Waid, Mark. Fantastic Four: Unthinkable

Kliatt, July, 2004 by George Galuschak

WAID, Mark. Fantastic Four: Unthinkable. (Fantastic Four, Vol. 2) Illus. by Mike Wieringo. Marvel Comics. 144p. illus, c2003. 0-785-11111-5. $17.99. JS*

The plot of Fantastic Four: Unthinkable is simple: Victor von Doom, aka Dr. Doom, renounces science for magic. Instead of going to Hogwarts, he gains his powers by bartering with the Haazareth Three, a trio of demons. Thus empowered, Doom defeats the Fantastic Four, banishes the Richards' first-born son to Hell, and imprisons Reed Richards, the leader of the Fantastic Four, in a never-ending library stuffed full of tomes of magic. Why a library? To prove that Reed Richards, who is (to Doom's mind) inferior to Doom in every way, could never learn magic; and of course Richards, who is no Harry Potter, nevertheless learns enough magic to make things interesting. But will it be enough?

Fantastic Four: Unthinkable is my favorite comic book storyline of 2003. Mark Waid, the Fantastic Four's writer, focuses on the humanity of his characters so that we care about them. Yes, The Fantastic Four are a bonafide superhero team--they have super-powers; they live in a huge mid-town Manhattan skyscraper with the number 4 on it; and they are regularly attacked by cackling super-villains--but they are also a family. Sue and Reed Richards are married with two children; Johnny Storm is Sue's brother; and Ben Grimm is Reed's best friend.

Fantastic Four: Unthinkable contains comic book violence, scary monsters, occult references and one swear word. Highly recommended for libraries with superhero collections. George Galuschak, YA Libn., Montvale P.L., Montvale, NJ