In 2012, the Fantastic Four were a much less complicated family than they are these days. In issue #606, Jonathan Hickman gave us a story that after reading it a few times, I am still trying to understand it. Ron Garney's artwork, combined with Jason Keith's coloring and VC's Clayton Cowles' lettering, bring me back to that classic Fantastic Four look that I remember as a kid.
The story begins with Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch and the Thing currently on an exploratory mission. A red atmosphere surrounds this foreign territory. As they crash their ship, the panels revert back to the planning of this mission. Reed Richards is being very vague as to what dangers lie ahead. Flipping back and forth, we end up back into this environment of red where they have to continue their mission on foot.
They are surrounded by strange organisms with yellow floaters sometimes attaching themselves to these alien visitors. Larger organisms begin to appear with teeth. Earlier in their lab, Reed informs the rest of the team that if these creatures become unnerved by their appearance, their natural instinct would be to attack. Surviving their attack, the Fantastic Four reach their target. Their plan: steal this organism!
Every so often a time frame appears in a panel. Towards the end of this issue, we find the Fantastic Four in a hospital checking on Willie Lumpkin. His diagnosis isn't good as he is given approximately a week to live. He has a tumor that is way too large to operate on. I believe that when the doctor said that this man would need a miracle, the Fantastic Four went into action to go after his tumor. The issue ends with the Fantastic Four, along with Franklin Richards and Valeria Richards celebrating in the hospital with Mr. Lumpkin as he receives the news that he is no longer in danger. Very cleverly, I believe our heroes performed exploratory surgery. What a cool premise!