While *Deniz Camp and Juan Frigeri’s The Ultimates* clinched our title for the Best Comic Book Series or Original Graphic Novel of 2024, Marvel's *Fantastic Four* came incredibly close to taking the crown. Under the guidance of writer Ryan North and his talented collaborators, the series has been delivering some of its best content in years. With *The Fantastic Four: First Steps* set to hit theaters soon, Marvel aims to capitalize on this momentum and draw in an even larger audience this summer.
Exciting news for fans: Marvel is set to relaunch *Fantastic Four* in July, with North staying on as writer and joining forces with acclaimed artist Humberto Ramos, known for his work on *The Amazing Spider-Man*. Together, they will navigate the Fantastic Four through the aftermath of the *One World Under Doom* crossover and embark on time-traveling adventures. This new volume promises to be an excellent entry point for both new and returning readers.
To shed light on the upcoming series and its accessibility, IGN conducted an email interview with North. Before diving into the details, take a look at an exclusive preview of the first issue in the gallery below, showcasing the captivating artwork that awaits fans.
Fantastic Four #1: Exclusive Preview Gallery
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The decision to renumber the series, despite North's continued involvement and the consistent narrative direction, aligns with Marvel's strategy to attract new readers, especially with the upcoming Fantastic Four movie. North explains the rationale behind this move, emphasizing the importance of making comics more accessible: "There are millions of people who don't read comics, who think comics aren't for them, and they're wrong! There are a ton of comics that are absolutely for them, but they just haven't found them yet, or maybe haven't felt like they were invited in to read them. Especially in superhero comics, where every book has a number on it and people may think they have to start with number one, it can be a real challenge. So by giving readers that new number one, the hope is that if they see the movie and love it and want to know more about these fantastic people, that's at least one less barrier for them to overcome."
A significant change in this relaunch is the introduction of Ramos as the primary artist. North and Ramos have been collaborating on this project for some time, discussing characters and story arcs in detail. "We were lucky enough to get to meet and have breakfast at San Diego Comic-Con a while back, before he even started work on this new series and before I even started writing them, so we got to talk about the characters and what we like about them from the word go," North shares. He praises Ramos's creativity and enthusiasm, hinting at the exciting visuals fans can expect.
Ramos's speed and consistency as an artist allow North to tailor his scripts specifically for Ramos's style, enhancing the synergy between writing and art. "I've been lucky enough to work with a ton of great artists on Fantastic Four, but I'm usually so far ahead with the scripting that I don't know who the artist is going to be when I'm writing it," North notes. "It's always my preference to know the artist, because then you can write for them and create something that can be a better melding of the two of your interests, and with knowing Humberto has been on this book for so long, it's been really great to get to write specifically for him for issue after issue."
While the new #1 issue serves as a fresh start, North's run on *Fantastic Four* has always been welcoming to new readers. He has structured his stories as standalone adventures that also contribute to a larger narrative, similar to *Rick and Morty*. North plans to maintain this approach but with a slight shift towards more ambitious, interconnected stories. "I still want each issue to stand alone, and I want every issue to be a place for someone to jump on and get a fully satisfying story with every issue they pick up, but I am turning the dial a little bit more towards larger and crazier stories for that larger narrative. I'm not changing the special sauce - as Ben would say, ‘I'm just adding a couple cloves of garlic - not because it's not delicious, I just wanna add a little bit of zip.’"
North also aims to explore the dynamics of friendship within the Fantastic Four, highlighting the chosen nature of their relationships. "It's maybe a subtle distinction, but I really love my friends, and wanted to tell stories about people who are in these long-running relationships that they don't have to be, but they choose to be," he explains. "And that's not that different from family, in the sense that, yes, you are born into a family, but you have to choose to stay there - you have to put the effort in to maintain and develop the relationships that are important to you. And if you look at the Fantastic Four, we often think of them as a family, but only two of them, Johnny and Sue, actually are family at the start. But they all choose each other, they all choose to stay with each other and become something more, and I think that's really fun and beautiful and interesting. Guess what I'm trying to say is the distance between good friends and found family maybe isn't as wide as I thought it was."
The relaunch occurs amidst the ongoing *One World Under Doom* crossover, which North intends to address head-on. The first story will feature a significant Doctor Doom narrative, setting the stage for the Fantastic Four to tackle the fallout of Doom's actions. "One of the challenges of relaunching like this is we're trying to do a new number one that's an easy on-ramp for new readers, but also it's right in the middle of the One World Under Doom event, and we don't want to ignore that either," North says. "So the first story is a Doom story, giving the Fantastic Four the chance to actually fix everything that Doom has done - this involves a big, weird science fiction idea - and then we're off to the races with a whole bunch of other new, weird, big science fiction ideas."
One of the major plot points in *One World Under Doom* involves Doom curing Ben Grimm of his rocky condition. However, previews suggest Ben returns to being The Thing in the new series. North assures that this plot thread will be resolved before the relaunch, ensuring a clean slate for new readers. "We’ll actually get to see how it is resolved in the last moments of the previous run, so that we're not starting this new one with an unresolved plot thread!" he explains. "I do really want it to be accessible to that new and curious person who wants to know more about the Fantastic Four, so I'm trying to keep the back story they need to know to as much of a minimum as I can for this first little bit. Which might sound hard, but it's also something that I've been doing the entire run so far. The Fantastic Four have literal decades of history, but I want to make sure that nobody is lost when they pick up an issue and everyone is welcome to the party, you know?"
*Fantastic Four #1* is slated for release on July 9, closely followed by the theatrical debut of *The Fantastic Four: First Steps*. Below is the solicitation for *Fantastic Four #2*, offering a glimpse into the thrilling adventures awaiting readers:
FANTASTIC FOUR #2
Written by RYAN NORTH
Art and Cover by HUMBERTO RAMOS
Sue Storm, stranded deep in the future at the end of Earth’s history, is the last thing alive on the once-vibrant world. How can she make it back to her proper time before being killed? Meanwhile, Reed Richards, stranded in Earth’s past, waits for a rescue from her that will never come...unless there’s some way their relationship – the deep and loving understanding this man and woman have for each other – can transcend time itself...
Meanwhile, in the present, Doom reveals precisely how he’s managed to stymie the Fantastic Four for so long: a secret to his invincibility that has transformed every loss into a win! And it’s one that makes Emperor Doom invincible...
On Sale 8/13
In other *Fantastic Four* news, a prequel comic will explore the origins of Pedro Pascal's Reed Richards and his family, marking one of the first comics in a long time to tie into the MCU.
