"It's your kids, Marty! You've got to do something about your kids."

I am a huge sucker for time travel. Back to the Future. Season five of Lost. Days of Future Past. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I love them all. And now I can add FANTASTIC FOUR #582 and AVENGERS #4 to that list. In one, the kids of the future are going back to save the adults of the present. The other, it's the grown-ups jumping forward to save their possible future children.

Father of Reed, Nathaniel Richards is being hunted by himself. And there's nothing Nathaniel Richards won't do to kill Nathaniel Richards, so he can be the only Nathaniel Richards in every reality. He travels back in time to recruit his son, a young Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, and Victor Von Doom, long before they become Mr. Fantastic, the Thing, and Dr. Doom. Can Reed's dad, with the aid of his son and his friends, defeat the evil Nathaniel Richards?

This is the Fantastic Four. Jonathan Hickman has crafted a time/reality hopping tale in which Reed and Sue's daughter, Valeria Richards, has traveled back from the end of time to warn the Invisible Woman of the coming war. And according to Marvel, by the time this war has begun, they will be the Fantastic Three. That's right, readers. Somebody is gonna die!

This book has quickly become my favorite monthly book from Marvel. Hickman has an epic tale in the works, and watching him lay out all the pieces is the best part. Also I was a little bit worried about the art suffering on this book, when I heard that the great Dale Eaglesham was leaving for Captain America, and that there would be a fill-in artist until Steve Epting arrives on issue #583, but Neil Edwards could stay on the book for as long as he’d like from what I’ve seen on these last few issues, such as his vision of the universe being torn apart at end of the time. It’s some fantastic stuff. By the issue's closing, we travel with Franklin and Valeria Richards to the end of time. Franklin has created his own tiny universe where he shows us that sometimes the only way to get the job done is by kicking your grandfather in the face. If you're not reading this book, it's about time you start.

Meanwhile, the Avengers are messing with time in their own way. After an ominous warning from long-time foe Kang, the Avengers learn that their offspring are into some trouble. So they recruit Marvel Boy, who can throw together a time-machine with some of the scraps Iron Man leaves sitting around Avengers Tower. But things don't go according to plan…

They kind of fuck up. People are popping in and out of time. Dinosaurs are popping in and out of time. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are popping in and out of time. So the Avengers split up into two teams (which never turns out well in Scooby Doo). Iron Man, Cap, Wolverine, and Marvel Boy head off into the future, leaving the rest of the gang to deal with the dinosaur-riding, alien invading weirdness back in the present. Brian Bendis and John Romita Jr. are throwing everything and everyone from all over existence into this story, and it's shaping up to be the best Avengers story of Bendis' long run on the title.

COMICS!

SECRET ORGY CLUB

FANTASTIC 40'S AND ANAL 7 (loosely based on Hickman's Fantastic Four run)