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Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Vol. 3 #63 legacy #492 continues the “Sentient” storyline. Do you like math? Because this issue sure does.

Recap: Reed invented a new high-tech PDA for his personal use. When Ben and Sue went to the movies together (!) they were attacked by a strange being covered with mathematic symbols just like the ones on the PDA. The creature has the power to separate objects into their basic chemical components. It does this to Sue and Ben, injuring her hand and his rocky hide.

We begin with an expository speech from the creature, who introduces itself as the Modulus. It says it is the living result of all of Reed’s ideas, thoughts, and reflections. “I alone am worthy of his love,” it says, adding that anything not worth of Reed must be subtracted. Ben, still covered head to toe in Sue’s force field, punches Modulus, sending it flying back into an FF communicator. The punch hurts Sue, as she can sense feedback from the force field. Sue and Ben retreat back to the new Baxter Building.

Elsewhere, Johnny is still acting as the new chief financial officer for Fantastic Four Inc. He attends a rooftop pool party hosted by fashion impresario Jacob Suarti. Two other FF Inc. executives, Christi and Ethan, plot to sabotage the negotiations to make Johnny look bad, with them saving the day at the last minute. Suarti wants access to the unstable molecules that make up the FF’s uniforms, saying they’d be of great use in the fashion industry. Johnny is hesitant, saying instead to make the unstable fabric available for use for police and firefighters. Ethan argues that Johnny shouldn’t have this much power. This plays into Johnny’s ego, and he signs the contract for Suarti. Ethan and Christi give each other a secretive thumbs up.

Then Modulus emerges from Johnny’s FF communicator and attacks. As it fights Johnny, it analyzes the water in the pool and finds hydrogen. It divides the hydrogen, which causes a huge explosion atop the building.

At HQ, Reed is hard at work healing Ben and Sue’s injuries. Sue explains that Modulus looks just the image on Reed’s new PDA. Reed explains that the PDA’s hard drive is subspatially linked to a electrochemical alternate universe devoid of life. Except now, something sentient in that dimension is forming from the data. Reed says the chance of this happening is small unless someone else tampered with the PDA. They suspect Johnny. But then, Franklin, who was eavesdropping on all this, admits that he did the tampering. He hoped the PDA would make him smarter, so that Reed and Sue would pay as much attention to him as they do the baby.

Before this issue can be resolved, Johnny comes crashing through the window. He’s gone blind (!) and he warns the others that Modulus is coming. Franklin gets Johnny to safety as the others leap into action. Modulus is just outside the building, separating the components of cars and part of a wall. Reed tries to appeal to Modulus’ sense of logic. Modulus says, “I am the total of your essence, and you are the solution to my loneliness.” Modulus attaches itself to Reed’s head for a moment, but they are separated by Johnny, who returns to the fight with his sight back. Modulus cuts off the oxygen for Sue, Ben, and Johnny in his attempt to divide Reed from his family.

Reed examines Modulus and declares, “I’ve got your number.” He tells Ben and Johnny to hold Modulus as long as they can, while he and Sue return to his lab. Reed says Modulus is not a living equation, but a living expression. The difference, he says, is that there is no equal sign anywhere on the mathematics all over Modulus’ image. With the press of a button, Reed’s PDA grows to the size of a door, allowing him to enter the other dimension. Reed says that in order to stop Modulus, he’s going to have to determine a specific mathematic formula – the formula that defines him, Reed Richards.

To be continued!

Wait, there’s more. This issue also has a three-page preview of Uncanny X-Men #416. Nightcrawler, Angel, and Stacy X are flying across country while Nightcrawler and Stacy discuss Angel’s tragic love life. Then it cuts to Juggernaut and his sidekick Sammy, as they visit Juggernaut’s childhood home. Juggy says he’s seeking… his past.

Unstable molecule: Reed is on edge throughout this issue. He smashes up the lab in anger when he suspects Johnny messed with his PDA, and he initially turns his back on Franklin before coming around a reassuring the kid.

Fade out: To save Sue’s hand, Reed separates it from her (!) and then attaches it to device which will rebond its molecules. She spends the rest of the issue with her right hand as a stump held in place with a force field.

Clobberin’ time: Reed does something similar with Ben, putting him in a big tank that rebuilt the binding silicates that makes up Ben’s “petridermus.” So much technobabble in these issues!

Flame on: At the pool party, women give Johnny suggestions for unstable molecules, such as swimsuits that change color, bras that always fit perfectly, and skirts that can change length. He likes their ideas, but remains unconvinced overall.

Four and a half: When Franklin is jealous of all the attention baby Valeria is getting, he says to his parents, “You’d love me lots if I was smarter.” Could this foreshadowing the character Valeria will eventually become?

SUE-per spy: The 2019 Invisible Woman miniseries revealed that Sue has had a double life as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent all along. Sue doesn’t seem too traumatized about losing a hand in this issue. Could her secret spy training and/or spy missions prepared her for such an unthinkable situation?

Commercial break: Wanna party?

Trivia time: This issue remembers that Reed has licensed use of the unstable molecules to the Avengers, which was established way back in vol. 1 #6, and references several times since then. Mentioned far less frequently is that the X-Men also use the unstable molecules, as established in the historic Giant-Size X-Men #1.

What was going on Uncanny X-Men #416? Not a whole lot. With a bunch of mutants in the infirmary after a huge battle, Nightcrawler and Iceman debated who should and shouldn’t be considered an X-Man. Juggernaut was stuck living at the X-Mansion during this time, and he was conflicted about everyone calling him a villain. He smashed up his childhood home to exorcise his personal demons. Similarly, Stacy X returned to the controversial X-Ranch, also to confront her checkered past.

Fantastic or frightful? A fun issue that establishes Modulus as a real force to be reckoned with, some far-out sci-fi concepts, and some genuine human drama here and there.

Next: Mathemagic!

* * * *

Want more? Check out my new book, MOM, I’M BULLETPROOF, now available for the Kindle and the free Kindle app. It’s a comedic/dramatic/romantic superhero epic!

Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Volume 3 #62 legacy 491 kicks off a high-tech thriller, but does so with more sitcom antics.

We begin in Times Square, where Reed and Sue are on a date, sort of. Reed is multitasking working on a whole new way of understanding zeta functions while also sharing lunch with Sue. Sue had made him invisible for their date, so they don’t attract too much attention. It doesn’t work, so she turns him visible for some fans and passersby. Reed mentions wanting to improve the new Baxter Building’s defenses, because Franklin no longer has any powers. It’s not until this moment that they realize baby Valeria has still not been properly tested for any powers. Then contact Ben, who is taking the kids on some sort of undersea adventure, riding on the back of a giant sea monster.

Back at HQ, Johnny is attending a meeting at Fantastic Four Inc., in his new role as the company’s financial manager. He nearly falls asleep in a meeting, and admits that he has no experience in finances. Two of his coworkers, Christi and Ethan, fear for their own positions at the company now that they’re working alongside the boss’s brother-in-law. The plot to sabotage some contracts with Suarti International to make Johnny look bad. Johnny later admits to his assistant and confidant Jian that Reed has tons of high-tech gizmos upstairs, and any one of them can help him figure out a spreadsheet.

In that lab, Reed and Sue marvel over Reed’s new PDA, which connects to a neighboring dimension, making its storage capacity infinite.  Ben returns with the kids, and Reed immediately turns his attention to testing her for any possible mutant powers. Johnny helps out, while also noticing the unbelievable computing power of the PDA. Later that night, Reed says that Valeria is “perfectly normal.” As he drifts off to sleep that night, we see a ghostly hand emerge from the PDA, covered with the image of its green text.  

Ben and Sue go to the movies together, where they discuss Sue putting Johnny in charge of the company’s finances. Ben wonders if the decision has more to do with Sue having grown up as a de facto parent for Johnny, as the movie begins, the screen is filled with more of the green text from the PDA. It takes the shape of a human and attacks. It is able to dissolve the floor under Ben, dropping him into the subway, and then penetrating Sue’s force field, burning her hand with its touch.

Ben returns, and the creature analyzes his rocky hide, threatening to tear it apart. Sue seals up Ben inside a force field. The creature demands that Reed be brought to it. When asked why, it answers, “Because I love him.”

To be continued!

Unstable molecule: With all this talk about the FF’s business affairs, Reed admits that Sony paid him $3 million to not put his new infinite-computing PDA on the market.

Fade out: There’s quite a bit of discussion about Sue being able to see Reed after she turns him invisible. He explains that her eyes are picking up not reflected light, but reflected cosmic rays that are “always present” in the atmosphere. In previous episodes, Sue couldn’t exactly see invisible objects, but merely had a general sense of where they were.

Clobberin’ time: Ben has a special extra-large seat reserved just for him at the movie theater. This suggests he goes to the movies a lot, even after making a wisecrack about only liking Clint Eastwood movies.

Flame on: At the movie theater, Johnny appears in a “Only you can prevent forest fires” promo, which seems like a mixed message to me. Maybe the creature created this image in an attempt to reach out to Reed.  

Four and a half: Franklin is doing the classic older brother thing, resentful that the baby is getting all the attention. There’s a mention that he’s been watching Invader Zim, so Franklin has great taste in TV.

Our gal Val: Is Valeria a mutant or isn’t she? Citing this issue as a source, the Marvel Wiki states that despite everything Valeria has done since this, she is in fact a non-superpowered human.

Commercial break: When’s somebody going to make a Rumble Wars movie?

Trivia time: This issue states that Reed recently purchased large amounts of Vibranium and Adamantium for research purposes. The Vibranium came from Wakanda no doubt, but where’s Reed getting Adamantium from? The issue doesn’t say, but it’s likely from Adametco, a company that manufactures the stuff. Either that, or Reed is buying it from supervillains, because they’re the ones who more often deal with Adamantium.

The title of this story arc appears to be a series of random symbols. Look closely, though, and you see it spells out “Sentient.”

Fantastic or frightful? Another issue setting things up for bigger story beats to come, but all the little character moments make it worthwhile. It’s a return to the classic Marvel “heroes who have ordinary problems” style.

Next: Modular living.

* * * *

Want more? Check out my new book, MOM, I’M BULLETPROOF, now available for the Kindle and the free Kindle app. It’s a comedic/dramatic/romantic superhero epic!

Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Vol. 3 #60, legacy 490 features some classic Thing and Human Torch bickering, but also gets the ball rolling on the current story arc.

We begin with a serious discussion between Sue and Reed, where Sue says she’s at the end of her rope with Johnny’s impetuous ways.  She says drastic measures are in order. Nearby, in the kitchen, Ben has opened a package in the mail only to a get a pie in the face courtesy of the Yancy Street Gang again. Sue discovers a receipt in the box, with an address of the novelty shop that made the pie-in-the-box gag. Ben marches off to confront the Yancy Streeter who’s done this. Johnny reacts with fear upon seeing this.

Johnny starts to fly off, but Sue stops him with a force field. She gets him to admit that he’s the one who sent the package, not the Yancy Street Gang, suggesting that it was him who’s sent all the Yancy packages over the years. She tells him to go set things right. Outside, Ben smashes his way through the NYC sidewalks in a rampage towards the joke shop. Johnny flies up to him, but instead of telling the truth, he chickens out and says he can’t believe the nerve of those Yancy Street jerks. He then tells Ben to be a bigger man, but Ben fights Johnny off, first with a fire hydrant, and then through the wall of a beauty parlor.

Johnny catches up with Ben once more, and argues that Ben gets made fun of all the time and must be used to it now. Ben says you get used to some days, and some days it kills him. “And then there are the bad days,” he says. He punctuates this point by throwing an NYC taxicab at Johnny. Johnny tries to tell Ben that whoever sent the package never thought of it that way, but Ben doesn’t listen. He continues on.

In Reed’s lab, he’s working some high-tech device, when all the power goes out. This confounds him, as the Baxter Building has numerous backups to prevent power outage. Reed finds Franklin in Valeria’s room, where the walls are breaking apart to reveal nightmarish mouths and eyes on the other side. When Reed goes to rescue Valeria, spiders crawl out of her eyes and mouth. Everything goes black, and then returns to normal. Franklin asks Reed what just happened, and Reed admits he doesn’t know. “I don’t like it when you say that,” Franklin says. “Nor I, champ,” Reed says.

Back outside, Johnny flies ahead, warning New Yorkers that the rampaging Ben is a Skrull. Johnny offers to take out the Yancy Streeter for Ben, but Ben ignores him. Ben reaches the joke shop, only to find it an empty lot. Ben and Johnny realize the receipt must have been all part of the gag. Ben walks off, having cooled off. Johnny wonders how a piece of Manhattan real estate could be vacant. The store then reappears, having been turned invisible by Sue. She’s furious at Johnny over this incident, and says she has a special mission designed just for him.

Back at the Baxter Building, Sue gives Johnny his new uniform: a suit. Johnny accuses her of grounding him. She says no, she’s employing him. They travel a few floors down to the Baxter Building’s office level, where Sue says she’s naming Johnny the newest chief financial officer of Fantastic Four Inc. Sue says that Johnny has always been good with numbers and computers, and being an auto mechanic means that he “understands systems.” She further says that this is a task with grave consequences to everyone he loves, and either he succeeds or he ruins the family.

Sue then leaves Johnny alone in his new office, saying “Don’t screw it up.” Then the next issues blurb does an Arrested Development narrator gag with “Next: Johnny screws up.”

Unstable molecule: What is Reed working on in his lab? It’s a genome that is attached to a “protonomic spectrolyzer” that is connected to a “intracyloplasmic injector grid.” Sure, why not?

Fade out: In addition to everything else she does in this issue, we also see Sue doing the laundry. The Baxter Building has a futuristic washing machine with an “unstable molecules” setting.

Clobberin’ time: Ben causes a lot of collateral damage as he rampages through New York. At one point he tells a passerby “You can bill me,” and I guess that makes it okay?  

Flame on: Johnny’s interests in this issue include Maxim magazine and reruns of South Park and The Tom Green Show. Maybe Sue is right in saying he could do better.

Four and a half/Our gal Val: Is Franklin sharing a bedroom with baby Valeria? I’m going to say no, because there’s no other bed in the baby’s room. It appears Franklin is just hanging out there. Perhaps he’s old enough for babysitting duties now.

Commercial break: “Alpha, bring me my Zune.”

Trivia time: This issue breaks continuity when it comes to the Yancy Street Gang. Ben states that he’s never seen a Yancy Streeter face-to-face, when previous comics established he and his brother are former members of the gang. Not to mention teaming up with the “new” Yancy Street Gang in issue #361. Then there’s the matter of Johnny being the one behind the gang’s pranks all this time. Previous issues have shown Yancy Streeters off panel shouting things at Ben while pulling off their pranks. Are we to believe Johnny arranged that somehow? The Marvel Wiki states there is “no clarification” for Johnny’s claims in this issue.

Fantastic or frightful? This is so-called “decompressed” storytelling, where the entire issue is just the opening scene of what’s going to be a longer story. In the old days, this would’ve been the first three pages of the story. This isn’t good or bad, just a different way of looking at things. Maybe it’s a little too convenient for Ben to be this angry just for story purposes, but it means we get to have a fun Johnny/Ben fight, so it’s all good.

Next: Bust open the books.

* * * *

Want more? Check out my new book, MOM, I’M BULLETPROOF, now available for the Kindle and the free Kindle app. It’s a comedic/dramatic/romantic superhero epic!

Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Writer Mark Waid and artist Mike Wieringo come out swinging with the hopes of reintroducing the FF to a new generation of readers in vol. 3 #60 legacy 489. In doing so, they ushered in the third great era for the series.

Fantastic Four was the hottest thing around in the 60s, and it got hugely popular again during John Byrne’s time on the title, thanks to Byrne’s cinematic storytelling. Since then, however, the series floundered throughout the late 80s, the 90s, and the early 2000s. Steve Englehart, Walt Simonson, Tom DeFalco, Jim Lee, Chris Claremont, and Carlos Pacheco all had some good moments on the series, but Fantastic Four was considered dowdy and old-fashioned compared to the likes of X-Men, Batman, and everything happening in the indie comics scene. This issue was Marvel proudly announcing that the Fantastic Four are BACK.

Gimmie a gimmick: To further promote Fantastic Four as the next big thing, Marvel lowered the price of this issue to only 9 cents! That’s 1 cent lower than the original Fantastic Four #1. It worked, as EVERYONE bought this thing. If you collect comics, there’s probably one in your long boxes right now.

We begin in a shadowy boardroom where mysterious figures are discussing the FF’s origin story. The lights come up to reveal that these aren’t villains but a marketing firm, and the FF are their new clients. The Fantastic Four’s licensing deals are decreasing, as are their public appearances and interview opportunities. A young executive named Shertzer is assigned to meet the FF in person to come up with ideas.

Cut to Shertzer aboard an FF vehicle, sitting between Ben and Johnny as they bicker. After a page of comedy shtick, it’s revealed that they on board an interdimensional transport, in pursuit of a giant creature called a Datavore. Reed explains that info gained from the creature could help him bioengineer a self-sustaining dimensional probe that could convert ingested matter into fuel. Reed collects the data while his teammates fight off an insect horde, all while Shertzer watches. Everyone returns to Earth. Shertzer is introduced to Franklin, and the others wonder why Reed is so concerned with the FF’s celebrity status when he hadn’t been in the past. Meanwhile, one of the insects from the other dimension hitched a ride on their ship and now lurks around the Baxter Building.

Later, Shertzer joins Sue and Johnny outside the building as they do repairs following an unseen attack from the Mad Thinker. They talk about Johnny’s recent breakup with a girlfriend named Jennifer. Sue says Johnny should think more about his future, and she has an offer for him. But he flies off before she can continue.

The next day, Shertzer is there when the FF respond to a science lab where gravity has gone haywire. The team rescues visitors who end flying into the sky uncontrollably, while also getting gravity back to normal. It’s revealed that these scientists are a think-tank called “Cause Cerebral.” Reed was once a member but the group recently kcicked him out. The others suspect this is why Reed hired Shertzer’s firm, and they give him a big speech about it’s not about Reed’s ego. Shertzer concludes that while all four are adventurers at heart, it’s the other three’s adventuring that gives Reed the room he needs for his explorations and inventions.

The day after that, Shertzer joins Ben, Sue, and baby Valeria out shopping, when they come across some street performers doing a rap about the Thing. He dislikes it at first, but then comes around and buys one of their CDs. Sue points out that while a lot of people fear Ben as a monster, he does have his fans. After that, Reed and Sue visit a museum where Sue asks him about Shertzer. Reed says it’s important that the FF be in the public eye.

Shertzer reports to his bosses, saying that an edgy and modern reboot is not what the FF need. He argues that they are not superheroes, but astronauts and explorers. They stop evildoers along the way, but that’s not the job. He tells his bosses to focus on the FF as people, not as costumes. That night, when Reed is alone with Valeria, he lets Valeria in on the secret. He had been asked to join the Cause Cerebral, but turned them down to spend more time with his family. He says that the costumes and the colorful names are so the public won’t fear his teammates but instead adore them. He says that by turning his friends into celebrities, maybe he can someday be forgiven for taking their normal lives away. Then Ben and Johnny burst through saying there’s a problem with a time machine and now Davy Crockett needs the FF’s help. Sue says, “There’s always something new to deal with, isn’t there?” Reeds ends the issue with “I certainly hope so.”

Unstable molecule: I don’t know that we can back and reread Fantastic Four #1 and interpret Reed’s regrets and fears for his teammates’ futures in the half a page where the choose their codenames. I daresay that these regrets developed over time, especially during the team’s rocky first few adventures.

Fade out: There’s a lot of talk in this issue of how Reed and Sue have a “system” worked out, where she knows when to let him be oblivious and lost in his own head, and when it’s time to snap him out of it.

Clobberin’ time: Ben says the Hulk will be jealous to learn Ben has his own rap song. Hope Ben never learns about the 1969 smash hit “Nobody Loves the Hulk.”

Flame on: Johnny has recently broken up with his girlfriend, an actress named Jennifer (suspected but not confirmed to be Jennifer Garner). This means his romance with Namorita has ended. I continued to find it fascinating that their relationship went on for a couple of years, with most of it happening off panel. That includes their breakup, because the Marvel Wiki lists this issue as the official end of their relationship.

Fantastic fifth wheel: We’re told that Valeria is in daycare on the moon. This suggests that Crystal and/or Medusa have taken up babysitting duties again.

Four and a half: Reed brings Franklin a gift from the Datavore’s universe – a “macro-atom.” Could this be setting up Franklin a budding young scientist?

Our gal Val: Reed’s confession alone with Valeria includes this often-memed panel of him making a funny face.

Commercial break: Sing along!

Trivia time: There’s a lot of only-in-one-issue stuff here. Shertzer never appears again after this, and neither does the Datavore creature. The reference to the Mad Thinker’s attack is never followed up on, and there’s a reference to a monster called the Mandlebot that the FF once fought but will never be mentioned again. The Cause Cerebral has no Marvel Wiki entry, so it’s a safe bet they’re not coming back, either.

This issue states that the FF’s original rocketship crashed in California, whereas other comics said it crashed in upstate New York. I suspect this is a reference to the FF’s early adventures taking place in Central City, eventually revealed to be located in California.

Yes, Davy Crockett is a canonical Marvel character, having appeared in a handful of Marvel Western comics. He later appeared in the S.H.I.E.L.D. Celestial Madonna event, with a lot of time-travel and historical events were depicted in one issue.

Fantastic or frightful? Was this really the perfect issue to attract new readers and bring back lapsed readers? Who  can tell? More importantly, it’s the exact comic the creators set out to make, with Waid’s emphasis on character-based stories, and Wieringo’s desire for comics to be light and colorful instead of dark and gritty. Now that everyone’s been reintroduced, we get to have some real fun.

Next: Big business.

* * * *

Want more? Check out my new book, MOM, I’M BULLETPROOF, now available for the Kindle and the free Kindle app. It’s a comedic/dramatic/romantic superhero epic!

Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. First there was Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Then there was John Byrne. And now we’re at the third great era (era) of Fantastic Four with Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo. Before we get into the actual comics, this week’s post takes a look at just what these two brought to the table.  

Waid gained notice for his work on the fanzine Amazing Heroes, which led to an editorial job at DC Comics, but he left editorial after a short while to write full-time. His work on The Flash earned him huge acclaim during the early ‘90s comics boom, then he went to Marvel for an also acclaimed run on Captain America, and then he and Alex Ross collaborated on the blockbuster miniseries Kingdom Come for DC. This is only skimming the surface, as Waid’s work also included Legion of Superheroes, JLA, Superman: Birthright, Brave and the Bold, Amazing Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, Daredevil, Indestructible Hulk, and indie comics like Irredeemable, Empire, and Ruse. Seriously, his Wikipedia bibliography is a mile long. Basically, if you’ve ever read superhero comics, you’ve likely read Mark Waid. In interviews, Waid has said he likes working on legacy series because all the world-building has been done, so he can come in and focus more on the characters.

Running parallel to Waid’s story, we have artist Mike Wieringo. After studying fashion design in college, Wieringo got his first job at DC Comics, where he first crossed paths with Waid on The Flash. Together, they co-created fan-favorite character Impulse. He didn’t become a big name in comics, though, until Tellos an epic fantasy series of his own creation, published through Image. It was in Tellos that Wieringo established his signature style, so fans could instantly spot Wieringo art whenever they saw it. In interviews, Wieringo stated that he preferred bright and colorful comics to the dark n’ gritty ones, and that he preferred to “keep things fun.” In 2007, Wieringo tragically died of an aortic dissection. He was 44.

When Waid was in talks with Marvel about taking over Fantastic Four, he wrote a document he called his “Fantastic Four manifesto,” about how to approach the FF. This was published in the hardcover reprint of vol. 1 of Waid and Wieringo’s Fantastic Four. Waid’s thoughts on the characters deserve a close look.

Waid begins by talking about the FF’s huge popularity during the 1960s, attributing it to how the series promised readers something new and exciting every month. In the years that followed, Waid argues that writers have been to beholden to honoring (and repeating) those 60s comics, and that such reverence has made the characters stale and predictable. He then argues that the reason the characters have endured over the decades is that they have integrity. He states several times in the manifesto that there is nothing wrong with these characters, and that the series merely needs to reestablish that integrity, rather than go through the motions with referencing the 60s originals.

Waid begins with Sue when he breaks down each character. He says that Sue has a tough, edgy side to her personality, but that part of her was often pushed to the side, because she more or less had to raise her little brother. He says her love of Reed is partly because he’s the swashbuckling scientist-adventurer she always wanted to be. He describes Sue as a “hot soccer mom” and that some part of her should always be unknowable.

As for Reed, Waid emphases making him cool again, and not just the brain who explains science stuff to other Marvel heroes. He says to stop thinking of Reed as the Professor from Gilligan’s Island, but instead think of him as pulp hero Doc Savage. He also throws in a reference to Buckaroo Banzai for all the REAL nerds among us. Emphasizing Reed as an adventurer, Waid says Reed’s inventions are not to fill a need, but are mere byproducts of his adventuring.

But, Waid also states in the manifesto that things like the FF’s costumes, skyscraper home, and their celebrity fame all come from Reed overcompensating. He’s the one who’s done all this for his team because he knows the accident that gave their powers was his fault.

Waid then addresses Johnny, describing his impulsive nature, but also his smarts. Johnny can work on cars and figure out engines, and Waid says he “understands systems.” Waid says the way to get character development from Johnny is to give him some responsibilities, something he’ll do pretty quick in the comic. Waid then only writes one paragraph about Ben, saying Ben doesn’t need a lot of work, except maybe to make him a little less predictable. For Franklin, Waid only writes “Next!”  

Then there’s a long section about Dr. Doom. He calls Doom the most insecure man in the Marvel Universe, and that all of Doom’s pompous regal nature only comes from him believing that’s how the regal are supposed to act. Waid writes, “Despite his rep, Doom doesn’t really, genuinely, at heart believe he is the rightful ruler of humanity; it’s the opposite. He believes that by becoming ruler, he will be instantly validated, that it will prove he is the best and smartest man alive, and all his doubts and insecurities will vanish.”

Finally, Waid writes about restructuring comics in the style of prestige television, citing The West Wing in particular. He says that individual episodes might have a beginning, middle, and end, but the subplots continue from episode to episode. This, Waid argues, gives the series a sense of forward momentum, something he says can and should be applied to Fantastic Four.

I’m skipping a lot during this summary, as it’s packed with interesting thoughts and comments about Fantastic Four. I don’t know if it’s ever been reprinted outside of the hardcovers, but hopefully Marvel will dig it up sometime and put it online, because I think it’s essential reading for FF fans, not to mention any filmmakers who might be developing a FF movie. (Cough! COUGH!) And it’s something I plan to refer back to in future blog posts. So come back next week and let’s get our Waid and Wieringo freak on.

Next: A week in the life.

* * * *

Want more? Check out my new book, MOM, I’M BULLETPROOF, now available for the Kindle and the free Kindle app. It’s a comedic/dramatic/romantic superhero epic!