Marvel’s Best Fantastic Four is Returning After Three Decades

In 1991, four of the most popular Marvel heroes of that period got together as the “New Fantastic Four“: Spider-Man, Wolverine, Hulk, and Ghost Rider. While their stint as a team lasted for only three issues, this unlikely quartet remained very popular with fans. In May 2022, Marvel will revisit that lineup with New Fantastic Four, a five-issue miniseries written by Peter David and drawn by Alan Robinson.

In the early ’90s, Marvel Comics was at the height of its commercial success. Leading the charge in the sales were characters whose “edge” was particularly suited to the comics climate of the time, such as the Punisher, Ghost Rider, and Wolverine, but among the “classic” heroes Spider-Man and Hulk were also doing exceptionally well. Fantastic Four was written and drawn by Walter Simonson. In preparation for an extra-sized issue #350, Simonson took a break from drawing for three issues, calling in legendary artist Arthur Adams to fill in. This provided the chance for an atypical storyline, in which the regular Fantastic Four are kidnapped by a Skrull, who declares them dead while posing as Sue Storm. She then assembles a new Fantastic Four team to recover an item from beneath Monster Island, calling in on Spider-Man, Hulk, Ghost Rider, and Wolverine.

It was really fun to see four heroes who are used to working alone thrown together like this, with each of their unique and conflicting personalities getting the time to shine. The idea was successful because it shook up the most traditional of the Marvel superhero titles, which was often perceived as outdated, using heroes who were considered “cool” and more in line with the trends of the time. Fans loved it, and they still do, as proved by the fact that the motley crew of heroes will reunite in this new limited series that takes place shortly after the events depicted in Fantastic Four #347-349. Peter David is a master in telling stories set in specific moments of Marvel’s past, as proved by his Symbiote Spider-Man and the Maestro trilogy. With such a vast legacy of stories, Marvel is doing well in expanding some of them with series such as X-Men Legends and Silver Surfer Rebirth. It is also interesting to note that David was writing The Incredible Hulk at the time when Simonson “borrowed” the character, and he is also the one who created Hulk’s Joe Fixit persona, which is the one who appears as a member of the New Fantastic Four.

This new tale of the group will be set in Las Vegas, where Joe Fixit worked as an enforcer for a shady casino owner. The New Fantastic Four will have to investigate a surge of violence in the city, with the strings pulled by demonic masterminds, which will probably provide the hook for Danny Ketch’s Ghost Rider, whose original persona Johnny Blaze recently returned in a new solo series. New Fantastic Four is drawn by Alan Robinson, making his debut for Marvel Comics. Nick Bradshaw penciled a special wraparound cover featuring the New and the original Fantastic Four, including Sharon Ventura, She-Thing, who was part of the lineup around the time when the story is set.

Marvel fans old and new can get ready for some nostalgia-tinged action when four of the most iconic heroes of the ’90s — Spider-Man, Hulk, Wolverine, and Ghost Rider — get back together again for New Fantastic Four, which will hit distributors on May 25.

About The Author