Why There's Never Been a Better Time to Start Reading Marvel's Fantastic Four

While we may have crowned Deniz Camp and Juan Frigeri’s *The Ultimates* as the Best Comic Book Series or Original Graphic Novel of 2024, Marvel's *Fantastic Four* was a strong contender that could have easily claimed the title. Thanks to the brilliant writing of Ryan North and his team, the series is currently experiencing a renaissance. With *The Fantastic Four: First Steps* hitting the big screen this summer, Marvel is poised to expand its audience even further.

Come July, Marvel will relaunch *Fantastic Four*, and fans can breathe easy knowing that North remains at the helm. This new volume will see North teaming up with acclaimed artist Humberto Ramos (known for his work on *The Amazing Spider-Man*). Together, they will guide Marvel’s First Family through new adventures, navigating the aftermath of the One World Under Doom crossover and embarking on time-traveling escapades.

For those eager to dive into the relaunch, IGN had the opportunity to speak with North via email about the new series. Before delving into the interview, take a moment to enjoy an exclusive preview of the first issue in the slideshow gallery below, which highlights why this new volume serves as an excellent entry point for both new and returning readers.

Fantastic Four #1: Exclusive Preview Gallery

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Renumbering the series might seem unusual, especially since North is staying on as writer and the overall direction isn’t shifting dramatically. However, North sees this as a strategic move. With the upcoming *Fantastic Four* movie, Marvel aims to make the comic more welcoming and accessible to moviegoers interested in exploring the source material.

“An opportunity comics has as a medium is always to expand,” North told IGN. “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.”

The most significant change in the new series is the shift to Ramos on art. North has been collaborating with Ramos for some time, ensuring a seamless transition.

“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 said. “He is a very creative and generous collaborator, always down to punch up an idea and able to render those ideas with such excitement and verve. I think people are going to really love what he's been coming up with, and it's been a real trial these past several months sitting on top of all this great art and being unable to share it with anyone.”

Ramos’s renowned speed as an artist offers North the advantage of crafting scripts with a consistent art team in mind, which was not always possible in the previous volume.

“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 explained. “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 a new #1 issue always helps attract readers, North’s run has always been accessible. His approach involves standalone adventures that feed into a larger narrative, reminiscent of *Rick and Morty*. With the relaunch, North plans to enhance this overarching story.

“Not really, but I am using it as an opportunity to lean a bit more into that larger narrative!” North said. “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.’”

When the relaunch was announced, North emphasized exploring the FF not just as a family but also as friends. He elaborates on this dynamic:

“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,” North said. “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.”

Relaunching *Fantastic Four* amidst the *One World Under Doom* crossover poses a challenge, but North assures that the new series will integrate this event seamlessly.

“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 explained. “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 significant plot point in *One World Under Doom* involves Doom curing Ben Grimm of his rocky condition, but the preview art suggests Ben reverts to being The Thing. North confirms this plot will be resolved before the relaunch, ensuring a clean start 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!” North said. “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 set to release on July 9, just before *The Fantastic Four: First Steps* premieres in theaters. Below is the solicitation for *Fantastic Four #2*:

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 news, the upcoming *Fantastic Four* movie will have a prequel comic that delves into the origins of Pedro Pascal's Reed and his family, marking one of the first comics in recent years to tie directly into the MCU.