Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. In FF vol. 2 #4, we get a night out on the town, along with some good old-fashioned mischief.

The FF have taken off on a year-long exploration of time and space that was meant to be a year for them, but only four minutes on Earth. Except they didn’t reappear after those four minutes, leaving a temporary replacement FF – Ant-Man, She-Hulk, Medusa, and newcomer Darla Deering – to take care of the Future Foundation in their place. They then encountered an older Johnny Storm from the future, who spoke of a supervillain, the Avenging Doom. Ant-Man declared that to prevent this future from happening, the new team must confront Dr. Doom now.

We begin with a debate, where Alex Power asks what gives them the right to decide Dr. Doom’s fate, not to mention the fate of all Latveria. Ant-Man says Doom mustn’t be allowed to continue as he has been. When Alex suggests that Ant-Man blames Dr. Doom for the death of his daughter Cassie (this happened in the Children’s Crusade crossover), Ant-Man gives him a stern, “Get out.”

Elsewhere inside the new Baxter Building, She-Hulk is preparing for dinner with a friend, with the four Moloid kids pestering her about whether this is a date. She says it isn’t, but nonetheless tells them not to wait up. After she leaves, the Moloids admit that they’re in love with She-Hulk, so they go to Bentley-23 for help on disrupting their dinner.

Inside Reed’s lab, the older John Storm fails to recognize Reed’s inventions, and Medusa says she doesn’t believe he’s the real Human Torch. An argument breaks out, with Darla insisting it’s really him. Medusa takes Ant-Man aside and says she only made the accusation to see how he’d react. When Darla asks if John remembers her, he only says, “There were a lot of girls,” and he flies off.

She-Hulk meets Wyatt Wingfoot for dinner at a fancy French restaurant, while the Moloids and Bentley use a hypnotism device on the manager to sabotage dinner. It doesn’t work, as all the manager does is pay for all the customers’ meals. Afterward, She-Hulk and Wyatt go for a stroll by the lake in Central Park, while the kids follow underwater in a mini-submarine. The kids try to summon a monster, the “Lost Leviathan of New Amsterdam,” only to discover the creature is a weakling and not monstrous at all. She-Hulk and Wyatt then share a drink at a nearby bar, while Bentley proposes using one of Reed’s inventions, the “fantastic core,” which can instantly warm frozen planets. The increased heat inside the bar only makes for a festive atmosphere, though, so She-Hulk and Wyatt dance the night away. Walking back home, She-Hulk admits that Wyatt was the one who got away, and the man that all her other relationships have had to measure up to. Bentley drops the fantastic core, which makes the sky glow purple. She-Hulk and Jen makes the most of this magical moment, and they kiss.

Back in his bedroom, Bentley is fuming that his plans didn’t work, and the Moloids are no longer speaking to him. He feels like a failed supervillain. A mysterious voice encourages him. Turn the page and it’s Medusa, telling him she wants him to achieve his villainous destiny, and she’s going to help him do it.

To be continued?

Unstable molecule/fade out/clobberin’ time/flame on: There’s a flashback to Reed introducing the fantastic core to his teammates, only for it to blow up in Ben and Johnny’s faces when they horse around with it. This suggests that the device never worked as intended.

Fantastic fifth wheel: We see a newspaper front page showing the replacement Fantastic Four fighting the Miracle Man, who in turn is suing them for assault. It appears this story has never been told, and is here just to show us what the team has been up to between issues. She-Hulk tells the Foundation kids not to worry about the lawsuit.

She-Hulk says she and Wyatt almost got married once. This happened in the miniseries She-Hulk: Ceremony.

Medusa being sneaky and duplicitous (or is she?) hearkens back to her earliest Marvel appearances as a villain.

Foundational: Alex Power calls Ant-Man a “fascist,” which seems pretty extreme for the famously nice-boy Alex. I guess now that he’s nineteen, they’re making him a little edgier.

There’s a reference to the Future Foundation kids switching around the numbers on their uniforms as a prank to confuse Ant-Man. This is a little meta joke, referencing how the numbers had been drawn inconsistent in recent issues.

Trivia time: This is the only appearance of the Leviathan of New Amsterdam, although the Marvel Wiki provides some additional background info. The Wizard is the one who first discovered the existence of the creature, deeming it of no use in his evil schemes.

Fantastic or frightful? Fun cartoon-style antics with the Future Foundation kids, interesting developments for Medusa, and some nice character work for She-Hulk. It’s good for the series to have some breathing room to do stuff like this in the midst of a larger story.

Next: Caesar salad.

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