Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Time to start breezing through the rest of Jonathan Hickman’s run multiple issues at a time, with FF #8-11. Fantastic Four’s “lost years” in the 1970s is where things got all confusing and impenetrable, and now we’re back there.

Picking up where we left off two long issues ago, there are four lost civilizations recently discovered that are causing tensions around the globe, and there are four evil alternate universe versions of Reed also running around creating trouble. After Johnny’s death (he’s not really dead) the Fantastic Four have rebranded as the Future Foundation, with Spider-Man and a bunch of young geniuses as new members.

Issue #8 begins with Black Bolt, his new five wives (!) and the floating city of Attilan attacking the High Evolutionary’s city. At the new Baxter Building, Sue confronts Nathaniel Richards about everything that’s happened, namely a bunch of the FF’s enemies being brought in as consultants – Diablo, the Mad Thinker, the Wizard, a bunch of A.I.M. scientists, and the High Evolutionary himself. With his time travel-y knowledge of the future, Nathaniel insists it must be done, and that he’s preparing for war.

Valeria and Bentley-23 scheme to escape the Baxter Building even though Valeria is grounded for bringing the four evil Reeds to Earth. Reed, Nathaniel, Spider-Man and all the villains infiltrate the High Evolutionary city while the Inhumans attack. Medusa and Lockjaw appear, teleporting Reed away from the scene, saying Black Bolt demands Reed’s presence. Dr. Doom, whom you’ll remember is now technically a member of the Future Foundation, confronts one of the evil Reeds. But before he can get information, Doom is attacked and betrayed by Diablo and the Wizard.

Issue #9 begins with Doom easily recovering from the attack and fighting back. Reed, Spidey, and Nathaniel meet with Black Bolt, who tells them to stand aside while he deals with the evil Reeds. The evil Reeds debate whether to shut down the evolutionary engine that powers the city while the Mole Man escapes. Then Maximus, Black Bolt’s evil brother, joins the fight in a huge battle mech. This turns the tide of the fight. The Inhumans win, capturing two of the evil Reeds.

There’s tension between Dr. Doom and the Inhumans. Doom refuses to join the others in Attilan after seeing a third evil Reed watching from a distance. This Reed has his universe’s version of the Infinity Gauntlet, which he uses to defeat and then enslave Doom. The fourth Reed escapes, but Black Bolt and Medusa insist he will be caught. To get Reed, Spidey, and Nathaniel back home, Medusa offers them Eldrac, a powerful teleporting door, which she says will take them wherever they need to go, which may or may not include time travel.

Issue #10 begins among the Kree, where Ronan the Accuser plans to attack the Inhumans and take Kree leadership back from the Inhumans. (Because there’s not enough characters and storylines happening at once, here’s another.) Ronan is married to Crystal at this time, remember, and she chooses to stay by his side rather than return to her family.

Eldrac returns Reed to the new Baxter Building where he catches up with Sue. Natheniel is teleported to Latveria, to meet with the evil Infinity Gauntlet Reed and the enslaved Dr. Doom. There are references to the “great game” from a few issues back, and Nathaniel says he’s there to help Doom, not the evil Reed. Then we catch up to Ben, still in mourning over Johnny. He’s been staying at Avengers Mansion. Spider-Man appears there courtesy of Eldrac. He tells Ben it’s time to come home. Ronan, Crystal, and the Kree arrive outside Attlian, ready for battle. Then Ben returns to the Baxter Building, bringing the Avengers along with him.

Issue #11 begins with the Future Foundation kids building a giant teleporter inside the Baxter Building in case of emergency. The Kree move on Attilan, attacking a prison and locating the two evil Reeds captured during the battle. Then we’re reunited with Anti-Priest and the Cult of the Negative Zone. They contact Annihilus with a new plan to reopen the Negative Zone portal by putting amplifiers in place around New York, surrounding the Baxter Building. That’s where Reed addresses the Avengers, apologizing for his past actions and hoping that they can succeed where the group of villain consultants did not. Reed and Captain America form a plan to deal with the Inhumans.

Ronan confronts the two evil Reeds. He does his thing, accusing them of crimes of arrogance. His hammer weapon opens up, revealing a Kree biological entity of some kind. It merges with the two Reeds, transforming into the Kree Supreme Intelligence, now alive once again. But now he has knowledge of the multiverse he didn’t before. He asks, “Where are my armies?” Then, as the FF and the Avengers gather on the Baxter Building’s roof, a Kree fleet appears in the sky over New York.

To be continued!

Unstable molecule: This is the usual character arc for Reed. He gets lost in his own head with all the big science stuff, and then comes around to realizing what’s important. Hence his acknowledging that working with the villains was a bad idea and calling in the Avengers instead.

Fade out: Sue sits out the battle because she’s still recovering from injuries from previous issues. We see her working in the Baxter Building’s garden to relax. Have we ever seen this garden room before?

Clobberin’ time: Ben enjoys “Jarvis burgers” while at Avengers mansion. He later jokes that he maintained his task of doing the dishes even when in mourning.

Fantastic fifth wheel: Alternate FF members among the Avengers are She-Hulk, Luke Cage, Namor (who officially joined the team during the Onslaught crossover), and Tigra (who was a member of the short-lived “Fantastic Seven” team in the ’70s).

Crystal has fully entered her villain era (era), as she’s all-in on the Kree conquests. Medusa is on hand throughout, speaking on behalf of Black Bolt. She seems perfectly okay with her husband having a bunch of other wives.

We get another look at the face of H.E.R.B.I.E. the robot as the Baxter Building’s computer. This time, it’s identified as “H.E.R.B.I.E. Home System.” Freakin’ H.E.R.B.I.E. the robot.

Four and a half: Franklin jokingly (or not?) gives himself the codename “Hyperstorm” while on lookout for the Future Foundation kids. Does he not remember that Hyperstorm was the deadliest threat in the FF history? Or could this be foreshadowing big things to come for Frankllin?

Our gal Val: Valeria “escapes” being grounded, only to have lunch with Bently-23 in the room with the Bridge, the teleporter that brought the four evil Reeds to Earth. Bently likes the bridge for its villain potential, while Valeria finds comfort there, saying it’s the safest room in the building.

Foundational: The Future Foundation kids’ plan is to create a teleporter powerful enough to zap multiple floors of the Baxter Building away to safety in case of emergency. The three Moloid kids discuss developing a sense of humor. Leech chooses “Kid Incredible” as his codename. We’ll see how long that lasts.

Trivia time: The Marvel Wiki insists that the Avengers team in this issue is a combination of multiple teams, the Avengers, the New Avengers, Avengers Academy, the Young Allies, and… the X-Men.

The Wiki also offers partial information on how the Supreme Intelligence comes back to life. Ronan’s hammer, the Universal Weapon, contained the Supremor Seed, the last remains of the Supreme Intelligence. The engine at the heart of the High Evolutionary’s city is what merged the seed with the two evil Reeds, bringing the Supreme Intelligence back to life. It’s as easy as that!

Fantastic or frightful? Comics are often criticized as being unforgiving for new readers, with hundreds of characters and plotlines all running at once. These issues are exactly that. Yes, there’s a big battle with a lot of action, but all the twists and turns, and the constant changes in location, and all the shifting alliances, it’s just too much. The handful of character moments we get are nicely done, and I really wish there was more of a balance between those all this plot, plot, and more plot.

Next: Turning 50.

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Want more? Check out my novel MOM, I’M BULLETPROOF. It’s a comedic/romantic/dramatic superhero epic! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08XPXBK14.