Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Now that we’ve met the Future Foundation, issue #580 gives us our first look at what they’re up to.

To recap, Reed and the FF have assembled, either by design or by accident, a group of brilliant young people to live at the new Baxter Building. They are now a combined school and think tank (!) called the Future Foundation. As this issue begins, Reed is meeting with some of the kids who have presented their first project as an attempt to solve a scientific conundrum Reed has struggled with for years. Franklin, not technically a member of the Foundation like his sister is, keeps interrupting Reed. The Impossible Man is not only back on Earth, but he’s about to introduce his new toy line (!) at a public event that afternoon. Reed promised Franklin they would go together, but now Reed is too busy with the Foundation.

Instead, Johnny takes Franklin to the toy show, with Leech tagging along. There’s all sorts of Marvel merchandise on sale (art imitating life?). Johnny comes across supervillain Arcade and is ready for a fight, but Impossible Man appears and says the two of them are working together. Arcade has turned over a new leaf, going into legitimate business with toys, collectibles, and video games. He promises that he’s given up on his elaborate death traps, but Johnny doesn’t buy it.

Then there’s a big presentation, where Arcade and Impossible Man introduce the toys, with Impy saying that a little bit of his “impossibleness” is infused in each one. Impossible Man cuts the ribbon, letting a crowd of kids at the toys. Then we see Arcade going back on his promise when he whispered “Okay, maybe a tiny little death trap.” All the toys come to life and attack the kids, punching out Leech. Impossible Man tries to fight back, but he’s overwhelmed by his own toys.

Energy swirls around Franklin’s head, and a dinosaur display then also comes to life, controlled by Franklin. It snatches up Arcade in its teeth, and Franklin tells Johnny to burn all the toys. He does, and then there’s some jokey business about Impossible Man crying that he’s ruined, only for it to be an act. He says he’ll keep an eye on Arcade until the police arrive.

There’s another two pages of revisiting Nu-Earth, where we see what billionaire Ted Castle and the other Nu-Earth characters are doing 500 and then 600 years in the future. Back at the Baxter Building, the Future Foundation kids have invited Ben to join them. Turns out he is the scientific conundrum they’re working on, and they say they can cure him and make him human again. He doesn’t buy it, after all the times Reed has tried and failed, but then Reed admits that the kids have outsmarted him.

The kids explain that Ben can’t ever be fully cured, but his powers can be switched off for a time, about one week per year. Alex Power is the one who hands Ben a vial of glowing green liquid, saying to Ben, “You get to be human again.”

To be continued!

Unstable molecule: Reed says he doesn’t know if he should be proud or insulted (!) that the kids chose a more personal subject for their project rather than something that could help all mankind. Strange choice of words, there.

Clobberin’ time: Rather than a cure, Ben suggests the kids make him super-boots, a robot assistant, or a personal cooler.

Flame on: Franklin and Leech initially say their favorite superheroes are Spider-Man and Iron Man, but by the end of the issue, they admit that Johnny is now their favorite.

Fantastic fifth wheel: The issue remembers that Impossible Man was once a member of the FF, during the short-lived “Fantastic Seven” of the ‘70s. He greets Johnny with a hug when they’re reunited.

Four and a half: We get another look at Franklin’s mutant powers reemerging, but we don’t know what form they’ll take this time.

Our gal Val: Valeria seems to gloat when she gets to work on the project with Reed instead of Reed spending the day with Franklin. She’s much more empathetic with Ben, apologizing that he can’t be human for longer.

Foundational: Reed assumes that Dragon Man came up with the idea to cure Ben, but Mik, one of the Moloids, takes credit. Bently-23 gets his first-ever line of dialogue when he suggests they test the cure on a clone of Ben. This is of note because Bently himself is a clone.

Trivia time: Once again, Arcade is a villain-of-the-week type of character, so much so that this issue isn’t referenced at all on his Marvel Wiki entry. It was shortly after this that he upped his game in an attempt at making the supervillain big time as the main antagonist in Avengers Arena.

Fantastic or frightful? A comedic and kid-friendly issue, making me wonder if that’s what the Future Foundation era (era) will be like. My memory is that this was a fun and exciting time for the Fantastic Four, but my concern now is that this new direction for the series will be too “kiddie.” We’ll see.

Next: A hot dad!

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