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Fantastic Four: A Death in the Family Book Released: 24 May 2006 Review posted: 28 May 2006 Writer: Karl Kesel Artist: Lee Weeks Publisher: Marvel Comics  3.00 out of 5 Stars Reviewed by Adam White

Although I am a fan of the Fantastic Four, I do not like JMS’s current run on the title so I jumped at an alternative to see if it fared any better. I was somewhat leery of Marvel’s promise that Sue Storm would really die in this issue, and I went in knowing that even if she did that it would not be permanent beyond this issue (and I’m not spoiling anything when I tell you I was correct). Upon opening the issue I was immediately fond of the first interior page, being that it was an homage to old FF comics and their splash pages that summed up the issues. And the book is better than JMS’s run by far, but it just wasn’t anything that knocked my socks off.

Karl Kesel is a great writer, and I am a huge fan of his run on Daredevil (the first series, circa #353-364), and I think he and Cary Nord are one of the best modern Daredevil creative teams.

Kesel proves his understanding of the FF’s family dynamic by focusing on the strong relationships between the characters.

Kesel proves his understanding of the FF’s family dynamic in A Death in the Family, focusing on the strong relationships between the characters and how their interactions are as important to their stories as the villains or the plot. Family is key to the Fantastic Four, and Kesel gets it right. The bulk of Kesel’s story is about the FF as a family and doesn’t go much beyond, which is the only down point to this one-shot — nothing unexpected happens and the status quo returns at the end, but that’s more of an editorial demand than an authorial decision, so no blame goes to Kesel.

Lee Weeks is a strong artist and complements Kesel well, making the small scenes matter most when reading the story. Weeks

Weeks excels at getting the story across in a straightforward manner with his clear visual narrative.

always comes in as a pinch hitter on a lot of Marvel titles or one-shots and always delivers solid work, and A Death in the Family is no exception. Weeks gives the book a Silver Age feel, as did the story, yet that tone wouldn’t have come across nearly as well in any less deft of hands than Weeks’. Another thing that Weeks excels at is getting the story across in a straightforward manner without being boring or unimaginative, and his clear visual narrative always positively impacts the book.

So why only 3 Stars? Well, it really is not the fault of the creators but of Marvel; Kesel and Weeks would make a great team on the regular FF series, but when constrained by what JMS is doing there they can’t really show what heights they can reach. Marvel also promoted the book in a way that made is seem superfluous, which in many ways it is, again because of editorial constraints. Kesel and Weeks have got the goods, but what they need now is the freedom to unleash that talent on a book that has more weight to it. Not a bad one-shot at all, but not anything I couldn’t live without.

 

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