Fantastic Four #600

The 50th anniversary issue of the Fantastic Four is a super-sized issue featuring Annihilus and his army attempting to breach the Negative Zone with the help of the Council of Reeds, Galactus preparing for the worst, the Avengers and the Future Foundation banding together to stop an all-out invasion of Earth by the Kree on the orders of the recently resurrected Supreme Intelligence, a telepathic lovers spat between Black Bolt and Medusa, and (surprising absolutely no one) the return of Johnny Storm.

For such a monumental event the comic is certainly packed with pages, but I was a little disappointed how much of the plot was only peripherally connected (or to be honest, all that interesting). Writer Jonathan Hickman is struggling to juggle so many characters and stories perhaps it’s not surprising than some fall flat.

The main story (featuring the return of Johnny Storm) and the tale that explains what he's been doing for the past few months work well enough, but really aren't that special. Although I correctly called Storm's return in this issue the moment of his "death," the truth is his absence (and now return) haven't had that much impact on any character other than the FF or Spider-Man.

At $8 and spending several pages to feature stories involving the Reed children and Black Bolt and Medusa issue #600 is far from a fantastic. Hit-and-Miss.

[Marvel, $7.99]