Marvel Knights 4 #23

Writer: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Artist: Mizuki Sakakibara
Colors: Dan Kemp
Letters: Dave Sharpe

In the Marvel Universe there actually exists a fictional version of Marvel Comics that publishes comics loosely based on the lives and adventures of the superheroes in that world. In the first part of the two-part “Impossible Things Happen Every Day” writer Aguirre-Sacasa himself appears in the book as the new writer for the fictional Marvel Comics Fantastic Four book, apparently handpicked by the Fantastic Four themselves. Sacasa then tries to visit his idols at the Baxter Building, hoping to be able to have dinner with the group in an effort to capture their true personas. Unfortunately Sacasa winds up getting caught in the middle when the Impossible Man appears to cause havoc for Marvel’s First Family.

I … I’m really not sure where to begin. First off let me say that I have absolutely no idea how this book has lasted as long as it has. I don’t even understand why the Fantastic Four has more than one title in the first place (with Ultimate Fantastic Four being the exception). If this issue is any indication then Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is an average comic book writer at best. The characterization is off the mark (at one point the Thing says ‘ergo’, which whether he was joking or not, doesn’t seem like something the Thing would ever say) and the story is … well, it’s a mess.

As to the writer putting himself into the actual story, I don’t get it. It doesn’t seem to make any sense whatsoever. It serves no purpose other than to have the writer talk about himself a lot and how much he loves the Fantastic Four (and has a creepy crush on Sue Storm). Not to mention that the whole “the Fantastic Four hand-picked you to write the comic about them” thing is, whatever he was going for, completely egotistical. At one point the Fantastic Four are having a discussion about the Impossible Man and what he’s doing while Sacasa looks on and thinks “God, I wish I had my tape-recorder with me. I couldn’t write expositional dialogue this fluid.” But … but he did write it. Ugh. Even though Sacasa tries to play it down with moments of self-depreciating humor, this whole comic is like one big ego-stroking festival.

And there’s waaaay too much explanation going on about who Impossible Man is and where he came from. Just pages of it. To the point where you realize why the Impossible Man has been gone so long in the first place. I wish I could say that at least the art was good, but it’s not. It’s horrible. Really horrible. If I were forced to find one good thing about this comic it would be the Mike Allred cover. That’s nice. But it’s not worth buying a crappy comic for.

Special thanks go out to Jeremy Shorr, owner of Titan Comics for allowing us to use his advance preview books for review purposes.

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