I've complained about it enough enough here, so you know that, in a fit of pique over Fox continuing to make Fantastic Four movies, Marvel CEO Ike Perlmutter demanded the cancellation of the Fantastic Four comic, and their removal from all merchandising. Man, I bet that's really hurting Fox, Ike.
Anyhoo, it's now been over two years since Marvel has published an FF comic. TWO YEARS.
And now DC has purposely tweaked the House Of Ideas. Yesterday, at SDCC, they announced a new team:
Others have noticed the similarities to the FF, too, as news/satire site The Outhousers noted: "a team with a smart guy, a stretchy guy, a guy who may look monstrous to some, a girl who can become intangible, and a jokester sounds a little like a fantastic family book, that might not be a coincidence."
So congratulations, DC, on some exceleent master-level trolling. And thank you.
Of course, the downside is that this news maybe implies that DC's "plans" for the Legion Of Super-Heroes are still on the back-back-burner of Geoff Johns' mind--if Phantom Girl is here on a 21st century teams, she's not on the famous 31st century team. It's not necessarily disruptive--Legionnaires have been lost in time before, and the main team continued (and, of course, it could always be a different character named Phantom Girl...).. But given that in the 14 months of Rebirth, the "Saturn Girl is in Arkham" sub-sub-sub plot hasn't advanced one iota, it's pretty clear that nothing substantive (other than one-shot crossovers with Bugs Bunny or Batman '66) will be happening anytime soon.
So--thank you, DC, for poking Marvel in the eye with a sharp stick. They needed it. And frak you, DC, for apparently continuing the shelving of the Legion.
Actually a little odd as far as ersatz Fantastic Fours go. They usually seem to have a smart guy OR a stretchy guy, but not both unless the smart guy covers one of the other FF (like Hank McCoy could be the smart guy AND the monstrous/strong guy). Replacing invisibility with intangibility is also a little unusual, and there's no one with fire powers? Odd. It's not so far off that it's completely unrecognizable as an FF pastiche (obviously), but I'm not sure I would have picked these particular four myself. (Though using Mr. Terrific for Mr. Fantastic is great.)
ReplyDeleteI don't think they have to match the specific powers to specific personalities, so precisely, as long as there's a good team dynamic and story. After all, The Incredibles is often called 'the best Fantastic Four film' for the latter reasons. (With tongue slightly in cheek)
ReplyDeleteNot trolling myself - I'm actually interested in picking up this title, to give it a quick look and see how far they carry the FF homage/satire, if nothing else. (I gave up on contemporary superhero comics before the FF bit it) I like the art style very much, although I think Plas looks as strange in black and white as Spidey - and the FF - looked in their 'Future Foundation' costumes.
You have intrigued me.
ReplyDeleteBring back the Legion !
ReplyDeleteI genuinely enjoy Rebirth's change in tone, and this is a good example. If they could compress their storytelling again so that you got the beginning, middle, and end of a story in one issue, they'd be worth buying.
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