Fantastic Four meets 'Cronenberg body horror' in December

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The Fantastic Four need a family vacation but a family vacation probably wouldn't make for a good comic book story, would it?

(Image credit: Marvel Comics)

While Marvel fans continue to search for any clues about the Fantastic Four's eventual addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (including the most recent possible clue about their movie future), Marvel Comics continues to try to rebuild their presence in the comic book universe. 

In addition to a promised major new "permanent" status quo change in October, FF fans will get an extra dose of Marvel's first family in Fantastic Four: Road Trip, a one-shot by writer Christopher Cantwell with art by Filipe Andrade and a cover by Valerio Giangiordano.

According to the publisher, after the events of Empyre, the family takes a vacation, but Reed doesn't take to rest and relaxation too well and a science experiment goes awry resulting in "some rather freaky side effects!"

(Image credit: Marvel Comics)

"The Fantastic Four have earned some much-needed time away from the job, and Reed has planned a — well, fantastic — old-fashioned family vacation to the Grand Canyon for some good rest, relaxation and team-bonding time," reads Marvel's official description. "But Reed's manic mind can't quite disengage, and soon an obsessive side experiment he brought with him has all of them experiencing gruesome and terrifying side effects from his strange specimens. As everyone's bodies begin to horribly go awry on a cellular level, it's a race to solve their lethal affliction, all while stuck in a remote Arizona cabin with no help for miles."

"Getting a crack at the world's most famous Super Hero family is a real gift, and it immediately made me want to write a story about the very idea of family," Cantwell told Monkeys Fighting Robots. "So what better genre than the famed family road trip? Why not throw the Storms and Grimms in a station wagon and send them on an ol' fashioned trip to the Grand Canyon where they can get on each other's nerves as only family can do? Oh, and did I mention I'm a huge fan of David Cronenberg's body horror movies? I think we ended up with something quite disturbing in this tale."

Maybe 'Road Trip' will someday make the list of the best Fantastic Four stories of all time. 

Newsarama Staff

Newsarama is a comic book website covering news, interviews, features, deep dives, reviews and more. Now part of GamesRadar, the website was first established in 1995 by Michael Doran.