By Paul Cornell (Writer), Horacio Domingues (Artist), and Nesrir Pereyra (Colorist)

Are you in the mood for a traditional superhero story? Do you crave a tale where the usual supervillain wishes to take over the world? Would you enjoy an issue in a real world setting? Then you better go somewhere else, ‘cause you’ll find none of that in Paul Cornell’s eccentric second part of True Story. The Fantastic Four are still in the world of fiction and are fighting off an evil army that is anything but fictitious, but seeks to destroy much of what is. While here, they discover that despite not being real, the characters within these novels can have a very real effect on our characters! (Anyone up for seeing The Thing dressed like a nutcracker?)

As the FF unite with other various fictitious heroes to put an end to this threat (where else are you going to see Natty Bumppo and Frankenstein’s monster in the same room?), the true cause of this mayhem is revealed. In this stunning final page, Paul Cornell delivers on his promise that the culprit is indeed an old Marvel villain, though not one associated with the Fantastic Four. (In fact, some of you may need to familiarize yourself with this character via Wikipedia.)

Ah yes, what about the art? Horacio Domingues delivers yet more pages filled with bizarre creatures, beautiful scenery, and some great renditions of literature’s best characters. Like any great writer/artist pair, his slightly goofy, slightly bizarre look is a great fit for Cornell’s tone. Oh, and while Nesrir Pereyra’s colors are neither awesome nor horrible, I just had to mention that “Nesrir” is probably one of the coolest names I’ve ever seen.

Yes, Fantastic Four: True Story is bizarre, crazy, goofy, unusual, and downright peculiar. But is it fun? Most definitely. If you’re in the mood for something that is about as far away from normal as you can get, this is probably a great place to look. (Grade: B+)

-M. Staples