The Fantastic Four's role as the Marvel Universe's resident explorers will be explored again (see what we did there?) in April's Fantastic Four #31, as revealed in Marvel's April 2021 solicitations.
The description of the April issue teases a journey for Reed Richards and Ben Grimm into a brand new, wholly uncharted location in the Marvel Universe.
"The moment REED RICHARDS has been waiting for has finally arrived – he can finally use the Forever Gate to explore somewhere NEW – to travel forth to a realm in the Marvel Universe where no one has ever gone before!" reads Marvel's solicitation copy for Fantastic Four #31.
"So of course he's going to need his best friend and test pilot, BEN GRIMM, by his side!" it continues. "Join the FF's two dads as they venture into the great unknown! Can they (or our letterer, Joe Caramagna) survive...THE ONOMATOPEIACOLYPSE?!"
Created in Fantastic Four #26, the Forever Gate is an invention pioneered by Valeria Richards that can transport its users to anywhere in all of reality, across the entire multiverse. It's previously been used to bring the Future Foundation home from their travels across the Multiverse, and to allow Valeria to visit her former boyfriend in another reality – though she discovered he didn't have the same feelings for her she had for him.
As for what the new area Reed and Ben will explore is, that mystery remains to be seen, but the idea of an 'onomatopeiacolypse' along with the cover suggests it will have something to do with sounds or words that have some kind of physical effect on the larger world.
And yeah, if that's the case, letter Joe Caramagna might want to start stretching his lettering muscles, as the solicit suggests.
Fantastic Four #31 goes on sale April 28.
Maybe someday Fantastic Four #31 will be considered one of the best Fantastic Four stories of all time.
