The Fantastic Four. One of the oldest super hero teams and one that has managed to stay together with the same group for almost its entire existence. Even if it does change, it always goes back to the family of Reed Richards Mr. fantastic, Sue and Johnny Storm the Invisible Woman and Human Torch and their best friend Ben Grimm, the Thing. Though they seemingly have stood the test of time, personally, I feel they are starting to become out of place.
Comics are sci-fi and fantasy, despite what some Marvel Morons like Joe Q are trying to do. And one of the great things about sci-fi that no other genre can really claim, or at least to the same extent, is that sci-fi grows. By that I mean it is not limited by realism, only by what our minds can think up. And as things like technology grow, so do the limits of our mind as new ideas are spawned form creation.
When you think about it, the powers of the Fantastic Four don’t rely on any kind of technology or understanding of phenomena or anything of that sort. Cosmic radiation changed their bodies and gave them their powers. Mr. Fantastic stretch a lot. Invisible Woman can be invisible and create shields and weapons with her thoughts, the Human Torch engulfs himself in fire and can shoot it and fly, and the Thing is basically a big rock monster. Back in the 1960’s they were definitely neat. Now in the 2000’s? Not really.
Sue and Grimm are still kind of interesting because Sue’s powers can be used in a variety of ways, and Grimm in general is, well a rock monster which for some reason entertains us. Reed and Johnny? Well, I guess the word “meh” can sum up their powers. Stretching just inst that interesting, and lets face it, a lot of people can envelope themselves in fire.
But it’s not just the powers. In fact that’s the least of it. I feel the characters personalities have grown pretty tiring. Yeah, we know that Reed is obsessed with work. Yeah we get Sue is basically a pushover but cares for her family. Yeah we get Johnny is cocky and that Ben thinks he’s tough. But the characters have never really grown from these things. They’re really still the same, just throw some marital/family problems in here and there. I just don’t find them interesting at all. Thing’s “it’s clobbering time!” is about as fresh as “Hulk smash!” is anymore and Human Torch’s cockiness is just kind of aggravating.
I know not everyone will disagree with me, but every time I read the Fantastic Four or their characters, I just come away so unimpressed by any of them and hope that each major event is their last.
Comics are sci-fi and fantasy, despite what some Marvel Morons like Joe Q are trying to do. And one of the great things about sci-fi that no other genre can really claim, or at least to the same extent, is that sci-fi grows. By that I mean it is not limited by realism, only by what our minds can think up. And as things like technology grow, so do the limits of our mind as new ideas are spawned form creation.
When you think about it, the powers of the Fantastic Four don’t rely on any kind of technology or understanding of phenomena or anything of that sort. Cosmic radiation changed their bodies and gave them their powers. Mr. Fantastic stretch a lot. Invisible Woman can be invisible and create shields and weapons with her thoughts, the Human Torch engulfs himself in fire and can shoot it and fly, and the Thing is basically a big rock monster. Back in the 1960’s they were definitely neat. Now in the 2000’s? Not really.
Sue and Grimm are still kind of interesting because Sue’s powers can be used in a variety of ways, and Grimm in general is, well a rock monster which for some reason entertains us. Reed and Johnny? Well, I guess the word “meh” can sum up their powers. Stretching just inst that interesting, and lets face it, a lot of people can envelope themselves in fire.
But it’s not just the powers. In fact that’s the least of it. I feel the characters personalities have grown pretty tiring. Yeah, we know that Reed is obsessed with work. Yeah we get Sue is basically a pushover but cares for her family. Yeah we get Johnny is cocky and that Ben thinks he’s tough. But the characters have never really grown from these things. They’re really still the same, just throw some marital/family problems in here and there. I just don’t find them interesting at all. Thing’s “it’s clobbering time!” is about as fresh as “Hulk smash!” is anymore and Human Torch’s cockiness is just kind of aggravating.
I know not everyone will disagree with me, but every time I read the Fantastic Four or their characters, I just come away so unimpressed by any of them and hope that each major event is their last.
2 comments:
What made FF4 a fun book back when I was reading it...Walt Simonson days and John Byrne...was the adventure/sci-fi adventure stories. When the team would leave the confines of Earth and travel/time-travel/whatever.
But, yeah, you are kind of right, the group is fairly lame as far as powers go.
Now the team by themselves (excluding the Human Torch...like...who cares) is always fun. I did enjoy Reed in the ILLUMINATI series. He made sense there in his group of peers.
I agree Reed was a good fit for the Illuminati, I'm just kind of tired of the whole too busy with work spiel.
The Human Torch to me is cocky in a way that just isnt likeable, and I lump Thing in with Reed in that the spiel is old. It just seems they dont really grow much as characters.
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