Tuesday, 15 April 2008

REVIEW: Fantastic Four - 556




***SPOILER ALERT***

Right - this is going to be a bit hard to explain. I'm going to come right out and say that there was a lot about this comic that I really liked.

I liked the idea of Johnny sleeping with a villain instead of a hero / average girl (something picked up from the last issue), I was impressed when I saw the two page spread of beaten heroes (pummled by CAP), and I even smirked when Ben fell into the sea backwards.

But having said all that - there was so much more that I just didn't like. For example - the shockingly obvious product placement / 'subliminal' advert for Guitar Hero 3 Mobile (I'd be pretty amazed if you miss it - and even more amazed if you think it works), Johnny's ridiculous 'manager' Miguel, or the 'shining knight' cliffhanger.

My biggest gripe by a mile however was the extremely understated artwork. It might just be me - but when I pick up a book with 'Fantastic Four' on the cover - I want my book to be fantastic.

The artwork in this book.... Just isn't. Now before you write a comment of complaint - I'm not saying that Bryan Hitch is a bad artist - because let's face it - he isn't. What I am saying however, is that I think he works at his best when he's not trying to emulate what went before him, but rather when he's creating everything from the ground up. That's when we see the best of him.

And in this issue - we haven't seen the best of him.

Pete's Score: 3 out of 5
(not bad by any means - the script is excellent - but just not worthy of anything higher than an overall three)

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