macmcentire

Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Issue #550 is the wrap-up (of sorts) of everything the series has been building up to over the last few issues. Can it stick the landing?

Recap: After Black Panther and Storm joined the team, Reed and Sue have now re-joined, making a Fantastic Six. All this is to respond to a distress call from aliens called Oditopians, under attack by murderous aliens called the Contrasepsis. The heroes take their new Fold Ship into Oditopian space, only to learn that the Oditopians fought back with a powerful weapon that destroys space-time, threatening to subsequently destroy all existence. With dozens of Watchers on hand to watch, the Contrasepsis then attacked the Fold Ship.

The Contrasepsis, who are big, bulky, purple guys, breach the ship’s hull as ben fights them off. Reed and Black Panther work on rebuilding the Oditopians’ weapon, while knowing that it may destroy them as well as their enemies. Sue seals the hull breach with a force field, and Black Panther has Ben prepare to fly the ship out of there as soon as they fire the weapon. The plan works, and the Contrasepsis are killed (!) as the ship enters hyperspace. But now spacetime is being destroyed.

As one of the Watchers falls into the void, seemingly to his death, Reed and Black Panther are more interested in figuring out where the Contrasepsis came from. Black Panther says not even he can track them through collapsing spacetime, so he whips up a device capable of summoning the Silver Surfer. The Surfer arrives, still furious at Black Panther over their fight a few issues back. Black Panther and Reed appeal to the Surfer’s innate desire to preserve life. He agrees, and he leads the heroes into the void, which he says leads to planes of physical reality not yet explored. They find the Contrasepsis, who are attacking someone the Surfer calls “a friend.”

The “friend” is… Dr. Strange! He’s locked in battle against the aliens, and the FF join the fight. Strange says the Contrasepsis are not evil, but honorable creatures who normally protect the universe from harm. He says they are more like a weapon, destroying whatever they’re aimed at. Strange uses the all-seeing Eye of Agamoto to show the FF that Eternity, the living embodiment of all things, is dying.

As everyone keeps fighting the aliens, Reed goes on a big speech about how overuse of antibacterial soap causes harmless bacteria to live on the skin, immune to normal treatment. He explains that Eternity’s “substance” was irritated by the Oditopians’ spacetime-destabilizing weapon, so he sent the Contrasepsis to kill them, like killing an infection. But, Strange adds, the Oditopians evolved into a strain they couldn’t kill. The conflict escalated to where they became the equivalent of a flesh-eating disease upon Eternity.  

Then there’s a bunch of talk about conducting surgery on Eternity. The other heroes’ powers can help Strange perform the operation, but he says he still needs a “monomanifestation of fundamental power.”  Then Uatu, Earth’s Watcher, appears and says he’ll help. Of course this breaks his oath only to watch, but he jokes that without Eternity, he’d have fewer “viewing choices.” Uatu teleports back to Earth to recruit Gravity, who’d returned to his parents’ house in Wisconsin. Uatu teleports Gravity back into the void, and he agrees to act as Strange’s energy-based scalpel and suture for the operation.

The surgery is shown in a page of dreamlike imagery, and afterward it’s declared a complete success. Still in the void, the Watcher explains that the Contrasepsis have left to seal the infection off in a pocket universe, he then says he will submit himself to the other Watchers for punishment in breaking his oath once again. Ben ends it all with, “Who wants to eat?”

Back on Earth, it’s a big family dinner with the original four and Black Panther and Storm. (They didn’t invite Gravity too? That was rude of them.) T’Challa says it’s time for him and Storm to take their leave, and the functions of the Wakandan Embassy will be transferred from the new Baxter Building to a Manhattan hotel presidential suite. He says living at the Baxter Building was never about them needing a place to live, but about helping the FF when they needed it.

T’Challa and Storm leave (in the middle of dinner?) and Johnny says that now that the original team is back together, he has a big idea. The caption adds that the world would never be the same.

Unstable molecule: There was some controversy online at the time over how Reed is stretching his neck on the cover, with fans thinking he looks undignified. While it’s true that he most often stretches his midsection while keeping the shapes of his shoulders intact, a quick trip through comics history shows lots of time he stretched his neck like this, so it’s not out of character.

Fade out/Clobberin’ time/Flame on: Sue, Ben, and Johnny are merely backup throughout the issue, fighting off the aliens so the other heroes can do the surgery bit.

Fantastic fifth wheel: Storm’s role during the surgery is to act as life support. I assumed this would involve her lightning power in some way, but instead it’s her temporarily absorbing Eternity’s consciousness into her own throughout the operation, making her join Reed and Sue in the list of FF members who have communed with godlike beings.

After this, Black Panther fights Kilmonger, then gets involved in Wolverine’s Evolution crossover. After that, it’s right into Secret Invasion. Also, to be fair, this isn’t quite the end for him and Storm with the FF, because that’s how they’re depicted during World War Hulk. Where does that fall in continuity, again?

Four and a half/our gal Val: Franklin and Valeria are at the dinner scene, reunited with their parents for the first time since Civil War. They seem in good spirits, not traumatized at all by Civil War.

Trivia time: It’s unknown what, if any, punishment the Watcher received for his actions during this issue. The Marvel Wiki doesn’t mention this incident at all in his entry, skipping from Civil War straight to Secret Invasion.

Neither the Contrasepesis nor the Oditopians have entries in the Marvel Wiki, so it’s unlikely we’ll ever see them again. The fact that Eternity has this army of creatures to use as his personal bio-weapon could be great story fodder for future comics, but oh well. I’m assuming the name “Contrasepsis” is a reference to something, but much Googling has yielded no answer.

Fantastic or frightful? After only seven issues, the Black Panther and Storm era (era) comes to an end. And because Reed and Sue continued to be part of the story the whole time, we only got fleeting glimpses of how this new team worked. Honestly, the best version of this FF wasn’t in Fantastic Four, but in the dimension-hopping epic going on in the solo Black Panther series. As far as this issue goes, writer Dwayne McDuffie seems committed to far-out cosmic stories as his take on Fantastic Four, while powering up Storm and Gravity to superstar levels. It’s a good issue, even if we’ve seen this type of thing before.

Next: We’re friends from work.

* * * *

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 and secret magic. It’s a sci-fi/fantasy hybrid full of action, romance, mystery, and laughs. The first three chapters are FREE! Click here for a list of all my books and serials.

Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. We’re still in space in issue #549, as our heroes take on the Frightful Four and… the destruction of the universe?

Recap: While Reed and Sue take a leave of absence from the team after Civil War, Black Panther and Storm took their place. But now Reed and Sue are back after receiving a message from aliens, and then being attacked by the Frightful Four. Now acting as a makeshift Fantastic Six, the heroes fight the Frightful Four on Jupiter’s moon Titan, only for the Wizard to unleash his secret weapon. It’s Black Panther’s old nemesis Klaw, the master of sound!

Klaw zaps Black Panther, thinking he has an advantage, only to discover that he’s one of the FF now. Klaw knocks the heroes back with a soundwave so he and the Wizard can chat. Wizard says that Klaw is dead, and this is a clone of Klaw recreated from a sound sample. Wizard also gave this new Klaw a way around the Vibranium weave in Black Panther’s armor. Then Ben punches out Klaw, revealing that Black Panther slipped him some Vibranium earplugs while they appeared weakened.

The Frightful Four regroup and are ready for round two, but then Storm reveals she’s rescued Sue, and removed the power-dampening device the Wizard put on her. Sue shows the villains what she’s made of by smashing Titania into the ceiling and tossing Hyrdo-Man out into space, where he freezes in absolute zero. She then destroys the Wizard’s anti-grav tech and tells him off, saying that he’s wasted his genius on trying to outsmart Reed, someone who would’ve never harmed him. Still not done, she turns his chest invisible so everyone can see his beating heart, and she threatens to use her force fields to give him a heart attack. He faints with fear, and Sue admits she was bluffing.

The heroes take the Frightful Four hostage, and take off on the FF’s new Fold Ship. Then Reed fills everyone in on the main plot, how he received a message from aliens called Oditopians, who may be hunted to extinction by a second alien species called Contrasepsis. The ship takes off to the Oditopians’ world, only to drop out of hyperspace unexpectedly. Reed says that when they left hyperspace, they didn’t reenter the universe. Instead, the ship is in an all-white void.

Reed surmises that something’s gone horribly wrong with the space-time continuum. Although they’re no longer in the universe, the ship is still able to contact Hank Pym (secretly a Skrull in disguise) on Earth. Hank says Tony Stark’s people analyzed the object containing the Oditopian message, revealing it to be a quantum destabilizing weapon, which can destroy spacetime. The FF fears they’ve already used it.

Ben flies the Fold Ship in and out of real space, and long-range scans show no signs of life. It appears that the Oditopians succeeded in destroying their enemies, and themselves in the process. But then, as the ship flies closer. We see multiple Watchers standing on nearby floating rubble, observing it all.

Reed and Black Panther agree that the Watchers’ presence means all life in the universe is in danger. They don’t have time to think of a solution, however, because the not-dead Contrasepsis appears and attacks the ship.

To be continued!

Unstable molecule: Reed and Black Panther are definitely science bros in this issue, with them finishing each other’s sentences during the exposition, so that one does not comes across as smarter than the other.  

Fade out: Sue states “the honeymoon’s over” as all six heroes regroup, suggesting that this new era (era) of Fantastic Four will be even more short-lived than expected.

Clobberin’ time: Ben is almost always drawn without ears, but this issue confirms he does have them. We can assume his ears are tiny, within the cracks on his rocky hide.

Flame on: Johnny encourages Sue not to be overwhelmed with thoughts of revenge when she confronts the Wizard, but then he’s all about seeking revenge when it appears the Oditopians were killed by the Contrasepsis.

Fantastic fifth wheel: It appears as if Black Panther’s uniform is not made from unstable molecules, but from a fabric containing Vibranium.

In her new status as queen of Wakanda, it’s likely that Storm’s uniform is also Vibranium, even though Reed has provided the X-Men with unstable molecules through their history.

SUE-per spy: The 2019 Invisible Woman miniseries revealed that Sue had a double life as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent all along. When she puts so much fear into the Wizard that he faints, that’s got to be her spy training at work, right?

Trivia time: This issue says Klaw died, and the Marvel Wiki adds that his death was in New Avengers #15. But upon re-reading that issue, it’s clear that S.H.I.E.L.D. agents take him into custody after Ms. Marvel defeats him. Klaw shows up in so many places that his continuity is very hard to track. He’ll later play a major role in the ongoing Intelligencia storyline.

Speaking of which, the fight in this issue ends with the FF putting the Frightful Four in suspended animation and launching them in a slow-moving shuttlepod back to Earth, where it’ll take them years to arrive. (More of Civil War’s “Negative Zone prison” mentality here, I suppose.) We never see how that’s resolved because, also during the Intelligencia plot, they’re back to being the Frightful Four again.

Fantastic or frightful? A lot of fans look down on the Frightful Four as lesser villains, but in reading about them for this week’s blog, it occurs to me just how huge of a thorn they’ve been in the FF’s side over the years. Maybe it’s time to start taking them seriously as one of the big players in the FF’s rogue’s gallery. Either way, this issue is a fun resolution to the big fight, followed by some classic Fantastic Four cosmic weirdness.

Next: Beyond the infinite.

* * * *

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 and secret magic. It’s a sci-fi/fantasy hybrid full of action, romance, mystery, and laughs. The first three chapters are FREE! Click here for a list of all my books and serials.

Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. What to do when you’ve got a new team lineup? Put them up against some classic villains. The Frightful Four are back in issue #548.

Recap: After the ever-tumultuous superhero Civil War, Reed and Sue left the team to reconcile their marriage, with Black Panther and Storm taking their place in the FF. Reed and Sue’s “second honeymoon” on Titan was interrupted by a message from aliens called Odopodians, whose society is (was?) under attack by rival aliens the Contrasepsis. Reed returned to Earth to work with the FF and Hank Pym on this. Back on Titan, Sue was attacked by the Frightful Four. Their leader the Wizard planted a bomb on Reed’s ship, blowing it up.

This issue begins with Sue bound by a device that cancels her powers, while the Wizard boasts about killing Reed. He insists that she admit he is Reed’s superior. She refuses. Wizard continues to boast that Black Panther and Storm are “c-listers” who pose no threat. Sue refuses to concede, even when the Wizard threatens to kill her.

Back on Earth, we see that the FF and Hank Pym survived the explosion, of course. Black Panther suspected that the ship had been sabotaged so he remote-piloted it away. The FF’s new Fold Ship, built for space travel, is being prepared, and Black Panther says there’s something they can do in the meantime. They broadcast a hologram of Reed to Titan, where he offers the Wizard a chance to beat him one-on-one. The other Frightfuls – Titania, Hydro-Man, and Paste-Pot Pete, um, I mean the Trapster – want to retreat, but the Wizard believes this is their chance to take down the FF once and for all.

In space, the FF fill Black Panther in on the Wizard’s background. On Titan, Wizard again boasts about how no one can sneak up on them, when Black Panther does just that. The Wizard promises his teammates $1 million for killing any of the FF, as long as they leave Reed to him. There’s a big fight, where Johnny buries Titania in melting metal, and then he burns part of Hydro-Man into steam. Black Panther knocks out the Trapster while admitting his traps are clever tech.

Reed confronts the Wizard, only for the Wizard to hit him with a neural disrupter. Wizard has a camera on them both, to broadcast Reed’s death back to everyone on Earth. Storm turns the rest of Hyrdo-Man into steam, and now the FF have the Wizard surrounded.

The Wizard says he has prepared for an eventual confrontation with Black Panther, and he pulls out a weapon. It crackles to life, revealing itself to be the sonic weapon used by supervillain Klaw. And then Klaw himself returns to life.

To be continued!

Unstable molecule: Reed is initially resistant to the Wizard’s electric blasts. But then Wizard has a second weapon that affects Reed’s central nervous system, and that does the trick.

Fade out: We’re not told what this device is that can neutralize Sue’s powers. Remember that in the previous issue, Wizard had tech that allowed him to walk through Sue’s force fields. I think we can assume this is that same device.

Clobberin’ time: Ben can’t punch Hyrdo-Man, and the villain nearly drowns him. It’s only after Johnny burns part of him that Hyrdo-Man goes from liquid back to solid, allowing Ben to knock him out.

Flame on: There’s an additional bit where Storm uses her wind power to toss the Trapster’s traps into the air, lining them up so Johnny can easily burn them. It’s a fun example of characters using their powers together in clever ways.

Fantastic fifth wheel: In the conversation about the Wizard, Reed says he did nothing to warrant the Wizard’s anger toward him, and that the villain’s jealously is unfounded. It’s hinted that Black Panther has had similar encounters. What’s not said is he’s thinking about his longstanding rivalry with Klaw, foreshadowing the end of the issue.

Storm’s defeat of Hydro-Man shows Marvel’s effort at this time to power her up, in that she doesn’t just control the weather, but can control the very atmosphere on a molecular level.

Titania says she joined the Frightful Four because the Wizard promised her the means to defeat She-Hulk. So there’s a third example of unwarranted jealously in this issue.

Trivia time: Klaw was the villain in Black Panther’s first appearance, first as a big game hunter, and then as a sonic-powered madman. Black Panther has developed quite the interesting rogue’s gallery over the years, but somehow Klaw usually tops the list.

The Wizard says that Jupiter is 1 billion miles from Earth. Google tells me that it’s approximately 376 million miles. We’ll chalk that up to “Wizard isn’t as smart as he thinks he is.”

It’s not said why Hank Pym stays behind on Earth. We’re just a short time away from Secret Invasion, which will reveal that he’s been a Skrull this whole time, so maybe that has something to do with it.  

Fantastic or frightful? As comics lean more toward modernized, cinematic storytelling, the classic hero vs. villain slugfests have gone out of style. But this issue is a good old-fashioned brawl, and it’s a lot of fun. This is especially because of smart uses of the characters’ powers, and all the personality bits they show throughout. It feels like classic Marvel.

Next:  The sound of… sound.

* * * *

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 and secret magic. It’s a sci-fi/fantasy hybrid full of action, romance, mystery, and laughs. The first three chapters are FREE! Click here for a list of all my books and serials.

Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. The new team is back with the old team for some far-out sci-fi in #547.

With Black Panther as a member of the team now, his solo series has become another FF series, so let’s check in Black Panther #27. It begins in the same scene where 546 ends, with the team returning to space. After some time getting to know life in the new Baxter Building, currently doubling as a temporary Wakandan Embassy, the heroes deal with a monster escaped from the Negative Zone portal. They fight the monster while working out a way to teleport it back to the Negative Zone without reopening the portal. Instead, everybody ends up in a parallel universe where the Skrull homeworld is under attack by the zombies from the Marvel Zombies series. After a big battle, Black Panther used the magical King Solomon’s frogs to teleport away. It’d be another few issues of alternate reality/multiverse-hopping before they finally make it home.

This is all to say that Fantastic Four #547 begins with referencing these issues, where Johnny tries flirting with one of the Dora Milaje by regaling her with stories of the adventure, and T’Challa popping in to say he learned a lot from the journey. T’Challa leaves for the U.N., to resume his responsibility as king of Wakanda.

Cut to outer space, where Reed and Sue are investigating the mysterious meteor they learned of last issue. Remember that they’re taking a so-called second honeymoon to work out their differences after separating during Civil War. The meteor is an artificially constructed life form. Reed wants to study it, but Sue gives him only two days, what with the honeymoon and all. Sue returns to their place on Titan while Reed flies off to investigate, while a mysterious figure follows Reed.

At the new Baxter Building, Ben and Storm joke around about whether that’s her natural hair color (it is). Reed arrives at Camp Hammond in Connecticut where the superheroes of the Initiative are training. He meets with Hank Pym (secretly a Skrull in disguise) and they return to Reed’s ship to check out the meteor. It’s biological, with a built-in faster-than-light drive and a brain that doubles as a power source. They agree the meteor is like ambergris used in making perfume, and it’s possible that this is a message from aliens who communicate via smells.

Sue returns to Titan, only to have her spacecraft get shot down. It’s Hydro-Man, Titania, and Paste-Pot Pete, um, I mean the Trapster. They say they’re working with the Wizard, making this the return of the Frightful Four. Back aboard Reed’s ship, he whips up a device that translates the smells into mathematical vocabulary. The message is from aliens called Odopodians, who say it is a peaceful exchange of their science, art, and culture. But then it says that the message is because the Odopodians no longer exist, having been destroyed by rival aliens called the Contrasepsis. The message ends with, “As soon as they are finished with us, they are coming for you.”

Back on Titan, the three villains try to attack Sue, but she escapes invisibly. Then we’re back at the Baxter Building, where Reed has assembled the new FF and Hank, saying there’s still time to save the Odopodians. He and T’Challa agree to follow the meteor’s path back to its point of origin. He calls Sue to find her in midst of battle against the Frightful Four, now with the Wizard joining them. He has a new weapon that can phase through her force field. He uses it to knock her unconscious. Then Wizard has a message for Reed, “Come and get me, if you can.”

The Wizard tells his teammates that he planted a bomb in Reed’s ship, so when he and the FF will blow himself up when they come to Sue’s rescue. We see the ship explode in the sky over New York while the Wizard boasts, “The end of the Fantastic Four!”

To be continued!

Unstable Molecule: Reed seeks Hank Pym’s help because otherwise it would take Reed weeks of studying to become the biochemist Hank is. Hank tells Reed saying things like that are why Reed is not as popular among other superheroes.

Fade out: Sue turns invisible to escape the Frightful Four, but the villains know she has nowhere to go but the house on Titan, so we resume a few pages later with them fighting her inside the house.

Clobberin’ time: In addition to debating Storm’s hair color, there’s also question of whether Storm wears a weave. She lets Ben lift her up by her hair (!) to prove it.

Flame on: Johnny’s flirtation with a Dora Milaje doesn’t go well, when one of them nearly dislocates his shoulder. What did he think was going to happen?

Fantastic fifth wheel: Yes, that really is Storm’s hair color. Contrary to popular belief, her hair is not because of her mutation, but because she comes from a long line of African priestesses, known for their white hair.

While at the UN, Black Panther cautions a United States politician about not putting Wakanda in the same category as Latveria, Atlantis, and Attilan. He says this will create an unstable condition. This is referencing the politically tense “world tour” storyline from Black Panther just before Civil War started, where he and storm visited these places.

She-Hulk is seen in one panel at the Initiative base, training the new recruits.

The Alicia problem: The FF run into Lyja when on the Skrull homeworld. When she doesn’t recognize Johnny, that’s when everyone realizes they’re in an alternate universe. In this reality, Lyja is not a spy, but a high-ranking military general.

Trivia time: Thanks to movies, I’m pretty sure everyone already knows who the Dora Milaje are. But for the record, they are Wakandan king’s personal guard, a team of elite fighting women. While it’s hard to imagine Black Panther without them, they weren’t introduced until 1998’s Black Panther #3.

And then there are the Marvel Zombies. The zombie-verse first appeared in, of all places, Ultimate Fantastic Four, before spinning off into their own series. The premise was that all of humanity died except for the superheroes, who wandered the wrecked Earth as zombies. It concluded with the Avengers eating Galactus (!), giving them some power cosmic. They ventured into space looking for more people to eat, which led them to these Black Panther issues.

Fantastic or frightful? It seems epic space opera was the order of the day for Fantastic Four and Black Panther, because that’s what this run has been all about so far. With Reed and Sue still so prominent, it feels more like Fantastic Six, but that’s all right. This FF issue has some fun character beats and an exciting cliffhanger.

Next: Stepping in puddles.

* * * *

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 and secret magic. It’s a sci-fi/fantasy hybrid full of action, romance, mystery, and laughs. The first three chapters are FREE! Click here for a list of all my books and serials.

Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Issue #547 has cosmic beings, epic space battles, and… magic frogs?

Recap: We have a new FF team with Black Panther and Storm joining Ben and Johnny. The body of dead teen superhero Gravity was stolen from his grave, so the team investigates. Joining them is Michael Collins, formerly the cyborg known as Deathlok. The trail takes them to space, and to godlike being Epoch. Epoch raises Gravity from the dead, in hopes of making him a protector of the universe alongside Quasar. But Galactus has arrived, hoping to devour this entire area of space. He’s joined by his new herald Stardust, and classic herald the Silver Surfer. The Surfer is something of an antihero at this point, having rejoined Galactus. As tensions escalate, Black Panther and Collins took off in the FF’s ship, leaving the rest of the team alone. Got all that?

We begin as the FF ship returns to Earth orbit. T’Challa contacts a Wakandan agent and says to prepare the Galactus Contingency Plan. He also says to “prepare the frogs.” The agent doesn’t like that, but T’Challa insists on it. Collins is impressed with how T’Challa is seemingly prepared for anything, but he says they should return to the others. T’Challa says he’s prepared for that as well.

In deep space, the newly alive and cosmically-powered Gravity squares off against Silver Surfer and Stardust, while also comparing notes with the FF. They tell him his own grave was robbed, and he says he wasn’t dead but in a cosmic chrysalis. Silver Surfer says the heroes got what they wanted. He tells them to leave. Gravity refuses, saying that Epoch named him as protector, and he won’t let Galactus devour her. The two heralds attack Gravity, so Storm and Ben fight back against them.

Cut to Saturn’s moon Titan, where Reed and Sue are reconciling their relationship. After some sci-fi business of how they’re able to eat and breathe and other science facts, Sue asks Reed what the rest of his plan was, post-Civil War. Now that the threat has passed, he says, they face an opportunity not just to stop destruction, but to build something genuinely good. He says he’s planning a course of action, and no matter what it is, he won’t move forward without the approval of his family. Then, Mentor’s house’s AI informs Reed of an unidentified object speeding toward Earth. Sue tells Reed he can investigate, but only if she comes along.

In Wakanda, T’Challa meets with his agent, Taku, who provides a large wooden box marked “Plan G.” Taku has also brought “the frogs,” despite his objections. These are indeed two small yellow frogs. T’Challa says they are King Solomon’s frogs, and that one controls time while the other controls space. By touching them to one another, T’Challa and Collins transport back to space with the box. The return right in the middle of the fight, where Storm is able to go toe-to-toe with Silver Surfer. He dons a special suit of armor and goes after the Surfer, instructing his teammates to concentrate their attacks on Stardust. Black Panther’s armor weakens the Silver Surfer, as it’s a variation of the tech Dr. Doom once used to steal the Surfer’s powers. Panther gives the armor to Johnny, and he and Silver Surfer fight hand-to-hand.

Johnny and Gravity defeat Stardust, and then Gravity flies up to Galactus, who is still assembling his planet-devouring machine. Gravity manages to hurt Galactus with a cosmic blast. But it’s Storm who does the talking, demanding that Galactus let Epoch go. Rather than fight Galactus, Gravity unleashes his power onto Galactus, to feed his hunger rather than injure him.

Galactus says he is restored to full strength, so he offers Gravity a boon. He asks that Galactus not harm Epoch, and Galactus swears to do so. He vanishes, and Epoch offers her thanks. She offers Gravity the chance to return to his chrysalis and regain his cosmic powers and his status as champion of the universe. He turns down her offer because he wants his old life back. Epoch agrees to this, and she says she will find another champion. Collins uses the frogs to return everyone to Earth. Gravity leaves for his parents’ home in Wisconsin to tell them he’s still alive. Ben says, “I’d call first.”

Unstable molecule: Reed’s post-Civil War plans remain to be seen. Remember that Reed and Tony Stark had a list of one hundred ideas for a better future, with Civil War’s controversial Negative Zone prison as number forty-two. This issue, however, states that Reed and Tony have gone their separate ways.

Fade out: Sue is disgusted by the fact that the sand on Titan’s beach isn’t sand at all, but pre-organic amino acids. Why does that upset her? What science joke am I not getting?

Clobberin’ time: Other than throw a few asteroids around during the fight, Ben doesn’t do much in this issue.

Flame on: Johnny enjoys being able to fight with cosmic flame, thanks to the power-siphoning armor. It would appear the effects of this are temporary.  

Fantastic fifth wheel: We’re told the power-siphoning armor is only one part of Black Panther’s anti-Galactus plan. The rest involves the Wakandan Air Force, a shape-changer, and the Hulk. He skips those because he’s in a hurry.

It seems the mandate at the time was to build up Storm as one of Marvel’s biggest players. In this issue, her power is equal to two Galactus heralds, and she negotiates with Galactus himself.

Trivia time: This business about King Solomon’s frogs might seem random, but the frogs were a key part of the first issue of Black Panther’s first-ever solo series, 1977’s Black Panther #1. That issue states they are brass frog sculptures, but they appear to move at times, so who knows?

The final scene of this issue is recreated in Black Panther vol. 4 #27, which prominently features this new FF team. The cover even recreates the cover of Fantastic Four vol. 1 #3, but with T’Challa and Storm in place of Reed and Sue.

The AI being that talks to Reed and Sue is I.S.A.A.C., a “planet computer” permanently linked to Mentor’s home on Titan. Like Mentor, I.S.A.A.C. has been part of storylines for both the Eternals and Adam Warlock.

Wakandan agent Taku has been around for a long time, first appearing in Avengers #68, back in 1969. Although he’s antagonistic against T’Challa in this issue, he’s usually depicted as one of Black Panther’s most trusted advisors.

Fantastic or frightful? A very plot-heavy and action-heavy issue, but one that showcases the new dynamics that Storm and Black Panther bring to the team. The comic doesn’t let readers in on all the references, leaving them to run to the Marvel Wiki for explanations. Other than that, it’s some fun reading.

Next: “I don’t use the bucket anymore.”

* * * *

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 and secret magic. It’s a sci-fi/fantasy hybrid full of action, romance, mystery, and laughs. The first three chapters are FREE! Click here for a list of all my books and serials.

Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Issue #545 is only the second one with the new team, and they’re already up against Galactus.

Recap: The new Fantastic Four – Ben, Johnny, Black Panther, and Storm – are investigating the disappearance of the body of dead teen hero Gravity. Alongside Michael Collins, formerly the cyborg Deathlok, the team traveled to space to confront cosmic being Epoch. And then the Silver Surfer showed up.

This issue begins in space, but with Reed and Sue, who have traveled to Jupiter’s moon Titan for their second honeymoon and/or marriage reconciliation. An alien named Mentor is letting him use his winter home there. Then, elsewhere in space, we return to the FF. Silver Surfer confronts Epoch, saying his “master” must feed. Ben gets the Surfer’s attention and tells him to back off, but the Surfer says this entire area of space will soon be consumed by cosmic energy. Ben then tries to fight the Surfer, only to be overpowered.

Johnny rescues Ben from Silver Surfer’s blasts, and then Storm confronts him. Even though they’re in space, she’s able to draw stray hydrogen atoms to her, which she then unleashes as a nuclear-like bolt of lightning onto the Surfer. Epoch speaks, with strange dialogue about a chrysalis, a “holding action,” and the flow of time. She then brings Gravity back to life. He has no idea what happened to him, and Epoch tells him he’s been chosen for the greatest honor in the universe.

Epoch explains that when Gravity made his heroic life-ending sacrifice (this happened in the miniseries Beyond), his essence merged with the forces that gave him his gravity-manipulating superpowers. Gravity demands to be returned to Earth, but Epoch refuses. She says that Quasar is no more, so the universe needs a new protector, and Gravity gets the job.

Then, a ticked-off Silver Surfer returns for round two. Johnny manages to knock him off his board. When he calls for it to return to him, we see this amazing image of Black Panther surfing atop it!

Black Panther is so skilled he can get Silver Surfer into a stranglehold, despite the Surfer’s cosmic strength. Panther tries to explain the situation, and that all they want is to bring Gravity back home. Then he’s struck by an energy blast. This one comes from Stardust, the newest herald of Galactus. She threatens to throw Ben into the nearest sun, but Silver Surfer convinces her to listen to what Black Panther has to say.

With the fight over, Silver Surfer says he will allow the FF to complete their mission before Galactus arrives to devour this entire area of space. Ben asks the Surfer what he’s doing working for Galactus again, and the Surfer says his choice was about more than good versus evil. Ben says he won’t stand around and just let Galactus devour anyone Black Panther argues that conflict between Galactus and Epoch is not the FF’s concern. Ben insists that’s not what Reed would do, and Black Panther says Ben doesn’t have much a record when it comes to predicting what Reed would do.

Black Panther talks it over with Storm, and then he tells Silver Surfer that Epoch is under the FF’s protection, and Galactus must feed elsewhere. Galactus’ ship arrives, and Silver Surfer says, “Tell him yourself.” Galactus doesn’t speak, but gets to work constructing his planet-devouring machine. Silver Surfer says they have only thirty-five minutes to complete their mission. Ben remarks that Galactus will certainly kill Epoch, and Black Panther says he has a plan. He has Collins bring the ship around, and then they both leave.

Ben freaks out, thinking Black Panther has betrayed the team. He and Silver Surfer are about to fight again when Gravity reappears. He’s bursting with glowing blue energy now, and he proclaims himself as the new protector of the universe.

To be continued!

Unstable molecule: Who is this Mentor character letting Reed and Sue stay on Titan? Turns out this guy has a long and complex history in the Marvel Universe. He’s part of the Eternals and all their continuity, but he’s also tied into all of Adam Warlock’s adventures. Get this: Mentor is the father of both Starfox and the one and only Thanos!

Fade out: Sue says she’s always wanted to visit Titan. I don’t recall this coming up before, so let’s just take the comic’s word for it.

Clobberin’ time: Ben and Silver Surfer greet each other as friends, but they’re not above fighting each other if they must. This makes sense considering the characters’ shared history.

Flame on: Black Panther supplies the team with high-tech life support devices that allow them to breathe in space. He gives Johnny some extra ones for oxygen to fuel his fire powers.  

Fantastic fifth wheel: This issue shows the differences in leadership between Black Panther and Reed. Both are science geniuses, but Reed is more of an improvisor, while Black Panther is more of a strategist who has planned ahead for any given possibility.

Storm summoning hydrogen atoms to make her own nuke is quite the extrapolation of how her powers work.

Four and a half/Our gal Val: Sue suggests calling the Baxter Building to check on the kids, confirming that Franklin and Valeria are staying with Ben and Johnny during this time.

Trivia time: What the miniseries Beyond about? An assortment of Marvel heroes, including Gravity, were transported to space in what looked like a recreation of the original Secret Wars, with a Beyonder-like figure telling them to battle it out with the winner getting anything they desire. Except this wasn’t the Beyonder, it was the Stranger. He was trying to determine the cause of superhumans, something he said was improbable. After a lot of fighting, death, and resurrections, the heroes defeated the Stranger. Gravity died due to the strain of keeping everyone else alive on the journey back to Earth.

Fantastic or frightful? This issue gives us a better look at the new team’s dynamics, yet it’s very plot-heavy, demanding that readers be already familiar with Beyond and wherever Epoch came from. On the other hand, Black Panther riding the Silver Surfer’s surfboard is awesome. It’s an image could and should become a meme.

Next: Prisoners of Gravity.

* * * *

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 and secret magic. It’s a sci-fi/fantasy hybrid full of action, romance, mystery, and laughs. The first three chapters are FREE! Click here for a list of all my books and serials.