Penciler — Salvador Larroca
Inks — Art Thibert
Letters — Richard Strakings & Comiccraft
Colors — Steve Buccellato/Mad Science Media
Cover Colors — Chris Starking & Comiccraft
Bio & Summary Writer — Julio Sato
Interior Design — Comiccraft's John Marasigan and Jason Medley
Assistant Editor — Polly Watson
Editor — Bobbie Chase
Editor in Chief — Bob Harras
What I thought . . . .
A great deal of effort went into the production of this issue. Top notch crafting includes glossy color and color lettering on premium paper. A first class publishing job. Kudos to Chase and Harras
First thoughts: I like the introduction. Hey, I can't buy all the issues of all the titles of "Heroes Reborn." I like that Marvel took the time, effort and four pages to tell us what is going on. The interesting part to me is that the portal to the "pocket universe" is Franklin Richard's ball. A medium sized child's ball Franklin was playing with at the time the heroes were in trouble when they were fighting Onslaught.
The premise is simple: somehow Franklin needs to travel to this pocket universe, gather up the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Captain America and The Avengers and transport them back to the "real" universe (the non-pocket universe?). Franklin needs to do this because a Celestial named Ashema told Franklin that both universes cannot survive, and that Franklin must choose which universe lives. And if he doesn't choose, both universes will be destroyed. Oh, and by the way, neither Sue Richards, Franklin's mother, nor anyone else in the pocket universe had ever heard of Franklin. Hmmm
I really like this premise. I think that Franklin Richards is the most underutilized character in the Marvel Universe. In my opinion, there hasn't been a good Franklin Richards story since the late, lamented Power Pack series by Louise Simonson.
The only disturbing thing about this is the thought that Franklin could create his own dimension and populate it with billions of people. And trees. And animals. And insects. And get it all right. This is a story line that needs further exploration at a later time, in my opinion.
Okay, back to the story line. So Franklin sends his likeness to appear to his parents and tells them he has to save them because the Celestials are coming to claim the "pocket earth." Franklin, with childlike faith, wants to try to save everybody. Woven into this main theme are subplot stories of Dr. Strange speaking with Loki, Loki speaking with Ashema, the Hulk being a nexus to the pocket universe, Ashema and Franklin discussing the sanctity of life (one problem: Ashema doesn't give a rip — "Celestials are infinite, but our patience is not!") So Franklin pulls in Spider-man and Hulk from the Marvel Universe to the pocket Universe to help. (So two Hulks and Spidey can sit down to tea — NOT!)
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