Comic Info
Comic Name: Ultimate Fantastic Four
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Mike Carey/Mark Millar
Artist: Jae Lee
# of Issues: 3
Release Date: 2005
Ultimate Fantastic Four #20
Reprints Ultimate Fantastic Four #19-20 and Annual #1 (July 2005-August 2005). Reed Richards meets his match when a former Think Tank contender named Rhona Burchill sets up a trap for the Fantastic Four in the Baxter Building. Then, the Fantastic Four learn that there is a civilization upon Earth made-up of super humans. When a girl named Crystal finds the Fantastic Four, they learn that she is trying to escaped a betrothed marriage to the king’s brother.
Written by Mike Carey and Mark Millar, Ultimate Fantastic Four Volume 4: Inhuman is a Marvel Comics collection under the Ultimate line. Following Ultimate Fantastic Four Volume 3: N-Zone, the collection features art by Jae Lee.
The collection is short…very short. It is divided up into “Think Tank” (issues #19-20) written by Mike Carey and then the one shot Annual #1 “Inhuman” by Mark Millar. Jae Lee provides the art on both issues. With only three issues (yes the annual is bigger than a standard issue), this is probably the shortest of the Ultimate Fantastic Four collections.
The first story “Think Tank”, follows up the revelation to the world that the FF exists. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really do much with this because the Fantastic Four are sucked in to the plot involving Rhona Burchill. Burchill is the Ultimate version of the Mad Thinker (who originally was a male) and her brother Bobby takes the place of the Mad Thinker’s Awesome Android. Burchill wasn’t bad, but the story was pretty short and with the shortened life of the Ultimate Fantastic Four, I don’t know that she’ll ever get her chance for revenge.
Ultimate Fantastic Four #19
The second story brings the Inhumans to the Ultimate Universe and they are relatively unchanged from the Marvel Universe. In the Marvel Universe, the Inhumans were sent to retrieve Medusa, and Human Torch met Crystal. Here, Johnny meets Crystal, and it is Crystal on the run. The story is a bit lacking and as a fan of the Inhumans, I wish there had been a longer storyline.
With Think Tank, Jae Lee has a very nice (if not a bit underdeveloped) minimalist version of the FF with very little concentration on backgrounds and more focus on interesting Lee gets another shot at the Inhumans after his great limited series and his art continues to be fantastic with his Inhuman character designs (which are just a little skewed from the original designs).
The Ultimate Fantastic Four continues to be the least compelling of the Ultimate line…I enjoy the art from this collection but at only three issues it seems like a real waste of a collection. The final scene in the “Think Tank” storyline of Ultimate Fantastic Four 4: Inhumans sets up the next collection Ultimate Fantastic Four 5: Crossover.
Related Links:
Ultimate Fantastic Four 1: The Fantastic
Ultimate Fantastic Four 2: Doom
Ultimate Fantastic Four 3: N-Zone
Ultimate Fantastic Four 5: Crossover
Ultimate Fantastic Four 8: Devils
Ultimate Fantastic Four 9: Silver Surfer
