First off I'd like to start off by saying that I'm a long time FF fan. The torch like the rest of Marvel's first family has been one of my favorite teams in comics since I was a kid. As a young boy of 11 or 12 and only being able to come up with 15 to 20 dollars a month to spend on comics the fact that I spent 75 cents each month on the FF meant it earned an early place of affection for me. I started off by reading the John Byrne FF and then was completely drawn into this team during the run of Walt Simnonson. While like a lot of comic book fans in my age range I took a break from comics during my college years, the FF is one of the first books that I went back to. I've always appreciated the family aspect of the book, but as I've grown older and now have my own children this team has new meaning for me.
Like a lot of other FF fans what really attracted me to the Jonathan Hickman run of the FF right from the start was that family dynamic. The way he wrote Reed and Sue's children Franklin and Valerie was amazing, and I found myself being drawn to the book in some cases more for them than there more famous parents. For this reason like many other FF fans I was more than a little outraged when I heard that Hickman had plans to kill off a member of the FF. My first reaction was down right anger as I could think of no good story telling reason to kill any member of the team.
While I'm still not thrilled that the torch is gone Hickman's story leading up to the death was extremely compelling. I felt that any one of the four had a chance of getting axed right up to the point when I knew who we would loose. I'm not going to say that we won't see the Torch again, but after reading FF 588 by Jonathan Hickman I certainly don't get the impression that we're going to see him anytime soon. After his dramatic "death" last issue (dead with no body) I was a little concerned with where the series might go next. However after reading issue 588 I'm not only excited about the future of the FF, but looking forward to it. Each family member has plenty of issues to deal with after the loss of there brother, uncle, or friend and these issues on top of the complex story that Hickman has already been weaving looks to be an exciting next chapter.
As for Spiderman joining the team, I have a lot of mixed feelings. Initially when I heard about the death my thought was that the reason for changing the name of the book from Fantastic Four to FF was so transition Franklin and Valerie into more formal roles with the team. However while I think from a sales perspective the addition of Spiderman will help the Fantastic Four quite a bit as a traditional FF fan I feel a little insulted that one of the most important teams in comics needs Spiderman to drum up sales. However I understand enough about the economics of comics to not let it bother me too much.
One thing for sure the combination of Jonathan Hickman and Steven Epting's considerable talents on top of the combination of two of Stan Lee's greatest creations is going to make for some pretty exciting comics. Will the next creator after Hickman bring back the Human Torch? My guess is in a New York minute, but until then I'm going to enjoy the ride. FLAME ON!
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