Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Writer Jonathan Hickman’s years-long mega-epic finally comes to a close in Fantastic Four #604. Was the journey worth it?

Gimmie a gimmick: The cover sports an Avengers vs. X-Men logo in the corner, even though the Fantastic Four were not major players in that crossover. (At least not to my recollection.)

All this business of the past several issues has finally come to a head, with the Council of Reeds, four lost civilizations, and more all leading to Earth under attack by gigantic Mad Celestial, with adult versions of Franklin and Valeria arriving from the future in hopes of saving the day. In a single flash of light, the two of them disappear the Mad Celestials, and that’s that.

Nathaniel Richards celebrates with future Franklin and Valeria, saying that this was their plan all along, and that it actually worked. Turns out the Celestials were only teleported into a gas giant, and they’ll be back. Future Franklin asks our Franklin to hand over the pocket universe he has created in secret over the last few issues. The Celestials return. Future Franklin tries to fight them, but he’s not powerful enough. During the fight, Nathaniel says this was meant to be the day Reed died. It all began when he opened the Bridge, his portal to other worlds, and met the interdimensional Council of Reeds. That moment, Nathaniel says, always led to Reed’s death at this moment, and it’s what Franklin is fighting to prevent.

Future Franklin sends the pocket universe to the corpse of Galactus (which has been another ongoing concern during all this). Franklin says “To me… my Galactus!” and Galactus returns from the dead. Galactus and future Franklin team up to fight the Celestials, while Nathaniel speechifies some more about how the Council of Reeds eschewed love and family in favor of power. Our Reed chose his family first, which led to future Franklin fighting to save him.

Future Franklin flies into a Celestial’s chest, creating an explosion so huge it’s seen all over the Earth and through space. The Celestials are defeated, and Galactus reveals future Franklin survived. There’s a speech about how hope exists, while Reed and his grown son embrace. This is followed by a black page with just “The Fantastic Four” in big letters. There’s a one-page epilogue of Reed and current-day Franklin on the edge of a building, with Franklin leaping off and flying for the first time.

FF #16 picks up the pieces. Franklin connects with his future self, with them being buddies. Valeria, however, dislikes her future self, and there’s mistrust between them. Ben and the others remember that the new Baxter Building and huge chunks of New York were trashed in the big battle, so they head home to make things right. In space, Galactus and future Franklin muse about the end of the universe. Galactus says he always thought it would end with him alone, and Franklin says, “But now, you know better.” The end of the universe will be the birth of a new universe, Franklin says, but only if Galactus does not devour the Earth.

Back in NYC, the FF and the Avengers repair the damage, sending the debris into the Negative Zone, where scavenger aliens will use it to rebuild. Reed uses the teleporter to restore the Baxter Building. Not only that, but it’s been redesigned so the Future Foundation kids now have their own personalized quarters. The kids’ uniforms get a redesign, with them each assigned a number. Then Reed has an even bigger surprise for them. He takes the kids into space, showing them their very own orbital space station, simply called the Foundation. It’s here that the kids can study all things space-y, and Johnny’s Negative Zone battleship is parked there as well. But Johnny decides to move back into the Baxter Building, joking that he and Spider-Man can be roommates now.

Throughout all this, there’s been a running gag about Valeria being grounded. But now it’s no joke as her parents confront her about her secret dealings with Dr. Doom. Sue says she understands why Valeria did it, but she cannot abide Valeria being deceitful. Valeria promises, “I won’t keep any more secrets. Ever.” Cut to the other side of the Bridge, where Dr. Doom survives. There’s a flashback to Valeria saying she’s leaving a gift behind for him, and that it’s their secret. (Uh-oh.) Doom rises from the wreckage and helps himself to all the tech left behind by the evil Council of Reeds, including an Infinity Gauntlet from another universe. A bunch of Doombots also emerge from the wreckage, chanting Doom’s name. He says, “Here, I can rebuild.”

To be continued?

Unstable molecule: While the Fantastic Four are on the sidelines during the final Franklin/Galactus/Celestials fight, it’s Reed hugging his future son that’s the emotional climax to this entire story.

Fade out: When the Future Foundation kids first visit their new orbiting satellite, an unseen force lifts them up through the air and into space. Is it understood that Sue is doing this with her force fields, or is this some unseen tech?

Clobberin’ time: Ben also makes a reference to moving back to the Baxter Building, saying his bed was destroyed in the New York battle. Was his living situation something we’ve meant to follow during all this?

Flame on: These issues make it a point that Johnny is keeping his space battleship for future use. We’ll see how long that lasts.

Fantastic fifth wheel: Spider-Man is given less and less to do with so many characters around. She-Hulk and Power Man are seen among the Avengers during the NYC cleanup scenes.

Four and a half: Lots of unanswered questions about future Franklin. Time travel in Marvel Comics normally dictates that he’s not from the only future, but one of many possible futures. Okay, sure. But then there’s the matter of the baby universe present-day Franklin created, and how this of all things brought Galactus back from the dead. I suppose when things reach a cosmic level, they’re not for us to understand.

Our gal Val: Val promises no more secrets, only for the series to suggest immediately that there are still plenty of secrets. And we all know that whatever this thing is between her and Dr. Doom will still be a concern through the 2015 Secret Wars and maybe beyond.

Foundational: Each Future Foundation kid is now an assigned number, something that’ll be a thing moving forward. Bentley-23 is somehow not 23, but 13. He likes it, though, because it’s the ol’ unlucky 13. Valeria ponders her having a crush on him someday.

The kids’ new rooms in the Baxter Building are built to their specifications, so Atlanteans Vii and Wu have a big pool to swim around in, and subterranean Moloids have a rocky, cave-like room.

Trivia time: Galactus not devouring the Earth and witnessing the end of the universe flies in the face of John Byrne’s 1984 classic “The Last Galactus Story” that ran in Marvel’s Epic Illustrated in 1984. Or does it? The story has Galactus and Nova (the FF”s own Frankie Raye!) finding an abandoned Earth in the distant future, and then a cluster of planets hidden away from him. The story was unfinished, and Byrne alleges it would have concluded with Galactus being part of the end of the universe, and the birth of a new one – just like these issues suggest.

Fantastic or frightful? So, this whole story is about Reed refusing to join the Council of Reeds due to his love of his family, and because of that his own son appears from the future to save him when things become dire. That sounds like a pretty cool story. But then why is this also about four lost civilizations and Dr. Doom’s struggle to retake Latveria, and Reed starting a school for kid geniuses, and Johnny dying and coming back while also being replaced by Spider-Man and a couple dozen other things. These final issues (are they final?) get to the heart of what this has been all about, but it’s been such a long and unwieldy tale so full of other stuff. I applaud writer Jonathan Hickman for his ambition, but the run of issues leading up to this has just been TOO MUCH.

Next: Fathers and sons.

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