The New Fantastic Four

The Fantastic Four #544 by Dwayne McDuffie and Paul Pelletier


McDuffie is now getting stuck into his run on the FF. Issues #544 and #545 take the new team in a suitably cosmic direction to keep the traditions of the series alive. Here, again they meet the watcher and the surfer shows up at the end of #544.


The team now consists of Ben and Johnny together with the Panther and Storm. At least one married couple has replaced another. I think it's an interesting group. T'Challa certainly has the scientific expertise to compensate for the loss of Reed and McDuffie makes the most of this. His battle with the Surfer in 545 was interesting but when Storm took over things got better.

I like the way the Thing and the Torch are reacting to the new team dynamics as well.

Finally, Paul Pelletier's art is a nice combination of Byrne and Alan Davis. Not quite as good as either but still good nevertheless.

A recommended read. Rating 8/10