The oldstyle rocket ship has been upgraded to look like something a
little more post-shuttle. The storyline has been rewritten enough to give
the foursome a good reason for being in space in the first place; the old
version was plausible so far as Reed Richards, the scientist, and Benjamin
Grimm, the pilot, were concerned, but the inclusion of Richards'
sweetheart Sue Storm and her kid brother Johnny never made much sense.
Now, the Storms are heads of a wealthy scientific foundation -- Sue is the
brains, while Johnny is more of a playboy, spending his time and money on
casinos, cars and women -- providing the funding and drive for Richards'
project.
The mission comes to a head when their work is seized by alleged
government agents, and Richards, Grimm and the Storms are incarcerated.
They escape and try to stop their missile-toting foes by pursuing them
into space in an unshielded prototype craft. Then the cosmic radiation
hits, and the foursome is transformed into the stretchable Mr. Fantastic,
the monstrous Thing, the fiery Human Torch and the versatile Invisible
Girl.
As promised by Jim Lee at the outset, the story is, by and large, the
same. But the upgrades along the way make the package much more palatable
to a modern audience, and Lee's artwork, enhanced by Scott Williams &
Co. on inks and the Wildstorm team on colors, is a huge leap forward from
the olden days. Even the team's look has been improved, although their
appearances and uniforms are close enough to the original to seem familiar
to older eyes.
