Guys' Night Out!

 

OR: "Sharked By A Femizon"

Occasionally I'll have the pleasure of reading a comics issue scripted by Dan Slott, who's been a prolific writer at Marvel since 2005 (though beginning his work for the company in mid-1991). Slott's writing has appeared in a number of titles through the years, with some noteworthy stories along the way, --one of which, Amazing Spider-Man #700, earned him no small amount of notoriety with ASM readers, as he took the extraordinary step of killing off Peter Parker (whose mind at the time was in the body of Dr. Octopus) while Doc Ock, whose mind was in Peter's body, continued on as Spider-Man in the new Superior Spider-Man title. Slott also had the dubious honor of breathing new life into the Great Lakes Avengers--and, more notably, the Fantastic Four, whose title finally returned to commercial status in 2018 (as spotlighted by a New York Times article).

I'd first sampled Slott's handling of an FF character in issue #4 of the brief The Thing series which ran from 2005-06; but when time permitted, I was able to take a look at the new FF title and very much enjoyed Slott's take on the team in an issue which featured the Thing at last marrying Alicia Masters. Slott's handling of the FF is spot-on, and I was particularly impressed with his characterization of Ben Grimm, which hits the bullseye. It would have been regrettable if the new FF title had met the same fate as did attempts to bring the concept to the big screen--yet the issue was a relaxing and fun page-turner which brought back some of the magic that '60s fans must have felt while reading the issues of the original title.

And as we'll discover, that also ties in with

 
On our way to the happy nuptials, however, is a note of sorrow, though the man in question would likely have smiled broadly at Slott's treatment this issue of Marvel's "first family."

Technically speaking, it's the evening before the wedding which rivals the wedding celebration with its own time-honored festivities for both bride and groom--or, more to the point, bachelor and bachelorette, with Ben and Alicia each being treated to one last night on the town as singles by their respective friends. Ben has been especially mindful of putting everyone on notice that he's playing it safe by keeping "capes" off the guest list for the wedding in order to avoid the "shenanigans" which inevitably happen when super-powered individuals show up to a gathering--and so his last night as a bachelor will be their only outlet to wish him well, as the wedding itself is being attended by family members only.

One lady in Sue Richards' bachelorette group, however, is in the mood for, shall we say, a more rousing good time in the company of the males.

For reasons we haven't yet been told, Reed Richards, Ben's Best Man for the wedding, has delegated his bachelor's party responsibilities to Johnny Storm, who has obviously accepted the job with enthusiasm but seems a little distracted on this occasion. We won't know the details of that until after our fun-loving group arrives at a local bar for more traditional fare (after a somewhat painful detour for Ben at Madison Square Garden)--though for this group, "traditional" doesn't necessarily mean a more relaxed atmosphere where no one gets into any real trouble. Quite the contrary, though what occurs validates Ben's rule on wedding guests.

For Ben's sake, he can at least rest assured that there are no attackers at the venue where Sue, Alicia and their friends have descended on this evening. We'll have to leave it to our imagination as to how a blind person would derive enjoyment from such a visual form of entertainment as being taken to a male stripper club, but, for what it's worth, Sue is at Alicia's side giving her a *ahem* play-by-play of the action taking place on stage.

As we've seen, the bachelors were short-changed in the stripper department, treated instead to super-villains popping out of the celebratory cakes--but these gentlemen will still see their share of stripping, thanks to a card hustler named Thundra.

(What's Thor doing with a prosthetic arm? I must have missed that bus.)

This issue clocks in at just over sixty pages--and while the buyer would have to judge for him or herself whether Slott's story was worth the price tag of eight bucks, I found it to be enjoyable reading throughout with a wealth of characterization to offer. Slott has an approach to the team similar to that of Mark Waid's early 2000 work on the book as far as keeping things light, whatever the circumstances; however, not having read Slott's other issues of Fantastic Four, one can't assume that his style in this wedding issue is also applied to stories where more serious stakes are involved. (Take, for example, the last page of this story, which has the FF jetting off to Latveria to handle Galactus, as if it were just another day at the office before getting home in time for dinner.) Would Slott's FF be able to embody the same drama in more tense situations, such as the threat of Dr. Doom taking over the world or battling enemies who have beaten them at every turn? Or are the FF just going to be living "the life fantastic" in the 2020s?

Be that as it may, the FF have always had one thing going for them--and when the party winds down for Ben and his friends, one scene in this story struck me as a good example of why reading Fantastic Four is a very different experience from other Marvel books: At the end of the day, these people are family.

Ben could have a similar scene (well, not necessarily in the aftermath of a free-for-all in a bar) with Sue or Reed and it would come off just as well, since all four of these people have history together; but when the moment comes, it really comes down to the writer and how he or she envisions the Fantastic Four and the interaction among its members. Slott has more than proven himself in that regard in this 650th issue, when our foursome have cause to let down their guard--I'll be curious to see if he treats them as casually when things are really on the line.