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Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Vol. 3 issue 8 has it all – cosmic beings, superpowers going haywire, and references to obscure characters.

Recap: The FF just wanted a nice night out in NYC, only to be attacked by interdimensional hunters the Warwolves, and interdimensional bounty hunters Gatecrasher and the Technet. These baddies are in the employ of evil space queen Opal Luna Saturnyne, who has sent them after Franklin. After defeating the Technet, our heroes were then confronted by the Captain Britain Corps. This issue starts with them fighting the Corps, with Reed explaining the obvious, that this is a whole bunch of alien Captain Britains. The FF puts up a good fight, but they’re outnumbered, and the Corps has advanced tech that can anticipate the FF’s moves.

Franklin, hiding in a corner with genius and friend-of-the-family Alyssa Moy, decides he’s had enough. He uses his reality-bending powers to make the FF’s own superpowers increase by a vast amount. Now the Corps is no match for the FF. Nearby, the Technet plans a hasty retreat, but an unconscious Captain Britain falls from the sky and knocks out Yap, the team’s teleporter. Johnny takes to sky, barely able to control his new power increase. He sees Gatecrasher making a run for it and confronts her. Gatecrasher has a device that reveals that Franklin is pumping out cosmic power off the charts, and also that the Corps did not teleport to Earth, but that the FF teleported, and are now on an alternate Earth. Johnny demands that Gatecrasher take him to her leader.

Through unknown means, Johnny and Gatecrasher arrive at the Starlight Citadel, an otherworldly place that can view every plane of the omniverse. Inside, Johnny comes face-to-face with Saturnyne, who introduces herself as the “omniversal mastrex.” Gatecrasher adds that Saturnyne “represents absolute power over all the worlds in the infinite tapestry of being.” Turn the page, and we see Roma is also present. The daughter of Merlin, Roma is the “omniversal guardian,” and this citadel is her home. Then two more cosmic beings appear, Eternity and Infinity. Remember that Eternity is living embodiment of all existence at once, and Infinity is the living embodiment of time. Roma says they have an abiding interest in what is about to occur. Further, it was Roma and not Saturnyne who sent all the bounty hunters after Franklin.

Roma describes a hypothetical (or not?) situation in which the FF use their new powers to destroy an alien spaceship, and she argues Franklin is the cause. Johnny says that Franklin is no threat as long as his loving family is looking out for him. Saturnyne withdraws a crystal which she says represents Johnny’s entire universe, and she threatens to destroy it. She gives Johnny a choice – either Franklin is destroyed, or his whole universe is destroyed. Johnny says she’s bluffing, and again says the FF is better equipped than anyone to teach Franklin. He adds, “Just ask Galactus.” Roma says she has, and Galactus admitted that in all the cosmos, the FF has earned his respect.

Johnny continues to negotiate, saying that if the FF can keep Franklin under control, Roma’s needs are satisfied. If the FF fails, then Roma gets to come after them all. Roma asks if Johnny truly speaks on behalf of the FF, and he says yes. Then she says, “We have ourselves a deal.” Back at the battle, all the Captain Britains vanish as Johnny returns, saying he’s got quite a story to tell.

Wait, there’s more! The issue also includes five pages of a never completed Fantastic Four and the Inhumans event comic. This was to be an ambitious two-year mega-epic drawn by hot up-and-coming artist Jose Landronn. It never went beyond these five pages before being stalled, and Landronn went on to draw Cable instead. The might-have-been story has Ben and Reed on an adventure in a futuristic “floating New York.” It’s a Blade Runner-like setting, all flying cars and cyberpunk. After surviving crash-landing an experimental aircraft on a city street, Ben and Reed come across a glowing energy gate, only for the Inhuman Royal Family to emerge from it… and we’ll never know what would’ve happened next.

Unstable molecule: Reed spontaneously kisses Sue at the end of the issue, the only suggestion that he’s been acting out of character after his encounter with Crucible in issue #5.

Fade out: After Sue’s powers are enhanced by Franklin, her force fields appear to have a glowing orange effect. No word on whether this a result of Franklin upping her power, or if it’s just drawn that way for the reader’s benefit.

Clobberin’ time: With his strength enhanced, Ben punches the street and creates shockwaves powerful enough to topple nearby skyscrapers.

Flame on: Obviously, the big deal about this issue is that it’s Johnny and not Reed or Sue who communes with cosmic beings this time around, doing so in his own signature style. It’s not out of character when we remember how Johnny “went cosmic” during the original Galactus trilogy.

Fantastic fifth wheel: Both Crystal and Medusa appear in the final panel of Fantastic Four and the Inhumans, but they don’t say or do anything.

Four and a half: This issue would appear to be a big character growth for Franklin in that he can control his reality-bending powers by making specific things happen, rather than reality just going haywire when he gets upset.

Commercial break: Freakin’ Gorgonites.

Trivia time: What’s the deal with the Captain Britain Corps? The idea is that every parallel universe has a Captain Britain, and that Roma (or Merlin before her) can summon some or all of them to help the Marvel Universe’s Captain Britain when needed. They’re usually noble heroes, and not bounty hunters as depicted in this issue. Seen in this issue are members Officer Saxon, Samurai Saxon, Maasai Marion, Hauptmann Englande, and Britanotron, among many unidentified ones. Two of the prominent Corps members, Captain UK and Captain Albion, sit this one out.

The comic never says that the FF’s new power levels are undone, but there’s no mention of them being dangerously over-powered next issue, so let’s assume it was reversed. The Marvel Wiki, however, does insist that the team was teleported back to their home universe after this, so that’s something.

Because the Fantastic Four and the Inhumans story remains unfinished, it’s considered non-canon.

Fantastic or frightful? An odd wrap-up to an odd storyline. It’s clearly an excuse for writer Chris Claremont to use a bunch of Excalibur and Captain Britain characters, and also to raise their importance in Marvel continuity. Johnny standing up to the cosmic beings remains a pretty great scene, though.

Next: Amazing friends.

****

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Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Writer Chris Claremont continues to bring his characters from Excalibur into the FF with vol. 3 issue #7.

Last issue, Reed was acting uncharacteristic and took Sue out for date night. At Pier Four, Ben and genius Alyssa Moy were attacked by interdimensional bounty hunter Gatecrasher and her oddball crew the Technet. They abducted Ben, but Alyssa escaped with Franklin. This issue begins with Alyssa pulling over a passing police car. She explains to the cops that Pier Four has been attacked, and the attackers are after Franklin. Alyssa then points out that the cops have English accents and are driving a London police car. The cops are revealed to be the Warwolves, hiding out in New York.

Okay, what are these things? The Warwolves were genetically engineered by weirdo alien Mojo to be his henchmen. After several fights with Excalibur, the Warwolves ended up as permanent residents of the London Zoo. They are able to kill humans and then wear their victims’ skin (!) making themselves look just like their victims. They’re also skilled trackers, which explains how they’ve found their way to Alyssa and Franklin.

The Warwolves attack some real cops while Alyssa tries to protect Franklin. She tries to escape in the police car, only for the Warwolves to swipe the keys. Then Alyssa produces an invention of hers, a universal key. She starts the car and she and Franklin take off. Just when it looks like they’ve escaped, they’re attacked by Ferro-2, the swordfighting werewolf from Technet, who jumps down from above and slices up the engine.

At the Rainbow Room in Rockefeller Center, Reed and Sue continue their romantic evening on the town, with no idea that all this is happening. Cut to Ben, who has been shrunken down to tiny size and swallowed by Bodybag, another Technet creature. The Technet has gathered in a wooded area (Central Park, I’m guessing) where Gatecrasher says she wants Franklin found, with a lot of technobabble about how communications and transportation are being monitored in their search.

Out in the city, Franklin cries out for his mom, and certain Marvel heroes can psychically “hear” him – Spider-Man (thanks to his spider-sense), Jean Grey, Dr. Strange, the Watcher, Roma the Omniversal Guardian, and Kitty Pryde, who is not psychic but is still good friends with Franklin. Alyssa tries to calm Franklin down, promising to protect him.

In an alley, Alyssa is using some more of her genius tech to New York’s fiber optic data-net. Franklin acts as lookout, and cries, “the monsters are coming!” The run for it, just barely staying ahead of the Technet. They run through a busy nightclub hoping to lose the aliens in the crowd, not realizing they’re running past Johnny in one panel. Leaving the nightclub, Alyssa and Franklin next run into… the Bacchae. Who is this? Turns out this is the Bacchae’s first appearance. They’re a group of female cyborg assassins. They’re fighting a guy named Lao Wei Chung, Master of the Golden Sword, unrelated to all this Technet stuff. Chung escapes from Bacchae thanks to Alyssa’s interruption, and he gives Alyssa a kiss before running off.

At the Rainbow Room, Sue looks out a balcony and sees the “4” symbol lit up on skyscrapers all over NYC. Reed tries to contact Pier Four, only to find it offline. Sue, in her sexy evening dress, takes off over the skies of the city riding one of her force fields. Sue catches up to Alyssa and Franklin, just in time for Gatecrasher to show up. Gatecrasher says she has a legal warrant for Franklin, but Sue says that, as Franklin’s mother, she is the ultimate authority. Using the fight moves she learned from Iron Fist in combination with her force fields, Sue beats the crap out of Gatecrasher.

Reed and Johnny arrived as the rest of the Technet join the fight. Reed frees Ben from Bodybag. The Technet might have the FF outnumbered, but the FF have them outpowered. Ben knocks out Thug, Johnny stops China Doll with a wall of flame, and Scatterbrain’s illusions are no match for Reed’s intellect. The only advantage the Technet gets is when Joyboy looks into Sue’s subconscious desires and transforms her into the Queen of Atlantis and consort of Namor (!). The transformation wears off, though, putting the FF back into the fight.

Gatecrasher calls for the FF to surrender or face the consequences, and Ben answers “You and what army?” Gatecrasher responds, “This army!” The FF turn around and find themselves face-to-face with… the Captain Britain Corps, a whole bunch of Captain Britains of all shapes and sizes.

To be continued!

Unstable molecule: Reed’s strange behavior isn’t addressed in this issue. He has a wristwatch computer tied into Pier Four, which alerts him to when the systems go down.

Fade out: Sue surrounds herself with a force field as if it’s armor, so she can properly beat up Gatecrasher.

Clobberin’ time: Reed frees Ben from Bodybag by reaching into Bodybag’s mouth and pulling Ben out. There’s no explanation of how Ben became un-shrunk, so I guess it just wore off.

Flame on: Look closely, and you see Johnny is in the nightclub that Alyssa and Franklin run though earlier in the issue. He’s too busy flirting with some girl to notice them.

Four and a half: Why Franklin’s psychic cry reached these specific characters is a mystery. Spidey, Jean Grey, and Dr. Strange make sense as all having some form of psychic power. Kitty because she and Franklin are friends. But why Roma? As the daughter of Merlin, she too was in Captain Britain and Excalibur and has a history with the Warwolves. That could explain why she got the call.

Commercial break: “Sure. We saved the world. I say we party. I mean, I got all pretty.”

Trivia time: These Bacchae characters showing up out of nowhere foreshadows them playing a bigger role in future issues. The Bacchae’s leader, not named in this issue, is Bloody Mary.

This appears to be the only appearance of Lao Wei Hung, Master of the Golden Sword. There was a martial artist named Chung who was henchman for crimelord Vachon in Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, and another Chung who was a security guard who helped fight the Hellfire Club in one issue of X-Men, but I doubt these are all the same guy.

Fantastic or frightful? It’s obvious by this point that Chris Claremont is using Fantastic Four as his excuse to write more Excalibur. I’m all for bringing something new to the series, but Heaven help any readers who hadn’t followed Excalibur or its predecessor Captain Britain and doesn’t know all these references.

Next: The rings of Saturn (-yne)

****

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. Writer Chris Claremont used his time on Fantastic Four to revisit a lot of characters he’d previously written in the X-books, and that’s true of the oddities who show up in Vol. 3, issue #6.

The issue begins with Sue… in battle! She’s at the Oracle Inc. skyscraper, current headquarters for Heroes for Hire, and she’s getting a martial arts lesson from the immortal Iron Fist. Also present are two former FF-ers Power Man and She-Hulk, as well Misty Knight and Colleen Wing of Heroes for Hire. Sue, somewhat improbably, gets the upper hand on Iron Fist, creating a fighting staff out of an invisible force field. Iron Fist strikes back by unleashing the full force of his titular power. Sue isn’t hurt, though, and instead says getting blasted by Iron Fist is the “best ride I’ve had in ages.”

Sue goes for a swim in the Oracle Inc. pool, where she is greeted rather erotically by Namor the Submariner. Namor says he feels haunted by living another life during Heroes Reborn, and he wonders what might have been. He wants her to come away with him and become the new queen of Atlantis. Sue insists that she will not betray Reed’s love, and a woman who committed such a betrayal would not be worthy of Atlantis.

Sue returns to Pier Four, noting that an unmarked police car had been following her the whole time. Inside, Reed surprises Sue with a room full of roses, and he says to take her dancing. Sue is also introduced to Reed’s ex, Alyssa Moy, a fellow genius we met last issue. Alyssa and Ben have an aside, where she worries that Reed might be acting strangely, but Ben doesn’t worry about it. We follow Ben and Franklin as they attend a Yankees game, and Sue, She-Hulk and the Wasp go shopping for fancy dresses for Sue and Reed’s date night. Dressed in their finest, Reed and Sue head out for a night of dancing and Rockefeller Center, while a mysterious stranger keeps an eye on Pier Four.

Ben prepares dinner for Franklin and Alyssa, with Alyssa still insisting that Reed is acting out of character ever since his telepathic fight with Crucible last issue. Strangely, part of Ben’s dinner turns into a cartoon bird like Tweety, but with a bomb in its head. Ben saves everyone from the explosion, only for Alyssa and Franklin to attacked by… Gatecrasher and the Technet.

Okay, who are these characters? The big blue-skinned lady is Gatecrasher. She is an interdimensional bounty hunter, who tracks down threats to the multiverse. She’s not a good guy, however, as she’s often in the employ of Opal Luna Saturnyne, an evil queen from another dimension. The Technet is Gatecrasher’s band of super-powered enforcers. They first appeared in Captain Britain and later became major players in Excalibur. Here’s the list:

• Numbers is a little lizard guy who sits on Gatecrasher’s shoulder and gives her important info.
• Yap is the other little lizard on Gatecrasher’s other shoulder. He’s a teleporter, who transports the team from dimension to dimension.
• Joyboy is the weird alien baby in the floating chair. He has the power to make anyone’s dreams come true, but with disastrous results. Kind of like that movie Wishmaster.
• Ringtoss is the guy in the gold armor. He can project energy rings that wrap around his enemies.
• Bodybag is the big dinosaur-like guy. He incapacitates his enemies by swallowing them whole and storing them in a liquid sac within his body. (Gross.)
• China Doll is the blue-skinned Medusa-like alien. She has the power to shrink her enemies down to teeny size.
• Thug is the little frog-like one. He has super strength – your basic brawler.
• Scatterbrain is the beautiful woman with the green hair. She creates trippy illusions that throw enemies for a loop.
• Ferro-2 is the werewolf with the fencing swords in each hand. That’s right — Swordfighting werewolf!

Gatecrasher says she has a warrant to extradite Franklin back to “the prime continuum.” Alyssa flees with Franklin while Ben fights the Technet. Joyboy turns him human for a second, but Ben sees through the trick and punches out Joyboy. Then Scatterbrain and China Doll team up to mesmerize Ben and shrink him. He’s then fed to Bodybag, with Gatecrasher saying Ben will be kept in stasis. Alyssa and Franklin get out of the building and make it to a pay phone, only for Ferro-2 to stop them and take them hostage. While all this has been going on, we occasionally check in with Reed and Sue and their romantic date, with Reed calling this, “the most memorable night of my life.”

To be continued!

Unstable molecule: Reed’s odd behavior (or is it?) won’t be addressed in full until around issue #10.

Fade out: The Sue/Namor conversation is interesting. Sue rebukes Namor in favor of Reed, but she does so in a way that Namor can understand. She finds a way to speak to him on his level.

Clobberin’ time: Not sure what the plan was for Alyssa at this point, but Ben has his arm around her in a lot of panels. He also shows off the FF’s new pogo plane, which is equipped with a whole bunch of missiles.

Flame on: There’s a joke about Johnny having set off the fire sprinklers at Pier Four, so Sue is making him clean the entire building.

Fantastic fifth wheel: With former FF members Luke Cage and She-Hulk now with Heroes for Hire, it makes sense that H4H be FF adjacent. The H4H are operating out of Oracle Inc., which is the mega-corporation owned by Namor when he is in his weird “billionaire CEO” mode. This also conveniently explains why Namor just shows up in the Oracle Inc. pool.

Four and a half: The comic spends two whole pages devoted to Reed and Franklin having fun at the Yankees game. Franklin catches a foul ball, and he does it without the use of his or his dad’s super-powers.

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. Could her sparring session with Iron Fist be part of her spy training?

Commercial break: Nightmare fuel!

Trivia time: What’s the deal with the exploding cartoon chicken? He’s also a member of Technet, named Hard-Boiled Henwy. He first appeared in Excalibur #31, and never appeared again after this issue.

There is one other member of Technet not appearing in this issue – an octopus-like alien named Waxworks, who can loosen his opponent’s molecular structure, making them all gooey like Jello.

The fashion designer who meets with Sue, She-Hulk and Wasp is named Kay Cera. More than just a pun name, Kay is a member of the super-family Clan Destine. She’s an 800-year-old being who occasionally fights evil under the name Cuckoo. She has great psychic powers, but like most members of Clan Destine, she is reluctant to use them.

Fantastic or frightful? Mostly a “hangout” issue, that sets the stage for upcoming events. It has a lot of fun character moments, and has the added bonus of the Technet being nice and weird. Some might argue that nothing happens in this issue, but I suspect that’s the point.

Next: Warwolves? There, wolves!

****

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 #5, we get a new villain, a new supporting character, and (Price is Right voice) A NEW CAR!!!

Over the last few issues, we’ve followed a subplot about two reporters pursuing a story all the way to Tibet, where they awoke a mysterious figure named Crucible. Crucible took them hostage and put them on a plane. This issue begins on another plane, however, as the Reed and Ben are flying to Stockholm so Reed can speak at a conference, but because of circumstances, they’re forced to fly coach. It’s wacky! The plane gets hijacked by terrorists (remember this was 1998) from the mutant nation of Genosha, so Reed and Ben save the day.

In Stockholm, we see Crucible is there. He’s a striking figure, with gold metallic skin, blue armor, and a red cape. He has trapped the two journalists inside the bodies of stone gargoyles (!). Crucible says he has the power to transform life itself, and he’s come to Stockholm for “an alchemy of the soul,” and he wants to remind all flesh that it is “bound to the world.”

Meanwhile, Reed and ben arrive at the airport, where they are greeted by a blue-haired chauffer named Alyssa Foy and her vintage Rolls Royce speedster. Turns out Alyssa is a super-genius, and she and Reed have a history from his younger days. The two of them once shared a ten-week road trip in the Rolls from London to Capetown.

Later, everyone dresses in their finest for the conference, and Reed reveals the conference is about scientists all over the world finding “disturbing trends” in the space-time continuum, but all the results are contradictory. Crucible attacks the conference, saying he’s there to claim his birthright. He knocks everyone but Reed and unconscious, and he and Reed fight. Reed summons Ben, and both Ben and Alyssa join the fight. Ben throws one of Crucible’s devices out a window thinking it’s a bomb, and Reed tells Ben to go after it so Reed can study it.

Ben and Alyssa hop into the Rolls Royce, with Alyssa revealing it’s a high-tech flying car. Back at the fight, Crucible attacks Reed telepathically. Crucible says he is aware of Dr. Doom and Reed’s rivalry, and says that he is all Dr. Doom’s wasted potential come to fulfilment. Reed collapses, and Crucible thinks he’s won. Except Reed was just playing dead and attacks Crucible from behind. Although it looks like a win, Reed ponders how his body has become weak and he can barely keep it together. Reed and Alyssa find the missing device, and Alyssa deduces that it’s a scanner of some kind.

Turn the page, and Reed is fighting back, doing that thing from the Onslaught crossover where he stretches his muscles to Hulk size. He beats up Crucible, with Crucible saying the whole time that Reed has already lost. Alyssa and Ben return, as Alyssa explains that Crucible is a technological telepath, in that he doesn’t read minds, but instead reads talents. He attacked the conference to steal the genius of all the scientists. Ben and Alyssa find Reed nearly unconscious from having punched out Crucible. In a haze, Reed says, “I beat him real good, I beat him real good.”

Unstable molecule: This is the first appearance of Alyssa Moy, but this issue insists that she and Reed have maintained their friendship over the years, when them competing in chess matches via correspondence.

Fade out: Sue only appears in one page, staying at home in Pier Four, where we see she is busy paying all the bills.

Clobberin’ time: There’s a joke about Reed and Ben arriving in Stockholm with no luggage, only for Ben to reveal that their luggage was miniaturized, Ant-Man style.

Flame on: Johnny does even less than Sue in this issue, bragging that he could’ve driven the Rolls Royce better than Alyssa.

Four and a half: Franklin is the background during Sue’s one scene, and he’s wearing his own modified FF uniform, complete with the classic Power Pack moon boots. Gotta love a classic!

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 this time. Could she be running around doing spy stuff while Ben and Reed are out of town?

Commercial break: Two thumbs up? Really?

Trivia time: Get used to Alyssa, as she’s going to be a regular supporting character from here on. We won’t get the full flashback as to her and Reed’s youthful fling until much later, though.

Crucible will be back in a few issues, when we’ll get his backstory. Would you believe that not only is this not his first appearance, but he’s been around since the ‘60s?

The references to the space-time continuum being messed up is a shout-out to Marvel’s Age of Apocalypse mega-event, where some time-travel craziness spun off all the X-Men characters into a post-apocalyptic (so to speak) timeline. If you ever find the time to sit down and read the entire thing, you’ll find it’s one of the better Marvel crossovers.

One panel references the Warwolves, villains from Excalibur. This is also a hint as to events in upcoming issues.

Fantastic or frightful? This issue must have felt weirdly incomplete when reading it back in the day. These days, though, we know that the purpose is to set up future plotlines. It’s entertaining enough, but just not a stand-alone story.

Next: The new tech.

****

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. Famed writer Chris Claremont takes over the series with vol. 3 issue #4, along with artist Salvador Larocca. It’s a reunion between supporting characters, and villains both famous and obscure.

Claremont spent almost two decades writing Uncanny X-Men, Wolverine, New Mutants, and Excalibur – among others – only to have other writers pick up his unfinished plotlines in sometimes baffling ways. (How many lost Summers brothers were there, again?) There’s much speculation as to how and why Claremont left the X-Men titles in the mid-90s, when the mutants were at the height of their popularity. The year 1998 sees Claremont back at Marvel as the new Fantastic Four writer. Claremont is beloved for helping define the Marvel Universe as we know it, but he is also controversial for working his many, shall we say, personal eccentricities into his writing.

Chris Claremont.

The issue begins with Ben on a balcony at Pier Four (the team’s current headquarters) which overlooks the Statue of Liberty. He thinks of his father, and growing up in poverty, wondering what his dad would think of him now. He gets beaned in the dead by a brick wrapped up in a newspaper – another prank from the Yancy Street Gang. He also meets up with sexy mailwoman Billie. Billie mentions her uncle, but before we get any more information, a “cosmic flare” goes off from former HQ Four Freedoms Plaza, which can also be seen in the distance.

Ben takes off in his FF skycycle, calling his teammates for backup. He also self-narrates about how the Thunderbolts have left Four Freedoms Plaza trashed after hero Citizen V was revealed to be former villain Baron Zemo. At the building, Ben comes across the Silver Surfer and Alicia. They quickly catch up – she thought he was dead during the whole Heroes Reborn thing, and he wonders why she took off into space with the Surfer. The Surfer is in a weakened state, and Ben promises to help, despite the tension between him and Alicia. As the rest of the FF approach in the Fantasticar, the car’s engine goes haywire with the team hurrying to avoid collateral damage as it crashes atop the building.

There’s a short scene with the two archeologists from last issue, now captured by the mysterious man named Crucible. He has them abducted and on board an airplane somewhere over Asia. Then it’s back to the FF, where the Surfer is feeling better and leading the Fantasti-jet in flight from New York into Canada. Sue and Reed have a heart-to-heart chat about dividing their time between parenting and superheroing. Ben and Alicia have a similar heart-to-heart where he asks her if her relationship with the Silver Surfer is serious, and she doesn’t really answer. Then it’s a third heart-t0-heart between Johnny and the Surfer, where the Surfer says he’s come to care about Alicia and doesn’t like the thought of leaving her behind on Earth.

The heroes arrive in the small town of Yorkton, Canada, where the Surfer, once again in a weakened state, follows his instincts as why he’s been driven there. The heroes can find no anomalies of any kind in the seemingly normal town. It’s only then that the Mole Man steps out of a nearby building. He makes a big speech about the superiority of the underground kingdom, but Ben talks him out of a fight.

The Mole Man leads the FF inside, promising them answers. Inside the building, we see the subterranean Moloids, who have become sick after fleeing the underground kingdom to the surface world. Sue asks who could be responsible, and she gets her answer from Terminus, who smashes open the roof of the building. There’s some quick exposition about how Terminus is a would-be world-devourer who keeps getting driven deep into the Earth by the FF, the Avengers and X-Men. A closer look at Terminus’ hands reveals he has a new body, composed of hundreds of Moloids all stuck together.

Ben wants to fight, but Reed says the Moloids have been transformed due to a virus, and they need a cure, not a battle. The Mole Man, meanwhile, is overcome with grief that such a horror has happened to his subjects. The Surfer then discusses how Terminus is different from Galactus. Galactus has the Power Cosmic, which is sensitive to life, while Terminus twists and corrupts life for his own end. Terminus starts stomping around the town of Yorkton, and NOW everyone fights. Johnny gets smashed downward into an underground river, where he’s saved by a mysterious stranger. Reed says the heroes must destabilize Terminus’ new form. Reed attacks Terminus, while the Surfer can sense that the individual Moloids still have some free will, and are mentally fighting Terminus’ control.

The Moloids start to break away from Terminus’ body, but are still under his thrall, and now threat to spread the virus wherever they go. Terminus makes a big speech about using the Moloids to purge poison from the Earth. That’s when Alicia approaches the battle, saying the Silver Surfer needs her help to find a pattern he needs to undo what Terminus has done. While the FF fear for Alicia’s safety, she manages to guide the Silver Surfer in using the power cosmic to stop Terminus and restore order to all the Moloids.

Ben is wracked with sadness, thinking that Alicia and the Silver Surfer look like they were meant to be together. But he then puts on a brave face and says no matter what happens, he’ll always be Alicia’s friend, and will always be there for her if she needs him. He then adds a warning for the Surfer, “Treat her wrong… you’ll answer to me.”

Unstable molecule: Reed says the new Terminus is reminiscent of the Clive Barker short story, In the Hills, the Cities. Here we have Chris Claremont not hiding his influences, but the real question is since when is the typically buttoned-up Reed Richards a Clive Barker fan?

Fade out: During the final battle, Sue manages to save the town by putting a “full spectrum” force field around Terminus so the power cosmic doesn’t escape. We’re told this means the force field blocks not just physical force, but light, heat, and radiation – a power I don’t believe Sue has demonstrated before.

Clobberin’ time: The comic remembers that Ben and the Mole Man were friends once, when Ben temporarily lived in the underground kingdom. Ben tries to reason with Mole Man at first, before Terminus shows up.

Flame on: Johnny saves everyone from the crashing Fantasticar by creating a cushion of hot air under it. Later, he tries the same trick against Terminus, only to get knocked into an underground river. Nonetheless, Reed praises Johnny, saying there’s no one else on Earth who understands fire better.

Four and a half: Franklin appears in one panel, playing a video game. We don’t get to see what game, sadly.

Commercial break: Ahh, the majesty and wonder of Greek mythology brought to life on the big screen.

Trivia time: Turns out when the Avengers fought Terminus, it wasn’t really Terminus. An issue of Quasar later revealed that it was a creature named Jorro who was impersonating Terminus. Similarly, the X-Men’s encounter with Terminus wasn’t really a Terminus story, but a faceoff with the High Evolutionary in response to Terminus’ (really Jorro’s) actions. The X-Men would finally meet the real Terminus years later, in a 2012 storyline, in which Terminus was one of several aliens invading the Earth at once.

Because we’re in Canada, one character suggests calling Alpha Flight for help. This month’s issue of Alpha Flight had the team fighting (of course) Wolverine, who had (of course) reverted back to an animalistic state.

Fantastic or frightful? Giving Terminus a new body composed of thousands of diseased Moloids is an odd concept, even for Marvel. The good news is Claremont writes the FF characters nicely. I also like Salvador Larocca’s early artwork, which was really cartoony and almost Disney-like. I’d say the good outweighs the bad.

Next: The crux of the matter.

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