Mark Waid certainly swings for the fences on this run of FF; among other things, it includes a complete redesign of Doctor Doom, the elevation of Johnny Storm to the CEO of Fantastic Four Industries, and a visit to Heaven. (Really...) And when Ringo is doing the art, there's a ton of heart in the book, and the emphasis on family and relationships that Waid treasures comes through.

But overall, it doesn't work for me. Waid puts in one big change after another, and that often does not jibe with the family level focus. While the change in characterization of Johnny is first rate, the change to Doom feels strange and forced (and his new costume is the one artistic misstep from Wieringo). There's a six issue arc where the FF take over Latervia that feels ugly and looks ugly (thanks to art from Howard Porter that does not mesh at all with the FF feel). I wish Waid would have taken more time, slowed down the narrative, and focused more on the characterizations that did work.

This was a reread to see if I'm keeping these books in my collection; I'm not.