Fantastic Four #32 is a standout detour that balances eerie alternate-universe stakes with grounded emotional beats. Ryan North crafts a tale that blends horror, family drama, and multiversal intrigue, all while proving Valeria Richards is one of Marvel's sharpest minds. With effective art and a meaningful link to the main arc, this one-shot-style story earns its place in the Fantastic legacy. Read Full Review

The Fantastic Four creative team delivers another winner. Readers familiar with the original Twilight Zone may see parallels to Its a Good Life, the episode where six year old Anthony Perkins sends anyone who doesnt think good thoughts to the cornfield. North uses a similar theme herea child with god-like powers who could never be disciplined and thus could never learn and grow. But in Fantastic Four #32 it is slightly more poignant because the same characters who caused the problem in this divergent timeline, Reed and Sue, successfully nurtured Franklin in the real one. Read Full Review

Franklin as the villain was a cool twist I didn't see coming.

I don't know if I 100% understand what happened at the end, but North subtly saying fuck you to Slott's stupid retcon gets my enthusiastic approval. I know some people haven't been high on Smith's art, but other than a few panels I thought it was pretty solid. The Namor and Jean pairing is kind of weird but whatever it's an alternative universe.

A world where a child Franklin Richards has unlimited control due to his vast reality warping powers was really interesting to me. It basically confirms he's by far the most powerful earthbound being in Marvel.

I found the story interesting enough but Corey Smith's faces at times looked about as bad as Esad Ribic's.

Massive step up from prior issue.
Art is ok.

This was a vast step up from the previous issues which were just ruining the image of Ben.

Honestly this is a rather sad (as emotional I dont mean bad) issue. It is a typical trope but giving a small child infinite power can only end in ruins. If I understood correctly, Reed and Sue still had some of their memories and still chose to use Franklin that way? That seems terribly out of character for them.

I am also ignoring all the plot inconsistencies that North has in this issue from last just so he can make the story work. Like there are just so so many plot issues between this and the last issue. It is terrible really.

TL DR: As a one-shot this is a good tragic read. I enjoyed it. As part of a great plot and the stories from the previous issues, this was another dropped ball. Not as bad as previous issues but still unfortunate. Also poor baby Franklin. more

Boring, strangely paced and full of bad ideas. North can’t write. The art is not very attractive either.

Somehow.

Last issue left off with Sue losing her powers and the FF ceasing to exist. This issue begins with Sue somehow rescuing the kids (not her husaband, brother or friends) into force field bubbles that somehow exist when Sue doesn't. Doesn't matter because the kids end up not existing anyway.

Somehow, Valeria is alive on Earth but she looks different and the FF are powerless. Somehow Franklin is alive too but he's a giant dressing like Galactus, has unlimited power and behaves like Anthony Fremont in the Twilight Zone episode "It's a Good Life".

Franklin attempts to mindwipe Valeria when an EXACTLY PERFECTLY timed event in Europe distracts him. Somehow this allows Jean Grey and Namor to rescue Valeria and somehow they figure out how Franklin was able to control everything.

Somehow Valeria knows how to fix everything and somehow creates a device to reset things. Franklin attacks and rather than get rid of the device and Valeria, he for some reason goes after Namor first and then the Valeria whom he then mindwipes.

Somehow this gives Valeria her original appearance and she talks with Franklin in a void they somehow were sent to. Somehow Franklin loses his powers and the two siblings then somehow cease to exist.

And yet, somehow, everything returns to the last page of last issue except now Valeria somehow knows how to fix everything.

Somehow, Ryan North has come up with a story where everything that happens, happens solely because the writer says it does. The characters don't move anything.

The art is just okay. There are a couple panels that seem to riff on Keith Giffen which makes them the only interesting things about this issue. more