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Off My Mind: Death In The Fantastic Four

The Fantastic Four will become the Fantastic Three?

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Marvel is saying one of the Fantastic Four will fall and perish in the upcoming arc, Fantastic Four: Three starting in issue #583. We've seen death in comics many times but perhaps this will be different.  
 
Besides the promise of a death in this story arc, there are so many things coming in this title that has me excited. Fantastic Four was one of the first titles I got hooked on with issue #273 being the first that I bought. I know a lot of readers have a hard time getting into the title the same way they struggle with Superman comics. I believe the perception is these comics aren't as hip as some of the newer titles. The Fantastic Four has always been about a family going on adventures. It's simply so much more than that. Since Jonathan Hickman has started writing, that perception should change.  
 
Besides a possible death, why am I excited over this?
 == TEASER == 
With Hickman's writing since issue #570, the title has gotten better each month. With issue #583, Steve Epting comes on board as the artist. That alone is a reason for me to get excited. You'll notice that the cover is drawn by another of my favorites, Alan Davis. In the preview (below) you'll see mention of Kristoff.  
 
Kristoff Vernard, aka Kristoff Von Doom is the adopted son of Dr. Doom. When Doom seemingly died, a Doombot implanted Doom's memories into Kristoff and he believed he was the true Victor Von Doom. You can imagine the problems it caused when the real Doom eventually returned. There's also the possibility that floated around with Nathaniel Richards being Kristoff's actual father. It's going to be interesting to see why Doom will be summoning Kristoff and what he'll be like after all this time. 
 
Going back to the issue of a death, will a member actually die?  Death is so overused. Whenever there's a death in comics, it's just not a big deal, especially when it's a major character. You know they won't remain dead for long. Despite the tease for issue #583, there have been four different images telling us that one of the Fantastic Four will be gone. Which member will be the unlucky one?


We've recently seen the deaths of Cable, Nightcrawler and Sentry. Is Hickman and Marvel really serious about killing a member of the Fantastic Four? Part of me feels that with all these deaths, they have to start taking them seriously if we're supposed to start caring in the slightest bit.  
 
Just like I feel the death of Nightcrawler, Cable and Sentry won't last, I don't think whoever dies in the FF will remain dead for long. I am super excited for this story arc despite the possible death stunt factor. The combination of Hickman and Epting is going to make this great title even better. Check out the preview pages with Doom and a curious visit by Valeria Richards. Issue #583 is on sale September 22, 2010.

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159 Comments

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The_Martian

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Edited By The_Martian
@spider2dfly said:
" Bring back the New Fantastic Four!! "
We don't want Spider-Man and Wolverine to be on a third team together.
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deactivated-5e2bfb4a59ec7

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@spider2dfly:
That would be awesome if Marvel did that.
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growup

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Edited By growup

it is gonna be Reed, it can't be thing because he is in new avengers, and without his super genius they will be able to take a fresh approach to the book, instead of an alien of the week thing. Also I believe Hitch said he believed the book was getting to Reed-centric.

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dan1509

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Edited By dan1509

I'm guessing that this applies to a lot of people as it has been mentioned so much but death isn't the same anymore, people die and then they come back so soon so yeah, its not really guna matter too much really is it?

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VanTesla

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Edited By VanTesla

Am I the only person that thinks Reed Richards a bad father? 
 
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deactivated-5a82f294c6df1

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Comic booth death IS temporary... just have the shovels ready... the only thing they can do to make it matter is to be unexpected and awesome. I hope we are being led to believe it's going to be Reed and then make it someone else on the team.

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frogjitsu

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Edited By frogjitsu

I hope it's Reed.  That way the book can focus more on the other characters.  Johnny has really been getting the shaft lately.  Besides, Val can become the new brains of the operation, if needed.  But really, does it matter.  Whoever dies will probably be brought back conveniently by the time FF #700 comes out anyways.  If Marvel wanted to do something really shocking, then how about not killing or resurrecting anybody for a year?  Nearly every event they publish features at least one character dying or coming back to life.  It's so old, and annoying.  Give it a rest.

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soduh2

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Edited By soduh2

Maybe this is a front and three members are going to die rather than three surviving.

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MrFantastic

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Edited By MrFantastic

Johnny dies. Everyone else in the FF has died individually already (Everybody died in the Onslaught Story Arc). It has all been laid before us.  We watched Sue die in the "Death of the Invisible Woman" Story Arc, only after her and Reed live another 500 years from now!  That let's them off the hook. The Thing is joining the Avengers, so he lives.
 
Other Hickman hints?  How about when future Valeria and Franklin leap into eternity?  What do they say?

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Other Hickman hints?  Who comes to consul Franklin? Spiderman.  Who died and changed Peter Parker's life? His uncle. The kids call Ben Grimm "Uncle Ben", but they only have one uncle, and he's about to be toast. 
 
The next question is how long will Johnny be snuffed out?  Let's see, we are about a year until FF #600.  He will have to be back for that.  How will he come back?  Well, paradoxically, Franklin did come back from the future and "re-power" himself.  We've seen him do that trick before in "Heroes Reborn".  Not much of a trick for an Omega level mutant. A little "Flame On"  and Johnny comes back from a pocket universe. Just in time for issue 600!