Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, complex, entertainment, fantastic four, james robinson, marvel, Marvel Comics

Fantastic Four To End With A Bang, Not A Secret Wars Crossover

Published Mon, 27 Apr 2015 13:00:20 -0500

Last updated Mon, 01 Jun 2015 08:46:10 -0500

The Fantastic Fourever arc sees Marvel's long-running Fantastc Four comic book come to a close. Last summer, Marvel employees got in touch to tell Bleeding Cool that the series was being cancelled as a direct result of CEO Ike Perlmutter's irritation with Fox Studios, their Fantastic Four movie and their attitude towards working with Marvel. As a result, we were informed that Fantastic Four posters were taken down from the offices, Fantastic Four licenses were withdrawn from licensors, and that the Fantastic Four comic was to be cancelled for the duration of the promotion and release of the Fantastic Four movie. It was hoped that Bleeding Cool's report might embarrass the publisher in to changing tack, but it was not to be.

And on Wednesday we get that final issue, issue 645, just before the Secret Wars crossover. But it seems to eschew getting involved with that at all – because though this as well timed with other books doing similar, this decision has noting to do with that event.

So we get a celebration of Fantastic Four history, Psycho Man, the Frightful Four, Namor, the future Foundation, Salem's Seven and a bad guy who has been around in the background since the very beginning.. editor Mark Paniccia writes a farewell note of sadness, and draws his own comic book strip The Ultimate Nullifier. And three back up stories, each giving a focus of goodbyes and cleaning up for Human Torch, Invisible Woman, the Thing and Mister Fantastic. And a promise that this is just the end… for now.

So where now the Four? Human Torch joins the Inhumans, Susan Storm is in SHIELD, Mister Fantastic is heavily involved in the Secret Wars stories as writer Jonathan Hickman draws in some of the plots he has laid out in his Fantastic Four run and New Avengers.