Following the 2015 Marvel Comics Secret Wars event, Marvel’s first family went on a long hiatus after Fantastic Four #645. To say that the event represented the end of an era would be an understatement, considering that the Fantastic Four are the reason that Marvel Comics became the juggernaut that it is today. Back in 1961, Stan Lee created the Fantastic Four to compete against DC Comics, and that decision started a boom period for Marvel. The news that the historic run would end in 2015 may have left some fans disappointed, but a few years later, writer Dan Slott breathed new life into Marvel’s First Family. Now, Slot prepares to say goodbye after a fantastic four-year run.
Brought Back from the Brink
Dan Slott has helmed writing duties for the Fantastic Four since 2018. His run will come to an end in Fantastic Four #46. During his four-year run, Slott has brought the team back to the forefront of Marvel Comics with an expanded cast of characters and some unforeseen twists and turns.
A Marriage Decades in the Making
One of the first things Slott did after taking over was marry Ben Grimm and Alicia Masters. To many fans, this was an event which was decades in the making. This was also something that Slott himself had put a lot of thought into. He spoke to Marvel.com about the decision:
“One of the things I knew I was going to do right out of the gate was to marry Ben and Alicia. When I was working on THE THING, I had a 25-issue plan, and then the book got canceled with issue #8. [Laughs] Issue #25 was going to be Ben proposing to Alicia. For two years, we would do this long-term romance of him wooing Alicia back. He was going to turn himself into a man that deserved to be with Alicia.”
The Wrath of Doom
Outside of that long-awaited event, Slott put a great amount of work into the team’s long-time nemesis Doctor Doom. The Bride of Doom storyline saw Doom finally settling down to tie the knot with one of his loyal Latverian warriors, Zora Vukovic. One night of passion between Zora and Johnny Storm set off a shock wave of events that would change all of their lives forever though. In Fantastic Four #34, the Human Torch felt the full wrath of Doom, when he was bombarded with concentrated cosmic rays, which left him in intense pain and unable to turn off his flame. Doom’s punishment for Johnny made him “an eternal flame that can never be extinguished.”
A New Beginning
Dan Slott finishes up his run in August with Fantastic Four #46, which promises “a revelation years in the making.” The long-lost sister of Reed Richards is set to make her debut, but questions still remain. Will the Fantastic Four family welcome her with open arms? What new adventures or threats are on the horizon? Find out in Dan Slott’s final issue coming in August!
