FANTASTIC FOUR #12
Writer: Dan Slott
Artist: Sean Izaakse
Colorist: Marcio Menyz
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Cover Artist: Esad Ribić
Publisher: Marvel
Rating: 7/10 Signed autographs of The Thing
Here’s the “Thing” with Honeymoons. It’s an opportunity for a couple to get away after some Fantastic nuptials. A vacation with that special someone full of romance and passion. That’s what the newlywed Grimm’s have to look forward to in the newest issue of FANTASTIC FOUR. After some post-wedding crashing from the Doomster himself, it’s time for The Thing and Alicia to finish celebrating somewhere tropical. Pack your bags and bring lots of protection cuz you’re your likely to burn from these spoilers. For this review, I’m going to just be covering the Ben Grimm and Alicia Grimm story and save the FF story that was featured in this issue when their series releases.
Don’t Stop Til You Get EM In Their Birthday Suit!
Despite all the world-ending events and supervillains, the Fantastic Four have to put up with on what seems like a daily basis, they still manage to make a miracle with Ben’s Honeymoon timing. Once a year, The Ever-Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Thing gets to let those rocks roll off of him and return to the world once more like a soft meat-bag he once was. To help track the occasion, Reed Richards even made him a fancy watch that counts down to the time and no it’s not when “Clobberin’ Time” is. It’s for that big transformation that he and Alicia can enjoy.
Their time arriving at their destination has a good amount of funny spots of dialogue as well as sweet and charming moments. Ben Grimm got the short end of the stick compared to the rest of the Fantastic Four. His looks were not the ideal image for many and with Alicia, he found someone who loved him for what’s on the inside. But was she going to love the Ben that was going to come out from inside those rocks? If there were any doubts in the big lug’s head, having your wife get down on one knee to propose to you, with a backup wedding band for when your rock hand ring is too big, should be plenty reassuring. Just a couple more minutes and the magic will start happening….
Rock Blocked!
Enough of that mushy gushy grocery store romance novel stuff! We all know why we came to this issue. To see two colossal powerhouses slug it out! Just when the night couldn’t get more perfect for these lovers, the Hulk makes one helluva entrance crashing up on the beach. He didn’t check the wedding registry but he’s come with the best gift of all. His fists. Ben isn’t looking for a fight and even lets the Big Green Guy know that he’s the tougher tank. While the attempt to move past toxic masculinity is a nice gesture it’s not getting through to Hulk as he is being controlled by The Puppet Master aka Ben’s new father-in-law. Things are turning into a real Showtime plot here. With less than thirty seconds to go and no luck in trying to stop the Hulk from causing damage, The Thing is about to do the unthinkable and puts his dukes up. What happens next? Well, that’s gonna have to be concluded with round two in issue #13.
Fantastithoughts
I’ve been looking forward to The Thing and Hulk clash for what feels like months from when I first saw the cover art photo online. Any story of the Fantastic Four that focuses on Ben Grimm has my attention. I should have guessed it would be a fight that would last more than one issue (I would love it if it was more than a couple of just brawling). Despite it not being a single self-contained story like their recent issue of teaching the Richards’ children how to “properly” drive, this was a lot of fun.
Sean Izaakse draws a really good Thing. I’m talking about the rock man if you suspected anything else. On top of that his Hulk is also a very terrifying design with a lot of drawing going to how dark and very shadowed his eyes are aside from the evil red pupils. Partnered with Marcio Menyz on color, the art gives off that vibe that I am exploring something extremely special. Menyz’s colors in the daytime pop and the contrast of The Thing’s bright color to the Hulk’s dark, green and massive form in the night is really cool to look at. I like how Dan Slott writes Ben Grimm, whether his style of writing his the same as The Thing from the old cartoon shows, that’s what Slott’s reminds me of and why I loved The Thing so much as a kid. The issue also includes a set up to next week’s FF series which has me so-so on the art at the moment but still excited to see what those smart kids are up to. If you aren’t reading the FANTASTIC FOUR but love the Hulk, or even just love to heroes slugging it out, give FANTASTIC FOUR #12 and possibly #13 a try.