The trend of one-off issues that’s been running through ‘Fantastic Four, both with last issue and the “point one” issue, continues this month as Marvel’s First Family heads into an undefined harsh landscape to destroy a target that is supposedly a threat… somehow.

When the issue opens, the team is headed to the target zone when an unexpected change in air pressure causes their ship to go down. Downed in a hostile environment, the Four suit up and prepare to complete their mission on foot.

As they cross the treacherous terrain, they encounter strange amorphous alien lifeforms and hideous beasts that look like horrible mutated versions of the Pokemon Koffing (or maybe a Beyonder from ‘Dungeons and Dragons’). By the time they inevitably reach their destination, it’s pretty clear that the hostile territory that they’ve been traversing is much more familiar than first imagined.

Beware: Fantastic spoilers below!

I say “by the time they reach their destination” but, in all honesty, I had this one figured out by the third or fourth page. As soon as they suited up in their hostile environment suits, it was pretty clear that they were inside a living person and not on some distant world. I mean c’mon!… I’ve seen ‘Innerspace’ more times than I can count!

Spoiler area cleared. Continue on…

But, even though this story has been done before by all sorts of movies and comics, it was still a fun little one off read. I just wish Jonathan Hickman would get the ‘Fantastic Four’ titles back on track. It seems like after he completed his massive story arc back in issue #604, he has been in a holding patern both here and in the ‘FF’ title with one-shots and biding his time until he leaves the title with issue #611. I just hope that doesn’t mean five more issues of go-nowhere one-shot stories.

While this issue’s story is fun enough, it’s been done and it really doesn’t move the ‘Fantastic Four’ story forward in any way, so the verdict has to be…

Verdict: Borrow

FANTASTIC FOUR #606
Story by Jonathan Hickman
Art by Ron Garney
Cover by Ron Garney