As Ben and Reed are under the psychic mercy of Xargorr, Alicia, Sue, and Johnny band together to free their friends from the psychic influence. How can Sue and Johnny fend off Xargorr’s mind-altering abilities? And how will Alcia’s background in the arts aid Sue and Johnny in their efforts to save the day?
I appreciate Ryan North for using the medium of comics as a means for Alicia to reflect her experiences within the comic. Sure, it’s meta, but I think anyone that dabbles in the arts and comics can appreciate Alicia’s perspective on how she views the world, how it conveys history and informs identity through the lens of comics. North does a solid job at utilizing Alicia’s knowledge of comics as a storytelling medium as she and her friends try to free Reed, Ben, and the citizens of the local town that are under the influence of Xargorr. Readers get to draw parallels between Alicia and Xargorr, how both use perspective of memories and identity to inform how one’s self can be gained or lost when under psychic influence. What makes this issue stand out is that Alicia is the central character, and despite her being blind, readers get to see how her artistic skills aid Sue and Johnny in their battle, which is brilliantly executed and refreshing for the character and the book itself.
Ivan Fiorelli illustrates this issue and does a great job providing bombastic pages that show Alicia’s perspective of events. What really makes Fiorelli’s art pop is the way Sue’s powers are displayed as she creates various force fields of shapes and sizes to fend off the mind-controlled friends that are pitted against them. Coupled with Jesus Aburtov’s sprightly colors and Joe Crarmagna’s lettering, it’s a solid read that is enjoyable for a Fantastic Four book.
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