X-Men and Fantastic Four #1

By Chip Zdarsky, Terry Dodson, Rachel Dodson, and Laura Martin

Anyone who has read House of X knew this crossover was coming. Jonathan Hickman planted the seed when he had Cyclops meet the Fantastic Four in House of X #1. The X-Men and the Fantastic Four were eventually going to have a discussion about Franklin Richards, who is a mutant not living in Krakoa. This week, courtesy of Chip Zdarsky, we’re getting X-Men and Fantastic Four. Something tells me this won’t be quite as friendly as the last time they had a crossover though.

Chip Zdarsky is an accomplished writer who written many good books for Marvel. He has the honor of taking on a crossover with the X-Men, who are all the rage at Marvel now since they acquired the film rights, and the Fantastic Four. Zdarsky should impress you right away with his reasoning for wanting Kate Pryde involved. He goes way back to 1987 to when Franklin Richards and Kate became close friends. Zdarsky also plays up the tension between Franklin and his father Reed. These two little things play an important role in the decisions being made by characters in the story. As could be expected, things are cordial at first, but quickly escalate. Magneto is always a loaded gun, but his points are not wrong. Zdarsky paints us a picture where both parties have good view points, and it’s hard to decide who we’re rooting for. As the issue winds down, we’re left with a cliffhanger that will no doubt get you interested in what comes next. This is a crossover that matters. Don’t miss it.

The pencils this issue are handled by Terry Dodson, with Rachel Dodson on inks and Laura Martin on colors. This is a winning formula as far as comic book art is concerned. Here of the best in the business working on a book should be an instant buy. There is a lot of emotion in this issue, so it’s important to have the facial expressions on characters match what they are feeling. While Franklin talks to Val about something Reed has done, the look on his face is great. Terry’s pencils are helped by the smooth inks of Rachel as well. Terry Dodson does some of his best work when he has characters close. This allows him to add a bunch of details to his characters and really show their faces. The colors by Laura Martin are phenomenal. She uses a light color palette, which works well with what the Dodson’s do. Something as simple as Ben Grimm’s shadow as he stands next to a disappointed Reed, is an underrated touch that Martin does when she signs on to a book.

There are some small crossovers that seem like they are meaningless and are not important to current storylines. X-Men and Fantastic Four is important to what is currently going on in the X-books and may have an impact on the future relationship between both of these teams. Chip Zdarsky turns in a script that feels like it was written by Hickman himself. The art is amazing throughout the entire book. X-Men and Fantastic Four is a series worth your time.