Ultimate Fantastic Four is a dependable comic book. You know exactly what you are going to get. And that is fantastic artwork and a workman-like effort with the writing. I’m positive that Ultimate Fantastic Four #37 is going to be more of the same. Let’s hit this review.
Creative Team
Writer: Mike Carey
Artist: Pasqual Ferry
Art Rating: 10 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: We begin with Thanos communicating to the rest of the Fantastic Four via the Thing’s body. Thanos tells Reed that he has been looking for Reed for a thousand years. Thanos talks about his Fascist doctrine that praises Death above all else. Thanos tells Reed that he wants to commission Reed to builds something for him. A replacement for something that Thanos once owned and lost. Thanos then creates an image of a cube in front of Reed.
Reed declines to help Thanos. Thanos then tells Reed that he could put the Thing’s mind into the body of one of his soldiers. A young, strong and functionally normal body in return for Reed building this cube for Thanos.
Thanos tells Reed that he will use the cube to erase the wills of many in the universe and overwrite their minds with Thanos’ will. Reed declines to help Thanos. Thanos then uses the Thing to grab Johnny Storm by the head and threatens to crush it.
We cut to just outside the city where the rest of the Seed are searching for Dreamcatcher and Tesseract. We then cut to Ronan teleporting into the city. Ronan says he is here to deal with the outsiders in the city.
We shift back to the Thing about to crush Johnny’s head. The Thing tries to fight of Thanos’s mind control. Dreamcatcher boosts the Thing’s mind and helps him break free from Thanos. Suddenly, the Fantastic Four are attacked by Thanos mecha soldiers.
We hop back to Ronan at the Senate House. Ronan has the area sealed off by his ship so nothing can enter or get out. We see that the Seed have followed Ronan into the Senate House and are now trapped here with him.
We cut back to the Fantastic Four brawling with Thanos’s soldiers. Dreamcatcher merges with Reed’s mind in order to give him the coordinates to his own world and that of her world, Halcyon. That way Reed can assemble the gate and program to route them home. Dreamcatcher then merges Johnny and Sue together so that their combined powers can wipe out all of Thanos’s soldiers as well as the entire building.
Reed then activates the gateway and takes the Fantastic Four back to New York City. Unfortunately, Ronan diverted the teleportation beam and brought the part of city on Pyx with them. We then see Ronan standing in front of the Fantastic Four telling them that they stand accused and that he will judge them and their planet Earth. End of issue.
Comments
The Good: Ultimate Fantastic Four #37 was a solid read. Carey delivers a fast paced issue and plenty of action. Carey has certainly not been guilty of dragging out this story arc at a slow pace. And that is a good thing because Carey’s writing is average and a slow pace would really make this a less than enjoyable read.
Carey delivers a standard issue sci-fi adventure story. He keeps it moving and delivers an issue that is nice mindless entertainment. The big bomb that Carey drops on the reader is the appearance of the Ultimate Universe version of the Cosmic Cube. That was pretty cool. I am excited to see if Reed actually goes ahead and builds this deadly weapon.
I also liked the tough situation that Carey places Reed. Build an incredibly powerful weapon for a Fascist leader who worships Death and get your best friend a normal human body again or turn down Thanos’s request and continue to doom your best friend to his mutated shape. Poor Reed is already wracked with guilt for what happened to Ben. Having to turn down getting Ben a human body will just add to that guilt.
I like Carey’s Ultimate Thanos. Carey spruces up the old purple puss from the 616 universe for the modern era. Carey’s Thanos is loyal to the essence of the 616 Thanos’s character, yet is more than just a carbon copy. I dig that Carey makes the Ultimate Thanos more of a Fascist military leader that commands a huge empire.
Carey’s Ultimate Ronan is fantastic. I love that Carey threw a nice wrinkle into the works by making Ronan Thanos’s son. Ronan has a nice sense of supreme confidence and arrogance befitting of his role in the universe. Yet, Carey has done a good job hinting that maybe deep down inside Ronan has some issues with his father and how he is running the empire.
The brawl between the Fantastic Four and the mecha soldiers was well done. Carey can certainly pull off a well choreographed fight scene. I loved how Dreamcatcher merged the Storm siblings to create one immensely powerful weapon. That was a nice creative way to get the Fantastic Four out of that jam.
Carey ends the issue with a nice hook ending. We finally are about to see the inevitable clash between the Fantastic Four and the Seed 19 on one side and Ronan on the other side.
The real magic of this title is Pasqual Ferry’s incredible artwork. If it weren’t for this gorgeous art then Ultimate Fantastic Four would be a pedestrian read. Ferry is able to lend more substance and power to Carey’s average writing. Ferry’s character designs have been excellent. I love how Ferry designed the Ultimate versions of Thanos and Ronan. I think they look better than their 616 counterparts.
The Bad: Carey’s overall story lacks any real substance. Carey’s story is definitely pure popcorn. A quick action packed read that entertains you and then is quickly forgotten once you are finished.
Carey’s dialogue continues to be average at best. You basically get the standard issue comic book dialogue. Nobody has much in the way of a unique voice. And Carey fails to deliver any type of character development or growth.
Overall: Ultimate Fantastic Four #37 was a better than average read. Ferry’s artwork is really what makes this title so great. If you enjoy action and quick reads then you will certainly like Carey’s Ultimate Fantastic Four. If you like your comic books with a bit more meat on the story then you probably won’t be that impressed.