rates, pocket universes protected from the timestream, and a lot of other massive, potentially untenable ideas being issued forth by Hickman as fast as he can. It's a lot to process, but it really feels like it's all moving towards something even cooler and more interesting than what it already is. There's still a slight feeling of setup in this volume, but in general this one has much more forward momentum than volume 2.

I'm sad to see artist Dave Eaglesham go, as Neil Edwards perfectly competent art just doesn't seem to carry the same weight this time around. It doesn't detract from the story, but Eaglesham's actively added so much that it's hard not to notice a drop in quality.

Also, there are a couple of moments of corniness in this volume that I was surprised by. A story about Johnny and Franklin teaming up with someone named "Impossible Man" (a character I personally have never heard of and thought seemed super duper lame) to take down Arcade read like it was going to be some kind of satirical commentary on consumerism or something, but ended up just being a dumb ole fight in a toy store. It felt like it did not at all fit within this imaginative, expansive world Hickman has been creating.

So, those few minor problems aside, this one is a challenging but worthwhile read. You really have to pay attention to everything the future people say (and maybe even reread it) if you're going to hope to cling to this plotline, but I found this to be pretty rewarding. Looking forward to what's next for Hickman's Fantastic Four.

[Emmett Spain · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit convoluted, but I get the feeling that it will all pay off nicely in the end. The best part was early on when Reed is taking his fellow academics to task for letting their politics dictate their thinking, and their fear shrink the scope of their ambition. It was really effective. Below is a short sample that I felt was worth transcribing:

"Here, at the end of human history, we sit on the verge of a transformative time. Never have we lived longer, eaten better, worked less, or possessed more things. We are more advanced than any species that has ever walked the Earth, and now, with our Promethean urge truly unleashed, we stand on the precipice of scientific marvels that will catapult us into the new millennium. Despite all this, evidence presented here suggests that most of you have never been more pessimistic for our future. You fear tomorrow.

"Throughout the day, the shock of this mindset has turned to disappointment, and finally now to anger ... specifically because of people like you, Dr. Clarke. 'One Billion: The Optimum Population of Humanity' is the narrow vision of a dying man. Preserve everything ... do whatever it takes to hang on a little longer. It's the speech of a coward, Douglas. The future of man is not one billion of us fighting over limited resources on a soon-to-be-dead planet, but one trillion human beings spanning an entire galaxy. The future of man is not here ... it is out there."

Love it.

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally a volume worth reading.

[Adam Spanos · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of the meat of this volume starts to delve deeper into the time-travel stuff that would have a big impact going forward in Hickman's excellent run.

The volume kicks off with Reed telling a room full of scientists that he's walking away from the convention he started because they just weren't forward-thinking enough for him (which captures his personality perfectly) before giving Johnny and Ben an adventure with Impossible Man that was a lot of fun. We also get Reed having some fascinating conversations with The Wizzard before getting into the whole "future Franklin and Valeria Richards coming back in time" bit. Personally I think the comic book trope of people coming from the future to change the present gets overdone after a while, but Hickman pulls it off well here.

[Myles Likes Tacos and Rice · Rating 5 out of 5]

More buildup in Hickman's run, focus here is on Reed and the Kids. Also some amazing time travel in this one

Side note: The trades don't have the 4 point intros that they have in the single issues, which I think helps if you don't have that much F4 knowledge

[Trevor Dailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some wonderful timey wimey-Ness. Ready for the finale.

[Kevin Morrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

The future Richards stuff gives me a headache but everything involving Reed’s dad and the cure for the Thing has me riveted and invested. Also really fun story with Franklin, Leech, and the Human Torch!

[Gavin · Rating 3 out of 5]

First 2 stories, not really my cup of tea, at all. Boring in quite a few ways, too many little kids running around. The last 2 stories were much better. They focus on the past, when Reed/Ben/Doom were all in college together, and an appearance from Nathaniel Richards, Reed's father, and the adventure they get into together. It also coincides with the future versions of Franklin and Valeria who move back and forth across time...a little odd, but I recall it from Vol 1. Still a little nuts that they have no problem with future versions interacting with past/present versions...
This isn't too bad a collection but still not essential.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reed establishes the "Future Foundation" of young and gifted minds to tackle science problem, while some time-travelling shenanigans include a manhunt of the multiverse and the rewriting of reality. Here we have Reed at some of his most villainous, which I don't think was intended. No one should be favourably comparing themselves to Colombus! And the approach of fixing 'people', individually, is kind of disrespectful. Looking to people as problems to be solved, young children as experiments to prove your skill, all of that. It comes across often here as a heroic, ambitious, powerful thing, but it's a dangerous road and there isn't a self-awareness to it here.

[Bader Al Shirawi · Rating 3 out of 5]

It really picks up at the end. I mean, that toy store issue with Johnny was pretty meh. But then it got back to the main story and We got to see Reed's dad! Yes, the story contains time traveling and I really hope it doesn't reach to the degree where it gets confusing.

The highlight of this volume is seeing the teenage version of Dr.Doom.

Bring on volume 4!

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another phenomenal volume by Hickman. The story of Nathaniel Richards (581-582) is the height, especially Val and Franklin's heroism at the end. However everything is great ... except maybe Franklin and Johnny vs. Arcade and the Impossible Man.

[Benja Calderon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vemos como luego de sentirse defraudado por los resultados de la Conferencia Singularidad, con estudios poco ambiciosos, Reed decide dar termino al financiamiento de esta y decide comenzar una nueva iniciativa: La Fundacion del Futuro, aprovechando como de a poco la Torre Baxter se ha ido transformando en hogar de talentosos jovenes

Franklin se va sintiendo desplazado por la FF, debiendo salir con su tio Johnny enfrentandose a un clásico rival del universo Marvel. Mientras la FF decide cual es su primer proyecto: curar a Ben Grimm

Viajamos tambien en el tiempo y vemos a Nathaniel Richards con un Franklin y una Valeria del futuro donde empiezan a tramar lo que les depara y como pueden lograr cambiar el futuro que parece inminente

Este volument ambien cuenta con una historia que uno a Nathaniel con un joven Reed con su amigo Ben y tambien un joven Victor Von Doom

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este volumen trata sobre el futuro y como mirarlo. Según como lo veas, así será la naturaleza de las soluciones que quieras implementar para resolver esos problemas que tenemos hoy. Enseñando que el futuro es inevitable, pero según como nos preparemos podemos sobrevivirlo o superarlo. Aunque te muestra ambas, el título de esta serie es Cuatro Fantásticos y por ende te impulsa a buscar la solución más humanitaria y revolucionaria en vez de la más pesimistas y precavida.

Me encantan los niños de los Richards. Quizás porque estoy en esa edad de querer ser padre. Y esto también habla de ser padre. Reed como esposo siempre tuvo problemas de atención con Susan pero ella es adulta y lo entiende. Los niños lo ven diferente y lo que a mitad del libro parece una aventura de relleno, se vuelve parte esencial de la narración al final.

[Hrishi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Must admit I am losing faith a little bit. The story is convoluted, the timey wimey is intense (and I say this with love as a Doctor Who fan) and the whole shtick of warnings from the future and Franklin waiting in the far future is getting old, because fortunately or not, I have read Secret Wars already.

The Future Foundation stuff is interesting, but the Four Cities and Far Future stuff lost me at certain points. The writing and art are excellent of course, but it is the plot that is making this a hard read for me.

Still intending to read the full run, but I reserve the right to tap out!

[Camilo Guerra]

Ja, mira tu...el texto promocional hablaba de una pandemia de miedo, y escribo esto en plena cuarentena de Coronavirus, pero aca, esta Mr Fantastic que sabe que la apuesta es dificil pero toca pelear, toca hacer cosas, intentar ser mejor, y todo el concepto de la Fundacion Futuro queda mas definido, Valeria es EL personaje y estalla de una manera genial, mientras tenemos un inmensisisimo Steve Epting en los lapices, que tipo para dibujar tan bien !!!, Su Doom sin hacer mucho acojona y da miedo, sus sombroas, sus diseños, que tipo para ser un artista en mayusculas.