macmcentire

Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Issue #570 has a new writer and artist, and yet another far-out new concept for us to wrap our heads around.

This is the first issue of Fantastic Four for writer Jonathan Hickman, one of the biggest stars of modern Marvel. Hickman writes big, sprawling epics that influence Marvel continuity in huge ways. This includes the 2015 Secret Wars, which took over the entire Marvel line for a bit, and the years-long Krakoa storyline in all the X-Men books, which just recently wrapped up. Artist Dale Eaglesham has worked in comics steadily since the 80s. He’s best known for DC’s Villains United, and Justice Society of America.

We begin with a flashback to young Reed and his dad, where his dad encourages him to make a big jump from a treehouse, saying Reed will never know the outcome if he doesn’t try. Cut to the present, where the FF is in the middle of a battle against a giant robot who says it has been programmed for one purpose – to destroy the Fantastic Four. They defeat the robot, and Reed deduces that it was piloted clones of the Wizard. In his base, the Wizard makes speeches about “the failure of creation” and fathers being disappointed in their sons.

Reed uses a teleporter to follow the Wizard’s signal to his HQ. They have a brief debate about playing God with science, all while the Wizard is surrounded by his clones in the form of infants and young boys. Reed apprehends the Wizard. Cut to later, when Reed is telling the story of this to Franklin and Valeria before bedtime. Franklin asks what happened to the little boy clone, and Reed says people are at work finding him a new home. Franklin drifts off to sleep asking if Reed will help the boy.

Johnny offers Ben a gift of a vacation, to get Ben’s mind off his recent breakup with Debbie Green. The vacation is he and Johnny spending three days in Nu World. You’ll remember this an artificial Earth constructed in a parallel reality that is now home to refugees from an alternate dystopian future. (Comics!) Reed and Sue worry about Valeria getting smarter and smarter. Reed flashes back to his conversation with the Wizard, who says he’s made the same calculations Reed has, and he’s seen that a world-ending disaster is imminent. Reed tells Sue there’s some things he needs to deal with.

Reed goes to his private thinking room, the one with the writing all over the walls that we’ve seen off and on since Civil War. Reed reflects on the Bridge, his device that shows how events played out in other universes. And he muses on his 100 ideas for improving the world, with “Solve everything” being idea number 101. He goes into yet another secret room, where the Bridge is once again functioning and operational.

Reed activates the Bridge, which is more like a Stargate-ish portal, and three mysterious figures appear. Reed asks them, “How do I solve everything?” The figures step through the bride, and it’s three alternate versions of Reed. One is wearing some futuristic armor, and the other two have Sue and Johnny’s powers. The armored one tells Reed, “There’s something you need to see.”

The other Reeds take our Reed to a large building floating in space, that they describe as a construct, described as a construct inside a fabricated pocket of reality. They go inside to see the building with all kinds of alternate reality versions of Reed. The Reeds are working on stopping a Galactus attack on another world. Then three more Reeds show up, each one wielding an Infinity Gauntlet with all six Infinity Gems each. They say they’re the ones who built this place, and it’s time for our Reed to reach his full potential.

To be continued!

Unstable molecule: For unknown reasons, artist Dale Eaglesham has drawn Reed incredibly muscular and wide-shouldered. Perhaps this is so we don’t lose sight of him when he’s surrounded by other Reeds.

Fade out: Reed warns Sue that Valeria will someday be even smarter than Reed is, and this is of great concern to Sue.

Clobberin’ time/Flame on: Johnny’s game for Ben is to pick a vacation from one of three sealed envelopes. After he makes his choice, Ben opens to other two envelopes to reveal they’re all the same.

Fantastic fifth wheel: One of the H.E.R.B.I.E. robots can be seen working on the Bridge. Freakin’ H.E.R.B.I.E. the robot.

Four and a half: Franklin and Valeria waited out the robot battle inside an interdimensional panic room in the top floors of the building. (Is everything going to be alternate dimensions/realities/universes in this comic from now on?)

Our gal Val: Valeria gives her age as three years old in this issue, though she’s drawn almost the same height as Franklin.

Trivia time: The Marvel Wiki has the complete list of all the alternate Reeds, if you want to be bothered. Some of them have names like “long-haired Reed” or “cape-wearing Reed” so I don’t think a lot of these new characters will last long.

Fantastic or frightful? Instead of a fresh new start with a new creative team, writer Hickman is picking up where previous writers left off, taking the Bridge concept from Dark Reign and taking it to its next step. I know this business with all the different Reeds is controversial among fans, but as of this issue I’m interested in seeing where it’s going.

Next: Councilmen.

* * * *

Want more? Check out my ongoing serial, THE SUBTERKNIGHTS, on Kindle Vella. A man searches for his missing sister in a sprawling city full of far-out tech, strange creatures, and secret magic. It’s a sci-fi/fantasy hybrid full of action, romance, mystery, and laughs. The first ten episodes are FREE! Click here for a list of all my books and serials.

Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Writer Mark Millar’s dark and violent Marquis of Death storyline comes to a dark and violent ending in issue #569.

Gimmie a gimmick: This issue has a wraparound cover, a single image with Johnny and Ben on the front half, and Sue and Reed on the back.

Dr. Doom’s long-lost mentor the Marquis of Death has arrived after wreaking havoc across the multiverse. He dispatched with Doom by taking him back in time and feeding him to a dinosaur. Then he decided to meddle with the FF in various ways, ultimately summoning a bunch of other Fantastic Fours from other realities to attack the new Baxter Building.

This issue starts with some business where the rest of the FF think Reed is one of the alternates, as he’s just been teleported in from his experience with the Marquis. After the team sorts out that it’s the real him, the Marquis reappears. He explains that he gave the other FFs a choice, to destroy this FF or see their own worlds destroyed. Ben and Reed compare notes, that the Marquis is actually Clyde Wyncham, a man from yet another alternate universe with reality-bending powers. Reed says he could have killed Wyncham in the past, but refused to do so. Ben questions his own personal code, saying he can take the FF’s pogo plane to area 87, where this timeline’s Wyncham is being kept. Reed lets Ben go, while Sue, Johnny, and child genius Valeria shore up the building’s defenses. Valeria suggests using an energy-draining device, and old invention of Reed’s, and he tells her she’s not thinking big enough.

Ben arrives in the desert outside area 87. He says this will be more like euthanasia than homicide. The Marquis’ unnamed apprentice appears and attacks Ben. Ben punches him out with a classic “It’s clobberin’ time!” Ben enters area 87 and finds present-day Wyncham, still attached to the device mind/energy draining device where he ended up after the Marvel 1985 miniseries. Ben muses that it’s not very heroic to kill the bad guy before he becomes the bad guy, and then says, “I never been the hero type.” Back at the Baxter Building, Reed is overwhelmed by the alternate universe Reeds, only for them to get knocked out by a series of explosions. Ben and a revived Wyncham teleport into the building. He says there’s been a chance of plans, and that the comic-reading Wyncham is a big FF fan. The Marquis reappears again, saying that Wyncham now is nothing compared to what the Marquis will become in the future.

Time for everything to get all cosmic and psychedelic as Wyncham and the Marquis facing off. First they summon a bunch of Marvel heroes and villains, and then they summon some of Marvel’s godlike beings. Then they all fight. Whether this is actually happening, or if it’s all in their heads, or if it’s on some otherworldly plane of existence. The Marquis wins the fight, even though it drains him of some of his power. He boasts that he still has enough to defeat the FF, but then Reed says he uses his power-draining device to gain the powers of all the alt-universe FFs. He and his teammates now have the power of thousands of FFs, but their bodies can’t handle it. Reed says they only have twenty-three seconds before their hearts explode.

The clock ticks down as the FF use their new powers to pummel the Marquis. At fourteen seconds, Reed tells Johnny to burn at a temperature of ten to the thirty-second power, which he says is the temperature where time and space break down. The Marquis says this will rupture the entire multiverse, and Reed says, “You picked the wrong Fantastic Four this time.” Johnny unleashes the blast right at twenty-three seconds. The FF survive, and the Marquis is reduced to a weakened, skeleton form.

Then the Marquis’ apprentice appears (everybody’s just teleporting all over the place in this issue). He takes Dr. Doom’s mask back from the Marquis, and says he let Ben defeat him back in Area 87 to avoid suspicion. The apprentice punches out the Marquis, puts on the mask, removes his hood, and reveals he’s been the original Dr. Doom all along! He explains that he survived being in prehistoric times and lived throughout the centuries by mastering heretofore unknown mystical powers. He transformed every molecule in his body (!) so that his old teacher would not recognize him. He became the Marquis’ new apprentice, and bided his time until this moment, when he could take revenge and return to power.

The Marquis revives, and he finally says he’s proud of Doom. Responds by saying “Silence.” He then burns up the Marquis’ body. Ben and Johnny are ready for a fight, but Doom says his rivalry with the FF is over, and they are no longer of consequence to him. But then he says they will die if they cross him again.

But there’s more drama to deal with. It’s wedding day for Ben and Debbie Green. Except Ben is running late. No one can find him, and Reed is concerned. The FF wonder if supervillains are to blame, but Debbie sneaks away and finds Ben drinking at a nearby pub. She tells him that she knows the FF live dangerous lives, and she’s okay with that. He says, “I can’t do it to ya, Debs.” He reminisces about all the other superheroes who have lost their loved ones. The wedding party finds them at the pub, only for Ben to tell them all that he and Debbie are splitting. Everyone commiserates for a bit, and Sue and Debbie part with a hug. Reed and Johnny join Ben inside for another drink, with Reed saying, “I’m buying.”

Unstable molecule: All the Reeds from other universes monologue while attacking our Reed, who wonders if he sounds like that when he fights.

Fade out: Sue turns Debbie invisible to sneak her past the paparazzi at the wedding. She promises Debbie that they’ll always be friends.

Clobberin’ time: Despite threatening messages on the FF’s answering machine, Reed says all the superheroes have Ben’s back. We’re not told what villains are leaving messages, but one of them mentions owning a python.

Flame on: Johnny’s ‘roided up supernova flame is described as “planck temperature,” which is the opposite of absolute zero. I’ll take their word for it.

Fantastic fifth wheel: She-Hulk and Storm are seen in the Wyncham/Marquis cosmic battle. She-Hulk and Luke Cage are both guests at the wedding.

Our gal Val: We’re not told what the energy-draining device is that Valeria and Reed come up with, except that it has a history. My guess is that it’s from Fantastic Four #57-60. The power-stealing device from that story was never named. The Marvel Wiki has designated it “the power cosmic infusing machine.”

Trivia time: Does this issue mean that from now on, Dr. Doom is an immortal who’s been around since dinosaur times, and who has godlike arcane powers? Not so much. An Avengers story shortly after this would do a retcon, establishing that Dr. Doom actually time traveled to the future just after surviving the dinosaur, and then become the apprentice.

The comic doesn’t say if Wyncham is dead or merely knocked out. This is the final appearance of Wyncham and/or the Marquis of Death, so Wyncham’s fate remains unknown. This is also the final appearance of Debbie Green.

The FF’s old mailman Willie Lumpkin is at the wedding, with a pretty brunette girl sitting next to him. Could this be his niece Billie? She was the mail carrier during the team’s Pier 4 era (era), and there were unresolved hints that something sci-fi was going on with her. If that is her, it’s nice to know Marvel hasn’t forgotten her.

Fantastic or frightful? The idea of superheroes who’ve sworn never to kill has led to lots of great drama over the years, mostly with Batman, but also with goody-goodies like Superman and Spider-Man, when the go into a dark place and are pushed to the edge. I don’t know if this trope can be applied to Fantastic Four, however. Only a few panels are given to Reed and Ben wrestling with the morality of this, and it’s not really resolved. The better version of this would have Ben driven to the edge of killing Wyncham, and that being the catalyst for him calling off the wedding. That, plus the team being powered up for only a few seconds at risk of their own lives has little consequence. It just works, and that’s it? The story is more interested in the reveal of Dr. Doom as the apprentice, and it seems like everything else is hurried to get to that point and then wrap things up. In the end, the whole Marquis of Death story might be ambitious and provocative, but it just doesn’t work.

Next: Back under quarantine.

* * * *

Want more? Check out my ongoing serial, THE SUBTERKNIGHTS, on Kindle Vella. A man searches for his missing sister in a sprawling city full of far-out tech, strange creatures, and secret magic. It’s a sci-fi/fantasy hybrid full of action, romance, mystery, and laughs. The first ten episodes are FREE! Click here for a list of all my books and serials.

Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Writer Mark Millar continues to put his mark on the series in #568, as one mean villain keeps getting meaner.

Dr. Doom’s long-lost mentor the Marquis of Droom arrived on Earth after causing death and destruction throughout the multiverse. After expressing his disappointment with Dr. Doom, the Marquis sent Doom into the distant past. He then adorned himself with Doom’s metal mask and decided to take on the Earth, beginning with the Fantastic Four.

This issue begins with another subplot, though, where Ben shows up at the apartment of his girlfriend Debbie Green, who recently dumped him after he lost his temper on live TV. She tells him that she still loves him, but she doesn’t want to be afraid of him. But, she has a change of heart. She tells Ben to leave the “big stuff” for supervillains and keep things normal for her. He asks her if the wedding is off, and she says, “Never.”

Except then Ben and Debbie are attacked. People outside are throwing Molotov cocktails at the apartment, blaming Ben and the FF for the weird weather happening all over the globe. (The weather is actually because of the Marquis arriving on Earth, but Ben doesn’t know that yet.) Ben jumps outside and chases off the attackers while smashing up the sidewalk, while Debbie tells him that the TV news states that the weird weather is originating from the Baxter Building. Ben walks off, and we see the Marquis and his unnamed apprentice are watching him in secret.

There’s a bunch of quick hits showing the weather freaking out all over the planet. But it’s not just the weather – also volcanos and Biblical plagues of locusts. Ben shows up at the new Baxter Building to meet with Reed, Sue, and Johnny, and that’s when the Marquis and the apprentice attack. The apprentice fights with invisible force fields, and he wields a glowing green sword. The FF mistake the Marquis for Dr. Doom, but the apprentice says, “That name is dead for all time!”

The Marquis introduces himself, and he seems to use some sort of telekinesis and/or mind control to make the FF kneel in front of him. He shows them a vision of Dr. Doom in the distant past being fed to a Megalodon. Ben makes the usual wisecrack about his Aunt Petunia, so the Marquis teleports everyone to the home of the actual Aunt Petunia. He kills Petunia right in front of everyone, reducing her to a skeleton.

Then it gets even nastier when the apprentice wants to murder Sue, but the Marquis says instead she will have to decide which of her children will live or die. Reed offers to take Sue’s place, saying he’s the one who has out-strategized Doom over the years. The Marquis tells the heroes not to have hope, because hope is what he’s already destroyed in countless other universes, and this one is no different.

The Marquis shows the FF a flashback to annual #6, where the FF confronted Annihilus in the Negative Zone. He says if Reed failed to defeat Annihilus, then his son Franklin would never have been born. The Marquis says, “I will spare you and your planet if you agree to let Franklin die.” He says there are millions of alternate timelines where this happens, and that Reed will have no memory of any other possibility happening. Reed refuses to deal with the Marquis, saying, “You’re wasting your time.” The Marquis instead shows Reed a parallel universe where Ben died during the FF’s origin spaceflight, rather than becoming the Thing. Reed says, “You want my life, Marquis, it’s yours. Anyone else, it’s their choice.”

Then the Marquis teleports Reed to place called Area 87, which is a high-tech holding cell containing a man named Clyde Wyncham. The Marquis explains that Clyde is the world’s most powerful supervillain, who came to Earth from yet another parallel universe where he was the only mutant. Clyde has reality-altering powers, kept in check by a cybernetic helmet of Reed’s design. While wearing the helmet, Clyde is lost in his own pleasant dreams. The Marquis says that the day will come when many of Reed’s adversaries will join forces and attack Area 87, and Clyde will wake up with his full power.

We then see Clyde destroying all the villains and escaping to become master of all space and time, exploring the multiverse for a billion years and eventually becoming… the Marquis of Death! He says he is on his final voyage, to give one Reed Richards a chance to save all the rest. The Marquis says all Reed has to do is pull the plug on Clyde, which will kill him. Reed refuses to take a life saying there’s always another way.

The Marquis teleports Reed back to the Baxter Building, where Sue, Ben, and Johnny attack him. Johnny says, “Plug the breach!” Then turn the page and we see the outside of the building attacked by an army of Fantastic Fours from other dimensions.

To be continued!

Unstable molecule: Reed sticking to his principles in the face of the Marquis’ threats has no effect on the Marquis. The Marquis gets enjoyment at seeing past versions of Reed break down all across the multiverse.

Fade out/Flame on: At one point, Johnny accuses the Marquis of being just like every other easily-beaten supervillain. The Marquis shows Johnny a vision of all the ways Sue can be killed throughout the multiverse.

Clobberin’ time: Is Ben’s Aunt Petunia really dead? She’ll appear again in a few years, still alive and with no reference to this issue. It’s a safe bet that her death in this issue is either an illusion or yet another alternate timeline.

Fantastic fifth wheel: With the weather being out of control all over the world, Ben tells the people on the street “You want that X-Man weather chick.” That your former teammate Storm you’re talking about, Ben! To be fair, on the next page, he says he’ll give her number to the Molotov cocktail guys.

Trivia time: If you’ve never read Mark Millar’s miniseries Marvel 1985, oops I spoiled the whole thing for you. That story was about Clyde Wyncham, a young man in the “real world” who developed the ability to bring characters from the comics into his universe. When a bunch of comic villains ran amok, he then traveled to the Marvel Universe to recruit heroes to save the day. The series ended with Captain America taking Wyncham back to the Marvel Universe to get him some help.

Fantastic or frightful? While I found a lot to like in writer Mark Millar’s early issues of Fantastic Four, it’s here where the so-called “edgelord” Millar is in full force. This issue is a variation of Millar’s miniseries Nemesis, about an all-powerful supervillain tearing apart an ordinary man’s life, just for his own sick amusement. There’s a similar tone here – mean-spirited only for the sake of being mean-spirited.

Next: Cold feet.

* * * *

Want more? Check out my ongoing serial, THE SUBTERKNIGHTS, on Kindle Vella. A man searches for his missing sister in a sprawling city full of far-out tech, strange creatures, and secret magic. It’s a sci-fi/fantasy hybrid full of action, romance, mystery, and laughs. The first ten episodes are FREE! Click here for a list of all my books and serials.

Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Now that we’ve met Dr. Doom’s teacher, it’s time for Doom to get some schooling in issue #567.

After wreaking murderous havoc throughout the multiverse, Dr. Doom’s long-lost master, the all-powerful Marquis of Death, has arrived on Earth with his apprentice. The Marquis expressed disappointment in how Doom has not yet conquered the Earth, so he engulfed Doom in a burst of flame. This issue begins by showing us that Doom is not fazed by this. He says through the fire, “Is that the best you can do?”

Doom fights back, with fire swirling around him and the Marquis. Doom brags about all the amazing things he’s done, such as exploring all of time and space, and escaping the fires of Hell itself. The caption tells us that this battle goes on for six weeks (!), and that Doom eventually defeated the Marquis by inventing something called the Omega Box. We’re told that other superheroes join the fight, and Reed Richards died (!!) in the battle, which Doom mourned. Then it’s five years later (!!!) in New York, where Dr. Doom’s technological advances have benefitted all humanity.

It’s a new world, with futuristic flying cars. The new Baxter Building is now the Reed Richards Memorial Building. Doom is inside, with an older, eyepatch-wearing Ben, who inspect a sculpture of the FF in the lobby. Ben says Reed would have liked the statue, and Doom says it’s too bad Reed never saw Doom save the world. Then a pregnant Sue approaches and tells Doom the Fantasti-car is fueled up and ready to take him back to Latveria. She calls him, “Darling.”

Yes, Sue and Doom are now a couple. They discuss how Johnny does not approve, and he refuses to speak to Sue. They arrive in Latveria to a cheering crowd. Sue says to Doom, “It makes me happy to see a country that adores you like I do.” Next, we see Doom inside what looks like a gigantic library. The caption tells us that this is the Omega Box. Sue joins him, and Doom says he’s dwelling on how close the Marquis came to destroying the Earth if Doom hadn’t thought up with Omega Box. “So much hinging on a single idea,” he says. “It chills the blood.”

Sue asks Doom if he’s happy, and if this life he’s built for himself makes him feel content. He says, “For the first time in my life.” Sue answers “Good. Then we’re ready.” She peels off her face to reveal she’s the Marquis in disguise. Doom says the Marquis died five years ago, but the Marquis says not even five seconds have passed. And just like that, we’re back at the start of the issue, with Doom on his hands and knees burning up in the fire.

The Marquis says he showed Doom his dream life, just to take it away. Doom’s mask has fallen off, and it is on the dirt in front of him. (We of course don’t see Doom’s face, as it’s covered with shadow.) The Marquis opens his cape to reveal his skeletal, corpse-like body. He tells Doom not to mourn for a fairy tale, but to mourn for the people of Latveria. Then we see a nuclear blast wipe out Latveria, with the Marquis saying, “This is real.”

Doom wants to continue the fight, but the Marquis says this is not a battle but a punishment. He uses his power to torture Doom by turning his blood to acid. The Marquis’ apprentice suggests sending Doom to the past, so the Marquis sends Doom into the Pliocene Age, dumping him into an ocean filled with megalodons. There’s an entire page devoted to Doom about to be swallowed by one of the megs.

Back in the present, the Marquis says he’s disappointed, and that he hoped for better from Doom. The apprentice says it’s time to initiate the slaughter, and destroy the Earth like all the worlds they’ve destroyed. Instead, the Marquis says his honor must be restored by rectifying his failure with Doom. He says this begins with the Fantastic Four. The Marquis picks up Doom’s mask and puts it on his own face, saying “Let us see how they fare against the new Doctor Doom.”

To be continued!

Unstable molecule/flame on: Reed and Johnny appear only on the cover, where they appear to be dead. I assume this is aftermath of the battle in Doom’s alternate reality.

Fade out: This is the third time there’s been a suggestion of a Sue and Doom romance. The most well-known is when Reed was trapped in Doom’s armor and had to pretend to be Doom, going so far as to stage a fake wedding with Sue. Just prior to that, we saw an alternate universe where Sue and Doom were a couple, and parents to the first Valeria Richards, who later joined the team as Marvel Girl. The comics hinted at maybe Reed was Valeria’s real father, but this was never followed up on.

Clobberin’ time: Look closely, and you can see that future Ben has not just an eyepatch, but a missing arm. We’ll likely never get the story of how, specifically, he got these injuries.

Trivia time: Nobody doesn’t love megalodons! The giant prehistoric fish has appeared on occasion throughout Marvel history, most notably in Where Monsters Dwell, but also in Uncanny X-Men, A-Force, and a little-known Lockjaw miniseries.

Fantastic or frightful? You’d think this issue would be the perfect time to get into who the Marquis is, his history with Dr. Doom, and why no one’s heard of him before this. Instead, it’s yet another multiverse romp, and more multiverse versions of classic characters. People are clearly into multiverse stuff these days, but does this issue really need it? Feels like a roadblock to the main plot, rather than continuing the narrative.

Next: Stormy weather.

* * * *

Want more? Check out my ongoing serial, THE SUBTERKNIGHTS, on Kindle Vella. A man searches for his missing sister in a sprawling city full of far-out tech, strange creatures, and secret magic. It’s a sci-fi/fantasy hybrid full of action, romance, mystery, and laughs. The first ten episodes are FREE! Click here for a list of all my books and serials.