It could be an incredible launching point for stories from all over the universe, a device that connects the rich history of the Fantastic Four. Read Full Review

‘Fantastic Four' #26 may be an issue of catch-ups and talking heads, but Dan Slott's snappy banter, quick pace carried to R B Silva's art will have you entertained and enthralled nonetheless. An issue that sees the return of more than one familiar face, but not all are welcome returns. There's trouble ahead for at least one meter if the FF. Read Full Review

Dan Slott chose to wrap everything up at just the wrong spot. Most of these plot points deserve their undivided attention and could have been better paid off in a send off mini series or annual. I hope Slott has some kind of redemption arc for Franklin because as a character that has been put on the sidelines for being too strong and now not strong enough just really hurts the reasoning for him even being in this series at all. Slott left a lot of unanswered questions at the end of issue twenty five and I hope we get them soon. Read Full Review

Valeria figures out (awfully fast, grumble grumble) how to operate the Forever Gate. And so it spends an issue dredging up this volume's dangling plot threads. The intent with most of these is to be charming and funny, and they worked as advertised on me. But wait, didn't the FF leave one of them "invincible cosmic monster" threads dangling in their first story? Wuh-oh, here comes our next arc.

This was another good issue and definitely the type of story ive been looking for. Ao happy the villain at the end is back. I felt their part was cut short when they appeared earlier.

Ugh, this is my problem with Slott, man. This issue is a house-cleaning issue in many ways, tying up a lot of loose ends. And that's sometimes necessary, of course, so I don't really have a problem with that. I like having the Future Foundation back on Earth, for instance. I genuinely like the status quo here for the most part, begrudging Sky. This issue feels way more like Fantastic Four than so, so many issues in the run before this. Issue 25 and the way Slott talked up this "reboot" of his run gave me a lot of hope, honestly. But for all this good, Slott goes ahead and decides, in one throwaway page, to retcon something as huge and important as Franklin being a mutant. It comes mostly out of nowhere, and it feels so pointless to me. I can guarantee that this won't last. Either it's a shock moment that will be expanded upon and reverted by the end of this arc, or it'll be reversed by the time Slott leaves the title since he always "puts the toys back" for the next writer. I'd be upset as a reader if this was my first Slott rodeo, but instead I'm just sort of annoyed that this issue that I mostly enjoyed is now hampered by this revelation in the middle of it. I think Slott is going to continue trying to explore Franklin's loss of identity. I think that could be a really good story if handled properly. But... We just had a whole miniseries about Franklin and Krakoa, and I guarantee that Hickman has plans for Franklin that not only involve him being a mutant, but an extremely powerful one at that. Otherwise, that hint in HoX #1 and the subsequent miniseries would not exist. Aside from the retcon, there's some hokey dialogue here and there, but nothing atrocious. I hope this story continues hitting the right beats. more

Good art but crappy retcon for Franklin. Glad the Future Foundation and the Griever are back though.

Besides the Franklin retcon, it was a solid issue

yep, Franklin's retcon absolutely sucks lol. Otherwise this issue is pretty crazy, and RB Silva did some pretty dorky drawings of Reed that gave me a good laugh.

If you read Slott's run on ASM...this series has a very similar feel in that you'll get frustrated and angry at things he does but at the same time he does keep things very entertaining.

An issue with cool monster/alien designs from Silva as well as the return of the Future Foundation and Lyja (as I actually like the Defalco run) that's nearly ruined by an unnecessary retcon.

It'll probably be changed back, but man, the Franklin retcon might have killed this series for me. I was ok with him being depowered because Franklin is too OP and especially with his age growth, he should have the awareness of how to use his powers. And him being too aware with those powers presents a problem in storytelling. What I hate is the fact they said he's not a mutant. It changes nearly his entire history since a lot of his character revolves around the X-Men, in alternate timelines as well as in the current continuity. Like I said, I wouldn't be surprised if this is just a gotcha moment or something that'll be changed back later in this run, but if that is the case, it is just lazy and predictable and seems to exist just for cheap shock value. It's a shame because last issue seemed like a huge step up in Slott's storytelling for the Fantastic Four and this seems like he's going back to what made his later parts of the Spider-Man run so bad, which is just shock value storytelling rather than crafting a complex or interesting narrative. The art is top notch still, Silva is a top artist at Marvel as far as I'm concerned. more

+ Like • Comments (1)

• Likes (2)

• Rachit Mittal
• HulkSmash69

maelstron - Apr 14, 2021

"It changes nearly his entire history since a lot of his character revolves around the X-Men, i" Not true at all. He is very independent of x-men. On DOFT superheroes were also hunted and killed, so this changes nothing

Sign in to comment

I want to ignore that stupid-ass retcon and hope so does Hickman too.
Silva’s art is gorgeous tho

Wow so um thanks for wasting my time with an entire miniseries about whether Franklin should go to Krakoa. Amazing. Also, I really do not like Sky.