Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Issue #558 gives us new villains and a surprise continuity-changing twist for one of our main characters.

Recap: After their adventure involving an alternate Earth and would-be utopia called Nu Earth, the FF settled down for a bit back home. But it didn’t last long because a beaten and battle-weary Dr. Doom teleported into the new Baxter Building demanding to speak to Reed. Also, this issue’s cover proclaims, “Starting this issue: the death of the Invisible Woman,” so we’ve got that going on.

Ben has his new girlfriend Debbie Green and potential new nanny Tabitha Deneuve take Franklin and Valeria out of the room. Doom says he’s not there to attack, and he again demands to speak to Reed. Then three superhumans teleport into the room. Because this is a re-read and not a first-time read, I’ll go ahead and spoil it. The big metal guy is Alex Ultron, the glowing guy is Lightwave, and the girl in the green outfit is Natalie X. Ben fights these intruders, with them knocking him around with brute strength and a force field. Then Lightwave blasts Ben outside the building and through several neighboring high-rises. Natalie subdues Dr. Doom by giving him nightmares (!) and then they teleport out of there.

One hour later, Ben fills Reed in on what happened, amid the wreckage of the fight. Sue thanks Mrs. Deneuve for her help, and she offers her the job nanny on the spot. An Avengers Quinjet flies right into the room from outside (!), with She-Hulk and the Wasp, offering help. Debbie Green leaves, shaken by her experience, but promising to stay in touch with Ben. Outside, she has a clandestine meeting with a strange man, who asks her how long she was going to spend with “that freak.”

Later, Reed visits super-prison the Raft, where he reviews some security footage showing these three new villains breaking Doom out of his cell. (Doom was locked up following a lengthy story arc in Mighty Avengers.) A S.H.I.E.L.D. agent says Doom then broke free from the villains and escaped in hopes of contacting Reed. The villains call themselves the New Defenders. S.H.I.E.L.D. has Reed meet with former agent turned rogue Mentallo, who saw all this in a psychic vision. He mentions a “hooded man” and says an old friend is a leader of this group.

Then we catch up with Johnny and his new rock band in rehearsal. He says he doesn’t care about Doom’s kidnapping, considering how big of a problem Doom has been for the FF over the years. Johnny’s new girlfriend, the super-criminal known as Psionics, shows him a newspaper article about a string of armed robberies, and he figures out she’s the culprit. In private, Johnny tells her he can’t keep turning a blind eye to her life of crime. She chides him on never asking why she needs all the cash she’s stolen, and then she flies off in anger.

While Sue works late, Mrs. Deneuve sits with Valeria, who is sleeping. She says the baby monitor has been switched off, and they can now talk freely. Valeria opens her eyes and says, “How did you know?” Yes, Fantastic Four fans, this is the first appearance of lil’ genius Valeria!

Mrs. Deneuve says she can tell Valeria’s intelligence made a quantum leap forward about three months earlier, and she’ll soon be just as intelligent as her father. Deneuve encourages Valeria to tell her parents, and that they will be supportive. Valeria disagrees, saying Sue will feel alienated and it will drive an emotional wedge between Reed and Franklin. Deneuve asks Valeria, “You know who I am, don’t you?” and she asks Valeria to trust her.

Then we cut to the New Defenders’ secret headquarters, which is drawn as a lake. Are they underwater? Can’t worry about that, because Psionics is there, as one of the team! And… Lightwave is her father! She says she’s okay with Johnny dumping her, because if he couldn’t handle her being a bank robber, then he really wouldn’t have handled where the money is going. She assures the rest of the New Defenders that their mission hasn’t been compromised. We see that Dr. Doom is still with them, and he’s still comatose. Also, a hooded man is seen among them, as one of the team.

Turn the page, and we see the New Defenders’ leader emerge from the shadows. It appears to be… the Hulk?!? He says, “Everything’s going to plan.”

To be continued!   

Unstable molecule: Reed throws his weight around among the S.H.I.E.L.D. guys, as they let him look on their security cam footage.

Fade out: Sue is shown continuing her work on Miss America, her new all-female charity-raising super-team. She talks about how they’re relocating New Yorkers who lost their homes during the Hulk’s attack in World War Hulk.

Clobberin’ time: Not only has no one heard of the New Defenders, but they’ve never heard of Ben, guessing that his codename is either “Rock-Man” or “Brick-Man.”

Flame on: Johnny’s band is supposed to be rehearsing, but we only see them sitting around a recording studio doing nothing, with their instruments leaned against a wall.

Fantastic fifth wheel: She-Hulk shows up at the Baxter Building not to stop Dr. Doom’s kidnapping, but because she and the Wasp are there for a Miss America meeting. I find it funny that they fly the Quinjet in through the hole in the wall, and not land on the roof like usual.

Four and a half: During the fight, Franklin takes Mrs. Deneuve to the Baxter Building’s panic room. He says that Reed makes the kids do “supervillain drills” every Sunday morning. Is that upsetting? That seems like it could be upsetting.

Our gal Val: Valeria has been with us for a while now as a baby and then as a toddler (not to mention as Marvel Girl during Chris Claremont’s run), but this is her first real appearance. Valeria the child genius is going to go to create all kinds of complications throughout the Marvel Universe, and it all starts here. A lot of fans don’t like her, but I think what they’ve done with Valeria is pretty cool. In the 2000s, Marvel had a tough time creating new characters who manage to stick around. Miles Morales, Spider-Gwen, and Kamala Khan’s Ms. Marvel are the big three, but I personally would add genius Valeria to that list.

Trivia time: Who’s this Mentallo guy? First appearing way back in Strange Tales in 1966, he’s a mutant and low-level telepath and precog. Originally a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, he went rogue and worked for Hydra for a while. Since then, he’s bounced around among various supervillain teams and menaced multiple Marvel heroes. His continuity is so all over the place, that I’m unclear as to what landed him in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody in this issue.

Fantastic or frightful? The Valeria reveal is exciting, as is tying together the subplots that have been brewing for a while. Also, artist Bryan Hitch does his signature “widescreen comics” style to the fight scenes, making them big and propulsive. Despite all the mean things I’ve said about writer Mark Millar, I’m enjoying his take on Fantastic Four so far.

Next: Stay up late.

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