Fantastic Four: Season One
written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
illustrated by David Marquez
Boxed Set
ISBN: 978-0785156413
In their 50-year history, the Fantastic Four have been imagined and reimagined in multiple ways. Season One gives them a modern update while still keeping the fantastical, kid-friendly nature of their origin intact.
Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch, and the Thing are all born when Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Story, and Ben Grimm seek to advance the space tourism industry in an experiment and are subsequently caught in cosmic rays that change them forever.
Writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa updates the team’s first adventures even more, giving us glimpses at their first encounters with Prince Namor and Mole Man. There are very few surprises in store for longtime readers, which is perhaps a very good thing. It respects the source material, updates it slightly, and gives it a slight push into the modern age.
David Marquez does a very fine job with the clean artwork, which is vividly and colorfully rendered. The art is very much “now” and modern, which is just one of the sharp contrasts between the original FF comic and this new version. It’s Sue who looks the most different in this rendering. She looks young and girlish, and therefore a far cry from the grown, confident Invisible Woman we are so used to.
It’s a nice retelling for those readers who want to get an updated origin story.
