My Rating
“Art Is Long – And Life Is Short”
The Fantastic Four is a house divided! The telepathic alien Xargorr has turned Ben Grimm, Reed Richards, and the residents of a small southwestern city into mindless slaves. To make matters worse, the intergalactic tyrant is forcing them to attack Susan, Alicia, and Johnny. Wait, don’t forget Flame-O! Never forget Flame-O!
As the battle rages across five city blocks, team Shield n’ Flames are forced to listen to the monster Xargorr spout her life story. Is there anything worse than listening to a maniac stroke their own ego? After only a few minutes of verbal onslaught Sue, Johnny, and Alicia begin to understand why the alien leader Moomba left this wind-bag to rot years earlier. Xargorr makes Johnny look like an amature button-pusher.
Can Susan’s shield powers withstand the combined assault of Reed’s stretchy powers and Ben’s Clobberin’ Time? Will Alicia’s expert clay sculpting abilities help counterbalance Ben and Reed’s knowledge of their former teammates’ fighting tactics? Does Johnny Storm have the ability to kill tucked away in his subconscious somewhere? Collect the series to find out!
Reviewer Notes
Ryan North hits another one out of the park with the conclusion of the Xargorr story arc. If you ever wondered how a blind person sees a comic book, or their interpretation of panel layouts, you’ve come to the right place. I’m a bit confused how Alicia interacts with the battle around her. I didn’t think she was on par with Daredevil when it came to heightened senses, but maybe that will be revealed in a future encyclopedia? Ryan only knows.
My favorite part of this issue was the fourth wall break. Ben Grimm reads a copy of the latest Fantastic Four comic book to his wife Alicia. He also nocks the hacky company (i.e. Marvel) who publishes the series. This was a running joke started in the silver and bronze age era of Fantastic Four as well as the Thing solo series. Let’s not forget all those Assistant Editors month smackdowns.
Overall, with the callback to Moomba, Tales to Astonish #23, and the things mentioned above, I have to give this issue five out of five stars. My hope is Ryan North will bring back some more of Alicia’s past. It would be cool to see the Puppet Master, or even the atomic clay. We need more classic callbacks!
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