I've barely cracked this one...

I missed getting this one a couple months back, marked down to a couple bucks, but got a second chance to get a nice hardback Marvel Encyclopedia: Fantastic Four. I like the FF, even if I sometimes go for long stretches without reading their book; and I was thinking about that.

I've seen the previews for the current run from Jonathon Hickman, and while it looks interesting, Hickman (like some other FF writers before him) seems to be getting bogged down in how to justify Mister Fantastic. If Reed is such a genius that he can invent unstable molecules, rocket cycles, time sleds, and more; how come Reed can't cure cancer or solve the energy crisis or even cure Ben? (Because if Mr. Fantastic does, the Marvel Universe isn't like our world anymore...ok, even less so.)

Well, Ben's a special case, especially since he wants to be the Thing whether he admits or really knows it; but as far as the rest goes...I figured Reed devoted a lot of his time, effort, and mind to defending earth. John Byrne added a little retcon to Reed's backstory: before he went into space with his untested rocket and the rest of the FF, Reed faced down an alien invader called Gormuu. And ever since, Reed's run into menaces both alien and otherwise all over the map. Even the places he's discovered like the Negative Zone have been chock full of monsters.

That, and there may be more than a hint of obsessive-compulsive disorder to Reed's brilliance. If Reed has a flash of inspiration for a time machine, by god, he's building a time machine, even if he knows he should be working on curing Ben. He might be able to force it, if pressed into a life-and-death situation; but otherwise Reed's genius goes where it will.

Hmm, I might have to check out the trades for Hickman's run now, since I want to see where he goes with Reed now...