Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. The previous issue took us back to the big bang. This issue, vol. 4 #7, takes us all the way in the other direction, to the end of time. That’s quite the jaunt.

The Fantastic Four are on a yearlong expedition of time and space that’s really a front for Reed to find the cure for a molecular disease that’s slowly killing him. At the beginning of time, the team inadvertently rescued Blastaar the Living Bomb-burst, who had been sent to the big bang as a death sentence from creatures at the end of time. To escape the big bang, Franklin used his reality-bending mutant powers to teleport the FF’s damaged ship to, according to the text, “the end of all things.”

The heroes wake up in a black void, finding Franklin unconscious with a nosebleed. Reed deduces that they’ve arrived at the “big crunch” at the end of time. What’s more, they’re not alone. A huge space station is nearby. (This is the same space station seen in the recent issue of FF also involving Blastaar, so the storylines in the two series are starting to come together.)

The FF are contacted by a peaceful alien named Yth, who says he’s met Franklin as an adult, but not as a child. He can also tell Reed is sick, and then he reveals that the same sickness has afflicted Ben’s mind. This explains Ben’s erratic behavior in recent issues. Reed admits to Ben that he knew about his own affliction, but not Ben’s. He apologizes. Ben reminds them all that they have a more immediate concern, so Yth takes them to see Blastaar, being held in custody. This time, his death sentence is to witness the end of time. Reed asks Yth for custody of Blastaar (Why?) but Yth says his punishment is decided.

Reed then asks Yth to give Valeria a workshop, and Yth says he knows of Valeria as well. While the aliens work on repairing the FF’s ship, Ben tells Sue that although it’s hard to know what day it is when time traveling, he knows what the next day is, and he wants to get back home. Yth tells Reed that he and the other aliens have prepared for the eventuality of witnessing the big crunch, and they’ve chosen to stay.

Valeria then addresses all the aliens, saying that because Blastaar is a living bomb with a potential of infinite growth, he might survive beyond the big crunch. Instead, she has developed a new form of the harness Reed invented to sap Blastaar of his power, only this one is far more augmented. Reed tells Ben he knows what tomorrow is, and that he’s working on getting everyone back to the ship.

The aliens again refuse to remand Blastaar to Reed’s custody, saying the new harness will be an appropriate countermeasure. Franklin thanks Yth and the other aliens, and we see energy floating around him to suggest he’s using his powers again. Then we see the same scene from last issue, where the aliens sentence Blastaar to die by going back to the big bang. Except this time, it’s not Blastaar inside the containment suit, but a human Ben. This is the next day, and it’s his one day a year he gets to be human again.

The aliens rush to the FF’s ship, where Reed explains that Sue used her invisibility to make the switch while Franklin “befuddled” the aliens with his powers. Reed further explains that Valeria built everything he needed in the aliens’ lab, and “To save our lives, we have to save Blastaar.” The ship takes off, leaving the aliens behind to face their fate at the big crunch.

It looks like they’ve gotten away, but Ben starts getting sick, and then a very angry Blastaar bursts from his containment. Reed asks Valeria to show Blastaar to his quarters. She points a device at him that teleports him to… the Negative Zone! Reed tells Ben he’s got another twenty-three hours left to be human, with all of time and space to do whatever he wants. Ben just says, “I wanna go home.”

Unstable molecule: The aliens are long-lived, with millions of years of wisdom among them. But Reed insists he’s smarter than them simply because, “I’m Reed Richards.”  

Fade out: Sue uses her force fields to cut off the sound between the kids and everyone else, so the kids don’t hear about Reed being sick. I believe this is the first time the force fields have been used to affect sound.

Clobberin’ time: This is the official explanation about Ben’s headaches and his erratic behavior over the past few issues. Blastaar’s power-draining harness seems to affect him, but we’ll have to see if anything comes of that.

Flame on: Johnny can’t figure out the time travel of it all, asking if Blastaar doesn’t get sent back to the big bang, how could they have fought him there. Sue just responds with “Johnny, don’t.”

Four and a half: Franklin’s powers can “befuddle” the aliens as a distraction. Perhaps this is an aspect to his psychic abilities the alternate “Psi-Lord” Franklin had during Fantastic Force. This gives him a nosebleed in the same way that teleporting the ship from the beginning of time to the end of time does.

Our gal Val: Valeria really comes into her own as a supergenius in this issue, chiding the aliens on their advanced tech not being good enough, and lecturing them like she’s a college professor.

Trivia time: Yth and the other aliens have no entries in the Marvel Wiki, so it’s likely they never appeared in comics again. But, we don’t actually see them die in the big crunch, leaving their fates unknown. Further, the Wiki insists that this issue is an alternate universe, and not the MU proper.

Fantastic or frightful? Yes, time travel is confusing, as is tracking Blastaar’s back and forth movements around time and to the Negative Zone and back. Beyond that, though, this is a fun Star Trek-like romp. It also moves the overall plot of Reed’s illness forward a little.

Next: Red vs. Green.

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