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Millar and Hitch take over FANTASTIC FOUR

 
  

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Papers, anyone, anywhere?
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03:41 / 16.02.08
Maybe I am alone. I mean -- incidental time-travel? People gossiping about the Fantastic Marriage? The big reveal at the end (thought it did remind me of Douglas Adams)? Ben Grimm, smooth operator? Bullets hitting an invisible force field? DUDE.
 
 
matthew.
04:44 / 16.02.08
I certainly won't call 554 a masterpiece. But I also won't call it terrible. It was satisfactory.
 
 
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04:49 / 16.02.08
Well, it's not a masterpiece, but it's fun and pop-tastic.
 
 
Alex's Grandma
04:51 / 16.02.08
Is it just me or is Hitch's pencils sort of rushed-looking?

Not to say that, matthew.

Unless you want to drive the poor man back into the dark place from which, by some accounts, he's only recently emerged, after the end of 'The Ultimates' volume 2.

Well, maybe you do. But there's a human being on the receiving end somewhere, if he's up late, and morbidly Googling himself.

Even if Bryan Hitch is an early riser, the above comments seem likely to sour a morning stroll with the labrador, the charming wife, and the handsome kids. You wouldn't want him, seething, to turn on them, would you?

Or again, maybe you would.

Anyway, Mark! Millar! seems to be trying to do 'Joycore' comics here, and I don't know if it suits him. The black ooze in what passes for hs soul is presumably being catered for in 'Kick-Ass'; why would he bother with anything else?

This issue of 'The Fantastic Four' reads like the work of a man who is trying to convince his wife and children that he is not a dangerous lunatic. I do applaud him for that, as would the police and social services, but still, is it all that all that as far as the narrative goes? Has Mark run out of steam?

('A buster' incidentally, is the worst thing a player can be called in 'Grand Theft Auto, San Andreas'. It's harsher than being described as a Melon Farmer.)
 
 
FinderWolf
05:14 / 16.02.08
I thought this was fun, entertaining - and yes, it was refreshing to see Millar try to do joycore. The end was indeed very Douglas Adams; Sue's charity foundation is a cool subplot idea... and I enjoyed Johnny's one-liner upon the family's return from the wacky vacation.

The spread of the Thing and Reed playing FantasiCar with the kids reminded me of something Kirby would have done/drawn - the composition of it too, in many ways. So that was fun.

Reed's reconstituted DoomBot helpers were amusing as well. So far, a decent start to the run.
 
 
Papers, anyone, anywhere?
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05:22 / 16.02.08
On some level -- and, sure, maybe Grandma has a point -- it was just pleasant to see a Millar who doesn't immediately make all the characters reprehensibly bad-ass. It felt fun, and it's one of the comics this week that I feel like rereading.
 
 
Alex's Grandma
05:44 / 16.02.08
The spread of the Thing and Reed playing FantasiCar with the kids

The Mark Millar I know might have approached this scene in a different way.
 
 
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05:48 / 16.02.08
The thing, character-wise, that struck me as off was Reed delivering his speech to the kids in the classroom. He's got kids, and even if he isn't always as mindful of their needs as he could be, he can figure out how to relate to them if he thinks about it.
 
 
Alex's Grandma
06:03 / 16.02.08
Obviously, it would have been a disaster if The Thing was listlessly at himself, while Mr Fantastic gathered the children up into his inescapable arms, but if Mark Millar isn't going to write that sort of thing any more, because he hav met that Angie Jolie, and so on, what's the point of his career?
 
 
FinderWolf
06:40 / 16.02.08
>> The thing, character-wise, that struck me as off was Reed delivering his speech to the kids in the classroom. He's got kids, and even if he isn't always as mindful of their needs as he could be, he can figure out how to relate to them if he thinks about it.

True, this struck me as well - although I figured that there are often jokes made about Reed's cluelessness when he gets wrapped in his intellectual diversions, so I figured this was just Millar stretching it a bit too far (honestly, no pun intended) so he could have his joke in the scene; that the Thing is the one who has to pull Reed back to reality, what needs to be done, etc. etc.
 
 
The Natural Way
13:08 / 16.02.08
I'd rather read Batman, but this was alright. Somehow, although quite a lot did happen, it did feel a little slight. I guess, perhaps, because, like Iron Man over in another thread, I prefer my comics a little more modular. I mean, I like an overarching narrative to plug into but an issue does need to stand on its own as a good story.
 
 
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19:33 / 16.02.08
True, this struck me as well - although I figured that there are often jokes made about Reed's cluelessness when he gets wrapped in his intellectual diversions, so I figured this was just Millar stretching it a bit too far (honestly, no pun intended) so he could have his joke in the scene; that the Thing is the one who has to pull Reed back to reality, what needs to be done, etc. etc.

I think I could get behind this more if the speech he was giving didn't seem -- and, forgive me, it's not in my hands at the moment -- like he was mostly talking about costs and economic issues relating to super-science, rather than the science itself.
 
 
Papers, anyone, anywhere?
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00:15 / 13.03.08
#555, the second issue of the Millar/Hitch run, is out today. It continues at pretty much the same level as the first, though for some reason Millar can't be bothered to introduce characters who will presumably be major ones.

I'm wondering if the Sue and Johnny subplots are just dormant threads to pick up in their own individual arcs.

Hitch's style's been changing so far, and it actually reminds me tangentially of Steve Dillon in some places. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

A couple more fun little moments but I look forward to actual adventuring.
 
 
Mark Parsons
01:39 / 13.03.08
I'm enjoying the new run immensely, although I also look FWD to some explodo & fisticuffs. The Hitch art keeps giving me ULTIMATES flashbacks, which is not a bad thing, but it is an odd thing, at least for me. I would be interested to see him inked with a less scratchy/photorealistic style.

Nu World, despite it's 1990s prefix, is way cool, esp when illoed with Hitch's level of design and detail.
 
 
I am a bat. I am a man.
(prev. Triplets)
01:49 / 13.03.08
I would be interested to see him inked with a less scratchy/photorealistic style.

You can find a good example of that in one of the Amalgam Universe stories from the nein-ties. It's quite odd if you got into Hitch via Ultimates. Thinking about it, it reminds me somewhat of Ed McGuinesses style, only with more detail and adherence to realistic proportion.

This isn't a dig at McG's sometimes stumpt-armed heroes. They wouldn't be able to punch back. It wouldn't be fair.
 
 
matthew.
20:43 / 13.03.08
New issue's pretty good. Hitch's pencils on non-humans are spectacular, his work on people is flat and suffering from sameness. So far I'm entertained by this introductory arc. Moar, I say.
 
 
Mark Parsons
10:58 / 15.03.08
What amalgam tales did Hitchy do in the nein-ties (daalek voice)?
 
 
Mark Parsons
11:04 / 15.03.08
Off topic/Hitch/McGuiness >>> Evil Ed is illustrating a story I co-wrote in MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS (issue 9/April, IIRC). It's an alt.world hulk-tale. If you follow Ed or MCP, drop me a PM and let me know what you thought of the story.
 
 
Papers, anyone, anywhere?
(prev. Papers @ 21C !)
19:18 / 15.03.08
Hitch drew the second X-Patrol one-shot, which was called...Exciting X-Patrol. It was the one with the X-Patrol fighting Brother Brood, and was pretty smooth all told. I remember thinking at the time that he was a bit of an Alan Davis clone.
 
  

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