See, one of the frequent refrains I hear from comicdom with regards to intercompany crossovers is trying to match power sets. While there are some very direct comparisons -- like Green Arrow/Hawkeye and Aquaman/Sub-Mariner -- and more than a few less-direct-but-still-fairly-obvious comparisons -- like Thor/Shazam and Silver Surfer/Green Lantern -- the opportunities that I find most intriguing are ones that are rarely, if ever, brought up. Like The Flash/Fantastic Four.
Obviously, there's no power correlation here. The closest the FF have to a speedster character is that former team member Crystal used to be married to Quicksilver. I'm not as versed in the Marvel Universe as I used to be, but I haven't seen that even mentioned in over thirty years. But the super power comparisons are not what's interesting here anyway. The interesting angle is the specific personalities involved.
Barry Allen, as you might recall, was a scientist. A scientist in the vein typical of 1950s pop culture where he was adept in all the sciences from chemistry to physics. The same holds true for Reed Richards. Although Reed is at the uppermost echelon when it comes to scientific geniuses, Barry's no slouch. What's interesting between them is their different approaches. Reed is more interested in the aspect of solving puzzles for their own sake, whereas Barry comes to the table as a forensic scientist, often working backwards from a solution instead of towards one. Those two approaches to the same interest, I think, are more fascinating from a storytelling perspective than whether Reed is stretchier than Elongated Man.
But also of note here is that Barry's interest in superheroing frequently makes him seem a bit "flighty" or unserious when it comes to his romantic relationships. Johnny Storm is also similarly unserious when it comes to relationships, although here again, for different reasons. He, too, is usually more interested in superheroing, but more for the thrill of the adventure itself than Barry's more altruistic ideal of helping people. It's these similar traits that come from differing motivations that are potentially interesting because each character can see bits of themselves in the other, but can be forced to reflect on why they are also dissimilar.
Now, whether or not Iris West also appears is unclear, but the comparisons with Sue Richards could also be interesting. They were both originally just "love interest for the main character" when they were introduced, but had to develop into real characters over the ensuing decades. Their differing approaches here, again, make for narrative interest. They went from just kind of going along with whatever "their man"'s adventures took them to becoming protagonists in their own right, in part, "forced" into the role by virtue of their spouse being perptually distracted.
Oh, and as a curious -- but I doubt will be mentioned in the issue -- aside, both the Flash and the Fantastic Four started their super-powered careers in Central City. So there's that obscure continuity connection too!
Now whether this book is any good is another matter altogether. A great idea can falter in its execution, and I haven't seen anything here beyond what's in the announcement. But it's the first DC/Marvel crossover I've seen that struck me as at least having the potential to make for some interesting and complimentary character dynamics. I expect I'm in a minority here, but I'd be much more interested in intercompany crossovers if they focused more on team-ups based on their characters and not on their power sets. Someone will have to tell me how this is, though; as I said, though, it's not interesting enough for me to sign up for a service that I wouldn't likely use beyond reading this single issue.
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