In October 4's Fantastic Four #12, the FF are facing down one of the most dire scenarios possible in the Marvel Universe: a Multiversal Incursion. But the worlds that are colliding aren't just run-of-the-mill alt-realities of the Multiverse.
It's the main 616 Marvel Universe and its very closely comparable sister-world where everything is the same, except that all the people, down to the heroes and villains, are freakin' dinosaurs.
Spoilers ahead for Fantastic Four #12
Fantastic Four #12 from writer Ryan North (creator of Dinosaur Comics), artist Iban Coello, colorist Jesus Aburtov, and letterer Ariana Maher kicks off with the FF getting sucked into a dimensional warp that sends them to another reality, where people are descended from dinosaurs of all different species instead of primates.
As Reed Richards works to build a translator that will allow him, Johnny Storm, Sue Richards, and Ben Grimm to communicate with the dinosaur Avengers, the two teams find themselves in a classic Marvel mix-em-up, fighting it out over a misunderstanding. And back on the main Earth, the dinosaur FF mix it up with the mainstream Avengers in the same way.
Once human Reed resolves the translation issue with the dino-Avengers, the bulk of the story revolves around the human FF getting to know their new dino-allies and connecting with the families of the dino-FF. That winds up being the most fun part of the story, as Iban Coello's dino-fied designs for Iron Man, Captain Marvel, Thor, Black Widow, Doctor Strange, and Captain America really hit the spot.
Interestingly enough, this world does somewhat resemble Earth-99476 from 1992's Excalibur #51 in which the eponymous mutant team travels to a world with a similar dino-Fantastic Four and Spider-Man. It doesn't seem like this is the same reality - which means there are multiple dinosaur Earths in the Marvel Multiverse. And that's not even counting the prehistoric Earth-66, which is home to Spider-Rex.
It's also interesting to see Reed figure out just how closely related the two Earths at stake in the impending Incursion are - aside from the glaring differences in the population. And there's at least one teaser for an important ongoing FF subplot, with the dino-Valeria Richards asking Reed and Sue if their Franklin has "shared his big secret yet."
This presumably relates to Franklin's ongoing relationship with mutants. Franklin was initially considered a mutant in the core Marvel Universe thanks to his reality manipulation powers. Later, it was revealed that he only made himself seem like a mutant thanks to those same abilities, which have since fluctuated in potency.
Is there more to the story about Franklin Richards' powers and potential mutant nature? We'll likely find out more when the Richards kids and the rest of the Future Foundation are freed from the time loop in which they're currently stuck, which is due to finally conclude after one in-universe calendar year after when it started - which might just be coming up.
Back in FF #12, Reed and dino-Tony Stark figure out a plan to prevent the Incursion that is threatening both their realities. But as they're preparing to enact it, they're interrupted by none other than dino-Doctor Doom, himself an armor-clad T-Rex.
We know from upcoming covers that dino-Doom and mainstream Doctor Doom are gonna team up in November 15's Fantastic Four #13, and after the fun of FF #12, we're definitely ready for a little more Marvel dino action.
The Spider-Man of Earth-99476 is known as Arachnosaur, and he's one of the weirdest Spider-Man variants from around the Spider-Verse.
