100 years in the future, Marvel’s flagship team returns to action… but are they ready for the future? Your Major Spoilers Retro Review of Fantastic Four 2099 #1 awaits!

FANTASTIC FOUR 2099 #1

Writer: Karl Kesel
Penciler: Rick Leonardi
Inker: Al Williamson
Colorist: Paul Becton; Malibu (computer color)
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Editor: Joey Cavalieri
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.95
Current Near-Mint Pricing: $4.00
Release Date: November 28, 1995

Previously in Fantastic Four 2099: The 2099 imprint started with a core set of titles: Spider-Man 2099, Doom 2099, Punisher 2099, and Ravage 2099. Each was relatively independent within the shared universe, with only Doom containing a direct link (maybe) to the contemporaneous Marvel Universe. The line was a moderate success, which led to additional characters that linked to the past (like Hulk 2099), and titles that were future-vamps of existing books (like X-Men 2099). Sadly, the “alternate universes matter less” rule was still in effect, leading to Doom taking over the United States of 2099 to change the status quo, which didn’t really go as well as planned. Of course, once you have a Doom, can an FF be far behind?

Inside the truly hideous foil cover, which, don’t get me wrong, features some nice art by Rick Leonardi and the late Al Williamson, but is just a shiny garish mess otherwise, we find an overloading machine of unknown type and origin, a device which explodes to reveal a familiar quartet of faces. The Fantastic Four find themselves in the Negative Zone, but before they can figure out why (or how they’ve been dressed in new, different costumes), a group of insectoid aliens arrives, chasing a girl.

The team makes short work of her attackers and introduces themselves to the girl, who calls herself Chimera. Their access to transport back to reality thrills her, but things aren’t any better once Reed transports them back to his lab at Four Freedoms Plaza.

This whole sequence illustrates (pun intended) my biggest problem with this particular book; The team of Leonardi and Williamson feels very ill-matched. Rick’s looser pencils don’t want to be constrained by Al’s precise inks, to the detriment of both styles, as seen in The Thing’s face in panel two. The realization that their lab is occupied is nothing compared to the surprise of finding that the ENTIRE BUILDING has been co-opted, but Reed manages to hotwire a Fantasticar, Johnny burns a hole in the blast doors, and Ben launches into the skies.. of 2099!

But their exit is being monitored.

That imperious gentleman is Hikaru, the CEO of Stark-Fujikawa, one of the corrupt corporations that control the world of 2099, who has already menaced both Spider-Man and Doom in their own books previously. As advanced as Reed’s technology is for the present day of 1996, it’s not up the task of evading the Public Eye, leading to a very public shoot-down of the erstwhile FF. The team is separated in the crash, with Sue crashing into the sewers, menaced by a strange man who seems willing to kill her if it profits him. Johnny and Chimera are unaccounted for, while Reed and Ben land Downtown. Escaping a couple of would-be thieves and/or murderers, we see the delicate interplay of a pair of old friends.

Reed is in shock, horrified at the possibility that this is the future, while Ben carefully distracts him with humor, reinforces their identities, and basically holds his pal together while he’s at the point of collapse. It’s a lovely little moment in an issue that’s mostly bombast, and it stands out for me. Knowing in retrospect that Fantastic Four 2099 #1 is not only the start of a book that will get canceled in eight issues, but one of the last new things for 2099 before it all flies off the rails doesn’t mute the good parts of the story and the art, as Leonardi and Williamson do make some really good pictures through the issue, even with their style mismatch, leaving us with a better-than-average 3 out of 5 stars overall. Sadly, 2099 line editor Joey Cavalieri would be gone, with some of the founding creators leaving with him. The remaining 2099 books leaned harder and harder on gimmicks, crossovers, and the X-Men before finally creaking to a stop in 1999.

It’s a shame, too, because based solely on this issue, I would like to have seen what this book was capable of becoming.

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