Review by Ian Keogh

Way back, Walter Simonson wrote a story in which the Fantastic Four disappeared, and Ghost Rider, Hulk, Spider-Man and Wolverine teamed up to locate and rescue them. What if they then teamed up another time shortly afterward? That’s Peter David’s premise, and while three of the four heroes are much as we know them now, the Hulk was then relatively small and grey, although still tough enough to act as protection for a gangster who runs a Las Vegas casino. There’s a demon in Las Vegas, and starting by corrupting the homeless, they’re gradually accumulating more and more power.

David introduces his maguffin early, a priest on the verge of two major discoveries about themselves. However, while others might run wild with an ability to fix everything, David is relatively restrained, and takes the time to establish Father John Priest as a sympathetic character. Considering how many others he packs in, that’s an achievement. In addition to the revised Fantastic Four the original team also play a part, especially the Human Torch, and a couple of other Marvel characters put in an appearance, although in Doctor Strange’s case the main purpose is an obvious smutty joke.

The original teaming of the four outsiders was drawn by Art Adams, and he’s very much the model for Alan Robinson’s art. Decorative realism with a hint of cartooning is the order of the day and while Robinson’s not yet up to Adams’ standard, he aims high and succeeds most of the time. Two demons appear, and Robinson’s design for the first as a squat malevolent presence in a hoodie is great, but the second is from the stock catalogue.

This romps along entertainingly, and David obviously enjoys revisiting Joe Fixit and the supporting cast he introduced years ago, but the limitation placed on heroes not able to let loose on possessed members of the public is an overused idea in comics. Nice touches, but not essential.