By: Joe Casey, Chris Weston Publisher: Marvel Comics Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Marvel Comics Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 144 Publication Date: November 29, 2006 Reading Level: Young Adult
Product Description: For the first time, untold secrets of the FF's earliest days are revealed! What happened the moment after Reed Richards' rocket crash landed? What happened - to Sue Storm, to Ben Grimm, to Johnny Storm - in the days following that fateful event? An in-depth, action-packed, psychologically thrilling exploration of the FF's origin! Collects Fantastic Four: First Family #1-6.
Fantastically average super hero story First Family is a story meant to work within the Fantastic Four's current origin, with the goal of adding to the original story as opposed to simply rewriting it. I appreciate the intent, and there are some parts what work well - but for the most part there's nothing much to really set this book apart.
Casey doesn't give us anything new. All four heroes work through the very issues they've been working through since Stan Lee introduced them in 1961. There's a new villain, but it is never made clear what his goals are, so he never seems threatening. Obviously, he's going to be defeated - but that path to that conclusion is of little interest.
Chris Weston provides the pencils, and I did like what he did with Mr. Fantastic. In many panels, he appeared much more fleshy and much less like rubber band. He also does a good job of modernizing the overall look of the book while still remaining consistent to their original origin.
In the end, a very average book.
1961 revisted: a sputtering relaunch First Family is one of those books that Marvel publishes every decade or so updating their classic characters for a new generation of readers. In this case the 21st century patch is for the company's oldest title, first published in 1961, back before most people imagined the end of communism; summer vacations abroad; STDs, bird flu and Ebola; or a 24-hour, 365-day communication net.
What sets this relaunch apart from others is that it works around the by-now familiar spaceflight origin story and weaves its way through some of the background never covered in the original series while simultaneously telling a new story about a previously unseen villain. This works fine for long-time fans. I haven't read an FF comic in years, but I knew right away where all these events fit within the framework of the group's early history. If you're new to the Fantastic Four, this might be a rather confusing place to begin.
Writer Joe Casey is to be commended for writing a cinematic script relying entirely on dialog. Luckily, he's got an excellent art team to bring his ideas alive. British penciller Chris Weston, inker Gary Erskine, and colorist Chris Chuckry get all the details right, from a typical suburban kitchen dinner scene to Reed Richard's laboratory to the mindscapes of the evil Professor Franz Stahl. Particularly interesting is how the art team creates a world that is neither the 1960's nor the 2000's, but something in between.
Sadly, the script is a bit weak. We get our regular dose of Marvel angst as the newly christened superheroes wrestle with the responsibility of their new powers. It's nothing you haven't read before, and neither is the villain, another mad (German) scientist intent on destroying humanity in a scheme that's never explained very clearly.
Which is, I suppose, typical Marvel fare. Which is what First Family is, a typical superhero book with some very spiffy art, kind of like a Marvel movie, all flash and sizzle, with very little meat.
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