Fantastic Four #11 Review

Written by: Ryan North
Art by: Iban Coello
Colors by: Jesus Aburtov
Letters by: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Cover art by: Alex Ross
Cover price: $3.99
Release date: September 6, 2023

Fantastic Four #11 finds Ben Grimm falling down a bottomless pit with a dog.

Is Fantastic Four #11 Good?

In the totality of Ryan North’s trouble run, Fantastic Four #11 may be the cleanest, clearest, most accessible issue yet for what (I think ) Ryan North’s trying to do. Working strictly on observation, North uses each episode of the FF to deliver a science lesson wrapped in the context of a superhero adventure. In this case, the lesson works when most of North’s attempts thus far have not. That’s not to say this issue is a rousing success, but it’s the least clunky and convoluted.

North’s script centers on Ben Grimm suddenly finding himself falling down a bottomless pit with Aunt Petunia’s house and a small dog that’s pestered him for a week. Ben uses his pilot training to build a homemade wind speed indicator to figure out whether or not his unending freefall is real, leading him to conclude he’s under the illusion influence of Miracle Man.

You never get any setup or explanation as to why Miracle Man is robbing Aunt Petunia’s house or how he knew the FF was there in the first place, but ultimately, it doesn’t matter. North uses the issue to explain the mechanics of aerodynamics and wind speed in a way that makes sense for the paper-thin setup.

Perhaps that’s why this issue works better than the previous ones. By scaling back the science lesson to Middle School Science Class levels, North is able to present the science accurately and practically without tripping over the misunderstandings he displayed in the previous issues (Remember the time differential debacle and the silly sun-blocking plan? Oy!). North just can’t handle complex science ideas, so maybe restricting his object lessons to Mr. Wizard’s levels of science is more his speed.

What’s great about this Fantastic Four #11? Throughout the issue, Ben is pestered by a stray dog whom he adamantly does not want any part of. To North’s credit, the dog slowly but surely wins Ben over in an organic, heartwarming bit of relationship development. The dog has the potential to be a welcome addition to Marvel’s first family.

What’s not so great about Fantastic Four #11? The plot, if you can call it that, is rice paper thin. A villain shows up without warning, puts the whammy on the FF, and randomly searches for something valuable to steal. Most Sunday morning comic strips have more plot development than this comic. If the goal is to use the FF as a medium for delivering science lessons to kids, that’s fine, but put a little more effort into the wrapping, for Aunt Petunia’s sake.

How’s the art? Overall, Coello and Aburtov’s art looks fantastic (no pun intended) until you get to the last page. What the heck happened to Ben Grimm’s head in the last panel? Oy, again!

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 #11 is the first issue in Ryan North’s run where he successfully delivers a science experiment object lesson wrapped in an FF adventure. The experiment makes sense for Ben’s predicament and shows that North can communicate scientific concepts as long as he doesn’t get too complicated.