Of all of Marvel's "The End" mini-series from a few years back, this is the only one that I enjoyed. It's respectful of past creators & it's optimistic, which befits the titular characters. The only thing that didn't ring right for me was the Human Torch becoming the leader of the Avengers; member, no problem, but I've a hard time swallowing Johnny as a leader. Highly recommended work and among Davis & Farmer's best collaborations. ( )

20 years after the death of Reed and Sue's children in a FF Fight, we find that the Fantastic Four have split up. Johnny and Ben have moved on, building new lives - Ben has three children with Alicia Masters and lives on Mars, while Johnny has become the leader of the Avengers. Reed and Sue are not longer talking to each other and both are losing themselves in work.

The plot is fairly forgettable - aliens attacking from outside and within. All the classic villains are there, such as Annihilus, and the long defeated Doctor Doom: Galactus shows up for the finale and it all seems to be driven by the Kree and the Skree, with the Watchers managing to meddle somehow.

Whilst doing some deep water archaeology, Sue meets Namor, and finds a long abandoned Kree site, including a Kree Orb. In the end, during a massive battle, a (still grief stricken) Sue persuades the FF to go back in time to rescue her children at the point of their deaths, using the Kree orb.

Whilst the overall Marvel series is classed as "The End" the FF part is as much about beginnings as endings. It is a "cast of thousands" story, that means it ends up as a bit of a mess and it's not really clear to know where the threat is really coming from.

Of all of Marvel's "The End" mini-series from a few years back, this is the only one that I enjoyed. It's respectful of past creators & it's optimistic, which befits the titular characters. The only thing that didn't ring right for me was the Human Torch becoming the leader of the Avengers; member, no problem, but I've a hard time swallowing Johnny as a leader. Highly recommended work and among Davis & Farmer's best collaborations. ( )

Pretty solid story, but not what I was expecting as a conclusion. ( )

One of Marvel’s series which imagined how the final story of their major heroes might look. The End imagines the Fantastic Four having created a close to utopian future for the human race, but one which is under threat from external foes and unresolved issues. Maximum points to Davis for steering away from the gloomy nature a final story seems to naturally induce in comic writers, and also for concocting a storyline which providing appearances for many of the significant friends and foes of the team. ( )