Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman Omnibus Vol. 1 (Fantastic Four Omnibus)

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Just look to the present, as the Krakoan Era of X-Men he kicked off is still going strong for a few years now, even as he has departed the books. Omnibus usually includes bonus materials such as the creation of the work, alternative covers, sketches, comic scripts, and more. They both have that great balance of making individual issues stand on their own while also weaving storylines over the course of years. He is known for creating the Image Comics series The Nightly News, The Manhattan Projects and East of West, as well as working on Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four, FF and S. Though I ought to also mention that, of all the "deaths" of comic book characters since "The Death of Superman" (and even before that, with, say, Warlock, or Bucky Barnes), this particular death was probably the shortest--at least, as much as I've been paying attention to that sort of thing, which admittedly isn't all that much.

One of my favorite things that Hickman does beautifully is balance the sheer number of important characters that are on the run. I will say that it's lacking a level of intrigue or excitement that his Avengers run was dripping with, but hey, it's a different flavor of story. But it took me about three months to read this (comparatively thin) omnibus because I just didn't care about so many of the storylines. He also does a fantastic job intertwining several plots and characters together that seamlessly come together for a great payoff. There is even a Spider-Man scene about Uncle Ben that is genuinely touching, despite the excessive retreading and retelling of that moment and that alone is a Herculean feat.In classic Hickman fashion, there's a question at the heart of this story: how can Reed solve everything? I mean there is one fight in space between 4 gods (I won't say who) and it's just a full on geek fest, loved it.

Grieving, the surviving members of the Fantastic Four dissolve the team - but from its ashes will rise the Future Foundation! If I reread the book, I might see how it was foreshadowed throughout, but on the first go, it sure felt like it came out of nowhere and didn't hit as hard as it could have. There is so much smart and creative writing going on here that I can't wait for the second omnibus to arrive.

Reading further, though, one arrives at the real conclusion, which is nothing short of spectacular and surely conforms to the expectations of all who’ve been following the plot.