Fantastic Four #588, Amazing Spider-Man #655 deal with grief; plus more comic book reviews

In “Fantastic Four” #588, the final issue of the long-running series, the team deals with the death of one of their own, as their grief affects not only them, but also heroes throughout the Marvel universe.

There’s an excellent scene with Spider-Man and Franklin Richards talking about their experiences with deaths in their family that’s certainly a precursor to the relaunch of “FF” next month by the same writer.

Spidey also deals with grief in his own series, as in “Amazing Spider-Man” #655, Spidey deals with the aftermath of the death of Marla Jameson.  Both this and the “Fantastic Four” issue have long wordless stretches, and it’s interesting to see how well artist Marcos Martin conveyed the story without dialogue.

Dan Slott’s run on Amazing Spider-Man so far has been fantastic, and this issue continues the trend.

Also read this week:

Secret Avengers #10 – Ed Brubaker is nearing the end of his run, but he’s getting great art out of Mike Deodato; this issue is largely a battle sequence with former Cap ally John Steele.

Avengers #10 – I love Infinity Gauntlet stories, so I’m probably the ideal audience for Brian Michael Bendis’ and John Romita Jr.’s arc in which a villain tries to collect the Infinity Gems.  While this may be a little generic in execution, come on, it’s the Infinity Gems!  I’m enjoying it despite some possible feeling of been-there, done-that.

Captain America #615 – This wraps up the Trial of Captain America and sets up the next story arc.  Writer Ed Brubaker provides more insight into what makes Bucky tick, and Butch Guice nails the artwork, as usual.

Doctor Solar, Man of the Atom #5 – Best issue of the series thus far, as we begin to get into the origin of Solar in this revamp of the Gold Key characters. If you were a fan in the Valiant days, but the first four issues turned you off, you might give it another shot with this issue.