| Comic Review | Paul Milligan |
Marvel
Adventures
Fantastic Four #4
Writer: Jeff Parker
Pencils: Juan Santacruz
Inker: Raul Fernandez
Colorist: Sotocolor’s A. Crossley
While the Fantastic Four are hanging out in Washington Park
Johnny Storm gets a date with a cute girl running a coffee
stand. But the group’s good time is interrupted when a
Sentinel attacks. While fighting the mutant-hunting machine
the Four notice that their powers are beginning to wane. Is
the famous super team losing their powers forever? And how
will Doctor Doom take advantage of the situation?
The first thing I wondered after reading this book is “why?”
Why does this book even exist? The Marvel Adventures
line is Marvel’s line of kids’ comics but with the existence
of three other, separate Fantastic Four books (Fantastic
Four, Marvel Knights 4 and Ultimate Fantastic
Four) there doesn’t seem to be a need for this book.
Unlike the cartoon-based books (Justice League Unlimited,
Teen Titans Go!, The Batman Strikes) published
by DC, there is little to set this book apart as a kids’
title. Unless someone at Marvel thinks that a kids’ comic
equals mediocre. I think it would probably serve Marvel
better to focus on getting their existing titles into the
hands of kids rather than create an entirely new line of
books.
The story itself is pretty forgettable and seems to
reinforce the pointlessness of the book itself. Which is a
shame because I was a big fan of Jeff Parker’s Interman
graphic novel. I’d much rather see him writing a book
that actually matters. Juan Santacruz’ artwork was probably
the best part of an otherwise boring read.
Special thanks go out to Jeremy Shorr, owner of
Titan Comics for allowing us to use his advance
preview books for review purposes.
