Lower Decks

In today’s column I write about how eager I am for the next creative team to begin their tenure on Marvel’s Fantastic Four, as well as my thoughts on Marvel’s upcoming Spider-Woman series. I’m excited about both and that’s actually somewhat exciting itself.

New Fantastic Four Creative Team

Jonathan Hickman and Dale Eaglesham, two names I hadn’t heard of until a few weeks ago, are taking over the reigns of Fantastic Four starting with the next issue (#570), out in stores on August 26th. I actually haven’t read the latest issue (#569), which came out a few days ago, but it should arrive from Marvel Subscriptions this week. It wraps up the “Masters of Doom” storyline and I’ll be frank: if I’m impressed with the ending I’ll be quite surprised.

The previous creative team, Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch, began their run on Fantastic Four with issue #554 back in February of 2008. That means they put out 16 issues, none of which I found particular noteworthy. The art was fine, although occasionally some of the faces — Sue in particular — seemed vaguely off in some way. But the stories never felt right to me.

First there was Nu-Earth and CAP the giant killer robot, then a merry band of villains (or heroes) from the future attempting to turn Galactus into a giant battery to save their world, then the so-called death of the Invisible Woman, Ben’s engagement, a really dull two-part holiday story and finally the Masters of Doom/Marquis of Death arc. None of these arcs and story lines pulled me in. And the trade dress, trying to make the comic look like a magazine? So ugly.

The preview of issue #570 found here at Marvel.com looks amazing. The art seems fresh and vibrant and although I don’t know anything about the story line I’m just to darn excited to see this chapter begin to unfold.

Spider-Woman in September

Marvel’s new ongoing Spider-Woman premieres September 2nd with a $3.99 price point. But it looks like only the first issue is going to be that expensive and the regular price will be $2.99 (still perhaps too expensive for some). I mentioned in an earlier column that I know just about nothing about the character. I still don’t. But if the previews I’ve seen are any indication Alex Maleev’s artwork will be simply breathtaking.

I’m a sucker for art that looks as if it was painted (even if it wasn’t) and appears to be photo-realistic (even if it isn’t). Maleev’s artwork on Spider-Woman seems to fit into both of these categories. So who cares if the story doesn’t make sense or I can’t keep track of new characters and don’t know a thing about the characters history. If the artwork is impressive enough, I can forgive just about anything.

With that said, it will be interesting to see how long I stick with Spider-Woman before either dropping it entirely or switching to trades. If the issues are standalone enough that I don’t feel the need to let them pile up before reading them, it will be easier to continue buying individual issues. But if I find myself having trouble remembering what happened in earlier issues — and that may happen — I may decide to switch to trades.

I hope the first issue includes at least a few pages explaining who Spider-Woman is and what her powers are. Was she bitten by a radioactive spider like Peter Parker? Can she climb walls? Does she have a Spidey sense? Does she have webbing? These aren’t important questions for those who know the character, but for new readers like me they’re pretty much essential. On the other hand, I did dive into 2001 Marvel Knights Elektra series without knowing anything about the characters aside from the very basics. So there’s hope for me yet.