Writer: Dan Slott
Artist: Aaron Kuder, Stefano Caselli, Paco Medina
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: April 24, 2019
Review by: Dispatch DCU

Galactus tells it on the mountain, Franklin befriends just about anybody as long as they control flying little demons and an exposé of Dooms scandalous scars all in this week’s Fantastic Four by Dan Slott. Let’s jump in and take a look!

Readers can tell that Slott has been planning, preparing, researching, and simply dying to get his hands on Marvel’s first family since they left to recreate the multiverse (or some crazy $&@$ like that). He brilliantly gets each character so well and makes readers feel like this fantastic family never left. Slott throws Doom, Galactus, and a wedding (an actual wedding with married people Mr. King), and does it flawlessly leaving readers simply wanting more.

The issue opens with Sue guiding fans for the hundredth time why nobody puts baby in the corner, or at least why nobody separates the FF into death boxes while explaining their evil plan. Same thing right? Next, our heroic family escapes while Reed creates a plan to reverse engineer Doom’s own device as a way to free the Devourer of Worlds. Good thing Galactus is an otherworldly being who always keeps his word because after he’s freed, this Big Bang Baby (it’s a Stone Temple Pilots reference) juices up on the power Victor stole and heads out fancy-free and full of life energy. A new Galactic man! Maybe he bumps into Doctor Strange on the way?

The issue concludes with Valeria teleporting the Fantastic Four away in just the nick of time while replacing them with these little demonic creatures from Franklin’s new bestie. All in all, another average day for this fine fantastic family while showing this stage isn’t too big for Slott to handle. This was a great concluding issue that showed the family dynamic while conveying each characters commanding traits so well. It’s not the best place to jump in however, its a great action packed issue for anyone to pick up and a great concluding issue to the Slott’s first FF arc. I highly recommend a look!

In addition, the panel layouts were strategically well placed and amazingly easy to follow. Readers will never once get confused as to where to go next. The lettering was spot on and emphasized each key moment throughout the escape as well as their battle with Doom perfectly. The art teams use of bright purples helped capture the reader’s eye and extenuated the importance of each battle. Often times, readers forget just how immensely powerful Galactus is but this creative team helped drive that point home, especially towards the end of the issue with each splash page. This was truly an amazing issue all around for this entire creative team.

Final Thoughts:

Dan Slott does a fantastic job wrapping up this arc with a classic FF feel while weaving his own unique spin on Marvel’s first family. The issue was fun and engaging with a hint of the familiar FF banter sprinkled throughout that was clever, clear, and informative. After following Slott’s run through all 9 issues, it seems like the Fantastic Four are in good hands… at least until Galactus shows up again! Pick this issue up. And while you’re at it, go pick up the other 8 too!

9.0/10