Ultimate Fantastic Four, Volume 1 by Brian Michael Bendis

While these allow time for a great deal of depth, they do tend to feel a bit like an “epic” – and the truth is that not every story (let alone three in a row) should be called an “epic”. The first three arcs on the series – written by Millar and Brian Michael Bendis, followed by Warren Ellis – were six-issue stories. While his run on Ultimate Fantastic Four isn’t the best thing he’s written, it is sharp and entertaining – and delivered with enough energy that it can’t help but warm the reader’s heart.Įnergy is a large part of the appeal of Millar’s run. Taking over Ultimate Fantastic Four for a year (perhaps on a trial run before writing for regular Fantastic Four), you get a sense that Millar has a genuine affection for these characters and their world – too much to try to make them “darker and edgier”, for example. However, I maintain that Millar is a stronger writer when he channels his inner softer romantic – for example, demonstrating the respect he showed Superman in Red Son. And, in fairness, the years since have seen ideas like Kick-Ass or Wanted or Nemesis, all excessively and ridiculously cynical, graphic and violent. Asked a few years ago about whether the birth of his child might tame some of his more sensationalist tendencies, Millar replied that – if anything – he would be even more motivated to push the envelope in order to demonstrate he hadn’t mellowed.

Mark Millar isn’t quite the tough guy he makes himself out to be.

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Fantastic Four, I’m taking a look at some of the stories featuring the characters over the past half-century.

Ultimate Fantastic Four, Volume 1 by Brian Michael Bendis