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Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. The series get a little anime flair in vol. 3 #57 legacy #486, and we’ve got Things all over the place.

The revolving door creative teams of this era continues to revolve, as now we get Adam Warren writing with Keron Grant on pencils. Warren was a big deal at the time thanks to his edgy, sexy anime-style artwork. He was most well-known for The Dirty Pair and Bubblegum Crisis: Grand Mal for Dark Horse, and Livewires at Marvel. He has since written and drawn Empowered since 2007. Grant comes to Fantastic Four from Rob Liefeld’s Awesome Comics group, and he went on to draw New Mutants and Marvel Mangaverse for Marvel, and Son of Vulcan and Young Justice for DC. I suspect that Grant is drawing this issue based on Warren’s drawn thumbnails, but I cannot prove that.

We begin with Ben and Reed pulling an all-nighter in Reed’s lab, where Reed is constructing a prototype pocket universe generator. Ben’s been up all night, and he greets the rest of the family as they gather for breakfast. Ben sits in his favorite recliner to watch some TV, except this is Reed’s special future-predicting television. He sees an image of cheering multitudes erecting a statue in his honor.

Ben falls asleep while Reed continues to work in the lab. Ben wakes, only to find himself surrounded by other Things, each one slightly different from him. The other things speak only in Ben’s catch phrases as they smash up the place. Ben discovers these weird growths all over himself, and the other Things are growing out of him. He says they are distorted replications of Ben’s physical structure. Reed insists he transform back into a human (remember that Ben can do that during this time).

The other Things regroup and attack. They temporarily knock Reed out, so Ben turns back into the Thing to fight them. Reed rushes to the lab and retrieves the temporary pocket universe generator. He says it will activate a test universe that is finite in size and duration, lasting only eight hours. Reed tells Ben to avoid the other Things while in the other universe. Ben activates the device, taking a huge chunk of the new Baxter Building with him. Reed explains the plot a second time to Sue and Johnny, saying he has eight hours to find out what’s wrong with Ben and save him. If he can’t the Earth will be swarmed with endlessly self-replicating Things.

Ben arrives in the temporary universe, which has taken the form of an abandoned Skrull city. The future-predicting TV is there as well, and it tells him that the other Things will eventually return to Earth after killing Ben. Ben faces off against all the other things, who say to him, “It’s clobberin’ time!”

To be continued!

Unstable molecule: Lots of new Reed Richards inventions in this one. In addition to the temporary universe creator and the future-predicting TV, there’s also a special recliner made to support Ben’s weight, and a food replicator-like thing that produces a summer ale for Ben and a genetically-engineered hyper-caffeinated coffee for himself.

Fade out: Sue is back in full-on mom mode, seen only when taking care of the baby.

Clobberin’ time: The catch phrases spouted by the other Things include, “I’ll pulverize the bum,” “Sheesh,” “What a revoltin’ development,” “Blasted,” “Rotten creep,” “Crummy,” “Gangway,” “Sunday punch,” “Knuckle sammich,” “Aunt Petunia,” and of course, “It’s clobberin’ time.”

Flame on: Johnny asks how the super-strong and nearly invulnerable Ben can get tired after being awake for 24 hours. That’s a good question.

Our gal Val: Baby Valeria is described as being very feisty.

Commercial break: Not cool, Cable.

Trivia time: The letters page halfheartedly announces that this was “Thing Month” at Marvel, with the publication of this issue, the Thing/She-Hulk: The Long Night one-shot and the Thing: Freakshow miniseries all coming out this month.

Fantastic or frightful: Basically, this whole issue is just a setup for the big cliffhanger, but that’s all right. Adam Warren brings that over-the-top anime sensibility to this, with crazy technology, silly humor, and big stylized action.

Next: Congress is in session.

* * * *

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 Karl Kesel only solo wrote two issues of FF, but in vol. 3 #56, legacy #485, but he certainly made his mark on FF history.

We begin with a man wandering the streets of NYC and ending up in a bad neighborhood, where he encounters the Thing. Ben chases him off, saying, “In this part of town, some things aren’t so nice.” Turn the page and we see this little drama has been playing out on Yancy Street.

As Ben wanders down the street alone, we cut to flashback, where child Ben is in trouble with local shopkeeper Mr. Sheckerberg, who has caught Ben throwing rocks at windows. Ben’s older brother Daniel tries to bribe Sheckerberg, but Sheckerberg won’t have it. Ben agrees to work weekends to pay for the damage. Then it’s a second flashback, where Ben comes across Daniel on the sidewalk just after Daniel had been in a fight. He says he was fighting to protect to Yancy Street neighborhood. Ben says he wished they lived somewhere else, and he points to the stars above. The third flashback has a cop telling Ben and his mother “sorry for your loss,” and that Daniel is in “a better place.”

Then the next flashback, where Ben is again on the run from Mr. Sheckerberg, after having stolen a Star of David necklace from Sheckerberg’s pawn shop. This was Ben’s initiation into the Yancy Street Gang. Back in the present, grown-up Ben, as the Thing, returns to the pawn shop, and Sheckerberg is still there. Ben is just there to say hello, but Sheckerberg says he’s been getting threatening letters and phone calls, and he thinks the Yancy Street Gang has something to do with it. Ben promises to investigate.

Cut to another flashback, where teenage Ben is now leader of the Yancy Street Gang, but others have all voted him out of the gang, because Ben is leaving town to live with his uncle the doctor and pursue training as a pilot. In classic Yancy Street fashion, they dump garbage all over him. In the present, they again dump garbage on him. They also shoot him with paintballs, hit him with a stink bomb, and blast him with a fire hose.

A humiliated Ben returns to the pawn shop, where a mystery man is holding Mr. Sheckerberg hostage, saying he’s the one behind the threats, not the Yancy Street Gang. There’s a fight, and the man is revealed to be the supervillain Powderkeg, who creates explosions with his “explosive aura.” Mr. Sheckerberg is injured by one of Powderkeg’s blasts, so the Yancy Street Gang joins the fight by pulling all their pranks on Powderkeg. This gives Ben the chance to take the villain out with a big punch.

Ben returns to Sheckerberg, who is unconscious. Ben wants to help, but, despite all his strength, he is unable to. Then, he realizes there’s something he can do. He stands over Sheckerberg and recites a Jewish prayer. Sheckerberg comes to, and he’s just fine even though he was just in an explosion. He chides Ben for being a celebrity all these years and never telling the public he’s Jewish. Ben says it’s not something he’s purposefully hidden, just something he doesn’t talk about much. He then tells Ben that Ben deserves all the harassment the Yancy Street Gang gave him over the years because he left the neighborhood and they didn’t.

Ben then reveals that he was there that night to return the stolen Star of David necklace from all those years ago. Sheckerberg tells him to keep it. Sheckerberg tells him to keep the necklace. Ben says he’s not ready to start going to Temple again. Sheckerberg says that’s okay, but he does expect Ben to clean up the mess made of the pawn shop. The cops and the paramedics arrive. As Ben hands Powderkeg over to the police, the issue ends when Powderkeg does a “You don’t look Jewish” joke.

Unstable molecule: The “4” emblem on Ben’s belt has a hidden compartment in it, in place of pockets. This is some Batman utility belt action right here.

Clobberin’ time: After many years of fans speculating on whether Ben is Jewish, mostly because his personality is loosely based on his co-creator, artist Jack Kirby, this is the issue that makes it canonical. Now that this is done, expect more stories about this aspect of Ben’s history and personality from here on.

Commercial break: I don’t remember this episode of The Twilight Zone.

Trivia time: The full story of Daniel Grimm’s death and Ben leaving Yancy Street was told in The Thing #1.

The prayer that Ben recites for Mr. Sheckerberg is called the Shema. According to Wikipedia, it’s something of a centerpiece for various prayer services. There appears to be many variations of it, but from what I could find, the Jewish Virtual Library website has a translation closest to what Ben is saying: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord is one,” followed by, “Blessed is the name of his glorious majesty forever and ever.”

This is the first appearance of Mr. Sheckerberg, who will go on to have other appearances as Ben’s old friend.

Other Marvel Jewish characters include (but are not limited to) Kitty Pryde, Magneto, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Polaris, Moon Knight. Across the street at DC, Harley Quinn, the Kate Kane Batwoman, and Colossal Boy are Jewish.  

Who’s this Powderkeg guy? He was originally a rival for the Monica Rambeau Captain Marvel, and later fought Iron Man and the whole Avengers. His big thing seems to be escaping from super-prison the Vault. Seems like whenever have those scenes of a bunch of villains escaping the Vault at once, Powderkeg is usually there, escaping alongside them.

Fantastic or frightful? I’m on the outside looking in, but to my outsider’s eyes this would appear to be a tasteful enough story, and one that’s a nice look at Ben’s internal character. If nothing else, it changed the way we all look at Ben moving forward.

Next: Manga or not?

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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. The FF are a family, so here’s a family sitcom episode in volume 3 #55 legacy #484.

We’re entering an odd transitory time in FF history. Writer-artist Carlos Pacheco and his co-writer Rafael Martin are out, but there are several issues before Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo take over for their famous run. Therefore, it’s going to be a revolving door for a bunch of creators for a while. First up is Karl Kesel and Stuart Immonen. Kesel is most well known for his work with DC, including Hawk and Dove, World’s Finest, Tales of the Legion, and the crossover event The Final Night. Immonen got his start with Rock ‘N’ Roll Comics doing biography comics, and became a fan favorite at both DC and Marvel, drawing part of the Superman Red/Blue event and the cult classic NextWave: Agents of H.A.T.E. for Marvel.

This issue begins with a domestic scene as Sue returns from grocery shopping to the Baxter Building, where Ben, Johnny, and Franklin have been watching baby Valeria. There’s a lot of comedy shtick regarding what she bought, followed by comedy shtick of Ben and Johnny fighting over the TV remote control. They end up trashing the living room while Sue is on the phone with Janet Van Dyne (a.k.a. the Wasp), and they wake up the baby. Reed enters the room, announcing that he’s made new modifications to the Fantasticar, and he needs an item to be picked up from a nearby warehouse. Johnny and Ben run off to give the new car a test drive.

Ben and Johnny continue to bicker on the way to the warehouse. The place is locked shut, and the Fantasticar is stolen by a Skrull named the Grand Acquisitioner. He plans to take it back to the Skrull homeworld and reverse engineer Reed’s tech. Johnny tries to pursue him, but the Acquisitioner activates a teleportation device and vanishes. Ben uses his mechanic’s smarts to trace the car’s ferrous oxide to the Yancy Street Wrecking Co. (A junkyard, basically.) A fight breaks out, as the heroes and the Acquisitioner trash the place while trying to take each other out.

The Acquisitioner escapes, and Johnny and Ben have a heart-t0-heart how easy it is for the two of them to cause destruction when they fight a villain. Johnny says he realizes that Ben has to be careful all the time, more than anyone else. Ben admits he realizes this is why Johnny always gave him a hard time, to keep him on his toes so he never forgets who he is.

The Acquisitioner reappears, returning the stolen Fantasticar. Johnny says this is a trick, and the Skrull reveals that yes, it is a trick. He transforms into… Yellowjacket. (Note that this is the original Ant-Man, Hank Pym, who at this time had recently returned to active duty with the Avengers after many ups and downs. He’s also reconciling with the Wasp, although their relationship remained somewhat strained.) Yellowjacket was using a Stark image inducer to merely appear as a Skrull.

Everybody reconvenes at Avengers Mansion, where Franklin has been watching the fight via remote ant-cams. (Yes, tiny cameras attached to ants.) Yellowjacket further explains that the teleportation was him merely shrinking the Fantasticar to ant-size. Then the Wasp enters the room with baby Valeria, saying the whole thing was orchestrated because Reed and Sue are celebrating a special anniversary. Not their wedding anniversary (which was just five issues back), but their 256-month anniversary, which is four to the fourth power. Reed and Sue celebrate with a romantic evening alone in the Baxter Building. Reed tells her she looks… Fantastic.

Then there’s a five-page preview of The Call of Duty. This is not based on the video games. It was meant to be a tribute to real-life firefighters. But then, there was also a supernatural element to the series, making it kind of half Backdraft and half The X-Files. In this preview, the firefighters make their way through a burning building to rescue someone inside. That someone is revealed to be a creepy little girl who tells them, “There’s a war coming.” The story was continued in backups in other Marvel comics, and then in three miniseries, The Call of Duty: Brotherhood, The Call of Duty: The Precinct, and The Call of Duty: The Wagon.

Unstable molecule: This is the second new Fantasticar Reed has constructed in recent issues, but the Marvel Wiki continues to the call them both the “Mark II” Fantasticar, so I guess he’s just constantly rebuilding their most-used one.

Fade out: Sue’s grocery shopping includes oysters (which Ben is excited about) and a fake burning log for their fireplace. She tells Johnny she doesn’t buy junk food, but she makes an exception for Hostess Fruit Pies for herself. Also seen among the groceries are lettuce, tomatoes, a carton of milk, Cheerios, and Rice Krispies.

Clobberin’ time: Ben wakes from a nap after having a nightmare about the Wizard. This is played as a joke, but you’d think his teammates might be a little concerned.

Flame on: Ben and Johnny fight over the remote control because the new Baxter Building has only one television, with no VCR or DVR. Ben wants to watch football, but Johnny wants to watch a Buffy the Vampire Slayer marathon. (I guess this when the FX network was airing Buffy reruns.)

Also, Johnny mentions his girlfriend, “Nita.” The Marvel Wiki confirms that this is Namorita, so they’re still a couple during this time.

Four and a half: Franklin is shown playing with Avengers toys at the start of the issue, but then he’s at Avengers Mansion at the end, interacting with actual Avengers. Foreshadowing?

Our gal Val: Baby Valeria is depicted as having a full head of blonde hair at the start of the issue, but is bald at the end of the issue. Is she a mutant, or is it just the lighting?

Commercial break: I know this is supposed to be chocolate, but it just reminds me of the monster from Dogma. (You know the one.)

Trivia time:  The warehouse Ben and Johnny visit is the Forbush Warehouse. This is a reference to a famous Marvel inside joke. Stan Lee used to always joke about Irving Forbush, a lazy and pathetic Marvel staffer. Except Forbush was a fictional character, someone for Stan to make fun of in place of actual Marvel staffers. This led to a parody superhero character Forbush Man. Whether Forbush Man is canonical to the Marvel Universe is a matter of some debate.

Fantastic or frightful? This is a zero-stakes light n’ fluffy sitcom story, which is fine for what it is. It won’t be until the next issue that Karl Kesel makes his permanent stamp on the series.

Next: Back to the old neighborhood.

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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. This is a big one, people. If you’ve read any FF-related comic in the last 5-10 years, you know how big of a character Valeria Richards has become. Now here’s Vol. 3 #54 legacy #483, in which Valeria is born.

Gimmie a gimmick: This is the third of four issues with connected Mike Wieringo-drawn covers that create a single image, from top to bottom rather than from left to right. Also this is one of several Marvel comics published this month with 100 pages and their own “100-Page Monster” logo.

After a lot of buildup in previous issues, several plotlines are converging at this point. The Inhumans have returned to Earth, only to face anti-Inhuman sentiment throughout the nation. Dr. Doom showed up to offer them asylum in Latveria. Meanwhile, we met Senso, leader of the Hidden Ones. These are Inhuman-like psychics who have been operating in secret since World War II. With the armor-clad Guardsmen of the Vault in their employ, the Hidden Ones have launched a full-scale attack on the new Baxter Building, causing Sue’s pregnancy to go into crisis.

We start with Reed floating in a sort of limbo, having lost his memory, and human Ben inside a cell inside super-prison the Vault, unable to transform back into the Thing. Senso does a big villain speech, confirming that the Inhumans and the Hidden Ones have a “common ancestry.” At the Baxter Building, Sue is going into labor, but she is being consumed Negative Zone energy (because the baby was originally conceived in the Negative Zone). The Inhumans gather around her, and Sue cries out, “Get Reed!”

At the Latverian embassy in NYC, Dr. Doom sips some pinot noir (!) while Johnny fights his way through the Doom’s robot defenses. Doom meets Johnny on the roof, assuming that Johnny is there seeking a cure for his out-of-control powers. Johnny pleads with him to save Sue and the baby. He says that Reed is out of commission, and the last time this happened they had a room full of geniuses. This time, all they’ve got is Dr. Doom. Doom initially responds with a cold, “My deepest regrets.” But Johnny says that a baby is innocent, and not an enemy of Doom. “You’re the best chance we’ve got,” Johnny says. “The only chance we’ve got.”

Through sheer willpower, Ben manages to turn back into the Thing. He fights his way out of his cell and beats up a bunch of the Guardsmen. At the Baxter Building, Doom monitors Sue’s condition, while still trying to convince Black Bolt to accept his offer of asylum for the Inhumans. Sue tells Doom to back off, but Doom assures her that he’s her only hope, and she must trust him.

At the Vault, Ben frees Reed from a high tech “cerebral vortex.” Reed gets his memory back. Senso and the guardians return. After a brief fight, Senso reveals that she’s also a shape-changer. She explains more about the Hidden Ones, how they’ve been secretly behind the scenes in high positions of governments and other places of power. “To survive, we must stay hidden,” she says. Senso then teleports away somehow, promising that the Hidden Ones are everywhere, and anyone you know could be a Hidden One.

Reed and Ben make it to the Baxter Building. He goes into ER mode, ready to save the baby, only to learn see Dr. Doom step into the room holding the healthy baby girl after a successful delivery. Sue is also doing well, explaining that Doom used a combination of science and sorcery to save the baby. (A pentagram is painted behind Sue’s bed, creepily.) When Doom needed more energy, he withdrew Johnny’s excess flame, thereby returning Johnny’s powers to normal after all.

 Doom isn’t done, though. He says that in exchange for saving the day, he demands the right to name the child. Reed won’t have it, but Sue says she already agreed to it. Doom says he is a “man of honor and style,” so he won’t name the girl after him. Instead he names her… Valeria.

Before leaving, Doom says that little Valeria will forever be under his protection, and if any of the FF’s enemies endanger her, they will have to answer to him. Later, Doom watches a TV news report that sums up the rest of the plot. There have been a series of massive firings in high government and military personnel, which Doom recognizes as the Hidden Ones retreating back deeper into hiding. Without the Hidden Ones’ influence, the U.N. releases an official apology regarding the Inhumans and withdraws support of a planetwide energy shield to keep space aliens away from Earth. But then, the Inhumans rejected Doom’s offer of asylum, and have returned to space. The Inhumans will instead return to the Blue Area of the Moon, where they once lived.

Then there’s even more subplot wrap-ups at the Baxter Building, where Johnny learns he’s been fired from the Rawhide Kid movie, to be replaced by a lookalike. Johnny feels guilty for making a deal with Dr. Doom, but Reed thanks him, asking Johnny to be Valeria’s godfather. Then there’s a bit where the FF are reunited as a happy family, while the Inhumans are reunited on the moon, sad and alone.

To make this issue a 100-pager, we then get a reprint of Annual #6, featuring the birth of Franklin, and issue #167, the wacky return of the Impossible Man.

Unstable molecule: When rushing to save the baby, Reed suggests calling Hank Pym and Jane Foster for help. Hank is a genius, so sure, but why Jane? During this time in the Marvel Universe, Jane had just become an M.D. This is when Thor’s secret identity was the EMT Jon Olsen.

Fade out: Doom says he admires Sue’s strength, saying that even his own iron will would be tested with that much pain.

Clobberin’ time: Doom refers to Ben as a “boulder-bound brute” which I feel is pretty funny.

Flame on: This issue doesn’t say, but the lookalike who replaced Johnny in the Rawhide Kid movie is a Skrull named Lon Zelig, who we saw working on the movie set in a few previous issues.

Fantastic fifth wheel: While Medusa normally speaks on behalf of Black Bolt, Doom tells her to be silent, insisting on an answer from Black Bolt himself.

Crystal holds down the fort at the Baxter Building, eventually able to reach Reed through his FF communicator. We see her reunited with her daughter Luna upon returning to the moon.

Four and a half: Franklin is in one panel at the end, where he’s with the rest of the family welcoming baby Valeria home.

Our gal Val: If the miscarriage, the time-displaced teenager, and other alternate timelines don’t count, then this issue definitely counts as Valeria’s first appearance.

Commercial break: There are tons of ads for the 2002 Spider-Man movie in this one (I suspect this is why so many of this month’s comics were 100 pages). This one is especially gross:

Trivia time: What, exactly, is the significance of the name Valeria? The original Valeria was Dr. Doom’s first love, who he left behind when he went to college in the US and eventually scarred his face. Every time they were later reunited, Valeria broke Doom’s heart by rejecting his would-be world-conquering ways. She’ll show up again in just a few issues from now.

This is the final appearance of the Senso and her fellow Hidden Ones. Are we to assume they’re still hiding in the shadows in the Marvel Universe, secretly manipulating everyone? Were they the ones really behind Civil War?

Fantastic or frightful? For such a historically important issue, it’s a bit of a mess. All the stuff with Dr. Doom is really great, but then we keep cutting away from that drama to deal with the less interesting Inhumans/Hidden Ones crisis. Years later, many Fantastic Four comics will refer back to these events as if they’re a massive epic, but it doesn’t feel as epic to sit down and actually see how it all happened.

Next: Nice jacket.

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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!