Fantastic Four #13
The issue begins with the pages from the preview, a flashback to the start of Fraction's run - only this time, instead of the F4 failing to return, Doom, Kang and Annihilus arrive in their place.
A year later a group of survivors are dodging Annihilus's bugs in the ruins of New York. It becomes obvious this is an alternate reality when we meet the F4 of this world - a bald, beardy Reed known as 'Stevenson Storm', a black version of Ben with glowy energy powers a bit like he had in the Ultimate U, and a black blonde-haired Sue who calls Johnny her "brother-in-law". (Johnny, OTOH, looks just like our Johnny, which immediately leads me to suspect he's the one who becomes the older version of John Storm from this storyline.)
The bad guys here have taken over the Baxter building; the AU F4 infiltrate, and briefly knock out the shield around the planet so they can set off a cosmic signal flare. However, Doom's planned for their arrival, and knocks out their powers with a specially targeted bomb. He describes how he'll rebuild and rule the world once Annihilus and Kang have helped him subjugate it, and Johnny snarks about Doom being 'more equal than the others' when it comes to their alliance. Doom tells him he never understands the consequences of his actions, and says he's lucky that the minor wound he got from the bomb wasn't permanently disfiguring - before 'fixing' that by blasting him in the face.
Cut to the 616 reality, where it's confirmed Old John Storm is this version of Johnny as he wakes up from a nightmare. But he wasn't the only one who woke up screaming; Ben's powers are going haywire, causing his skin to melt off, and the rest of the F4 are similarly losing control as they try to help him. Old Johnny arrives and tells them that he knows how to fix it, but they won't like it, because even if the cure doesn't kill them, "...you're all doomed."
So. The plot is finally moving. I like Karl Kesel writing to Fraction's outline a lot better than the earlier pure Fraction issues; I don't know if it's his scripting or the point we've reached in the plot that makes this issue feel a lot denser than the ones that went before, but certainly Kesel's dialogue feels sharper to me, with a stronger sense of character. His Doom in particular is worlds better.
Mark Bagley gets to have some fun drawing AU versions of the characters, too, and some fairly packed action. He always seems to step up his game when he's got a more interesting script, and it's evident here; I really like his version of Bentley, and the panel of the disfigured Old John Storm waking up from his nightmare is great.
All in all this feels like a big improvement as this storyline gets into the final stretch. The Doom-Kang-Annihilus alliance comes off a bit less random here, at least on Doom's side, as it's clear he sees himself as the ultimate victor, and Kesel writes him in a much less Silver Age-y ranting fashion, more like the coolly articulate Doom of Hickman's issues. I actually wouldn't mind Kesel having a longer run on the title based on this, so it's a bit of a shame he's going to be replaced as soon as this storyline's over.
Anyway, a little bit of a hectic issue, but after the sluggish pace of the earlier parts that feels like a good thing. I enjoyed this much more than I have reading the F4 issues for a while now, so that's pretty promising.
A year later a group of survivors are dodging Annihilus's bugs in the ruins of New York. It becomes obvious this is an alternate reality when we meet the F4 of this world - a bald, beardy Reed known as 'Stevenson Storm', a black version of Ben with glowy energy powers a bit like he had in the Ultimate U, and a black blonde-haired Sue who calls Johnny her "brother-in-law". (Johnny, OTOH, looks just like our Johnny, which immediately leads me to suspect he's the one who becomes the older version of John Storm from this storyline.)
The bad guys here have taken over the Baxter building; the AU F4 infiltrate, and briefly knock out the shield around the planet so they can set off a cosmic signal flare. However, Doom's planned for their arrival, and knocks out their powers with a specially targeted bomb. He describes how he'll rebuild and rule the world once Annihilus and Kang have helped him subjugate it, and Johnny snarks about Doom being 'more equal than the others' when it comes to their alliance. Doom tells him he never understands the consequences of his actions, and says he's lucky that the minor wound he got from the bomb wasn't permanently disfiguring - before 'fixing' that by blasting him in the face.
Cut to the 616 reality, where it's confirmed Old John Storm is this version of Johnny as he wakes up from a nightmare. But he wasn't the only one who woke up screaming; Ben's powers are going haywire, causing his skin to melt off, and the rest of the F4 are similarly losing control as they try to help him. Old Johnny arrives and tells them that he knows how to fix it, but they won't like it, because even if the cure doesn't kill them, "...you're all doomed."
So. The plot is finally moving. I like Karl Kesel writing to Fraction's outline a lot better than the earlier pure Fraction issues; I don't know if it's his scripting or the point we've reached in the plot that makes this issue feel a lot denser than the ones that went before, but certainly Kesel's dialogue feels sharper to me, with a stronger sense of character. His Doom in particular is worlds better.
Mark Bagley gets to have some fun drawing AU versions of the characters, too, and some fairly packed action. He always seems to step up his game when he's got a more interesting script, and it's evident here; I really like his version of Bentley, and the panel of the disfigured Old John Storm waking up from his nightmare is great.
All in all this feels like a big improvement as this storyline gets into the final stretch. The Doom-Kang-Annihilus alliance comes off a bit less random here, at least on Doom's side, as it's clear he sees himself as the ultimate victor, and Kesel writes him in a much less Silver Age-y ranting fashion, more like the coolly articulate Doom of Hickman's issues. I actually wouldn't mind Kesel having a longer run on the title based on this, so it's a bit of a shame he's going to be replaced as soon as this storyline's over.
Anyway, a little bit of a hectic issue, but after the sluggish pace of the earlier parts that feels like a good thing. I enjoyed this much more than I have reading the F4 issues for a while now, so that's pretty promising.