Continuing the downpour of new Marvel NOW! info (including our own scoop about the new Deadpool series), USA Today talked with writer Matt Fraction about taking over Marvel's first family, the Fantastic Four, and their counterparts the Future Foundation (FF). It seems Fraction is bringing his biggest ideas to the plate for these books as he's joined by Mark Bagley on Fantastic Four and Mike Allred on FF.
First, Fraction described Fantastic Four as a road trip through time and space, referencing an RV trip that a senator took with his wife and kids across the country when he left office."It was this intensive road-trip home-school experience. I don't really know any parent who wouldn't want to do that with the time and money available," Fraction told the paper. But how that pertains to Reed Richards and family in particular, he said, "If they're studying ancient Rome, then by God let's go have lunch with Caesar on the Ides of March. If they're looking at the Big Bang, they're going to watch it from the front row."
According to the article, the family trip will span about a year in their own timeline, but back on Earth only four minutes will have passed. And standing guard to make sure nothing outrageous happens within those four minutes is the new FF: She-Hulk, Ant-Man (Scott Lang), Medusa, and a new character named Miss Thing, who Fraction said is a "'Lohan-esque celebutante blonde' he's [Johnny Storm] with the night before he leaves and she's thrown into the middle of this situation. She’s the regular person, she’s the human, she’s the overwhelmed ‘Whaaa?’ of it all."
Of course, despite the good intentions of both teams, that four minute gap does far more damage than Reed anticipated, and three weeks after they return, an older, "half-insane" Johnny Storm stumbles into their lives through the very same time gateway. Presumably, madness will ensue. Unfortunately, the one negative spot of the article was the reveal that Fraction's Defenders series would be ending at issue #12.
The approach to these books certainly seems fresh in a way that only the writer of the equally mind-bending Casanova could do it, and assisted by the likes of Bagley and particularly Allred, this duo of books will surely be the ones to keep an eye on.
"My hope is that it will be quirky in the same way that the Fantastic Four were quirky when they first appeared in the early 60s. We know who they are, we know what they're about, but when they first showed up, it was like a bomb going off in comics," said editor Tom Brevoort. "These were remarkable characters who were doing unexpected things and had a real element of danger to it and excitement and unpredictability. The hope is we'll be able to tap into something akin to that."
"It's very easy to say, 'I want to stay true to what Stan and Jack did.' Well, what Stan and Jack did was invent the entirety of the Marvel Universe in 104 issues," added Fraction. "This is the place to be wildly inventive, and I would like to put as many things down on the page as humanly possible and offer up another dose next issue."
For more with Fraction, Bagley, Allred, and Brevoort, head on over to USA Today.
Joey is IGN's Comics Editor and a comic book creator himself. Follow Joey on Twitter, or find him on IGN. He's pretty sure the new FF might become his new favorite Marvel book.
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