Volume 30: Fantastic Four: Unthinkable

Fantastic Four: Unthinkable

Author: Mark Waid  |  Illustrators: Mike Wieringo / Casey Jones

"Have we discussed Newton's third law?"

Love is a hell of thing. It can hold even the vilest and most power-hungry individual in its steadfast grip, and it's the most common form of glue that binds a selfless family unit together. Both of those things are an integral part of a good FF story. The kinds of love that are manifested are as different as magic and science - except, if you frame it correctly, magic and science aren't really that different at all.

It begins with Victor Von Doom having a very human moment, something that on any other day he would more than likely see as a weakness to be exploited, something to help him gain the upper-hand. As Doom moves from place to place, revealing just a small portion of his story each time, only we as readers get the picture complete. It fills the first included issue and it's amazing! The Fantastic Four don't even feature in the conventional sense.

Of course, they do appear eventually, and even though the balance between the Four is well-considered it's Reed's emotional state that I was most aware of. He's a super-genius when it comes to science and technology, able to apply the scientific method even with his eyes closed, but when it comes to parenting he's at the mercy of hope and luck just as much as the next man, aware that good intentions don't always translate into good decisions. The memory of his past failure never goes away, influencing his every action. In some ways it makes him a better father, but in other ways it traps a little piece of him and prevents it from moving forward.

The scenarios that the team are exposed to and forced to bring to a conclusion are just as bonkers as the shit-storms that the X-Men get into, but the love that has been established as existing between the Four does a much better job at making all the weird stuff less overpowering than Xavier's squad can manage. That the FF's adventures are often part soap opera doesn't change the fact that it's a process better able to highlight what's important.

The book collects together Fantastic Four (Vol. 3) #67-70 and Fantastic Four #500-502.

Verdict: