Fantastic Four #12 Review

Written by: Ryan North
Art by: Iban Coello
Colors by: Jesus Aburtov
Letters by: VC’s Ariana Maher
Cover art by: Alex Ross
Cover price: $3.99
Release date: October 4, 2023

Fantastic Four #12 flings the FF through a mysterious portal to wind up on a world strangely similar to our own… except everyone is dinosaurs.

Is Fantastic Four #12 Good?

Yes, this is better. It took nearly twelve issues, but Ryan North is starting to hit a stride by balancing a clear story with the scaled-down version of whatever science lesson he’s trying to teach this month. North finds the science lesson and uses the concept to create a full story with the story taking center stage. Fantastic Four #12 isn’t perfect, but a marked improvement.

When last we left the FF, Ben fell through a series of illusions to ultimately defeat a villain who came to Aunt Petunia’s farm to steal advanced tech. Now, Ben gets a call from a fellow, former Yancy Street Gang member about a strange portal that keeps popping up in the nearby woods. When the FF move to investigate, they’re sucked into the portal to an alternate universe where everyone is exactly the same but in dinosaur form. After an accidental battle and some makeshift language translators, the FF and the dino-Avengers work together to investigate and seal the cause of the portal.

Unfortunately, Doctor dino-Doom has other ideas.

North’s science lesson of the month is centered on Robert Dicke’s discoveries in astrophysics. Don’t worry. The nitty gritty only takes up about a panel, but North dreams up a practical explanation that enhances the story without replacing the story. A key mistake made in most of the previous issues.

What’s great about Fantastic Four #12? Dinosaurs. Who doesn’t love dinosaurs? Everyone loves dinosaurs, and what better way to experience dinosaurs than to have them dress up, talk, and act exactly like the Avengers? North tries to have fun with the concept, and it largely lands. Overall, North does a better job with the dino-Avengers than DC did with the Jurassic League.

What’s not so great about Fantastic Four #12? For what it is, practically nothing beyond several nitpicks. I’ve given North plenty of grief about his run, rightfully so, but when an issue works, it works. North is swinging for a fun story, and it largely works.

How’s the art? Great except for one glaring problem. Briefly in the last issue and now fully in this issue, Iban Coello forgot that Ben Grimm has a neck. For some inexplicable reason, Coello now depicts Ben’s head as a round bowling bowl sitting on a flat surface, and it looks weird in a cartoony way. Why did Coello suddenly choose to change Ben’s design?

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 #12 eases back on the clunky (sometimes incorrect) science lesson for a fun story about the dino-Avengers from an alternate universe. The plot is clean, clear, and entertaining, and the last-page cliffhanger is solid. Coello’s art is, likewise, excellent except for a bizarre change to Ben’s head.