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Marvel Two-In-One makes me ask...can we have the Fantastic Four back now?

Can we not just use a door like gentleman?
It's not often I get moved by a comic. I'm not made of stone, but I can get emotional. Will I admit to crying? Never!

Then there is Marvel-Two-In-One, Marvel's new series that is a return to the series of yesteryear. In that original iteration, it was all about Ben Grimm (The Thing) teaming up with random super heroes, kind of like Spider-Man was doing over in Marvel Team-Up. I've admitted on this blog before that Ben Grimm is in my personal top five favorite Marvel characters. Number two in fact. So I was super excited for this book to come out. It also helps that Jim Cheung is on art duties for these first two issues, who is one of my favorites.

Anyways, there are only two issues out and it has made me YEARN for a new Fantastic Four comic. In summary, Ben seeks out Johnny Storm, who has been having a rough time of it ever since Reed, Sue, Johnny and Valeria disappeared into obscurity. These first two issues are heavy because you deal with Johnny not only being depressed, but also losing his powers. Ben brings him along to take him out of his funk and give his life some purpose. To know these two characters, this is really heavy stuff. They had a falling out and now they are trying to get it together. All the while, Ben is keeping a big secret from Johnny that will play out later.

The reason I felt compelled to write this is Chip Zdarsky did a fantastic (see what I did there) job with these first few issues. In reading this, I can only hope that when the Fantastic Four do return, he gets a chance to write them. He has the voice of Johnny and Ben down. Not only that we get a return to monster island (where the comic first started) and Dr. Doom. Let's just keep checking those boxes, Chip!

The true reason for this post is for me to talk about how much I miss having a Fantastic Four comic. To some, it is a concept that is outdated. What kind of world is this when a comic book about a family that actually likes each other, is passé? If anything, we need it more. Their comic is what started the modern day Marvel universe and I hate that they've been disrespected and shelved for so long. All of this over a rumored dispute between Fox and Marvel.

With Disney close to buying the film rights to Fox's library, I hope that the ice on the Fantastic Four franchise will thaw.





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