Fantastic Four #8 Review

Written by: Ryan North
Art by: Ivan Fiorelli
Colors by: Jesus Aburtov
Letters by: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Cover art by: Alex Ross
Cover price: $3.99
Release date: June 7, 2023

Fantastic Four #8 finds the Fantastic Four enjoying their time away from the big city when a mysterious force causes local people, and all memory of them, to disappear.

Is It Good?

Fantastic Four #8 is less silly and nonsensical than previous issues in Ryan North’s run, so that’s a provisional positive. Ivan Fiorelli’s art looks fantastic, the action is bright and imaginative, and Jesus Aburtov’s coloring is gorgeous. That said, the story isn’t without its flaws, so at best, this issue is a tentative pick.

When last we left the FF, Dr. Doom came to visit Aunt Petunia’s old farm and incapacitated the FF to gloat(?) before setting off in a time loop to undo what Reed did to the Baxter Building. Failing to unstick the Baxter Building from Time, Dr. Doom went on his merry way, effectively accomplishing nothing.

Now, Reed and Ben are busy gardening while Sue and Johnny practice making complex geometric shapes(?) with their powers. Later, Sue and Alicia head into town and soon realize people are disappearing without anybody noticing or remembering the missing people ever existed.

If this sounds like the same type of Scooby Doo mystery from the first four issues of Ryan North’s run, you’d be correct. Off-duty FF members enter small towns>>strange things happen>>shenanigans ensue. Therefore, the first down point of this issue is Ryan North’s increasingly formulaic approach to the FF on a very small scale. You could argue North is opting to keep the FF grounded and relatable, but this is the Fantastic Four, not a repeating cast from episodes of the Twilight Zone.

Next, the random inclusion of events that appear to have no purpose or sense is quickly becoming another Ryan North hallmark. Why are Sue and Johnny practicing creating complex geometric shapes with their powers? The “Chekhov’s Gun” principle of storytelling suggests that practice will come in handy later in the story, but could North really not think of a less random (read: natural) way of getting Johnny to form complex shapes?

Further, North takes up nearly ten pages to unveil the scope of the mystery by depicting Alicia and Sue walking, talking, and acting confused. That’s a lot of time wasted, and frankly, the issue drags into boredom territory halfway through the development of the mystery. The pacing takes a big hit because readers will get very quickly that something is amiss. There’s no need to drag the possibility of a mystery out in tedious detail.

Look, I don’t like beating up on a title. I love the FF and want to read great adventures starring Marvel’s first family of superheroes, but something needs to change here. When you’re eight issues into a run, and the best North can muster is small-scale, formulaic Scooby-Doo mysteries, with random plot developments, and lopsided pacing, that’s just not good enough.

About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.

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Bits and Pieces

Fantastic Four #8 is a mild improvement over the previous issue but still too far away to be considered a worthy run for Marvel’s first family. The formulaic Scooby Doo mystery in a small town is becoming repetitive, characters take random actions without explanation, and the pacing in this issue is terribly uneven.