The Thing learns the terrible secret of Johnny Storm in the newest issue of the Fantastic Four.
FANTASTIC FOUR #7
Writer: James Robinson
Artist: Leonard Kirk
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Previously in Fantastic Four: Benjamin Grimm, your ever loving Thing, has learned what Johnny Storm did to him all those years ago. Now, he’s confronting Johnny and will it be clobbering time or sobbing time??
NO ORIGINAL SIN HERE
First, let’s start off talking about the cover to this issue. The scene portrayed shows Sue Storm fighting the Hulk and the Avengers. Which does not happen in this issue at all. None of those character appear in these pages, and Sue is not even talked about in dialogue.
Last issue of Fantastic Four had us wondering what did Johnny do to Ben Grimm that was so awful. Well, James Robinson gives us the answer, and it’s pretty terrible. Johnny Storm has always been the laughable ladies man lunk head. Doing things to tease Ben, but never doing any real harm. In this issue, we learn in the past that through one of Johnny’s idiotic actions, he forever doomed Ben Grimm to stay in the form of the Thing.
This issue is very sad. Robinson shows us just how far down one man can go as Ben Grimm loses all the friendships around him. He doesn’t clobber Johnny, but he does cut ties from Johnny and Reed for lying to him.
Then there’s the ending. I won’t spoil what it is, but if you have read issue one of this series than you can guess. It was teased in a journal entry of the future by Sue Storm. I knew about the hint, and still I was blindsided. It’s an excellent set-up for what is to come.
1960s TIME!
Leonard Kirk is doing fantastic (no pun intended) work on his Fantastic Four run. The detail on every rock of Thing is a marvel to behold. Plus he’s no slouch on the emotional highlights of this story as he portrays the despair of The Thing.
Dean Haspiel and Nolan Woodard take over art on the flashback scenes. Giving the book a real “Kirby esque” flair. I enjoyed these pages so much that I would love to see these two on a series set in that time period full-time.
THE BOTTOM LINE: LOVE THE SADNESS
James Robinson has been crafting a contemporary Fantastic Four tale that will stand among the other great runs of these characters. Hitting its emotional turmoil with this issue, I am looking forward to what happens next to Benjamin J. Grimm and the rest of the Fantastic Four.
