Spider-Man: Life Story was immensely readable. This sequel of sorts, not so much. The main problem is that this time they betray the main concept. The selling point of these "Life Story" series was to see what would happen if the Marvel characters aged in real time (by the way, it's the same concept of John Byrne's Generations stories for DC).
But for that to work, the characters must follow the original stories closely, and only start to diverge due to living in an universe where real change, development, and interaction with real world events are possible. Spider-Man: Life Story hewed close to the original stories, with the few divergencies that were unrelated to the gimmick serving to make the characters usually more interesting (like Gwen Stacy being a brilliant scientist as in the Webb movies instead of the flat character she was in the comics).
Fantastic Four: Life Story has a TON of divergencies from the original comics from the get go. Reed and Ben have never met before the fateful flight. Victor Von Doom, the FF's greatest enemy, is a totally different character from the comics. The Marvel Universe in this version has no contact with aliens and seems to be a far more grounded setting, etc. etc. etc.
So the opportunity to see what would happen if the FF aged in real time is squandered, because the writer is using a very different version of the FF from the get go, and the story seems to be more about "what would happen if Reed Richards became totally obsessed with Galactus from day one, but no one believed him, and Galactus doesn't appear in the 1960s, only much later."
The dynamics from the comics are all warped because of this, and because Reed and Ben aren't even friends, the team doesn't feel that much like a family. So even the good ideas in this comics are squandered. For instance, it might otherwise be interesting to see Reed and Sue divorcing after their first decade together, and Susan moving in with Namor, in a world with real aging and real change. This was hinted at way back in Spider-Man: Life Story, with the glimpses we saw of Reed Richards there.
But in this story, Reed and Sue are doomed from day one, because Reed is so obsessed with aliens, that he doesn't form any strong relationships with any of his teammates, and the FF as a whole doesn't even feel like a real team, much less a real family. Their break-up is less like a dramatic event, and more like a matter of course.
Spider-Man: Life Story was immensely readable. This sequel of sorts, not so much. The main problem is that this time they betray the main concept. The selling point of these "Life Story" series was to see what would happen if the Marvel characters aged in real time (by the way, it's the same concept of John Byrne's Generations stories for DC).
But for that to work, the characters must follow the original stories closely, and only start to diverge due to living in an universe where real change, development, and interaction with real world events are possible. Spider-Man: Life Story hewed close to the original stories, with the few divergencies that were unrelated to the gimmick serving to make the characters usually more interesting (like Gwen Stacy being a brilliant scientist as in the Webb movies instead of the flat character she was in the comics).
Fantastic Four: Life Story has a TON of divergencies from the original comics from the get go. Reed and Ben have never met before the fateful flight. Victor Von Doom, the FF's greatest enemy, is a totally different character from the comics. The Marvel Universe in this version has no contact with aliens and seems to be a far more grounded setting, etc. etc. etc.
So the opportunity to see what would happen if the FF aged in real time is squandered, because the writer is using a very different version of the FF from the get go, and the story seems to be more about "what would happen if Reed Richards became totally obsessed with Galactus from day one, but no one believed him, and Galactus doesn't appear in the 1960s, only much later."
The dynamics from the comics are all warped because of this, and because Reed and Ben aren't even friends, the team doesn't feel that much like a family. So even the good ideas in this comics are squandered. For instance, it might otherwise be interesting to see Reed and Sue divorcing after their first decade together, and Susan moving in with Namor, in a world with real aging and real change. This was hinted at way back in Spider-Man: Life Story, with the glimpses we saw of Reed Richards there.
But in this story, Reed and Sue are doomed from day one, because Reed is so obsessed with aliens, that he doesn't form any strong relationships with any of his teammates, and the FF as a whole doesn't even feel like a real team, much less a real family. Their break-up is less like a dramatic event, and more like a matter of course.