FANTASTIC FOUR MEET BUFFY AS REED RICHARDS OPENS THE HELLMOUTH
- In an upcoming Fantastic Four issue, Reed Richards will open the Marvel equivalent of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Hellmouth, leading to a spooky adventure for him and his brother-in-law, the Human Torch.
- The standalone story features Reed and Johnny Storm alone, facing curses and demons, with Marvel's synopsis shouting out Buffy the Vampire Slayer with a reference to the "Hellmouth.".
- Expect a blend of scares and laughs from Fantastic Four #26, as the issue does more than just include the horror aspects of Buffy, but also delivers a story reminiscent of its tone and style.
The Fantastic Four are about to have an adventure straight out of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as this fall, the team will be up against. curses, ghosts and demons, when Reed Richards accidentally opens the Marvel Universe equivalent of Buffy's "Hellmouth," a portal to the darkest, scariest dimensions in existence.
The advanced solicitation for Fantastic Four #26 – written by Ryan North, with art by Ivan Fiorelli – promises a standalone story starring Reed and Johnny Storm. Artist Joshua Cassara has drawn the perfect creepy cover art for the issue, featuring a skull vomiting so much blood that the two almost drown.
| FANTASTIC FOUR #26 (2024) | |
|---|---|
| | |
| Release Date: | October 9, 2024 |
| Writers: | Ryan North |
| Artists: | Ivan Fiorelli |
| Cover Artist: | Joshua Cassara |
| Variant Covers: | Nic Klein, Ben Harvey, Sean Galloway |
| The Worlds Smartest Man (Reed Richards, universally acknowledged) and the Worlds Hottest Man (Johnny Storm, self-proclaimed) are home alone. Their only job is to make sure nothing untoward happens to the farmhouse while everyone else is away. But when Reed develops a magic detector that goes haywire when pointed at a specific spot in their basement and Johnny convinces him that they should absolutely start digging up any and all cursed objects they find things quickly spiral out of control. Will Reed and Johnny accidentally open a Hellmouth underneath dear old Aunt Petunias farmhouse? (Yes.) Will they be able to close it and fix everything before the rest of the FF return? (Thats much less certain.) Ghosts and demons star in this special Halloween issue, narrated by both Johnny AND Reed! |
According to the synopsis for the issue will be narrated by both Reed and Storm – suggesting that readers should expect a classic scary story starring two of Marvel's most legendary characters.
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Reed Richards, Welcome To The Hellmouth
Leave it to Reed Richards to accidentally achieve in one night, what so many Buffy villains failed at for seven seasons.
When Ryan North began writing Fantastic Four in 2022, the series had just wrapped up “The Reckoning War,” a huge, multiversal event. Rather than trying to top it, he and artist Ivan Fiorelli have focused on episodic stories, in the vein of shows like Star Trek or X-Files: the team arrive in a new location, there’s a problem, they solve it, they say their farewells. That sort of storytelling allows fun standalone issues like Fantastic Four #26 to seamlessly fit into the larger narrative. It also offers room for stories that adapt tropes from other media, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Ryan North is best known for Dinosaur Comics, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, and that one Twitter thread where he got stuck in a hole and the internet helped him get out.
In Buffy, the Hellmouth was the explanation as to why so much bad stuff happened in Sunnydale – the Hellmouth was right there, drawing supernatural baddies to town or spitting them out from literal Hell. Multiple Big Bads tried to open it up, making it their whole villainous goal for the season, and Buffy and friends were always able to stop them or close it back up immediately; or, ultimately, collapse the entire town over the entrance. Leave it to Reed Richards to accidentally achieve in one night, what so many Buffy villains failed at for seven seasons.
Fantastic Four and Buffy the Vampire Slayer actually work well together; both are about a group of people who shoulder the responsibility of saving a world that thinks of them as outcasts.
Fantastic Four (2022)
"WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE FANTASTIC FOUR?" It's the start of a new era for the Fantastic Four...and they're already in a ton of trouble. Something has gone terribly wrong in New York, and the Thing and Alicia are traveling across America to escape it! But when they stop in a small town for the night and wake up the morning before they arrived, they find themselves caught in a time loop that's been going on since before they were born... That's been going on since before they were born...
The Fantastic Four's Upcoming Halloween Issue Is Set To Balance Laughs & Scares
In The Tradition Of Buffy The Vampire Slayer
As with the rest of the Marvel Universe, the Fantastic Four also had their own run in with vampires recently, as part of the Blood Hunt crossover event.
Fantastic Four and Buffy the Vampire Slayer actually work well together; both are about a group of people who shoulder the responsibility of saving a world that thinks of them as outcasts. Both also know how to balance an overarching narrative with episodic stories, and comedy alongside drama. For all of the quips and one-liners, the characters and their relationships feel very real, something that’s especially important when one is a giant rock man and another catches fire. Based on the cover and summary, this issue will also balance scares with comedy, making this Fantastic Four Halloween issue a must-read.
Fantastic Four #26 will be released on October 9 from Marvel Comics.
Buffy The Vampire Slayer