Fantastic Four: Dark Reign #1

In Fantastic Four: Dark Reign (Jonathan Hickman), Reed Richards builds a machine to travel to other realities to compare problem-solving techniques with his counterparts. It's a very cool idea, if not an entirely an original one. Mark Millar, during his run on Ultimate Fantastic Four, put Ultimate Reed Richards in contact with some of his alternate selves so they could work as a sort of uber-thinktank. But Millar's idea was merely a lead-in for his Ultimate FF vs. Marvel Zombies arc - in essence, just a macguffin to set up a big summer horror flick.

Here, Hickman gives the concept some real pathos. In the wake of the Skrull invasion, Reed looks back at all the recent tragedies that have rocked the Marvel Universe, like Secret Invasion, World War Hulk, Civil War, etc. He feels responsible some of these events, but more than that, he believes deeply that "every problem has a solution" and his interdimensional bridge is the way to find them. It gets at the core of Reed Richards, the intersection between the superhero and the scientist. And with all the inter-reality travel the Fantastic Four (not to mention other Marvel heroes) have engaged in over the years, it's a wonder it's taken 40+ years to see someone really tackle this story head on.

The remaining Fantastic Three are left without knowing how long Reed will be gone or what he'll be facing while he's away. And of course there are some shenanigans from Norman "I'm a Sane Protector of Babies and Apple Pie Now, Really" Osborn as Reed is heading out, 'cause what else happens on a Tuesday night in the Baxter Building?

(The comic didn't actually specify that it was a Tuesday. But it was in some reality, I'm sure. So there.)

- JC