DARK REIGN: FANTASTIC FOUR #1Written by Jonathan Hickman
Art by Sean Chen
While Hickman didn't blow me away with his interpretation of the Fantastic Four in this issue, he did wash away any doubt I had after the previews showcased what appeared to be nothing more than a cheap Stargate knock off.
In fact, by issue's end, I was quite surprised by how much I was enjoying the title. While I've been enjoying Millar and Hitch's current run on Fantastic Four, I believe Hickman definitely put the 'fantastic' back into the book.
The basic premise of this mini-series seems to revolve around the Fantastic Four recovering after the events of Secret Invasion. This includes rebuilding and refurnishing the Baxter Building, which doesn't go exactly as planned due to everyone, save Sue, taking breaks and doing their own things, whether it be Johnny and Ben chilling on the couch or Reed off tinkering in his makeshift lab, Hickman seemed to have everyone's personalities down pat.
Focusing on Reed for a moment, he's built 'the Bridge', which looks like a glorified Stargate. This is a bridge between dimensions and Reed was struck with the idea as a way of preventing future disasters by observing how other dimensions dealt with similar situations.
This, of course, doesn't go right and, once activated, ends up transporting half the team to an alternate Earth (or maybe moving the entire Fantastic Four building. Hard to tell at this point.).
Of note, I was surprised to see the Doombots from the Millar/Hitch run included in this issue. I liked them in that run, but just assumed they'd turn on the team or end up scrapped by the end of Millar's run.
Verdict - Check It. While I did enjoy this, there's that pesky $3.99 price tag and the fact this is almost entirely setup for the remainder of the series with few reasons for non-Fantastic Four fans to really jump in.
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