Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. In issue #555, writer Mark Millar continues his run on the series with otherworldly action and new characters.

Recap: Reed was reunited with his old college girlfriend, science whiz Alyssa Moy, and her new husband, mega-billionaire Ted Castle. They’re secretly constructing a planet on the other side of a portal. It’s called Nu Earth, Alyssa tells Reed, “This is where we’re going when the Earth dies.”

This issue begins with a flashback to Reed and Alyssa in college. At a sidewalk café, she wants them to have their first kiss, openly stating that it will eventually lead to them breeding genius children. She says they should do this right away because, “Tomorrow might be a very different story.”

In the present, Alyssa and Ted give Reed a tour of Nu Earth, confirming that it’s an exact life-size model of the Earth, everything from undersea mountains to the Statue of Liberty. Ted says his organization, the Earth-Trust, funded this because a great environmental threat is eminent. Alyssa says the threat is increasing, and Earth will be uninhabitable in less than ten years. Reed argues in favor of trying to save the Earth, but Alyssa says it’s too late. Earth is doomed, and there must be an exodus to Nu Earth.

Back in the lab, Ted reveals that Nu Earth isn’t as exact a replica as he said. He says depleted rainforests will be restored, and weapons will not be welcome on Nu Earth. This will be policed by “Cap,” short for “Conserve and protect,” who will be Nu Earth’s enforcer, ensuring that the planet has no guns, nukes, or armies. Police and soldiers will be repurposed in “a social support capacity,” Alyssa says.

It goes on from there. There are “Nightingales,” which can rearrange a person’s atomic structure to instantly cure any injury or disease, and a “World Bank,” a computer that can manage the global economy to ensure finances will be distributed evenly throughout the planet. Then they ask Reed to join them at the Earth-Trust, saying it’s better for him to be a genius scientist than a costumed superhero.

Back at the new Baxter Building, Ben wants to brag about the teacher he’s now dating (they met last issue) but Reed is preoccupied with Alyssa’s warnings about Earth’s impending extinction and what he can do about it. Reed wants to travel through a wormhole to other side of the universe to investigate, but Ben stops him. Ben says Alyssa is messing with Reed, showing up after he and Sue have recently had marital issues (during the Civil War crossover), and Sue recently starting her own charity-focused super-team. Reed says he and Sue have resolved their issues, btu Ben doesn’t buy it.

Elsewhere in NYC, Johnny is flying across town to meet with his new bandmates in the rock band he’s starting. He comes across a robbery in progress, started by a mysterious blue-haired woman. She telekinetically throws a bunch of cars at him, and then almost mind-controls some cops to shoot themselves. Johnny recovers and flies away with the woman before they can do so.

They fight inside a parking garage, totally trashing the place. The woman insists she wasn’t hurting anyone, and she wonders why superheroes like Johnny can’t just mind their own business. They both fall back, winded. Then the woman climbs on top of Johnny, saying he’s even more handsome in person than on TV. They start making out.

At the Earth-Trust lab, Ted confronts Alyssa about her and Reed, asking if she still loves him. She says she isn’t, and that a marriage between her and Reed wouldn’t have worked because they are too similar. Ted suspects that Alyssa is jealous of Reed playing with her “little toy.”

Then alarms go off, and someone tells Ted that Cap has escaped. We don’t see Cap, but we see where he escaped from his confinement. A lab tech explains that Cap overheard Reed, Alyssa, and Ted talking about soldiers, so Cap was inspired to break free and go on the hunt for any soldiers he can find. Cut to Alaska, where some soldiers are out on patrol in the snow, and they come across a two-story tall robot painted in Captain America’s colors.

To be continued!

Unstable molecule: Reed prepares to travel through space in what looks like a new version of the FF’s sky cycle. I’ve given up trying to sort out which FF vehicle is which, and the Marvel Wiki, because it has no mention of this one. (Every artist on the series designs their own take on the vehicles, making dozens or perhaps hundreds of them by now.)

Fade out: Sue doesn’t appear in this issue, but there is mention of her new charity team.

Clobberin’ time: Ben’s schoolteacher girlfriend is Debbie Green. She’ll be around for a while. In this issue, he calls her “one hot tomato.”

Flame on: Johnny talks on his cell phone while flying, stating that his phone is made of unstable molecules, just like his FF uniform.

Four and a half/Our gal Val: Ben expresses concern that Reed and Sue aren’t spending enough time with the kids lately.

Trivia time: This story arc is the first appearance of Ted Castle, even though it insists he’s been an influential scientist/billionaire all along. If he’s related to Frank Castle (a.k.a. the Punisher), the Marvel Wiki isn’t saying.

Upcoming issues will dig deeper into this new mystery woman in Johnny’s life, but this is her first appearance, not someone we’ve seen before.

Fantastic or frightful? Ever since Civil War, there’s been all this talk about Reed’s big plan for creating a better Earth. It looks like Alyssa and Ted are doing much the same thing, yet Reed’s plan is never mentioned. Reed doesn’t argue about the morality of their plan, but instead gets to work on saving the Earth so their Nu Earth won’t be needed. Despite my hesitations about Mark Millar’s writing, I’m enjoying these issues so far, and their classic sci-fi “playing God with science” themes.

Next: Bust a Cap.

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