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Millar and Hitch take over FANTASTIC FOUR

 
  

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Hallo, Paper Spaceboy
00:41 / 16.02.08
Maybe I am alone. I mean -- incidental time-travel? People gossiping about the Fantastic Marriage? The big reveal at the end (thought it did remind me of Douglas Adams)? Ben Grimm, smooth operator? Bullets hitting an invisible force field? DUDE.
 
 
matthew.
01:44 / 16.02.08
I certainly won't call 554 a masterpiece. But I also won't call it terrible. It was satisfactory.
 
 
Hallo, Paper Spaceboy
01:49 / 16.02.08
Well, it's not a masterpiece, but it's fun and pop-tastic.
 
 
Alex's Grandma
01:51 / 16.02.08
Is it just me or is Hitch's pencils sort of rushed-looking?

Not to say that, matthew.

Unless you want to drive the poor man back into the dark place from which, by some accounts, he's only recently emerged, after the end of 'The Ultimates' volume 2.

Well, maybe you do. But there's a human being on the receiving end somewhere, if he's up late, and morbidly Googling himself.

Even if Bryan Hitch is an early riser, the above comments seem likely to sour a morning stroll with the labrador, the charming wife, and the handsome kids. You wouldn't want him, seething, to turn on them, would you?

Or again, maybe you would.

Anyway, Mark! Millar! seems to be trying to do 'Joycore' comics here, and I don't know if it suits him. The black ooze in what passes for hs soul is presumably being catered for in 'Kick-Ass'; why would he bother with anything else?

This issue of 'The Fantastic Four' reads like the work of a man who is trying to convince his wife and children that he is not a dangerous lunatic. I do applaud him for that, as would the police and social services, but still, is it all that all that as far as the narrative goes? Has Mark run out of steam?

('A buster' incidentally, is the worst thing a player can be called in 'Grand Theft Auto, San Andreas'. It's harsher than being described as a Melon Farmer.)
 
 
FinderWolf
02:14 / 16.02.08
I thought this was fun, entertaining - and yes, it was refreshing to see Millar try to do joycore. The end was indeed very Douglas Adams; Sue's charity foundation is a cool subplot idea... and I enjoyed Johnny's one-liner upon the family's return from the wacky vacation.

The spread of the Thing and Reed playing FantasiCar with the kids reminded me of something Kirby would have done/drawn - the composition of it too, in many ways. So that was fun.

Reed's reconstituted DoomBot helpers were amusing as well. So far, a decent start to the run.
 
 
Hallo, Paper Spaceboy
02:22 / 16.02.08
On some level -- and, sure, maybe Grandma has a point -- it was just pleasant to see a Millar who doesn't immediately make all the characters reprehensibly bad-ass. It felt fun, and it's one of the comics this week that I feel like rereading.
 
 
Alex's Grandma
02:44 / 16.02.08
The spread of the Thing and Reed playing FantasiCar with the kids

The Mark Millar I know might have approached this scene in a different way.
 
 
Hallo, Paper Spaceboy
02:48 / 16.02.08
The thing, character-wise, that struck me as off was Reed delivering his speech to the kids in the classroom. He's got kids, and even if he isn't always as mindful of their needs as he could be, he can figure out how to relate to them if he thinks about it.
 
 
Alex's Grandma
03:03 / 16.02.08
Obviously, it would have been a disaster if The Thing was listlessly at himself, while Mr Fantastic gathered the children up into his inescapable arms, but if Mark Millar isn't going to write that sort of thing any more, because he hav met that Angie Jolie, and so on, what's the point of his career?
 
 
FinderWolf
03:40 / 16.02.08
>> The thing, character-wise, that struck me as off was Reed delivering his speech to the kids in the classroom. He's got kids, and even if he isn't always as mindful of their needs as he could be, he can figure out how to relate to them if he thinks about it.

True, this struck me as well - although I figured that there are often jokes made about Reed's cluelessness when he gets wrapped in his intellectual diversions, so I figured this was just Millar stretching it a bit too far (honestly, no pun intended) so he could have his joke in the scene; that the Thing is the one who has to pull Reed back to reality, what needs to be done, etc. etc.
 
 
The Natural Way
10:08 / 16.02.08
I'd rather read Batman, but this was alright. Somehow, although quite a lot did happen, it did feel a little slight. I guess, perhaps, because, like Iron Man over in another thread, I prefer my comics a little more modular. I mean, I like an overarching narrative to plug into but an issue does need to stand on its own as a good story.
 
 
Hallo, Paper Spaceboy
16:33 / 16.02.08
True, this struck me as well - although I figured that there are often jokes made about Reed's cluelessness when he gets wrapped in his intellectual diversions, so I figured this was just Millar stretching it a bit too far (honestly, no pun intended) so he could have his joke in the scene; that the Thing is the one who has to pull Reed back to reality, what needs to be done, etc. etc.

I think I could get behind this more if the speech he was giving didn't seem -- and, forgive me, it's not in my hands at the moment -- like he was mostly talking about costs and economic issues relating to super-science, rather than the science itself.
 
 
Hallo, Paper Spaceboy
21:15 / 12.03.08
#555, the second issue of the Millar/Hitch run, is out today. It continues at pretty much the same level as the first, though for some reason Millar can't be bothered to introduce characters who will presumably be major ones.

I'm wondering if the Sue and Johnny subplots are just dormant threads to pick up in their own individual arcs.

Hitch's style's been changing so far, and it actually reminds me tangentially of Steve Dillon in some places. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

A couple more fun little moments but I look forward to actual adventuring.
 
 
Mark Parsons
22:39 / 12.03.08
I'm enjoying the new run immensely, although I also look FWD to some explodo & fisticuffs. The Hitch art keeps giving me ULTIMATES flashbacks, which is not a bad thing, but it is an odd thing, at least for me. I would be interested to see him inked with a less scratchy/photorealistic style.

Nu World, despite it's 1990s prefix, is way cool, esp when illoed with Hitch's level of design and detail.
 
 
Triplets
22:49 / 12.03.08
I would be interested to see him inked with a less scratchy/photorealistic style.

You can find a good example of that in one of the Amalgam Universe stories from the nein-ties. It's quite odd if you got into Hitch via Ultimates. Thinking about it, it reminds me somewhat of Ed McGuinesses style, only with more detail and adherence to realistic proportion.

This isn't a dig at McG's sometimes stumpt-armed heroes. They wouldn't be able to punch back. It wouldn't be fair.
 
 
matthew.
17:43 / 13.03.08
New issue's pretty good. Hitch's pencils on non-humans are spectacular, his work on people is flat and suffering from sameness. So far I'm entertained by this introductory arc. Moar, I say.
 
 
Mark Parsons
07:58 / 15.03.08
What amalgam tales did Hitchy do in the nein-ties (daalek voice)?
 
 
Mark Parsons
08:04 / 15.03.08
Off topic/Hitch/McGuiness >>> Evil Ed is illustrating a story I co-wrote in MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS (issue 9/April, IIRC). It's an alt.world hulk-tale. If you follow Ed or MCP, drop me a PM and let me know what you thought of the story.
 
 
Hallo, Paper Spaceboy
16:18 / 15.03.08
Hitch drew the second X-Patrol one-shot, which was called...Exciting X-Patrol. It was the one with the X-Patrol fighting Brother Brood, and was pretty smooth all told. I remember thinking at the time that he was a bit of an Alan Davis clone.
 
 
Hallo, Paper Spaceboy
04:41 / 15.08.08
So, I really don't know if anyone's still reading this run (really, honestly, wait for the trade seems plugged right into the very essence of the thing), but things have been slowly looking up with the last couple issues -- the opening of the second arc, "The Death of the Invisible Woman." The cliff-hanger for the second part, for example, really through me for a loop and I'm genuinely interested in where this is going, even though I forget about it between issues a lot of the time and if you try to read one individual chapter it doesn't -- you know -- amount to anything.
 
 
FinderWolf
14:52 / 15.08.08
I've been reading it, and it is very enjoyable. I remember reading Millar's Ultimate FF run and thinking that he showed a great sense of how to work with the characters -- less Millar-isms and more quality storytelling, imbued with the sense of fun that is to be found in the best Lee/Kirby and the best Byrne FF stuff.

Haven't read the newest issue yet, though picked it up yesterday. Very curious to see who the new nanny really is, and who Ben Grimm's new girlfriend is really working for/why she's reporting to shadowy figures.

I really like Hitch's concept of 'no lined panel borders'. And Hitch's art is smooth and goes down easy here.
 
 
Hallo, Paper Spaceboy
15:01 / 15.08.08
While I still miss the adventuring, we get a bit off the cuff -- starting out in the past, and Reed's sidetrip to the end of the Universe -- but this Four are starting to be a little too reactive for my tastes, though the story seems quick to point out this is one of their "downtimes" between Grand Adventures. Which I like. Some of the dialogue clunks (particularly Ben's use of "awesome," which felt a little off), but for the most part it's snappy.

The mystery of Valeria is probably the most interesting thing to happen so far, but it's kept off to the side. It does feel, though, that this run has a Purpose, an overarching plot that all the smaller four-issue arcs contribute to. Sue hasn't done a lot so far but I'm hoping that changes. Johnny's got a fair amount of spotlight and I think Millar handles him quite well as the superhero Paris Hilton (who has layers, even if they're a little thin).
 
 
Hallo, Paper Spaceboy
16:45 / 25.09.08
Latest issue is out. I'm really starting to enjoy this run a lot. I guessed the twist but I still liked it, and the relevation of Doctor Banner was nice as well. I think I like Hitch's super-people crowd scenes more when he's designing the characters and their costumes. I'd probably love a comic about the New Defenders and their history.

Interesting that this run manages to feel decompressed and compressed at the same time, at least to me.

And Millar's actually doing a decent job of seeding the story with future plot developments -- I imagine the mystery of Ben Grimm's girlfriend won't resolve until the Thing-centric arc -- but I still want him to use Sue more. She got some activity this time 'round but she could do with more.

And I love She-Hulk stepping in, of course. History, history.
 
  

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