I might have mentioned before that I am always hesitant when an author or a celebrity steps into the comics world to write a comic book. Before getting my hands on this book, I read an interview with Mosley which you can find here. What impressed me is he spoke to why he liked the Thing and something clicked inside me that explained why The Thing appeals to me so much. I've thought it, but never had written it out. I have always thought of him as the black character of the Fantastic Four. The guy that was different that never fit in anywhere and was always feared based on his appearance alone. Mosley more eloquently states that in his interview.
To add to this, he also did an intro AND afterward to a book on the Fantastic Four. So he has more than earned his chops and shown a genuine passion for this particular comic series.
Anyways, when I found out months ago this book was happening, I was super excited and even marked it on my calendar! So what did I think? I thought it was pretty good. It didn't blow me away, but that is because I placed unrealistic expectations on it. It was a very respectful homage to the earlier era of the Fantastic Four.
A few things stood out to me. First of all, Mosley is a pro, but new to comics. You wouldn't be able to tell here. Most new authors tend to overwrite and fill the pages with a bunch of exposition. Mosley does not do that here. He wisely lets his artist do some of the heavy lifting to convey what he wants to get across. Side note, Tom Reilly does a really good job on this book. Also, the dialogue is never cringy. I thought it was spot on and felt like Mosley has the voices of his characters. At least importantly, Ben Grimm's. This is another problem with unfamiliar writers to the comic character.
Mosley manages to drop in a lot of familiar touchstones of the Fantastic Four. The mailman Willy Lumpkin. They're in the Baxter Building. Reed Richards (of course) shows up and is preoccupied. The Fantasti-Car and Alicia Masters. There's even a guest appearance by Hercules. This feels very old school Marvel in a good way. You can tell he has a respect and reverence for these characters. I feel like he wrote what he loved as a kid.
This is a first issue, so there is a lot of moving all the pieces around. What is established is that we get sad-sack Ben Grimm, a staple of that era. Nothing ever goes right for the guy, even when he sometimes has good intentions. There's a mysterious villain lurking behind the scenes doing villainy things, but that will get revealed more as we go. Right now, his intentions are not clear.
When I read a book by black writers, there are certain things that are said or shown that helps me tell, even if I didn't know their race. There are a small voices here, like showing more black and brown characters in the background or featuring them more prominently in the story. At one point, Ben identified himself as non-white. Some may hate that moment, but in the context of that moment in the story, it made sense. Even the idea of introducing a black love interest to Ben. It's these little things I appreciated.
I mentioned the art earlier and I wanted to point out something that varies depending on who's drawing the Fantastic Four. Does the Thing have teeth or not? Some authors draw him with teeth, others do not. In this case, Reilly draws the Thing with no teeth, so we just have a rocky guy and a cavernous, open mouth. The art is beautiful and the colors work very well here. There's a specific color palette used for dream sequences and featuring the cloaked villain.
With the resurgence of the Fantastic Four, I hope this book sells well enough that they let Mosley have more work. He is probably too busy to ever do the main series, but I think letting him play in his own corner of the sandbox would be a good idea. I recommend checking this out. I'll report back on each issue!
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