FF Vol. 14

This volume is issue #14 of the 2011 FF (Future Foundation) series, with the single-issue title "27 Minutes." It is the third part of the "All Hope Lies in Doom" storyline and continues the narrative thread following Fantastic Four #588: after the Human Torch, Johnny Storm, sacrificed himself in Fantastic Four #587, Marvel's First Family sets out anew under the banner of the Future Foundation, with Reed's father Nathaniel Richards, Reed's daughter Valeria, and the archvillain Doctor Doom drawn into the battle against the mad Celestials and the remnants of the interdimensional "Council of Reeds." In this issue #14, the Future Foundation children attempt to close the "bridge" to another dimension but are stalled by a device holding a Celestial's severed limb; Franklin sees through the truth with his reality-warping power, and the severed limbs then coalesce into a giant hand that controls Leech, forming the "Hand of God" to keep the gate open. Meanwhile, the narrative shifts between flashback and present: Valeria and Nathaniel had long calculated from future knowledge that only by delaying twenty-seven minutes could the Kree fleet, the Annihilation Wave, and Galactus arrive in sequence—and the one to serve as this "cosmic grains of sand" could only be Doctor Doom. Elsewhere, Doctor Doom and "Alpha Reed" hold the bridge, Reed is distracted by memories of the Council of Reeds and is consumed by the Ultimate Nullifier, leaving Doctor Doom alone against the Celestials, finally struck down by their attack, buying Earth roughly twenty-eight minutes. With its precise structure of parallel threads and reverse chronology, this issue closes out the preceding events and pushes Doctor Doom to a highlight of antiheroic sacrifice; it is an issue often cited by readers in Hickman's long Fantastic Four scheme.