Fantastic Four: Full Circle

In Fantastic Four #51, a man posing as Ben Grimm, has a chance at revenge against team leader Reed Richards. While exploring the Negative Zone, Richards becomes untethered from his lifeline. As a result, the Thing imposter looks poised to see the end of the Fantastic Four. But in an unexpected change of heart, the stranger sacrifices his life for Richards, leaving Mr. Fantastic and Sue Storm to ponder what was the motives of 'this man, this monster', who gave his life for one he previously had hated.

Fantastic Four: Full Circle seeks to do just that- bring the mysteries of issue #51 to a close. It begins with the return of our mystery man! Back from the dead or something else as this guy's return summons forth an attack by demons from the Negative Zone. Armed with new suits that repel the affects of the Negative Zone, the FF goes through the looking glass unto a universe is full of dangers at every turn.

This book has been on my wish list for a very long time. Alex Ross is my all-time favorite artist. And he can tell a darn fine story. This return to the Lee & Kirby days of the Fantastic Four was a fun ride that I did not want to end!

If you take the dust jacket off of this book, you will see Ross' stylized revamp of the FF's logo. It's done in a holographic foil and my breath was just taken away. Then to see that Alex Ross took that new '4' and built a sleek new uniform with 1960s space-faring nostalgic touches around it. I really want this to become the new costume for Marvel's First Family. Who am I kidding?! I want this version of the Fantastic Four to be the one we see monthly in stores!

Not only was the art and story of Alex Ross this awesome, so was his color palette! There were hints of Jack Kirby's black light posters when the team was wandering the depths of the Negative Zone thanks to those pastel colors! Speaking of Jack Kirby, be only the lookout for an Easter Egg of some of The King's amazing art. Plus there's a ton of tributes to the monsters and Kaijus of the 1960s. A gallery of Bullpen touches. Is that HERBIE? The voice of Stan 'The Man' and so much more. I loved this so freakin' much!

Manufactured by Abrams Artbooks, Full Circle really is a work of art! So much so, this book is suitable for framing! 

The new standard of the Fantastic Four!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars. 

The Pulse #11

 

   Being a superhero doesn't alleviate the fears of being a new mom for Jessica Jones. So fellow superhero Carol Danvers arranges a special lunch meeting with the matriarch of the Marvel Universe, Sue Storm.

   Another masterpiece by Bendis. Some of the best stories don't involve superheroes being heroic and BMB is the master of these types of stories. Sometimes, the better tales have the hero dealing with normal fears that their powers can't control. With her boyfriend having almost died in the events of Secret War and the who Osborne-fiasco, Jessica Jones' fears of becoming a new mom are grounded. 

    The cover is also a classic by series artist Mike Mayhew. However, it's a little bit of a fake-out. Unlike what the cover shows, baby Cage-Jones isn't born in this issue- yet...

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

 

Fantastic Four: A Review: Part IV: The Forgotten Audience and My Rating

A lot has been made of the film being 'edgy.' So, is it suitable for kids? Since our heroes don't even get their powers until about an hour into the film, most of Fantastic Four will probably bore a viewer under age 10 to tears.

 Also, there is one scene in particular that is violently graphic for a PG-13 superhero flick. It takes place around the one hour and twenty-five-minute mark and lasts about two minutes. How can I describe it without giving away too much? Have you ever seen the movie 'Scanners?' The scene in question involves Victor Von Doom and a lot of exploding 'melons.' And believe me, the one time you want the CGI to be poor, this is unfortunately not it.

Really, Fox- did you forget kids might want to see this movie?

 Essentially, with the bad dialogue and terrible special effects if this movie was made 30 years ago, it would be considered an instant Classic. Add the fact that that the villain doesn't really appear until the last 20% of the movie, the plot of Fantastic Four is just the group's origin. So really the movie seems more suited as a TV-movie designed to be the pilot for a series. With Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Ben coming together as a team right at movie's end, I would have been much more satisfied with this project as a whole if it was geared for the small screen.

Instead, the film is like an unbalanced scale, heavy on character development (well most of them) but short on plot. Poor word of mouth hasn't helped this film. Even worse social media buzz pretty much sealed the film's fate and I fear this message will be the trend what with over 25 comics themed flicks due out in the next half decade.

   So, do like I did in 3 steps and this shouldn't be the worse film you've ever seen. 1) go to a matinee (and save a few $$$), 2) have low expectations, and 3) forget what all of the critics have said and watch the film with an objective mindset. Oh, but it might help to forget everything you know about the FF because this isn't not just your dad's Fantastic Four, it's really nobody's either.

    Sadly, for every plus I had about this film, I had an equal negative. In fact, the movie might've got a higher rate if not for the horrible final act. 

So my rating is thus:

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.

  

Fantastic Four: A Review: Part III: CG-A'int and Other Missteps

  One particularly bad bit of CGI of note in Fantastic Four involves a chimp used as a test subject for the teleporter. He's so animated and poorly rendered to boot. Why a real animal wasn't used instead is beyond my comprehension.

  Another bad bit of movie magic involves test footage of Ben Grimm and Johnny fighting enemy armies. Both look like a video game instead of actual actors and Johnny even does a little signature move after he vaporizes a drone. Since Disney would not allow a video game version of the movie, I'm thinking a shelved prototype was used instead of having the actors pine for the camera.

  Thankfully, the acting wasn't that bad. Once again, the actor to play the Human Torch stole the show even though early critics thought he was going to suck. Many criticized the casting of Friday Night Light's Michael B. Jordan. Now most of those critics were super offended that a black actor was going to play the white superhero. I didn't think he had the chops based on his role on FNL. But the actor showed amazing zeal going  so far make Johnny both a little responsible and a bit of a slacker at the same time, much like his comic book counterpart.

 Another aspect that hurts this picture is the screenwriting. Dr. Storm's character is played by the wonderful Reg E. Cathey. He is supposed to be the father figure to this team. But his character is given every cliche in the book and apparently the disease is catching. As Reed establishes himself as team leader, his dialogue gets more and more bombastic to the point I was ready to put my fingers in ears. And speaking of ears, there are several swears peppered in. So, parents, you've been warned.

Fantastic Four: A Review: Part II: An Unneed to Reboot

  

A Pandora's Box is probably the best way to describe this film. When Fox announced over a year ago that they were going to reboot the franchise, fans cried foul! It had only been 10 years since the first FF feature film hit screens and many felt like it was too soon to start over. (Roger Corman made a low budget film about the Fantastic Four in 1992 but it never went anywhere.)

   But Fox insisted that the world needed a new, hip, and edgy version for younger audiences to relate to. Again, critics protested. But this time, it was those at Marvel and parent company, Disney, decrying the film.

  Disney is chomping at the bit to regain the rights to the First Family of Marvel Comics, and they did everything in their power to make this supposed blockbuster fail. Marvel cancelled the Fantastic Four and even broke the team up into little bits just so fans couldn't have a comic book version to relate to. Plus, Disney made licensing, especially with the manufacturing of toys and cartoons, nearly impossible for Fox to do. Thus, the kiddie crowd had even less of an interest in the picture.

   While I think the fans had very good point about not needing another franchise reboot. Marvel and Disney really didn't have much to fuss about. The main reason is the special effects. They are not really good. Usually on a movie screen, it's very hard to tell if something was filmed in front of a green screen. The fabric of a movie screen helps to bleed out rough edges that are usually very noticeable on TV. That's not the case here.

Fantastic Four: A Review: Part I: Going to the Movies.

    Take everything you know about the Fantastic Four and throw it out the window. This is not the 1963 line-up we've grown to love over the past 50 years. If you are familiar with the Ultimate Fantastic Four, take about half of what you know about that team and throw it out that same window.

   Today, I went to see the most controversial superhero film of 2015- Fantastic Four. It's only like the 5th day the film has been out in theatres and already it's considered a colossal bomb. With a Rotten Tomatoes score of 9%,  one of the worst weekend grosses of a Marvel superhero film, and the worst viewer rating in film history, I wasn't expecting much when I went to see this picture. Why, even the movie's director, Josh Trank, went on Twitter and apologized for making it! 

   When I got my first degree (in History) I minored in Film Studies. Since I was gonig to the movie with subpar expectations, I decided I would watch the film as I had been trained and base the movie on both its technical merits and story structure with an unbiased view. I feel like I was actually able to enjoy the film more this way too.

   In this version of the Fantastic Four, Dr. Franklin Storm and his adopted daughter (Kate Mara) recruit high school student Reed Richards (Miles Teller) to join the Baxter Foundation, a think tank prep school for super geniuses. Their task is to create a transporter, an idea in which Reed's been tinkering with since he and his best friend Ben (Jamie Bell) were in elementary. Also brought into the project is troubled Victor Von Doom, a former student who was expelled for destroying research data. Rounding out the group is Dr. Storm's son, Johnny (Michael B. Jordan), a reckless teen whose last chance at redemption lies in regaining his father's trust on the Baxter Foundation project. 

    The teleporter is a success. But, when the group is faced with losing the project to NASA, Reed and Victor impetuously use the device and are transported to a parallel universe. There, the group gain mysterious powers and on their return to earth are subjected to medical tests by the military. The project's leader, played by a super-creepy Tim Blake Nelson (Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?) promises to find a cure for the teens if they will act as the artillery for some covert ops assignments. 

   However, the director has no intentions of ever curing this team but instead wants them to reopen the dimensional gate so he can create more superhuman weapons. But when he finally achieves the ability to teleport again, the world will learn that the entire project was a Pandora's Box to its destruction.