On the run from SHIELD, the Fantastic Four hide out at Ben’s Aunt Petunia’s farm - but is it haunted by g-g-ghosts?! Sue and Alicia visit a town where everyone forgets everyone, the Four save a stranded alien vessel, and Ben and a dog wake up in a falling house - wass happenin?!
Ryan North’s second Fantastic Four book is not very fantastic unfortunately. I like that the series is still these self-contained science/mystery stories similar to classic Star Trek, rather than the tired trope of superheroes vs supervillains, but the stories in this book don’t really cut it.
The first of the four stories sees Doom trying to solve the problem that got the Four into their current trouble, because apparently Doom cares quite a bit about his goddaughter Valeria. It’s a slow burn of a story and yet it’s also the best one here. I wasn’t that interested in what was happening, and nothing was resolved at the end anyway, but it’s cool to see Doom in action, reminding anyone who needed it just how powerful he is (and why he was so obviously the best candidate for the next MCU big bad). Iban Coello’s art is excellent too - some wonderful splash pages in this one.
North seems to enjoy putting Alicia, Ben’s wife, into stories about mysterious towns with supernatural secrets because he did it in the opening story of the first book and he does it again in the two-part story in this book with Sue. The Fantastic wives investigate a town that has a Twilight Zone-ish atmosphere to it, which sounds compelling but quickly becomes tedious.
Similarly, the stranded alien ship story and Ben and the dog did nothing for me. They’re not badly written or drawn, they’re just not entertaining and failed to hold my attention - they were an unrewarding chore to get through.
So, yeah, Fantastic Four is back to being the dull title it all-too-frequently is after Ryan North’s first promising book. If you enjoyed the first volume in this series, don’t get your hopes up for Fantastic Four, Volume 2: Four Stories About… Zzz…
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