macmcentire

Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. The Reed-pretending-to-be-Dr.-Doom storyline is notorious among comic fans, but it’s only a few short issues. It officially concludes in this one, vol. 3, issue #31.

Recap: Thanks to cosmic weirdness, Reed was trapped in Dr. Doom’s armor while Doom was banished to another universe. To avoid an international incident (sort of), Reed impersonates Doom, moving into Doom’s castle and naming Sue the new Baroness Von Doom. But then Sue was contacted via sorcery by the real Dr. Doom who told her that the armor is corrupting Reed, transforming him into another Dr. Doom. After seeing suspicious behavior from Reed, Sue does some subterfuge and brings Doom from his universe into theirs.

As this issue starts, two sides face off inside Castle Doom. It’s Sue and Dr. Doom versus Reed, Ben, and Johnny. Reed attacks first, revealing that the armor has adapted to his stretching powers. Doom, in his new Phantom of the Opera outfit, fights back with a sword. Ben and Johnny try to break it up, but Sue stops them with a force field. Sue and Doom disappear in a flash of light. Reed prepares his defenses, stating that Doom knows every inch of the castle. He also destroys the teleporter so Doom cannot call reinforcements from the other universe.

Sue and Doom are down in the catacombs deep beneath the castle. Doom says that armor has turned Reed into a second Dr. Doom, while Sue says she would rather die before she lets that happen. In Doom’s lab, Reed keeps acting more and more like Dr. Doom, alienating Ben and Johnny. Ben checks in on the castle foundry, where Reed has been manufacturing more and more Doombots. Sue and Doom suspect that Reed’s scanners are locked onto her, but Doom isn’t concerned. Flying outside the castle, Johnny remembers that every person has a distinct heat signature, and he can use this to find Sue and Doom.

Reed and Ben are then attacked by all the Doombots, which have now been programmed against them. To stop the Doombots, Reed must deactivate the castle’s defenses, which plays into Doom’s hands. Ben, meanwhile, does some safecracking (!) and finds hidden tunnels in the walls. Ben and Johnny both find their way to Sue and Doom, who surrender peacefully instead of more fighting.

Doom and Sue are taken before Reed (sitting on Doom’s throne, to be extra insulting), and Reed says it’s time to end their feud once and for all. He has Dr. Doom killed right in front of everyone. Sue breaks down, saying that Reed would never take a life, not even Dr. Doom’s.

Reed does a big dramatic speech, saying that as monarch, his subjects must take priority. He goes on to say his “subjects” include all the Earth, after Latveria spreads across the entire planet and then out into the stars. The others accuse Reed of merely using humans as pieces of some great machine, while he argues that he will make humanity safe.

Reed is then attacked, revealing that Dr. Doom is still alive. Turns out Reed and Ben joined Sue’s side, Johnny used his fire and Sue her invisibility to fake Doom’s death. Ben subdues Reed long enough for Doom to unlock the armor, which transfers itself from Reed to Doom, kind of like how Gizmoduck would put on his armor in DuckTales. Doom reactivates the teleporter to return to the other universe, where he says he has unfinished business. He promises they will meet again.

Unstable molecule: During the opening fight, the caption says Reed and Doom are alike in so many ways, “they might be brothers.” Make of that what you will.

Fade out: Sue says her family has always had an innate sense to know when there are “incoming storms.” I believe this is a reference to the then-recent Before the Fantastic Four: The Storms miniseries.

Clobberin’ time: Ben finds the hidden tunnels with a big stethoscope and safecracking gear? I’m not sure what’s happening in that panel.

Flame on: Johnny’s ability to find Sue and Doom via their heat signatures is a new ability, but it also shows that he can think with his head, just like Reed.

Fantastic fifth wheel: This issue has Dr. Doom working alongside Sue, Ben and Johnny, so I think we can count this as Doom acting in his role as an alternate member of the FF.

Commercial break: Viva Rock Vegas!

Trivia time: This issue name-drops “Shadow City,” the alternate timeline the team visited back in issues 17-18, a world where Dr. Doom ruled the Earth with Sue as his wife. This would appear to solve that mystery, except there’s still the question of where teen Valeria came from. We’ll get back to Valeria next week.

Fantastic or frightful? At its heart, this is a story about the Fantastic Four breaking up and then reuniting. But all this drama is condensed over just a few pages with a lot of fighting and running around in between. This is another case where the story could have been three or four issues instead of being rushed into one. Or, maybe Marvel editorial demanded that the Reed-pretending-to-be-Doom thing had to get wrapped up. The good news is, the next issue takes time to deal with the fallout of this story.

Next: General malfunction.

****

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Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. The notorious Reed-pretending-to-be-Dr.-Doom storyline nears its climax in Vol. 3 #30.  

Recap: Thanks to cosmic weirdness, Reed has been trapped inside Dr. Doom’s armor while Doom was exiled to another universe. In an attempt to prevent an international incident, Reed is pretending to be Dr. Doom. Only the FF are in on the secret, and Reed and Sue have married (remarried?) which makes her the new Baroness Von Doom. At the end of the previous issue, however, Sue spotted Reed hacking into the FF’s computers and able to take off Doom’s mask. This issue begins with the FF arriving in Latveria to meet cheering crowds celebrating Doom’s (really Reed’s) return. While the FF greet the Latverians, Sue continues to be suspicious of Reed. But Sue remembers that Reed’s hacking the FF’s computers includes the FF’s unstable molecule uniforms, so she can’t tell the others about her concerns.

We meet a guy named Dieter, Dr. Doom’s chief of staff, who has a schedule of events for Sue, while Ben and Johnny have time to themselves. Johnny also expresses concerns about Reed, saying Reed is starting to act more and more like Doom. Reed watches them in secret, saying they acting as he anticipated, allowing his plan to unfold.

Reed presses a button and then contacts Ben and Johnny, saying a group of Doombots have gone rogue and must be stopped. Johnny and Ben fight the ‘bots. The Doombots start to win the battle, but then Sue joins the fray. With her help, they defeat the robots. Sue contacts Reed, demanding an explanation. Reed says it’s under investigation and that the faulty Doombot A.I. has been corrected. Ben wonders if something is up with Sue, thinking she looks worried.

Sue goes about her day, being tended to by the Castle Doom staff. She’s told over and over that Reed-as-Doom is unavailable to meet with her. At night, she goes to bed alone, again fearing the man she loves has become the one she fears the most.

Sue wakes up back in New York, only to find the city flooded. She believes she’s in what was once called the Heroes Reborn universe, but now we’re supposed to call Planet Doom. The real Dr. Doom appears, saying that Sue is dreaming, and he has used sorcery to contact her across two universes through “dreamtime.” Doom has a new look with wizard robes and a Phantom of the Opera-like mask. He says he must have armor to bring order to the chaos that has befallen Planet Doom. Further, he says the armor was built for Doom only, and that is starting to possess Reed. Doom has activated a teleporter between the two worlds, and he wants Sue’s help. Sue says this means she must now betray her husband.

Sue wakes, wondering if it was all a dream. The next day, she helps Ben and Johnny setting up a new science lab, while Reed, alone, extrapolates a futuristic Earth under his high-tech rule. He plans to rebuild whole cities, and to transform the world’s deserts into fertile farmland. He also plans to defeat the worlds’ armies with a semi-sentient computer virus. Over the next few nights, Dr. Doom continues to appear in Sue’s dreams. He argues that despite Reed’s good intentions, he will ultimately become as unyielding to defiance as Doom is.

After an awkward family dinner, Sue goes to bed alone again, not sure whether to trust Reed or Dr. Doom. She has another dream, where Dr. Doom says the dreamscape reveals one’s true feelings, and that Sue knows something is amiss with Reed. She wakes up, knowing that Reed is still at dinner with Ben and Johnny. Sue jumps into action, breaking into the science lab and stealing the teleporter. She’s apprehended by Doombots as well as Ben and Johnny. They take her to Reed, who uses Doom’s tech to shatter Sue’s force field. Reed grabs the teleporter, but not before Sue can activate it with a tiny force field. It works, and Dr. Doom returns, demanding his armor back.

Unstable molecule: Dr. Doom says he and Reed have the same goal of a perfect future Earth, but Doom is labeled as tyrannical because he’s the head of state. His argument that if Reed remains trapped in the armor, he will become just as tyrannical.

Fade out: Sue goes through quite a few outfit changes in this one. She has her regular FF uniform and her baroness outfit in a semi-Doom style. Plus there are fancy gowns, and then a stealthy black jacket for her thieving and sneaking around at night.

Clobberin’ time: Ben keeps challenging Reed to a game of chess throughout this issue, making it sound like this is something they do often. Reed defeats Ben with “ruthless” gameplay, making a lot of big sacrifices.

Flame on: Johnny is able to converse with Sue and follow her around while she’s invisible, reminding us that the FF has become so accustomed to each other’s powers that they tell by intuition when Sue is around even when they can’t see her.

Commercial break: If this is an ad for snowboarding gear, why the heck is Kool-Aid Man there?

Trivia time: Why are the FF so busy cleaning up the castle? Castle Doom had been trashed in some recent superhero activity while Doom was off in the other universe. The mutant villain Stryfe tried taking over Latveria only to be defeated by Cable and X-Man in a crossover between their two series. Then Spider-Man stopped a Doombot from taking over in Peter Parker: Spider-Man #15. Also Gambit had an adventure in the castle in a confusing issue of Gambit.

Fantastic or frightful? A fun little suspense story, with Reed getting more and more evil, while Sue gets more and more conflicted. I also like the little glimpses we get of daily life inside Castle Doom.

Next: Doom fist.

****

Want more? Check out my book, CINE HIGH, now available for the Kindle and the free Kindle app.

Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. In vol. 3 issue #29, we’re deep into the Reed-pretending-to-be-Dr.-Doom storyline, but how does that affect the usual superhero crimefighting?

Recap: Thanks to some cosmic weirdness, Reed is now trapped inside Dr. Doom’s armor while Doom was sent off to another universe. Reed is now forced to pretend to be Doom in some attempt to prevent an international war (or worse), and he has married Sue, naming her Baroness Von Doom. This issue begins with Sue out in the desert somewhere on her morning jog, with her pushing herself as hard as she can. Then, at Pier 4, mailwoman Willie Lumpkin is shocked to see Dr. Doom (really Reed) picking up the mail in person. Ben reveals he is reworking the FF’s Pogo Plane to give it stealth technology, because NYC officials are shutting down the FF’s flight privileges now that they’re aligned with Doom.

Then we see Johnny with his new girlfriend, Namorita of the New Warriors. Reed seems concerned about this, noting that Namorita is cousin to Namor the Submariner, adding that “Fire and water can be a volatile combination.” Sue joins Reed for breakfast, saying she has to “negotiate” with NYC officials following the disappearance of her husband and son. (Franklin was sent off to yet another alternate universe to keep him safe during all this.) Johnny gets a new CD-ROM video game from his old pal Wyatt Wingfoot, only to decrypt a hidden S.O.S. in it. Sue and Reed bicker about the FF’s chain of command while the others prepare for action.

Cut to Silver Springs, Oklahoma, home of the Keewazi tribe, which appears humble on the outside but hides a high-tech infrastructure. We’re in the middle of the action, where Wyatt and his sister Wynona have been captured by a brand-new Frightful Four. The Wizard is still leader, and Paste-Pot Pete, um, I mean the Trapster is also still with the group. The Wizard says he’s in search of a mythical storehouse located on Keewazi land, heightened by a mysterious spacecraft recently reported in the area.

Sue, Ben and Johnny burst into the place and fight the Wizard and the Trapster. Then Ben meets the third member of the new Frightful Four, the Punisher robot that once worked for Galactus. (This is the green and purple robot, not the guy with the skull T-shirt.) The Wizard then activates a device that shuts off the biological mechanisms that protect the FF from their own powers. Johnny is burned by his own flame, Ben can’t move under the weight of his own rockiness, and Sue can’t breathe because she draws oxygen out of the air to form her force fields. The Wizard says Reed’s heart will soon fail to pump blood through his own elastic body. Then Sue reminds the Wizard that there’s been a few changes.

Reed, pretending to be Doom, joins the fight. But he’s attacked by the fourth member of the new Frightful Four – Sharon Ventura! For those just catching up, Sharon was the second Ms. Marvel, who transformed into a She-Thing, romanced Ben, broke up with Ben, and then swore allegiance to Dr. Doom. Her mutating body went out of control, so Doom put her in suspended animation, and the Frightful Four rescued her back in the Fantastic Four Unlimited spinoff series, which was seven years earlier in real time. She’s currently mutated into a half-human, half-Thing musclebound form. Sharon is mad at Doom for betraying her, and she attacks Reed.

Reed-as-Doom fights the Frightful Four, using the Trapster’s glue traps to stop Sharon, and then going toe-to-toe with the Punisher. The Wizard electrocutes Reed. Sharon breaks free, wanting a second shot. Reed deduces that the Wizard’s biological blocks are only an illusion, and he gets Johnny to flame on and join him. The Punisher tosses Reed into a nearby factory, while Sue uses the Trapster’s glue to defeat the Punisher.

Sharon and Ben confront one another. She says the FF forgot about her once she was in suspended animation. Ben says that’s not true, and that sometimes, cures don’t come easy. Meanwhile, Reed-as-Doom and Wynona free the rest of the Keewazi, who were being held hostage inside the factory. Knowing he’s been beaten, the Wizard attempts to flee, but he’s stopped by Reed and surrenders.

Sharon and Ben continue to fight, as she says she’ll never stop because she has too much hate in her to be defeated. Wyatt steps between them, attempting to appeal to Sharon. He reminds her that she was once one of the FF, a bona fide hero, and that hate is not in her makeup. Wyatt says that if she wants to destroy the FF, she’ll have to kill him first. It works, and Sharon breaks down and embraces Wyatt.

After the battle three of the Frightful Four are apprehended, while Sharon is given refugee status among the Keewazi. Wyatt says that Sharon is a good person at heart, and hopefully her new life at the reservation will help her learn the truth of it. Sue, in turn, asks Wyatt to trust her with the whole “Baroness Von Doom” thing.

Later that night, Sue wakes up to find Reed trying to hack into the Pier 4 computer, which has rejected him as Dr. Doom this whole time. Sue turns invisible and spies on Reed. He successfully removes the Doom mask and gets the computer to accept Victor Von Doom as an authorized user to the FF’s computers. He then orders the computer to delete all records of this from his teammates. He then willingly puts the mask back on. Then we learn that the opening jogging scene was a flash-forward, where Sue suspects something is horribly wrong with Reed, but now she has to act like nothing is wrong.

Unstable molecule: Early on, Reed mentions that he’s close to deciphering the codes that keep him trapped in the armor, and that the Pier 4 computers will only recognize him as Dr. Doom as not as Reed. This foreshadows the issue’s cliffhanger.

Fade out: Since when does Sue create her force field from oxygen around her? In the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Deluxe Edition, it’s established that her force fields are made of psionic force generated from within Sue’s brain. Since the Wizard’s defeat of Sue is based on illusion, I guess we can say these “oxygen force fields” are part of that illusion.

Clobberin’ time: Ben again acts as the team’s pilot in this issue. And just like last issue, he’s shown walking around with a bunch of gadgets attached to him, which a guess is a look for him during this era. (era)

Flame on: What’s going on with Johnny and Namorita? Johnny guest-starred in New Warriors vol 2 #3, where he and Namorita accidentally almost crash into each other while flying around NYC. He suggests they meet later, in private. The rest of their relationship between that issue and this one happened off-panel.

Fantastic fifth wheel: Round of applause to Chris Claremont for giving Sharon Ventura’s character arc some proper closure after all the hell she went through during her almost 100 issues with Fantastic Four. I guess she made a home for herself living on the reservation, because she won’t be seen again until the Secret Invasion crossover. She’s one of few Marvel characters who didn’t cameo in Civil War, so we’ll never know if Sharon was on Cap’s side or Iron Man’s side.  

Commercial break: You have to read the itty-bitty type at the bottom of the page to learn this is an ad for Bionic Commando.

Trivia time: This is the last of only two appearances of Wyatt Wingfoot’s sister Wynona. There’s a weird bit of continuity where she says her father is a man named Black Eagle, whereas back in vol. 1 issue #51 Wyatt said his father was dead. Most fans hand-wave this by saying that Wynona is actually Wyatt’s stepsister, but this isn’t explicitly stated in the comic.

What’s Galactus’ Punisher robot doing here? The last time we saw the robot was in Silver Surfer vol 3 #17, where it was destroyed after learning to talk (!). The Marvel Wiki says the Wizard “presumably” recovered the robot and rebuilt it. An alternate explanation is that we’ve seen a whole bunch of these robots running around the Marvel Universe, some of which are employed by Galactus and some employed by the alien Rigellians. (Tana Nile from the Daydreamers spinoff miniseries was a Rigellian.)

Fantastic or frightful? After so many overstuffed-plot issues, Chris Claremont writes an old-fashioned good guys versus bad guys superhero romp. It’s a breath of fresh air. And while I respect that a lot of readers dislike Sharon Ventura, I appreciate that Claremont gave the character her moment.

Next: Castle freak.

****

Want more? Check out my book, CINE HIGH, now available for the Kindle and the free Kindle app.

Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Vol. 3 issue #28 finds us still in the “Reed pretending to be Dr. Doom” plot, just in time for Dr. Doom’s followers to start World War III. Great timing.

Following some cosmic craziness, Reed’s body is now trapped in Dr. Doom’s armor. Further, Dr. Doom has a warship and a group of superhuman generals and a fleet of troops parked just outside NYC. Reed has chosen to impersonate Doom to keep the generals pacified while looking for a way out of this situation. He married (remarried?) Sue, naming her the Baroness Von Doom. This issue begins with Reed-as-Doom launching a full-scale attack on strategic targets all over the world, fighting the world’s armies as well as the Avengers and the X-Men. In seven days’ time, he successfully conquers every nation in the planet.

Turn the page and we see that this is merely a simulation being run by the Pentagon and the Avengers. Reed-as-Doom and Doom’s generals are running a similar simulation. The general Technarx says he can anticipate and out-think any opposition they come across. Reed fears a war is inevitable, but Sue says she believes Reed can think of a way out of it. Ben is more pragmatic, saying it’s a classic standoff between Doom’s forces versus Earth’s forces. Johnny asks why Reed can’t just order the generals to stand down, and Reed says Doom promised the generals they would have a world to rule.

Elsewhere, Dorma, another of Doom’s generals, addresses Doom’s troops, saying that Sue must not survive the upcoming so that Dorma can become Doom’s bride instead. General Shak’ti criticizes Dorma for proceeding with battle plans without Doom’s orders, but Dorma argues that the battle plan has already been made. Technarx then says that without Shak’ti’s magical support, victory is less likely.

Events escalate quickly. Inside the ship, Sue, Ben and Johnny fight with some of the generals, while others are outside the ship Doom’s soldiers launch a sneak attack on Dorma’s orders. The Avengers are first to get word of the attack, and they jump into action. There’s several pages of fighting as the Avengers fight their way around the ship’s defenses. Captain America makes it up to a platform where Reed-as-Doom and Lancer are standing.

Inside the ship, Sue and Johnny combine their powers to short out Technarx, and then Johnny’s flame dehydrates Dorma (who is an Atlantean). Back outside, Reed-as-Doom breaks up the Dorma vs. Captain America fight, and then he is confronted by the Avengers. Captain America says Doom’s battleship and his troops are a clear and present danger. Reed-as-Doom offers a compromise.

Reed then has a heart-to-heart chat with Lancer, who reveals she knows he’s not the real Dr. Doom. Reed wants Lancer to return to the alternate timeline she came from, find Doom, and bring him back. Iron Man, meanwhile, also suspects that this might not be the real Dr. Doom. Reed-as-Doom reprimands the rest of the generals, turning them over to the Avengers to be put into custody.

Lancer flies Doom’s battleship into the other universe and away from Earth. The people of New York celebrate not being blown up. Reed says they shouldn’t join the celebration because, as far as the outside world knows, they’re now the bad guys. Instead, he suggests a second honeymoon for him and Sue.

Unstable molecule: Again, Reed’s reasons for pretending to be Dr. Doom remain unclear. He keeps saying it’s to avoid trouble with Doom’s generals, but here’s this issue where the generals cause havoc anyway. He’s going to continue acting the part for a few more issues.

Fade out: OK, get this. Sue and Johnny defeat Technarx by having him ignite his all-powerful nova flame inside a sphere of one of her force fields. This creates a singularity, like at the center of a black hole (!) and this is what takes out Technarx. This seems like a real world-ending superpower, and I wonder if it’ll ever come up again.

Clobberin’ time: Ben is shown walking around inside Doom’s ship wearing a bunch of sci-fi gadgets, with no explanation of what they are. One device kind of looks like a camera. Are we meant to think that Ben is the one projecting the hologram simulation?

Flame on: Johnny seems to speak on the readers’ behalf about concerns of Reed’s disguise as Doom. He says, “Reed takes on this idiot masquerade to save the world. Only now, because of the masquerade, he can’t!”

Commercial break: This is part of another “the Cap’n is missing” promotion for Cap’n Crunch. Or was that all one big promotion. Seems like that went on for years.  

Trivia time: The mutant nation of Genosha is included among Doom’s strategic targets, now led by Magneto. Magneto took command of Genosha in the recent Magneto War crossover event.

Fantastic or frightful? Again, they’re packing a ton of story into one issue, trying to do a major global conflict and a huge battle between three groups of superheroes. It’s a multi-issue arc crammed into one issue.

Next: Masquerade ball.

****

Want more? Check out my book, CINE HIGH, now available for the Kindle and the free Kindle app.

Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Vol. 3 issue #27 is a wedding issue! But it’s a phony wedding, because Sue isn’t marrying Dr. Doom, she’s marrying Reed pretending to be Dr. Doom. It’s what was happening at this time.

Recap: After a cosmic conflict with a Celestial, Reed’s body is now permanently trapped inside Dr. Doom’s armor. For reasons not fully disclosed, Reed has decided to keep appearances by pretending to be Doom. The FF are now in on the secret, and Reed-as-Doom has agreed to marry the Invisible Woman. This issue begins with news of that spread all over the world. The first four pages of the comic are short interviews with various Marvel characters reacting to the news. Most superheroes disapprove and think Doom is up to something, while other characters take a wait-and-see-where-this-is-going approach.

As paparazzi try to get a look inside Pier 4, Reed contemplates his situation. There’s a weird bit where Reed enters a virtual reality simulation of Doom’s castle to try to find an escape, only to be rejected and forced back into the armor. Outside Pier 4, Spider-Man catches up with Johnny and tries to get answers about the Doom/Sue thing. Johnny insists it’s “family business.” Spidey offers to help Johnny stop the ceremony, but Johnny says the fate of the world rests on the wedding going forward.

At the White House, we catch up with Dr. Valerie Cooper of the Committee on Superhuman Affairs, whom we first met back in vol. 3 #11. She too is concerned about how Dr. Doom appears to have taken Reed’s place in the FF. There’s a debate about whether Doom and his future “wife” Sue has diplomatic immunity. Cooper is also concerned about Doom’s fortress-like spaceship and his four superhuman generals on board. She says the generals represent a clear and present danger not just to the US, but to the world.

At the pier, Reed and Sue have a heart-to-heart, with him upset about being outsmarted by Doom’s tech and her being stressed about being a tabloid scandal. Reed suggests cancelling the wedding, but Sue says it’s necessary to earn the loyalty of Doom’s powerful generals.

At Avengers Mansion, Ben meets with the Avengers about their worries. Like Johnny did with Spider-Man, Ben says the wedding is “family business,” and that he can handle it. When Ben tries to leave, the Avengers try to stop him and he fights back. The Avengers pull their punches, which Ben uses to advantage to escape them. Outside the mansion, Captain America confronts Ben. Ben asks Cap for a leap of faith, and Cap accepts, letting Ben go on his way.

Sue goes shopping for wedding dresses with She-Hulk and the Wasp, only to get chased by more paparazzi. She-Hulk and Wasp fight off the photographers while Sue turns invisible and gets away. Namor finds Sue in the wedding shop. He offers to rescue her from Doom, but she asks him to trust her. Instead, he offers her a wedding gift. It’s an Atlantean necklace that is able to turn invisible. He says that if she’s ever in trouble, she can call him.

On the day of the wedding, Reed tells the FF that dark times might be ahead, and that those who were once their friends may be their friends no longer. The wedding goes off without a hitch, with both Doom’s generals and the Avengers in attendance. Sue is officially named the Baroness von Doom. There’s one panel of a bunch of Marvel comics staffers watching the wedding on TV, after which Reed-as-Doom declares that he, Sue, Ben, and Johnny are the all-new Fantastic Four!

Unstable molecule: Reed says Doom’s armor changes his voice and his retina scans, and its built-in A.I. keeps foiling his every attempt to get out of it.

Fade out: Sue compares the pretending-to-be-Doom thing to the FF’s first spaceflight, about venturing into the unknown despite the danger.

Clobberin’ time: Ben is able to out-fight the combined might of the Avengers because they’re going easy on him. When he confronts Captain America, however, Ben backs down. He says that Cap, of all people, would find a way to defeat him.

Flame on: While hanging out with Spider-Man, Johnny uses a controlled flame to melt the engine of an out-of-control car just enough to stop it, saving the lives of everyone inside. He says this is his equivalent of Spidey’s webs.

Fantastic fifth wheel: She-Hulk is interviewed, saying she is appalled by the Sue/Doom wedding. She later questions Sue about it, but the paparazzi show up before Sue can answer.

Namor (who got his official FF membership at the end of the first volume) is interviewed by the press, with a message telling Sue to walk away. He’s a lot less harsh and when dealing with Sue in person.

SUE-per spy: In the 2019 Invisible Woman miniseries, it’s revealed that Sue has been a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent all this time. Given that the FF aren’t telling the Avengers or Spider-Man what’s really happening, it’s likely Sue’s not telling S.H.I.E.L.D. either. Nick Fury gets an interview segment, though, and he says, “We’re looking into it.”

Commercial break: The whole galaxy!

Trivia time: During Spider-Man’s scene, a caption tells us that Mary Jane Watson is dead. This is in reference to a controversial story in which a stalker blew up a plane Mary Jane was on. It was later revealed she survived the crash.

Sue gets her wedding dress from NYC fashionista Key Cera, who Marvel experts will recall is secretly a member of super-team Clan Destine.

The Marvel staffers watching the wedding are Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, along with this issue’s creators, Chris Claremont, Salvador Larroca, Art Thibert, Bobbie Chase, and Bob Harras. Of particular note is another woman in the scene, Maria Pilar. The Marvel Wiki names her as a former Marvel employee but has no other information. There’s got to be more to it than that, though, because on the cover we see Larroca has dedicated this issue to her.

Fantastic or frightful? The reasons given for Reed to keep pretending to be Dr. Doom are pretty slim, making the tension over the situation feel not genuine. I’ve done a little reading ahead, and I’ll tell you that the Reed-as-Doom storyline doesn’t go on for very long, making all this issue’s drama even more hollow. The Thing vs. Avengers fight is pretty cool, though.

Next: Generally speaking.

****

Want more? Check out my book, CINE HIGH, now available for the Kindle and the free Kindle app.