The Fantastic Four depart Earth once more, and Iron Man is completely broke.

The Four have most likely chosen the ideal moment to depart from the perpetually filthy world.

 

In the world of Marvel Comics, there is never a dull moment. Some of the events in store for the publisher’s many characters in the next few months have already been made known as the winter solicitations get near. And as new creative teams are added to their various publications, the Fantastic Four and Iron Man in particular are moving in some exciting directions.

 

The Fantastic Four will be the first up; their new run will start in November. Ryan North and Iban Coello of Squirrel Girl and Dark Ages, as well as covers by Alex Ross, will succeed Dan Slott and a succession of artists that included Cafu and Rachael Stott. The Four will completely leave Earth in one of North’s next smaller, more intimate stories, which will replace the large, cosmic epics that made up the majority of Slott’s tenure.

 

In the style of 1960s Star Trek, North said, “I want to do these smaller, stand-alone episodes where they travel down to a planet, find a weird thing, repair the weird thing, and move on.” The new strategy felt natural to him and avoided retreading material that Marvel’s First Family has covered in the past, despite his admission that he wouldn’t be able to surpass Slott in this regard.

 

However, the Four will become separated from one another in the first few issues. As of Slott’s run, the first issue will be about The Thing and his wife Alicia Masters, the second issue will be about Reed and Sue, and the third issue will be about Johnny. They’ll reunite after that as “four weirdos who roll into town where there’s a mystery or a problem or some sci-fi thing, fix the problem, and then go on,” according to the book.

 

Finally, there is Iron Man. For Invincible Iron Man #1, current X-Men writer Gerry Duggan and illustrator Juan Frigeri (Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy) will collaborate. Tony Stark will find himself without his money or friends after November’s Iron Man #750 by the outgoing duo of Christopher Cantwell and Angel Unzueta, but he also has a contract hit out on his life. Tony’s objective will be to live long enough to discover out who placed the bounty on his head, and it will include some of his older armour suits that we haven’t seen in a while.

 

Duggan described it as a “honour” in an interview with Marvel, especially given that he will be taking over just before Iron Man’s 60th anniversary in March 2023. “We have an epic story for Stark and strategies for long-time adversaries, as well as flashbacks to some of his vintage armors. For his diamond anniversary, how about a little Silver Centurion?” joked Duggan. You’re going to need your armour, so arm up.

On December 7, Invincible Iron Man #1 will be available for sale.