Fantastic Four 10, FF 9

Fantastic Four 10
Fraction (w) and Bagley and Farmer (a) and Mounts (c)

The news is breaking now amongst the family that their powers are killing them. Sue is the newest member of the F4 to see her powers breaking down as her invisibility is on the fritz, making her skin invisible but not her internal organs and the like. Reed explains what's happening and what he's been doing and why he hasn't told them. As expected, it's not met well. Reed doesn't exactly have time for that, though, as he's decided that the breakdown of their powers isn't natural; it's an attack. The F4 end up in 1776 on the trail of a Skrull messing with the Declaration of Independence (oh, Skrulls). Now they have to deal with in-fighting, Skrulls, and power breakdowns all while trying to figure out how to save themselves.

Fraction has been pretty phenomenal at making this team feel like a family, which is at the heart of what makes the Fantastic Four different. It's not unlike what he's doing with the FF but this team is actually a family so it resonates a bit more. He's had them face petty squabbling, he's had them ignore one another, he's had them focus too much on one another, he's had them fight, he's had them love, and it all feels like a real family (to an extent, assuming your real family is headed up by the smartest man on Earth and he's maybe not that good at human emotions). That makes it particularly palpable when Val tells Reed that he's a jerk and she hates him. Of course, it's not all Fraction, it goes back to series past where we've built this relationship that Fraction inherited and, I think, improved on, but it's well engineered and it's the cornerstone of what makes this book interesting. Granted, we have an interesting plot all by itself with the degradation of their powers and with the added intrigue of it being an attack rather than the natural progression of their molecules, but it's firmly held together by the family itself. A Fantastic Four book can't work any other way.

FF 9
Fraction (w) and Quinones (a) and L. Allred (c)

The FF has been restored to the way it was at the start (with new additions to that team in Ahura and Luna of the Inhumans) for the first time since Alex ran off and Medusa was mind controlled. The entire group is invited to a pool party at Julian Enterprises by CEO Charles Cotta and, despite the strange circumstance, decide to find out what it's all about (and go swimming). Meanwhile, Bentley-23 is making a documentary in what he's decided is the style of Werner Herzog for an assignment She-Hulk gave them that required they understand another culture by talking with fellow FF members. He's chosen the Uhari, Vil and Wu. He decides that there's something dark and sinister to them and he wants to get to the bottom of it. While he makes his documentary at the pool party, Charles Cotta reveals to the adults of the FF that he's actually the alien who posed as Julius Caesar back in Fantastic Four 5 and he'd like to help the FF the way the F4 helped him.

It's another very entertaining issue. The kids of the FF are wholly interesting and well personalized but Fraction has clearly realized that Bentley-23 is the spirit of the group. He's essentially Calvin from Calvin and Hobbes but he's not ready to classify himself as a hero the way that Calvin instantly has. Here's the thing though: Calvin and Hobbes is great, so it's hard for Bentley not to be great. Add to that the previously hinted re-emergence of Caesar to the story and what options he brings the team with the F4 gone long past what they had assumed (we learn why in F4 10) and we have ourselves a solid story. I've liked Michael Allred's art in this book and Joe Quinones has done a great job whenever he's had the shot to fill in. Quinones emulates Allred's style well while also adding his own touches and flair to the story. I'm also a little biased towards Quinones as my girlfriend went to the same school he did and, guys, that's pretty cool, you know?