#Johnny Hickman

[kellymagovern]

Cracker - "Low" [x]

[in2theautumnwoods]

Cracker - Low

"Blue blue is the sun Brown brown is the sky Green green of her eyes A million miles a million miles"

[vertigoartgore]

2010's Fantastic Four #577 pages 16-17 by artist Dale Eaglesham (words by writer Jonathan Hickman). Source

[elliebloodstone]

Few issues later...

[gh0stofstarman]

A while ago I found this essay talking about Reed Richards and his autism coding. This isn’t my writing, just to be clear. While it’s just a draft, I was really impressed with the findings. Of course Marvel has never explicitly stated Mister Fantastic is autistic, but many authors clearly do view the character as on the spectrum.

I’d heavily recommend reading this bit. Heck, it brings up a lot of why I love Mister Fantastic as a character, and how he’s been mishandled by other writers.

[nevenkebla]

Algo que hacer

Fantastic Four #601 Jonathan Hickman (Guionista), Steve Epting (Dibujante)

— Spider-Man: ¿Johnny? — Johnny Storm: Sí… en serio, ¿qué llevas puesto? — Spider-Man: Reed y los chicos han hecho uniformes nuevos. — Johnny Storm: Pues son un horror. — Spider-Man: Estás muerto. Te moriste. — Johnny Storm: Más de una vez, y sigo siendo más guapo que tú. — Spider-Man: Dios mío… — Johnny Storm: Soy yo de verdad, Pete. — Spider-Man: ¡ESTÁS VIVO! — Johnny Storm: Vale, vale, bájame. Bonitos fuegos artificiales. — Spider-Man: Sí, el fin del mundo, invasión Kree. Sabes de qué va. — Johnny Storm: Sí, sí que lo sé. Sujétame a Annihilus. Hay algo que tengo que hacer.

— Iron Man: ¿Es ese…? — Susan Storm: Dios mío… — Ben Grimm: ¿Qué…? Oh. Menuda cosa…

— Centinela Kree: Iniciad eliminación, completadla y pasad al blanco suplementario. ¡Alerta! Revisión de amenaza matriz. Blanco primario aumenta resistencia. Calculando tiempo de tarea. Calculando. Comunicad plan temporal corregido. — Ben Grimm: “Comunicad plan temporal, corregido”. ¿Es así como un robot pregunta qué hora es? Dejadme que os ayude con eso. ¡ES LA HORA DE LAS TORTAS! ¿Estás bien? — Alicia Masters: Sí. — Ben Grimm: Vale. Tengo que trabajar, Alicia. — Alicia Masters: He oído a todos. Lo del cielo… ¿De verdad era…? — Ben Grimm: Me dispongo a averiguarlo.

[saikyo78]

[johnnywait]

FF #17 (2011)

[dbot456]

Fantastic Four (1998) #587 by Jonathan Hickman and Steve Epting

[racefortheironthrone]

So the F4 cast announcement got me thinking about what comics to read if I get around to that and then about Doom and then I got me thinking... where exactly is Latveria supposed to be? The name makes me think of the Baltic states but I could be wrong.

So yeah, great announcement!

Pedro Pascal is a bit typecast as playing the Dad character (although that's become "one of those good problems"), but I'm thrilled that Cousin Ritchie is going to be playing Ben Grimm.

Obviously, they won't let Ebon Moss-Bachrach swear as much as he does in the Bear, but he's a fantastic actor and I cannot wait to see him bringing that mix of temper and soulfulness to the part.

I haven't seen much of Vanessa Kirby's work, but I'm looking forward to seeing what she can do with a better script than Napoleon.

And Joseph Quinn is excellent and I look forward to seeing some of "Eddie" Munson's energy in Johnny Storm.

In terms of recommendations for FF comics, I've got you there:

Read the Kirby/Lee run. It's a work of art from beginning to end.

Read the Walt Simonson's run.

This is going to be controversial, but you might want to skip the Byrne run.

Read the Jonathan Hickman run. A serious tour de force.

Alongside the Hickman run, Fraction/Allred is quite good too.

As for where Latveria is, it is indeed Balkan:

As you can see from the map, Central/Eastern Europe in Earth 616 is quite different and significantly more Balkanized (forgive the pun) compared to Earth 1218 (also known as our universe).

In addition to Doom's Latveria, we have Symkaria (the dysfunctional micro-kingdom whose economy is largely supported by Silver Sable's mercenary company), Transia (birthplace of Wanda and Pietro Maximoff and home to the High Evolutionary's Island of Doctor Moreau Wundagore Mountain), and a bunch of minor ones like Ruritania (from The Prisoner of Zenda), Carnelia (a post-Soviet state that Tony Stark and Justin Hammer fight over), Belgriun (a totalitarian monarchy that was overthrown by a bunch of Spider-Men villains), Draburg (which showed up in some Sabra comics), and some other small ones that I couldn't find on the wiki.

[thevindicativevordan]

Since you read all of Ultimate Fantastic Four, what do you think of the series?

Gave me an understanding of why shows like Keeping Up With The Kardashians are popular. Something about following trashy people can be oddly compelling and entertaining. Ellis and Millar’s sections were the strongest of the run, with Carey only getting good towards the end. Ellis spends a lot of time “realistically” explaining how the powers of the Four work, and used that same approach to the Ultimate takes on Doom and the Negative Zone too. Millar in contrast is throwing out cool ideas to see what sticks (zombie F4, everyone gets superpowers, spiders that eat time travelers, Doom pulls a Superior Spider-Man on Reed) and doesn’t particularly care to explain in depth how any of it works. His is the most entertaining section of the UFF and the one where the premise really shines. You get to see the potential of a less squeaky clean F4 in terms of what stories can be told, all of the Four get character focus even if in the case of Sue and Johnny it only makes them more unlikable.

I already talked about Reed but regarding the other three:

Ben is more or less the same as his 616 counterpart. Pissed at Reed for his transformation, angsts over it and is terminally depressed, but when his team or world needs him he brings the clobbering. Thing’s best moments are ironically in the President Thor arc where he has no powers. Scene at that end where he beats the Super Skrull to death for genociding Earth is peak Thing. Ben Grimm rules no matter the reality.

Ultimate Johnny is a moron. A well-meaning moron with a (small) heart of gold to compensate for having no brains to be fair. He has some good moments like clueing Reed in that Sue likes him at the start of the series, and being willing to give up his powers if it means curing Ben as an apology for an incredibly asshole “joke” he plays on Ben earlier. But he remains a shallow fratbro for the entire run, with only the death of his father at the end of the series (thanks to Ultimatum) pushing him towards bettering himself. Bendis’ usage of him in USM is superior to how he’s used in UFF imo.

Another unintentional foreshadowing here that I loved. Sue goes on a mission to Siberia alone after Reed alienated himself from the rest of the team because he was obsessed with shooting the Cube. Sue gets shot down and Johnny blames Reed for it, threatening to burn Reed to death if Sue dies. Follows through on that threat after Reed DOES hurt Sue in Ultimate Doom! Within the arc itself Johnny comes across as an unstable prick, but people probably feel more inclined to side with him knowing what Reed will become. I however saw how you could feasibly make Johnny a bad guy, imagine a world where Sue does die and Johnny is the one to go off the deep end. Can’t see 616 Johnny ever breaking like that, but this guy could have.

Sue… is much, much worse than her 616 counterpart. Most writers, even great ones like Hickman, don’t know what to do with Sue. At best she’s the “mom” and that’s her entire character. She takes care of the kids and nags the rest of the team. Ultimate Sue being unmarried means that they can’t fall back on that so instead they make her whole personality being a woman. Mole Man and Namor are sex pests towards her, she gets kidnapped because one villain wants to use her to resurrect his wife and the other villain wants to steal her powers because she thinks they’re wasted on Sue. Everything about her revolves around the men in her life, even breaking her and Reed up merely leads to a new permanent relationship between her and Ben.

Sue’s biggest fear is becoming her mom, who is a selfish asshole who abandoned the Storm family because she valued her career more than them. Suppose that means she’s attracted to Reed initially because her mommy issues made her think she could get Reed to pick her over science where she failed with her mom. She’s constantly showing off skin to titillate the readership. Arcs focused on her were the worst of the run, and that breakup scene at the end of UFF: Requiem managed to make her shooting down a marriage proposal at her dad’s funeral unsympathetic. All these legit reasons to break Sue and Reed up for good, and they went for the one that makes Sue as unlikable as possible. Yeah how dare Reed not prioritize saving you over saving the planet!

If UFF exists on a spectrum with Reed being morally sketchy even prior to his breakdown, and Ben essentially being the same as his 616 counterpart, Johnny and Sue are right in the middle with Johnny edging towards the heroic side and Sue leaning towards villainy. People have forgotten this but Ultimate Sue had two evil futures where she broke bad. One where she becomes Kang which was Fialkov trying to justify Reed’s transformation into Maker, and the other in a completely forgotten F4/X-Men crossover where she becomes an evil dictator in an alternate future after Johnny gets killed in Ultimatum, with Reed opposing her. God that entire story was a fever dream, on its own it’s mediocre as hell but every goddamn reveal hits ten times harder when you know what’s coming.

Damnit this was a punch straight to the gut. In said future Reed becomes Nihl, no matter what it seems he was destined to emulate one of the Four’s foes. Biggest takeaway from UFF for me is that I could buy Ultimate Reed, Sue, or Johnny breaking bad. All three are shitty people with poor emotional control and narcissistic elements to their personalities. Reed simply had the misfortune to be the one Bendis chose to shove into the deep end.

Ultimate X-Men is the only Ultimate series I haven’t read yet but right now I rate UFF as the weakest of the ones I have. It’s not bad by any means! Actually I quite enjoyed it depending on the arc. Unlike USM and Ultimates however I don’t think UFF does anything better than the mainline FF book. Tellingly that while MCU adaptions of Spider-Man and Avengers borrowed a lot from their Ultimate counterparts, the FF seem to be drawing entirely from 616. UFF works better as a contrast with the mainline rather than as an entry point to the franchise for new readers.

[geekcavepodcast]

"Fantastic Four Fanfare" Celebrates Marvel's First Family

To celebrate The Fantast Four: First Steps film (in theaters July 25, 2025), Marvel Comics will release variant covers, new collections, and more.

Fantastic Four Fanfare is a four-issue limited series set across the Fantastic Four's history. The series will feature new stories from Jonathan Hickman, Mark Waid, Dan Slott, Alan Davis, J. Michael Straczynski, Chip Zdarsky, Mike Allred, Mark Bagley, and more. Each issue will spotlight a different member of the team.

Fantastic Four Fanfare #1 includes:

a prank war between the Human Torch and the Thing from Mark Waid and Ramon Rosanas,

an underground adventure from Alan Davis, and

Mole Man interrupting Johnny Storm on reality TV from Andrew Wheeler and Sara Pichelli.

Fantastic Four Fanfare #1 (of 4), featuring a cover by Matteo Scalera, goes on sale on May 7, 2025.

(Image via Marvel Comics - Matteo Scalera's Cover of Fantastic Four Fanfare #1)

[vintagetvstars]

Hot Vintage TV Men's Bracket - Full List

Sorry for the delay, it took us longer than expected to finalize the list. We are currently working on finishing and finalizing the bracket for round 1. For now enjoy the list of everyone in the tournament and we'll be back on Thursday evening to kick off round 1!

Boris Karloff

Clint Walker

Desi Arnaz

Claude Rains

James Arness 

James Garner 

William Hopper 

Adam West

Alejandro Rey

Bob Crane

Cesar Romero 

David McCallum

David Selby 

Davy Jones

DeForest Kelley

Dick Gautier 

Dick Van Dyke 

Dwayne Hickman 

Eddie Albert 

George Maharis

George Takei 

John Astin 

Jonathan Frid 

Larry Hagman 

Leonard Nimoy 

Mark Lenard 

Martin Milner 

Michael Nesmith

Micky Dolenz 

Patrick McGoohan

Patrick Troughton 

Peter Tork 

Randy Boone 

Raymond Burr 

Richard Chamberlain 

Robert Conrad

Robert Fuller 

Robert Vaughn 

Rod Serling 

Russell Johnson 

Ted Bessell 

Ted Cassidy

Tom Smothers

Walter Koenig 

William Hartnell 

William Shatner 

Alan Alda 

Brian Blessed

Darren McGavin

David Cassidy

David Soul

Dean Butler

Demond Wilson 

Derek Jacobi 

Eric Idle

Erik Estrada 

Fred Grandy 

Fred Rogers 

Hal Linden

Henry Winkler

Jamie Farr 

John Cleese

John Hurt

Jon Pertwee 

Judd Hirsch 

Kabir Bedi

Kent McCord 

Lee Majors 

Michael Landon 

Michael Palin

Mike Farrell 

Peter Falk

Randolph Mantooth

Richard Hatch

Ricardo Montalban 

Robert Wagner 

Rock Hudson

Simon Williams

Telly Savalas

Terry Jones 

Tom Baker 

Wayne Rogers 

Anthony Andrews

Bruce Boxleitner

Bruce McCulloch 

Colin Baker 

Dave Foley 

David Hasselhoff

Dirk Benedict

Gene Anthony Ray

Gerald McRaney 

Hugh Laurie 

Jameson Parker

Jeremy Brett

Jimmy Smits 

John Forsythe 

John Stamos 

Johnny Depp 

Kevin McDonald 

Mark McKinney 

Martin Kove

Michael J. Fox

Michael Praed

Mr. T

Patrick Duffy 

Peter Davison 

Richard Dean Anderson

Rik Mayall 

Rowan Atkinson 

Sam Neill

Scott Thompson 

Simon MacCorkindale 

Stephen Fry 

Sylvester McCoy 

Ted Lange 

Tom Selleck 

Tony Danza 

Alexander Siddig 

Andre Braugher

Andreas Katsulas 

Andrew Robinson 

Anthony Head 

Anthony Starke

Armin Shimerman 

Avery Brooks 

Brad Dourif 

Brent Spiner 

Bruce Campbell 

Charles Shaughnessy 

Colm Meaney 

Craig Charles 

Dana Ashbrook 

Danny John-Jules 

Darren E. Burrows

David Duchovny

David Hyde Pierce

David Schwimmer 

David Suchet 

David Wenham 

Dean Stockwell 

Garrett Wang 

Gary Cole 

Grant Show

James Earl Jones

James Marsters 

Jeff Conaway 

Jeffrey Combs 

John Corbett 

John de Lancie 

John Goodman

John Shea 

Jonathan Frakes

Joseph Marcell 

Kevin Smith 

Kevin Sorbo 

Kyle MacLachlan 

LeVar Burton 

Luke Perry

Marc Alaimo 

Mark-Paul Gosselaar 

Matt LeBlanc

Matthew Perry

Michael Dorn 

Michael Horse 

Michael Hurst

Michael O’Hare 

Michael Ontkean 

Michael Tylo

Miguel Ferrer 

Mitch Pileggi 

Nate Richert 

Nicholas Lea 

Noah Wyle

Paolo Montalban

Patrick Stewart 

Paul Gross

Paul Johansson 

Paul McGann 

Peter Wingfield 

René Auberjonois 

Robert Beltran

Robert Carlyle

Robert Duncan McNeill

Ron Perlman

Scott Bakula 

Seth Green 

Spencer Rochfort

Stephen Nichols 

Ted Danson 

Ted Raimi

Thorsten Kaye 

Tim Daly

Timothy Dalton

Tim Russ 

Valentine Pelka

William Shockley

Ben Browder 

Brandon Quinn

Brian Krause

Chad Michael Murray 

Christian Kane 

Conner Trinneer 

Daniel Dae Kim 

David Boreanaz

David Tennant 

Donnie Wahlberg

Eric Close

Ioan Gruffudd

Jensen Ackles 

Jeremy Sisto 

Joe Lando

Joshua Jackson

Keith Hamilton Cobb

Michael Shanks 

Nathan Fillion 

Neil Patrick Harris

Reece Shearsmith 

Richard Ayoade

Rob Lowe

Ron Glass

Scott Cohen

Skeet Ulrich

Tom Welling

Tony Shalhoub 

Billy Dee Williams 

Bruce Willis 

Clint Eastwood 

Colin Firth 

George Clooney 

Jeremy Irons 

Paul Michael Glaser

Pierce Brosnan

Sean Bean

Blair Underwood

David James Elliot 

Michael Vartan 

Michael T. Weiss 

Scott Patterson 

Sebastian Cabot

Luke Halpin

Adam Brody

Jason Bateman 

Matt Bomer 

Timothy Olyphant 

Woody Harrelson

Richard Biggs

Robin Williams

Will Smith

John Schneider

Milo Ventimiglia

Bobby Troup

Bobby Sherman

Chad Everett

Casey Biggs

Jason Priestley

Don Adams

[vertigoartgore]

The Fantastic Four by Dale Eaglesham.

[spider-mandaily]

Alright, but look at this – Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man drops Peter in the Future Foundation suit, and now I can’t stop thinking about him getting hit on by that female member of the Light Brigade [from Hickman's FF #21 (2011)] who’s 100% convinced they made out at some party with Johnny Storm and a bunch of other universal inhumans. Peter, in full panic mode, just standing there like,

“I DO NOT have a big butt!”

Meanwhile, half the galaxy is silently agreeing with that female member of the Light Brigade...

I know it's kind of far-fetched, but... I can't help but imagine this if interaction would happen in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man (we won't get it, but... JUST IMAGINE... IF IT HAPPENS...)

[rei-ismyname]

The Fantastic Four & Krakoa Part 1

I find it revealing, but entirely in character, that the Fantastic Four had a very *liberal* attitude towards Krakoa from the jump. To clarify, by liberal I mean *centrist* or middle class. Historically beneficiaries under most status quo and unreliable allies at best to anyone who doesn't.

BONK!

In House of X #1, the helmet bros send a strike team to steal the plans for Sol's Hammer - a Dyson Sphere around Sol designed by *a* Reed Richards Tony Stark - from Damage Control. ORCHIS built one and they need to avoid genocide. Toad, Mystique, and Sabertooth successfully copy the blueprints but Creed gets carried away killing people. Many different groups had the same idea (looting Reed and Tony's IP) but they manage to get out. The FF do a solid cop impression and try to stop them. Toad and Mystique make it to the gate, and Sabertooth does not.

Just me or were they ready to fight whoever came through the gate?

Creed is detained by Sue and then Cyclops comes to greet the four. All is friendly as befits lifelong friends and Slim shows off his fancy social skills. The four do the same, except Reed. You'd think he'd be used to it considering DOOM is always let go.

'So...' 'So.'

Nobody is surprised in the least when the true reason for his visit is revealed. Reed especially, with his crossed arms and complete silence until the 'so.' Jonathan Hickman knows how to write Reed Richards and The Avengers - if he wanted this to be Tony Stark or whoever it'd be them instead. Of course he knows what amnesty is and Krakoa is MASSIVE global news at this point, so either he's being a dick (possible) or he just doesn't care for that law and is willing to use force to subvert it. These crimes were on camera with many witnesses, there's zero reason for the FF to be handling this incident. A utilitarian might even say that providing medical care would save lives (his super science is incredibly effective.) Maybe he's irked that it's his/Tony's stuff being taken, but he doesn't mention that. Just a stated 'problem with that' then this standoff.

Keep in mind over 150 countries have recognised Krakoa at this point, including the USA, China, India, The UK, Canada. Recognition gets you a trade agreement for Krakoan miracle medicine and two other things.

1. Any mutant can claim Krakoan citizenship by birth.

2. An unstated but limited amnesty period for any and all crimes, the idea being that human bias against mutants makes justice impossible. All mutants from treaty countries are made available for extradition so the nation of Krakoa can judge them.

Is it ballsy as hell? Absolutely, but it's law. Seems very hypocritical to pick and choose, especially when you're enforcing it yourself. Do Reed and co know better than the US government or the United Nations? Eh, probably not. *Cough* ILLUMINATI *cough.* They could be the living tribunal and it wouldn't make this any less hypocritical. They're placing themselves above it here and I can't see why they'd go that far.

Cyclops puts his hands up and backs off, still very politely. That's that settled. Without acknowledging that or missing a beat Sue says her piece. 'What are all of you thinking?' 'Of course not, but...' I really wish Sue didn't get cut off there. I'd have to do a lot less speculating.

What a find!

My read on the subtext is that this engagement started off tense AF, and the FF were not interested in being diplomatic. Johnny and Ben barely speak, Cyclops' politeness and personal, first name greetings compared to 'Slim' and then 'Cyclops.' One would expect the mood to lighten somewhat after he concedes that they're a country unto themselves, but it doesn't. I get the impression Sue's not really listening to Scott, and after the 'but...' he stops trying to meet them halfway. It's impossible to say if he still would have said that about Franklin (AKA the last thing these NIMBYs want to hear) but it wouldn't surprise if it's a subtle 'hey idiots, you're invested in this too. Hope you don't treat your son like this.' (They do.)

Next time we'll find out if they've budged when it comes to their mutant son. (Spoilers, they invade Krakoa.)

It is a recent-ish development, and humans/people are great at kneejerk reactionary initial responses, so maybe I'm being unfair. Honestly, I don't think so. The FF have rarely lifted a finger for mutants and it's obvious this is a subject they've discussed and reached a consensus on. Besides, if you're appointing yourself AmbassadorCop you need to be prepared to deal with situations like this. Krakoa is a country not a treehouse. Regardless of what anyone thinks of Krakoa, by the internal rules of 616 they're as legit as any other country, legally.

Also, Reed should not be surprised by this. Chuck bought up Krakoa at an Illuminati meeting years ago. We don't see the rest of the discussion but I'm pretty sure he knew before Magneto did, for example.