Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. As I started this re-read of Matt Fraction’s dual run on Fantastic Four and FF, I asked myself, “Wasn’t this the storyline where they met Julius Caesar?” Now we’ve reached that point in vol. 4 issue #5 legacy #616.

We begin with the family aboard their space-time ship, where Franklin and Valeria are putting on a little play telling the story of the time Julius Caesar was captured by pirates, only to turn the tables on them. It’s a little Addams Family-ish in that it’s a morbid tale told with kid humor. Sharp-eyed readers will notice Reed trying to make eye contact with Sue during the play and her refusing him, building on the previous issue’s “We need to talk” cliffhanger.

Turn the page, and we see that the ship is cloaked in the air over Rome in the year 44 B.C.E., the time of Caesar. Alone with Reed, Sue tells him that she’ll help him with his condition, but she also does not forgive him for keeping this secret from her. In the next room, Ben, Johnny, and the kids are dressed in ancient Roman costumes to go exploring. Reed and Sue tell the kids are saying they’re staying on the ship for some “mommy-daddy time.”

Cut to Julius Caesar, who has had a vision of two black birds killing a white bird. He believes this is a dire omen of his death. Turn the page and there’s Johnny, Ben and the kids, who have come to Caesar in the form of fortune tellers. This is one day before the fateful Ides of March where Caesar was betrayed and murdered. The kids try to warn him of this, just as other fortune tellers and seers have told him. Caesar counters by quoting Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar at them.

On board the ship, Reed further explains his condition to Sue, saying that his body is being overrun by hostile invading cells. He admits that their year-long expedition throughout space-time is a charade for him to search for a cure. He adds that the more they explore, the more he doesn’t know about his condition. Sue tells him he doesn’t have to fight this alone.

Julius Caesar leads the rest of the FF on a tour through Rome, as the crowds all chant “Hail, Caesar!” In an underground chamber, Caesar promises answers. He reveals what looks like a futuristic spacecraft. Purple mist comes out of his face (!) and he says, “I am not Caesar. Caesar is already dead.” He is an alien, and he explains that he came from the future just like the FF did, to witness Caesar in action. Except he saw young Caesar fall from an elephant and die (!). Fearing a paradox, the alien inhabited Caesar’s body and lived out his life. Ben and Johnny say they can’t just sit there and let the alien Caesar be murdered, but the alien says it’s too large of a historic event to avoid. As such, they are confronted by swordsmen who demand his presence at the Senate.

Back in the ship, Sue jokes about how all the children’s socks are wearing out at the same time. This has her questioning whether the rest of the family are sick with the same affliction as Reed. In Rome, we see the “Senate” is the Coliseum, and Johnny, Ben, and the kids are chained up in the center. A fiery monster named Cacus the Son of Vulcan is unleashed in the arena. Ben throws off his disguise, breaks the chains, and fights the monster – paradoxes be damned. He defeats the monster, but then we learn that Caesar was killed during the fight, just as history demanded. The alien is still alive, however, so the FF pose as the beggars who carried Caesar’s body out of Rome (a real thing, apparently). The alien says he’ll stay around to follow Emperor Octavian.

Back at the ship, the FF say goodbye to the alien. Johnny asks about the pirate incident that started this issue, but the alien admits, “It was before my time.” Cut to the present day, where a wealthy man named “Mr. Cotta,” reads an newspaper article about the replacement Fantastic Four led by Ant-Man in the concurrent FF series. (This is the first hint in Fantastic Four that something’s up back on Earth.) Mr. Cotta opens a hidden door in his office to reveal the alien’s ship. Mr. Cotta is really the Caesar alien, he says, “Caesar repays his debts. Always.”

To be continued!  

Unstable molecule: Reed says he considered that his illness might be psychosomatic, but he dismissed that upon further examination.

Fade out: Sue has a very harsh line where she says Reed behaves like a human so well that sometimes she forgets “what you really are.” A few pages later, Sue comes around and says, “What we fight, we fight together.” And then she kisses him. Relationships gotta be so complicated.

Clobberin’ time: Ben continues to be morose and distant from his teammates. Johnny is taken aback at how brutally Ben clobbers the monster.

Flame on: Johnny tries to impress Caesar with some fire effects, to convince Caesar that he and his teammates are fortune tellers. The alien sees right through the ruse, though, recognizing the heroes as fellow time travelers.  

Four and a half: In his presentation, Franklin portrays the pirates as speaking in classic “Arr” speech. That is NOT from Roman times. The pirate “Arr” was popularized in pop culture by 1950s pirate films like Treasure Island and Blackbeard the Pirate.

Our gal Val: History records that three beggars, not four, escorted Caesar’s body out of Rome. Therefore, Valeria hides under a blanket next to the alien, who is pretending to be Caesar’s corpse. It’s… odd.

Trivia time: The Marvel Wiki confirms that every appearance of Julius Caesar set between 49 B.C.E. and his “death” in 44 B.C.E. is in fact the alien Mr. Cotta posing as Caesar. This retcons Incredible Hulk #210, as Caesar’s Ides of March murder happens in that issue as well.  

This is the only appearance of Cacus, so we have no idea where the monster came from. The Marvel Wiki argues that the monster is indeed somehow the biological son of Vulcan, Roman god of the underworld. Vulcan has been a recurring character in Thor, Hulk, and Guardians of the Galaxy.

Fantastic or frightful? I wonder if there’s too much story for one issue, so things had to be consolidated. Like, how do we go from saying we’re going to the Senate, and then immediately having our heroes chained up in the center of the Coliseum? Where did the fire-breathing monster come from? But the Caesar alien is a fun concept, very Dr. Who-ish.

Next: The hair up there.

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