It’s so wild that Jon Hickman’s celebrated run of FF kicks off in a “Dark Reign” event tie-in, of all things. And it sets up so much, for being a tie-in book! Fun read with a lot to set in motion for the stories that follow.

This was really really good! Some of my favorite writing from Hickman. Strong art.True FF!

Man, Norman Osborn is very reminiscent of our current President........

Appropriately fantastic! I really love how Hickman writes his Marvel books. It's never your boring typical 'heroes-versus-villains' setup, he always brings some interesting and unexpected ideas to the table. This particular book reminded me a bit of Grant Morrison's Multiversity, because we got to see a bunch of Marvel parallel universes from the perspective of the Fantastic Four. Hickman manages to construct an interesting story around this concept and get right to the core of Reed Richards as

I told my friend I'm finally reading Infinity. His response? You better fucking read Hickman's Fantastic Four before Secret Wars or you won't feel the FEELS! So I went back and decided to follow the reading order online. Surprised it recommended starting with Dark Reign but screw it. I loved the hell out of the Dark Avengers so why not...right? Well this was my first official fantastic four comic and...it's okay. What's it about though right? Reed is kind of figuring out why the hell Secret Inva...

This was such a fun volume, after the Skrull Invasion and Civil war before it, Reed has built a bridge that allows him to see into different realities and see how the people of those Earth acted and accordingly act, then it becomes him trying to navigate through these possibilities while Johnny, Ben and Sue are stuck in some AR-Chamber that takes them from being Medieval Knights to the Wild Wild West to Paratroopers during the war to even Adventurers battling Venomized Skrulls and Franklin and V...

As usual, I could only understand about half of what was going on Reed and the Gang. Possibly due to the fact that I don't follow what goes on with the FF with any kind of regularity. The only time they interest me is when they intersect with a larger story arc in the Marvel universe. It's not an unreadable story, but I'm not sure that this added anything to Dark Reign. So, if you're not a die-hard Fantastic Four fan, feel free to skip it.

Solid story but feels more like an intro or build to something more. So far I'm intrigued.

After reading some of Hickman's other Fantastic Four work, I decided to go back and read this Dark Reign tie-in, which represents his first time writing an FF title. I'm glad I did. If this was Hickman's trial run before getting handed the reigns to the full title, then he definitely proved that he had what it takes to do so. He utterly nails each character right out of the gate, and gives them a ton of room to play around. I particularly loved his characterizations of Franklin and Val, who he c...

I'm not an FF fan, probably like most people, and I was already aware from reading the first issue years ago that this wasn't a big crossover to Dark Reign and was one of those books to show why the FF aren't too involved (or to get them out of the way). Norman Osborn does show up to the building with HAMMER agents, but they don't attack the building like the description states.The story focuses on Reeds new invention, a Bridge to see into alternate realities. Sue, Ben and Johnny falling through...

The single greatest impression I have at the start of this book (other than "here's where Hickman really took off with Big Ideas") is how emotionally flat everyone's faces are. Which is especially jarring at the moments when the characters are having very emotional moments. It's art troubles like this that keep me from fully enjoying what should be five-star creative work.After having read some of Hickman's later FF, it's interesting to see where he started laying the foundations for his later s...

Where was the FF during Dark Reign? Why here, at home...Only the most slight tie in to DR, which is fine by me.Reed decides he has to figure out why things went wrong and builds a machine, the Bridge, to examine the multiverse, and uses it like a Google for infinity, examining other realities and Civil Wars, Invasions, Reigns, etc.The rest of the Gang travel thru realities, and the kids embarrass Normie...I especially love the "nice hair loser" line by Franklin to Osborn, while wearing a Spidey

I'd heard a lot of great things about this book. Deservedly so. This is really, really good. Reed builds a device that allows him to see other realities, where things like the SHRA and the Skrull invasion have turned out differently. He wants to figure out how to prevent all the conflict and tragedy. While he's busy doing that, the remainder of the FF are trapped in alternate timelines and Val and Franklin are facing off Norman Osborn. This was the kind of book that had me going, "Yes! Yes!" ins...

A nice introduction for what is to come. I enjoyed the focus on Reed's thoughts and the build up to what will surely be bigger things. The alternate realities can be chaotic but they seem cool as well. One of my favorite parts has to be Franklin and Valeria. These issues read through rather quickly but their interactions and involvement here was nice to see. I'm excited for what I might see next.

It was good, but a bit less than great, especially since I came to this after reading Hickman's later efforts with the Fantastic Four and the Future Foundation. Still, as others have mentioned, we get to see him laying some of the groundwork here for what was to come. Reed's work with the Bridge is interesting stuff. The other team members tumbling through time? Not so much (it happens so quickly, they don't really get to do much other than look around quizzically before it's off to the next era...

The Marvel universe has been through the ringer. Avengers Disassembled, House of M, Civil War, Secret Invasion... and now Dark Reign, where supervillains have control and Norman Osborn is making a personal enemy out of the Fantastic Four. What is Reed Richards doing at a time like this? Well, he's doing science about some other stuff, of course! Wondering where it went wrong, what he could have done to stop all the fighting, and what he should do next. So we get a view of the multiverse and how

Hickman has occasionally been accused of being too heady. And while re-reads of his work is occasionally required, he fits perfectly into FF.Given his predilection for nutty, esoteric ideas, nothing could be better for his adventurous storytelling than the fertile soil of Fantastic Four.Now, as to the story itself. It is funny and exciting and invigorating and never bores. The final act feels somewhat rushed, and after the exciting time-hopping, the more staid real-world setting and Mexican stan...

I found this rather tame. The bridge contraption was cool, so was the alternate universes, other than that, nothing else stood out.

A completely expository piece that reads like an internal dialogue with Reed Richards. No climax, no resolution. Jesus Christ what a shit show.

3.5 stars"Milady, 'tis the clobbering hour." - Ben "The Thing" Grimm (!) in a medieval alternate worldNice little three-layered adventure story featuring Marvel's 'First Family.' While Reed Richards mostly works solo and has the ponderous section, more fun is had with trio Sue / Johnny / Ben jumping between dimensions (17th century buccaneers, gunslingers in the Wild West, paratroopers during WWII) and the Richards children Franklin and Val keeping watch over the Baxter Building. Most amusing we...