Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. It’s law and order time as the FF have their day in court in vol. 5 issue #5.

Recap: New York was recently attacked by insect-like creatures from within a pocket universe created by Franklin’s mutant powers. Johnny sacrificed his powers to stop them. After a destructive battle with a new version of the Frightful Four, our heroes found that S.H.I.E.L.D. has commandeered the new Baxter Building, and now the FF must explain themselves in court!

The issue begins with an editorial by Betty Brant of the Daily Bugle, who is no longer Jonah’s put-upon secretary but the paper’s legal editor (!). She explains that a special judiciary committee has been formed to bring a class-action lawsuit against the Fantastic Four. The committee is led by prosecutor Aiden Toliver, while our own She-Hulk is doing the lawyer thing for the defense. We just right to Reed testifying, and Toliver grilling him about the opening scenes of the very first issue, where Sue, Ben, and Johnny caused chaos in New York just to reach Reed so he could show them some photographs. This kicks off the fun part of the issue, where the flashbacks are drawn in the style of the original comics referenced.

Ben is questioned about his many fights with the Hulk over the years, and Sue is questioned about the FF’s relationship with Namor, who has attacked the surface world on several occasions. Johnny is asked about Crystal and the Inhumans. He says the Inhumans are the good guys, but Toliver says their battles have also caused destruction in NYC. Then it’s back to Reed, who is put on the spot about his rivalry with Dr. Doom. Toliver stresses how Valeria is currently living with Doom, arguing that Reed failed to protect his daughter from him. Everybody breaks for lunch (this was all happening over one morning?!?), and then Reed must testify about Galactus. Reed discusses the Ultimate Nullifier, the alien device that can defeat Galactus by undoing and the redoing all of reality. Toliver argues that no one should wield that much power, getting Reed to admit he doesn’t know the current location of the Nullifier. This leads to talk about the Negative Zone portal, also located in the Baxter Building, which is home to dangerous aliens like Annihilus and Blastaar the Living Bomb-burst.

Sue is back on the stand next, having to defend her time possessed by Malice. Then a random New Yorker testifies about the time Ben threw a car at his father. He says Ben was not fighting a supervillain at the time, but he was just angry at people on the street taking his photo. “We should have done more,” Reed whispers to Sue.

Toliver makes his final argument, saying Reed stores dangerous technology in his HQ, endangering the people of New York with his hubris. He then argues that this also endangers Franklin and the children of the Future Foundation. We don’t see what the final ruling is, but Sue is shown in tears in front of the courthouse afterward.

Cut to Latveria, where Valeria and Dr. Doom succeed in defeating Count Nefaria, part of Doom’s newfound trying to be a hero. Valeria is troubled. She says she’s not going to leave Doom’s side, but she’s concerned about her brother. Then we go to a S.H.I.E.L.D. base, where it’s made official – Franklin and the Foundation kids have been legally separated from their parents. It’s a tense situation at first between the Alex Power and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, until Jim Hammond shows up. He reminds the kids (and the reader) that he was the original 1930s Human Torch, and he’s the kids’ new legal guardian. Alex Power tells the rest of the Foundation, “I think we’re going to be okay.”

Unstable molecule: Reed doesn’t actually say anything when he’s on the stand and asked about Dr. Doom. All the dialogue for those two pages are between Toliver and She-Hulk while Reed just sits there.  

Fade out: This issue makes the point that Malice was merely Sue being possessed by the Hate Monger. But it was later revealed during the DeFalco years that Malice was her own entity, still lurking in Sue’s subconscious somewhere. I guess Sue was smart for not mentioning that part.

Clobberin’ time: Ben defends his actions in fighting the Hulk by saying, “no time for chit-chat.”  

Flame on: When asked about his feelings for Crystal, Johnny says, “I’ll always have the deepest regard for her.”

Fantastic fifth wheel: She-Hulk has lunch with Betty Brant twice in this issue (how much time is passing?), giving Betty info for her articles.

Four and a half: When Alex Power stands up to the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, Franklin is right by his side, saying “We’re all in this together.”

Our gal Val: Valeria encourages Doom to defeat Nefaria not to take his land on behalf of Latveria, but to do good for the sake of doing good.

Foundational: Dragon Man is weirdly absent from the Future Foundation, considering he was the grown-up one, tasked with taking care of the kids when Reed and Sue weren’t around. Similarly, it’s pointed out that Alex Power is eighteen now, and is free to go. But Alex refuses to abandon the Foundation.

Trivia time: There’s a bit of debate among fans about continuity of the Ultimate Nullifier’s place in this issue, with much confusion about what became of it, and whether Reed or Galactus ended up with it. I went back and re-read its last appearance in vol. 3 #49. After Reed uses the Nullifier in that issue, we don’t see where it ended up after the universe was reset. After this, Nova will recover the Nullifier from a guy named Sam Alexander and give it to the Watcher in Nova #5.

Betty Brant got her first shot at investigative reporting in Web of Spider-Man #92, leading to lots of Spidey comics where her stories make the front page. I’m not clear on how Betty and She-Hulk are friends, but it’s probably from She-Hulk’s romance with John Jameson.  

Speaking of Betty, she mentions two other times superheroes have been put on trial. One was Magneto, which was in Uncanny X-Men #200, and the Hulk. I’m assuming this refers to Incredible Hulk #279, the famous issue where the Hulk was granted amnesty by the president. But I wonder if it’s a jokey reference to the 1989 TV-movie Trial of the Incredible Hulk.

Fantastic or frightful? This promises more ongoing complications for the characters in future issues, but the real fun here is the nostalgia romp through FF history. This is the sort of fun continuity that writer James Robinson did so well in Starman, and he uses it to good effect again.

Next: Sinful.

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