It’s safe to say that I have never been more nervous for a comic book than I was for FF #1. As I’ve said before, Fantastic Four is and always has been my favorite comic series and when it was a announced that one of the team would be killed and the series cancelled and rebooted as FF, short for Future Foundation now, I had no idea what to expect. Fantastic Four hadn’t been one of Marvel’s more high profile books in years and this reboot had both the chance to revitalize the franchise or ruin it once and for all. Luckily for me, my faith in Jonathan Hickman has not gone unrewarded.

                The issue starts with a quick scene of AIM soldiers, an evil scientific group within the Marvel Universe, beginning to work toward some mysterious goals. From there, we cut to the Baxter Building where Reed Richards is watching a hologram that the Human Torch had left behind in case of his death saying that Spider-Man should be asked to replace. Most of the rest of the issue follows Spider-Man attempting to adjust to his role as a replacement. This is where the issue really gets good. This is, somewhat ironically, easily the best issue of Fantastic Four I have read in a long, long time.

                Hickman really nails down what this family is like and what it can be like for someone to break into that family dynamic, even when they are a close friend, after such a loss. This issue makes it clear that all of these characters are more than just individuals, they are truly a family. You can see this from the first time Spider-Man walks through the newly-redecorated Baxter Building as each panel shows different members of the extended family around the house. Easily the best is a quick panel of the Thing and the Richards children that tugs at the heartstrings in a way a comic book hasn’t managed to do in a while. The interactions of characters all feel spot-on  and feel more authentically Fantastic Four than they have since Mark Waid was on the title. The inclusion of Nathaniel Richards, Reed’s father, is a smart one that adds more to the series than I would have guessed and the other surprise new cast member on the last page will undoubtedly prove to be interesting.  This is definitely the best Fantastic Four I have read in years, even if it is actually the Future Foundation now.

               Steve Epting also really steps up his game for this special issue. These characters all have genuine emotions. He also has the uncanny knack for making the most inhuman of monsters fit into a family surprisingly well. His version of the thing looks MUCH better than it did before and never before would I believe that it would look normal for any family, even the Fantastic Four, to have a super-smart cyborg Dragon Man with glasses reading a book in their living room, but Epting makes it look natural. From beginning to end, this is a gorgeous book, even if I’m not entirely sold on the new uniforms yet, though I have no real gripe against them. What little bit of action there is looks great, though Epting really excels at the quiet family moments.

                Normally, new number one’s of a series or reboots stumble a little bit. Maybe the characters seem just a little out of character or a new character doesn’t work out as well as the writers thought. Whatever problems normally plague issues like this one are not present in the slightest in FF. Though I never lost interest, I’m more excited about this family than I have been in quite some time. If you haven’t read Fantastic Four recently or ever, then this is absolutely the place to start. I can almost guarantee that you’ll love it. If you really want a bad side too it, I’d say there are waaayyy too many covers to this comic.