It’s been a minute since the last time I dove into a Fantastic Four series at Marvel Comics. I had been hearing rumblings about Ryan North‘s run on Marvel’s First Family and thought it was time to give it a try. I am torn with this first five issues. On one had I was happy the opening plot of each member lost in time wasn’t the whole volume, but what we get in the end is something a bit more disjointed. Luckily, Humberto Ramos saves the day with some fantastic (yes, pun intended) artwork.
Courtesy of their world-conquering enemy, the Fantastic Four are scattered through four different eras in Earth’s history! Alone and isolated in wildly different time periods, Reed, Johnny, Ben and Sue all must fight to survive. Their only hope is to reach the Forever Stone: a mass of dense granite that happens to be one of the longest-lasting rocks on the planet!
As of late I have been mostly lukewarm on Marvel comics as a whole, but for a few shining spots. However, I haven’t really been fully invested either, so I came into the Fantastic Four Vol. 1: Save Everyone with an open mind. The opening chapter was interesting and connects the series into the One World Under Doom storyline seamlessly. Seeing each of our main cast of heroes spread across time, searching for the Forever Stone and a way back to present time was something I could get behind. However, after the second chapter I was already done with the plot and was wondering how North would intertwine the next few chapters. Not how I expected.
We get about three issues of time traveling escapades that head into two more chapters of basically stand-alone tales. While reading each month may have been less jarring, it was a bit hard to wrap my head around reading the volume as one cohesive story.
What kept me gripped to each and every panel of Fantastic Four Vol. 1 was the outstanding artwork from Ramos. After falling in love with the artwork in Strange Academy, Ramos has been one of my favorite superhero artists of all-time. He has this playful style that works so well with big-two comics, especially one such as Fantastic Four.
Fantastic Four Vol. 1: Save Everyone had me torn between a solid plot with not-so-great execution. The artwork from Humberto Ramos stole the show and kept this first volume featuring Marvel’s First Family afloat.
The collected edition of Fantastic Four Vol. 1 hits local comic shops and bookstores everywhere on March 10, 2026 from Marvel Comics.
Fantastic Four Vol. 1 Preview
