Allen Christian reviews Fantastic Four #9…
Fantastic Four issue #9 ends the “Herald of Doom” story that began in earnest in issue #6 and was teased at the end of #5. This is several issues too late. There simply wasn’t enough content to warrant the length of this story.
As a recap, Doom lured Galactus by infusing one of his citizens with the Power Cosmic, who he then dubbed “Victorious.” When Galactus arrived in Latveria seeking the power signature, Doom captured him in a mountain and used his body as a power source for all of his people. The FF came to Latveria on the arrival of Galactus and thus became pawns in Doctor Doom’s plans, and are subsequently captured.
So I know what you’re asking yourself: “Is this just a story where Doctor Doom is egregiously wrong about something and the FF have to break out of his ridiculously elaborate traps and stop him?”
Yes.
This is paper thin. There aren’t any real character moments, and Dan Slott is simply shuffling pieces on the game board, hoping we mistake any of this for an original idea. Don’t get me wrong, recycling old ideas is pretty much entirely what modern superhero comics are about, and that’s largely fine. But if you’re not going to come up with some new ideas, at least try to make your bland story fun. Issue #8 was a good deal of fun, but none of that is present here. It plods on, dedicated only to the goal of ending this 4-issue conflict in the most basic and expected Fantastic Four manner.
There is nothing interesting here for fans of Doctor Doom, and there is nothing really interesting here for fans of Fantastic Four. Sure, there’s a callback to that John Byrne issue where the little girl in Aunt Petunia’s town has a bunch of demon friends, but that issue was kind of dull anyway, so making it part of this plot just seems to be gratuitous fan service, and really hammers home how little Slott brings to the table here.
I have been incredibly up and down with this run, but I feel like every time Slott hits on an idea that might be somewhat interesting, he veers back into familiar, mediocre territory. This issue didn’t have to end with a bad call back to a forgettable John Byrne story, but it did, because that’s who Dan Slott is, apparently. It didn’t have to neatly put all the toys back in the box as if under some odd early-70’s Stan Lee editorial dictate, but it did all the same. It’s incredibly frustrating to watch, month after month, as he almost gets it and almost understands how to write a good Fantastic Four book, only to shoot himself in the foot the next month, if not pages later.
Rating: 4/10
Allen Christian
