FF #6

FF is the series Jonathan Hickman launched after Fantastic Four #588; the FF in the subtitle stands for Future Foundation. Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, died in Fantastic Four #587, and Reed, Sue, and Ben did not continue under the name Fantastic Four; instead they formed the Future Foundation with Spider-Man and a group of gifted children to confront the crisis posed by the Reed Council. This issue (released July 2011), titled "Two Kings," differs from the series' earlier issues in that it consists almost entirely of flashbacks: Black Bolt of the Inhumans appeared to die in the War of Kings event, and the Inhumans still govern the Kree Empire; Black Bolt's dog Lockjaw wanders around Hala, overhears various plots and whispered councils, and accidentally glimpses a vision of the distant past. The flashback reveals the origin of the Inhumans: the Kree Supreme Intelligence had scientists conduct genetic experiments on different species, and after foreseeing that the experiments would eventually threaten it, ordered their elimination—yet some subjects survived, and from them the Inhumans were born. The issue closes with Black Bolt floating in space and opening his eyes again, explaining the origin of his "return." Note that the Fantastic Four members and Spider-Man are almost entirely absent from this issue; the narrative focus rests wholly on the Inhumans and the Kree side, making it an interlude-style background chapter, and readers are generally advised to finish issues #1–5 before entering this one.