‘FF’ #12 begins where last week’s ‘Fantastic Four’ #600 left off. During Annihilus’ invasion of the Baxter Building, the Reed kids and the rest of the Future Foundation teleported the top three floors of the building away. As the children get their bearings, they discover that the part of the building that they teleported (excuse me… translocated, according to Val) has wound up half-buried in the side of a snowy mountain. They quickly discover that the building was teleported, not to the moon, but rather to the home of Doctor Doom himself… Latveria!

Inside Doom’s fortress, Doom, his son Kristoff, the alternate universe Reed Richards, and Nathaniel Richards notice the children’s appearance and send Doombots out to retrieve them. Once the kids are safely accounted for, it’s made clear that Nathaniel might be behind more of the recent shifts in FF/Fantastic Four universe than the old man lets on.

Doom, Kristoff, Nathaniel, and the alternate Reed discuss a secretive plan that Doom refuses to go along with unless he is freed from the control collar that was placed on him by alterna-Reed. After much bickering and debating, alterna-Reed agrees to remove the collar and the secret plan gets underway. Alterna-Reed has built a bridge across dimensions in an attempt to get back to his own universe while avoiding getting killed by Doom.

Hickman’s run as writer on ‘FF’ up until this point has been amazing. He’s pulled from the vast history of Marvel’s first family to craft a story that is full of action, sentiment, and loads of sci-fi. Now that the regular ‘Fantastic Four’ title has returned and ‘FF’ is continuing, it’s great to see Hickman’s FF universe growing even further. With ‘Fantastic Four’ following the main five heroes, this book follows the rest of the FF team and I honestly think this might end up being the better of the two titles if this issue is any indication.

The artwork from Juan Bobillo is this issues only point of contention with me. Bobillo’s pencils look amazing on certain things. Doom’s costume and the mechanical bits around his castle are perfect. But, when it comes to facial features, Bobillo tends to put far too many lines on some while others look very manga and cartoon-like. I expect that this was the intent since this book is mostly about the Reed children, but Val ends up looking very odd with her larger-than-normal manga eyes.

I’ll continue reading for Hickman’s spectacular storytelling but I really hope that Marvel sees fit to introduce a new artist sooner than later.

Verdict: Buy

FF #12
Written by JONATHAN HICKMAN
Art by JUAN BOBILLO
Cover by STEVE EPTING