New Players on the Board: FF #10 Review

  History Note: Hickman’s run can get really confusing at times, so I’m going to do a little bit note each issue about a character. Today’s is on Crystalia Amaquelin, more commonly known as Crystal. 

Powers: Crystal was exposed to the Terrigen Mists, a natural mutagen that gave her the ability to manipulate the four Greek elements; Earth, Wind, Fire, and Air, on a molecular level.

History: Man, Crystal has been around. She’s the younger sister of Black Bolt’s wife Medusa, and has dated Johnny Storm and the Sentry. She also married the mutant Quicksilver and conceived a child with him, but Black Bolt annulled their marriage after Quicksilver tried to restore mutant powers post M-Day with the Terrigan Mists.

Importance to FF: Black Bolt arranged her marriage to Ronan the Accuser of the Kree Nation, to strengthen bonds between the Kree and the Inhumans. After Black Bolt’s death, she and her husband ruled the Inhumans for awhile, until Black Bolt returned. She choose to remain with her husband rather than rejoin her people.

The Faculty:

Writer: Jonathan Hickman

Artist: Barry Kitson

Cover Artist: Steve Epting

Inker: Barry Kitson

Colorist: Paul Mounts

Letter: Clayton Cowles

Editor: Tom Brevoort, Lauren Sankovitch

Editor in Chief: Alex Alonso

The Lesson: This issues picks up with Reed arriving back at the Baxter Building, after using Eldrac to transport him. Neither Nathaniel or Peter are with him and Reed takes the time to talk to Sue. Sue believe they can’t prevent the future like Reed wants and are being tested and failing. Reed agrees to no more super villains and to calling Ben and Sue ponders the fate of Doom.

We journey to the Kree Empire, where we learn Ronan the Accuser and Crystal are planning to overthrown Black Bolt, their fleet assembled and heading towards Attilian.

Nathaniel ends up joining the last alternate Reed and the captive Doom in Latveria. Reed explains that Nathaniel Richards is the last of his kind because he killed off all the others and then Nathaniel explains that Eldrac brought him here, not because Doom needed him, but because Reed did.

Ben is at the Avengers Mansion, when Reed calls him. After he hangs out, it’s revealed Peter ended up at the mansion, because he needed to tell Ben something; Go Home.

The Kree land on Attilian and Ben and Peter return to the Baxter Building, with allies in tow; Hakweye, Captain America, and Iron Man.

Rock Solid: Before I had even reached the first page, I saw a little thing that made me very happy, Barry Kitson had returned to the title. And man does he nail it out of the park this issue, with complicated backgrounds and costumes(did you know Reed and Sue’s suits have underwear drawn into them?), some interesting panel layouts (A wideshot split into three segments, each dedicated to a character involved in the scene) , and a ton of close ups portraying the emotions the characters struggle with (There is a great shot of Ben I’ve included).

There was a great and much needed moment for newcomers, where the alternate Reed Richards explain the past of Nathaniel Richards, the man who left behind his family to destroy himself, literally. In this scene we get a glimpse of the Ultimateized FF costumes and Nathaniel’s response to the whole thing was great; “It’s over. I won.” 

I’ve made my love of Hickman’s Sue very clear, so I’ll just say she was awesome once again.

Intangible: The last page reveal made me very excited for the next issue; Hobo-Goblin on the message board said Christos Gage had made an awesome book better by adding Hawkeye to the Roster and Hickman does the same here, albeit temporarily. However, it does seem like Hawkeye is knocking Thor out of the Avengers Trio these days.

Although we did not get an time travel shenanigans, I really did like the use of Eldrac this issue. Richards states there is two types of Eldracs in the multiverses, one based off desires and one based off needs and this one seems to play off the needs of others; Sue needed Richard, Ben needed Peter, Alt Reed needed Nathaniel.

Stretched Too Thin: Nathaniel’s turn to evil just flat out bothers me. This is either going to be played as false, or it’s going to be a notch against the character in my books. I stand to be corrected or moved against my stance at this point, but it just came across as forced; a character used for plot, not plot evolving a character.

Friendly Neighborhood Moment: Although he is not very present in this issue, Spider-Man returns to the old Red and Blues this issue and has a couple of great lines. However, my personal favorite is a subtle case of Carlie bashing, where Spider-Man tells Ben that instead of getting his wish for a new girlfriend, he got stuck with him. 

 Looking to the Future: I would like to give Epting a round of applause for not displaying the guest stars for next issue on the cover. If you did not open this book ,you would not be aware Hawkeye, Cap and Iron Man are sticking around to kick some Kree ass next issue and you would be missing out. I was surprised to see them this issue and the surprise really helped the book in light of Marvel spoiling so much these days. 

I’m very much looking forward to my two favorite Marvel characters (Hawk and Spidey) teaming up next issue and I have faith in Kitson and Hickman to deliver. I’m bumping this issue up a point, because I really do love Barry Kitson’s art. 4.5/5