What’s that you say? You wanted the Future Foundation to actually appear in your copy of FF #6? Well that’s just too bad. Weird as it may sound, none of the members of the titular team so much as cameo in this month’s issue of FF, unless you count their headshots on the recap page (I don’t). Luckily, that doesn’t keep FF #6  from continuing to be an appealing book, but it is a little disappointing nonetheless.

              Instead of out regularly scheduled heroes, this issue focuses on providing some backstory for how Black Bolt was able to make his return from his apparent death at the end of War of Kings. However, very little of FF #6 even deal with that. Instead, that majority of the issue is spent thousands of years in the past when the Kree Empire was first experimenting with the Terrigan Mists that created the Inhumans. This setting is quite interesting for any who have interest in the in the history of either of these two races, but more recent or casual Marvel Comics’ readers, and perhaps even some of the long-term readers, might be more than a little confused by exactly what is going on here. For those that know of the histories of the Kree and the Inhumans, this is actually quite an essential read for learning more about the creation of the Inhumans as well as how Kree society worked and even handled some matters such as religion. It’s a compelling read, but one that has the potential to throw many readers for a loop. After all, when you really think about it, this plot is a tangent of a tangent to the main story (that being the War of the Four Cities) so it likely won’t appeal to everyone.

              Luckily, Jonathan is an absolutely masterful writer no matter what subject matter he is focusing on and FF #6 is still a great, fun read even if you have no clue what is going on; his handling of the Supreme Intelligence’s dialogue is both appropriate and amusing and there is great use of the heritage of certain other Marvel character familiar to the FF that is currently living with the Inhumans. However, no matter how well written the story is, it ultimately still feels superfluous at this moment. I’m sure most people, like me, were hoping to see the story of exactly how Black Bolt makes his triumphant return, but it seems that will have to be a story for next month and the lack of any of its main characters is disappointing and makes it feel as though the series as a whole has been temporarily sidetracked.

              This strange mix of good and bad aspects of the story is also a problem in the art for the issue. This month, Greg Tocchini steps up for penciling duties and, while his art is by no means bad, it lacks the polish or consistency to really be considered good. While I have enjoyed Tocchini’s artwork in the past, he comes off a rough Gabriel Hardman with this issue. It may have been deliberate, but his work looks almost unfinished at points with extremely rough inking on his lines that make for some add shapes at times. Some might find this appropriate for the alien settings of the issue, but to me it just took me out of the book and looked odd. Tocchini also struggles with faces a lot with some looking misshapen and just plain ugly. Thankfully, this doesn’t apply to the character of the story that is only a face (The Supreme Intelligence). What he lacks in finish and faces, Tocchini makes up for with posture, though. His characters strike some truly fierce, powerful, and even regal poses that are totally appropriate for the characters that model them; I defy you to say that Black Bolt does not look every bit the powerful king he is (was?) in the panel where he is standing over the defeated Vulcan. However, Tocchini’s art does serve to highlight on of FF’s biggest problems right now: its lack of a consistent art team. Only six issues in and the series has already had 3 artists. I personally believe it’s time for Marvel to pick and artist and attach him indefinitely to allow for more consistency within the series. Just like the plot of the issue, how much people enjoy the art in this issue is likely to be very subjective.

              Despite all the problems with this issue, it is still mostly solid and Hickman has more than earned my trust with his work on Marvel’s First Family so I have faith that this issue will lead somewhere both interesting and exciting down the road. Even if you don’t feel the same way, it is still an excellent “historical” work for the Marvel Universe as a whole and I still recommend that anyone that has enjoyed FF so far not stop now.