“I had a LONG star debate on this one.
Maybe it should be 4. Because it IS, after all, a Fantastic Four book.
Then I thought 2. Because only two members of the Fantastic Four are present. A 2 out of 2 therefore being a perfect score. Maybe even a 3 out of 2 because Chip Zdarsky picked the right two.
Let’s be honest, if we’re going to see half the Fantastic Four, The Thing is a given. He’s a big, orange rock man. Nobody is saying No to that.
When it comes to the second character, there’s some debate to be had.
The big problem with Sue Storm/Richards, aka the Invisible Woman, is that her powers are invisible. If I’m an artist working on a book, on one hand, awesome. I’m going home early today! I barely have to draw anything! On the other hand, I’m going to assume that most comic book artists somewhat enjoy drawing, and if I enjoy drawing, I have a feeling that flames are pretty fun to draw. Human Torch for the win.
With Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic, the fun is if you want to draw big gizmos. This guy is the KING of giant gizmos that do stuff. COSMIC stuff. That’s why they’re so big. So, it comes down to a debate: Do you want to draw flames or gizmos?
The x factor, of course, is the interaction between the characters. Human Torch and Thing have easily the most fun relationship of all the possible relationships and combinations of the FF.
That’s a LONG way to say it’s a fun comic written by someone who clearly knows how to make comics fun. Chip Zdarsky knows what he’s doing. In comics, at least. There’s a video floating around out there about his campaign for mayor. I’m not sure if he knows how to be a good Mayor.
Zdarsky does a great job fitting this story into a weird moment in continuity, and he manages to turn it into something solid. Even if they are dimension hopping. Seriously, the Fantastic Four are ALWAYS in a dimension or a time rift. Everything is a portal with these guys.”