Hot off the digital press comes this story about a new take on an old idea. Back in the 1990's Grey Hulk, Wolverine, Spider-Man and Ghost Rider teamed up as a 'New Fantastic Four' to drum up sales on an ailing FF monthly book. It's corny, but by 1990's standards, it's almost respectable. The gimmick worked and is still fondly remembered by some fans today (and briskly forgotten by everyone else).

Next year, a New New Fantastic Four will emerge with new iterations of the previous characters. Rick Remender is a cult favorite writer whose excellent run on Punisher and Franken Castle (along with artist extraordinaire Tony Moore) remains highly recommended by yours truly. His Venom book is also worth a read. Parker has of course continued to make champagne with lemons in his Red Hulk ongoing series that should be on your monthly pull list.

It may look like a cheap marketing trick, but with Remender and Parker at the helm, this could be an excellent comic.

Via io9:

Remember the New Fantastic Four, a short-lived 1990 incarnation of the team featuring Spider-Man, Wolverine, Hulk, and Ghost Rider? Next February, Marvel Comics will pay homage to that wacky roster with a story arc in Venom starring Red Hulk, Venom, X-23, and Ghost Rider.

In a conference call today, io9 learned firsthand of this yet-to-be-named story, which will hit stands February 2012. Writers Rick Remender, Jeff Parker and Rob Williams were on hand with illustrator Tony Moore and Marvel editor Jeanine Schaefer to discuss "The Venom Event," a tribute to Walt Simonson and Art Adams' original team-up.

This "2.0 version" of the New Fantastic Four is made up entirely of legacy heroes: there's Flash Thompson as Venom, Thunderbolt "Red Hulk" Ross, Wolverine's clone X-23, and Alejandra, the new female Ghost Rider. And as Schaefer noted, these four characters are wrestling with an antiheroic stigma:

All of these heroes are working through a lot of stuff, learning how to be heroes, learning how to work with other heroes. They're all in their own way [non-traditional heroes] who are dealing with that in their own series. They're all on a slow spiral downward when they all find each other.

Remender wouldn't spoil the Big Bad of the arc, but he did tease that the villain is somebody that none of these heroes are ready to duke it out with:

The character is trying to bring another dimension to Earth, and it's a not-so-pleasant dimension. The villain is succeeding in doing this. The story takes place in Las Vegas, where our mischievous bad guy is the owner of a giant Hell-themed casino that we jokingly call "Hellagio." During the course of all the other stories, Flash has been sent on a mission to Las Vegas, and his life is low. Captain America has sent the Red Hulk to investigate. Red Hulk and Venom are on a crash course of sorts, as are Ghost Rider and X-23.

(Thanks to King Hulk Marco for the tip!)