Fantastic Four #45 Review

By Matthew PetersonJuly 14, 20223 Mins Read

The Reckoning War is over. Nothing will ever be the same. Your Major Spoilers review of Fantastic Four #45 from Marvel Comics awaits!

FANTASTIC FOUR #45

Writer: Dan Slott
Artist: Fario Karami
Colorist: Jesus Aburtov
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 13, 2022

Previously in Fantastic Four: A group of alien warlords called The Reckoning returned from exile to incite war throughout the cosmos. Their assault on the Watchers gave them access to the Apex of Reality with the aim of destroying the entire Multiverse. Battling alongside allies from across the Marvel Universe, the FF made a number of desperate moves, including Reed uploading all of The Watcher’s knowledge into his own brain, a process he knew to be fatal. The final battle ended with a terrible sacrifice, but brought the Reckoning War to an end.

Of course, that’s not to say that the danger has passed.

FOUR NO MORE

We begin with Benjamin J. Grimm, the idol o’ millions, returning home to his wife and children, only to have to answer the most difficult question of all: What happened out there? Cut back one hour, where The Reckoning have fallen, but their doomsday scenario (an armor built from the M’Kraan Crystal) is about to explode. Also, Galactus and The Destroyer have merged and are rampaging. Also also, Reed has been nullified. Also also also, Uatu is trapped in a swirling morass of energy stolen from his people, a storm that threatens to overcome him. That’s when the assembled heroes have to start getting creative, starting with The Silver Surfer, who knows one thing better than any other being in the universe:

Galactus HUNGERS!

HAPPY ENDINGS

The plotting in this issue is very clever, with each domino falling perfectly in place as the previous one tips it over. The M’Kraan Crystal is fed to the Devourer/Destroyer, splitting them up, while Uatu emerges as the ultimate overseer, the one true Watcher, while Reed finds that using the Ultimate Nullifier to nullify the Watchers has also nullified the Watcher energies that have been killing him. On the downside, it’s almost TOO perfectly put together, which might seem to hint at a greater power pushing things into place, but instead feels a little like a comic book writer wrapping up all his plots at once. The art is okay, without large flaws, but I find myself missing the expressiveness of Rachel Stott and/or the bold lines of Carlos Pacheco.

BOTTOM LINE: THE MORAL OF THE STORY

All in all, though, Fantastic Four #45 suffers mostly by comparison, with the stuffed plot wrapping up nearly a dozen locations and plots in quick succession, resetting the status quo for Nick Fury, The Watchers, the Unparalled, and the FF while also opening new corners of the galaxy, with art that gets the job done but somehow feels like it lacks a bit of panache, coming together for 3.5 out of 5 stars overall. It’s remarkable that a story this big got told in the pages of one title plus specials AT ALL, much less that it ended up being as good as it is.

But at least Franklin has his reality-warping powers back!

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