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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.

****

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 #3 is the third and final issue with legendary artist Alan Davis, who co-wrote this one with writer Scott Lobdell. Davis originally intended to stay on Fantastic Four longer, but left when he got the chance to do his passion project The Nail at DC. For part three of the Davis trilogy, we’ve got apes.

It’s New Years Eve in NYC, and the Sue, Ben, and Johnny are in formal wear ready to go to a benefit gala. Reed is still in his lab working. The others break into the lab to find Reed performing an autopsy on last issue’s villain, the Iconoclast. The FF are horrified, but Reed explains that it’s not really the Iconoclast, but a holographic recreation of him. Reed says the Iconoclast is a human-sized single-cell organism, which somehow explains why he could not be detected. Sue, Ben and Johnny take off to the benefit, and Reed promises to catch up.

Cut to outer space, where readers are reunited with Alicia Masters. Readers who haven’t been following Silver Surfer during this time might not know that Alicia has been a supporting character in that comic for a time, and some might really be surprised to learn that Alicia and the Surfer have become a romantic couple by this point. The Surfer tells Alicia that his thoughts dwell on Earth after learning that the heroes who died/disappeared during Onslaught and Heroes Reborn have returned. Alicia says that although Ben has made no effort to contact her, she wonders if it’s time for her to get in touch with him. Then the Silver gets another premonition of Earth, saying that something is growing deep within the Earth, which may pose a threat to the planet.

Back in NYC, we’re at Empire State University, where we meet security guard Devin Chapman, who thinks of himself as a crimefighter called “Campus Defender,” and grad student Cathy Polombo, who is studying biopsy results on a test monkey. She discovers synthetic fibers in the monkey’s muscles and strange readings in its blood. She calls her student advisor, a “consulting professor,” and leaves a message. A voice tells her to hang up the phone. Cathy turns to face the Red Ghost and his Super-Apes. Note that the Super-Apes are now intelligent and can speak, while the Red Ghost only grunts and acts ape-like. The apes introduce themselves as Mikhlo, Peator (the gorilla), and Igor.

At Pier Four, Reed is still tinkering with the hologram when H.E.R.B.I.E. the robot alerts him to a phone call. Reed assumes it’s Sue, but it’s Cathy, revealing that Reed is her consulting professor. He flies to the scene in the Fantasticar and while calling the rest of the FF. At ESU, the apes trashing the lab. Devin Chapman the Campus Defender tries to intervene, giving the apes to show off their powers. The apes now have multiple superpowers, including shape-changing and telekinesis. The Super-Apes reveal that Igor has been posing as a lab monkey to secretly build a toxic nerve gas device in the lab when alone each night. They plan to release the gas in Times Square.

Reed busts into the lab and fights the apes, with Paetor the gorilla providing the only real challenge. Reed observes that the apes share each others’ powers, and the Red Ghost’s intellect is now distributed among the apes. Reed knocks out Paetor just as his teammates burst through the door. With the Red Ghost too innocent and childlike to fight back, Ben declares the crisis over. Reed, however, recalls that Red Ghost and the apes got their powers from the same cosmic rays that gave the FF their powers. Reed wonders if the FF will face the same fate.

Then, somewhere in the mountains of Tibet, two explorers come across an ancient monastery. They find a bunch of dead bodies inside and then they’re confronted by a man in the shadows who calls himself Crucible. Cut from there to Subterranea, where the Mole Man is getting out of a bath (!) to discover all his minions have disappeared. He senses a monster crawling up from the depths of the planet, and he says that although he doesn’t care about the surface world, he will fight with his dying breath to save his people.

To be continued!

Unstable molecule: To spy on the Super-Apes, Reed stretches one eyeball through a grate (gross). Also for anyone who says Reed is boring, he is a man of action in this issue, taking out three super-powered enemies without breaking a sweat.

Fade out: Sue shows off her science-brain by pointing out that a single-celled organism is an amoeba.

Clobberin’ time: Ben says he’s uncomfortable in his New Year’s tuxedo, and sure enough he ditches it to jump into action.

Flame on: Johnny gives Reed a hard time for Reed being on a first-name basis with the three Super-Apes, but then Johnny remembers that the Red Ghost’s first name is Ivan two panels later.

Fantastic fifth wheel: H.E.R.B.I.E. the robot has been demoted to the team’s answering machine. Sue has programmed him not to respond to Reed’s “not now” when he calls, but Reed counters that with a code that automatically deactivates H.E.R.B.I.E. (Freakin’ H.E.R.B.I.E. the robot.)

Medusa shows up in this one-page pinup by Alan Davis and inker Mark Farmer.

Commercial break: Cyberswine!

Trivia time: Which ape is which? This issue says that Paetor is the gorilla, but the Marvel Wiki claims Miklho is the gorilla, with Paetor being the orangutan and Igor being the baboon. Maybe their names/identities/consciousnesses got switched around along with their powers. (Alternatively, the Wiki also lists the Super-Apes appearance in a Hostess Fruit Pie ad as canon, so maybe the Wiki isn’t the definitive source we think it is.)

The story of how Red Ghost and his Super-Apes were transformed has never been revealed. They next appeared in Wolverine #164, where they were in jail and back to their usual selves.

Sharp-eyed readers will recognize the monastery as the same one from Dr. Doom’s origin story, where Doom crafted his armor. The Crucible storyline won’t be picked up again until vol. 3 issue #5.

This is the only appearance of security guard Devin Chapman, which is too bad. I wouldn’t have minded the further adventures of the Campus Defender.

Fantastic or frightful? How sad that this is all we get from Alan Davis and Scott Lobdell. This has a ton of great character moments and cinematic action. It’s a reminder of how comics can be pure fun.

Next: Mt. Clare.

****

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 volume 3 issue #2, the short-but-stellar run of writer Scott Lobdell and legendary artist Alan Davis continues, with a new headquarters, a new villain, even a new mailman.

The issue begins with Ben and Johnny in battle against what appears to be some sort of giant silver blob. Turn the page, and this is revealed to be team’s new “mutating couch.” We’re in the FF’s new living room, where Reed explains that the couch is made of “psi-sensitive molecules” that conform to anyone who uses it. It works on Sue and Franklin, turning into a perfectly comfy chair for her and a swing for Franklin, but Ben and Johnny overloaded the couch by jumping on it at the same time. The couch becomes stable and explodes, but no one is hurt. Reed says the experiment is a failure, though Franklin asks how it could be a failure if they had fun.

Ben has had enough of the horsing around, saying he wants to go back to their headquarters at Four Freedoms Plaza. It’s here we officially establish that the FF have moved to a new HQ, Pier Four, described as being Reed’s former storage warehouses by the docks. Reed reminds Ben (and the readers) that hot newcomers the Thunderbolts took ownership of Four Freedoms Plaza after the building was stripped of its internal workings. Ben accuses the Thunderbolts of trashing the building, but Reed says he gave Four Freedoms Plaza to the Thunderbolts as a gift, and that it’s no shape for the FF now anyways.

Ben is still angry, wanting to go pick a fight with the Thunderbolts. He’s stopped at the pier’s front door (unlocked, apparently) by a beautiful woman. She introduces herself as Billie, the team’s new mail carrier. Both Ben and Johnny are smitten, and decide that Pier Four might not be so bad.

Sue and Reed discuss the pier, and whether it can truly be a new home for their family. As they do, a mysterious figure watches from the shadows. Cut to New York’s Empire State University, where two researchers are concerned about the health of an ape they are experimenting on. When they leave the room, the ape speaks, saying “Soon you will all be dust beneath our paws.” In the streets of New York, Ben is wandering and comes across a display of some of Alicia’s sculptures, which he finds tacky. He considers finding Alicia to let her know he’s okay. Johnny then flies up and tells Ben that they are both are single now, and they should get to work at meeting some ladies. Then Johnny plays a joke on Ben, covering him snow and making him look like a snowman.

At the pier, Reed is tucking Franklin into bed, and Franklin says he likes the new home. Reed and Sue get ready for bed themselves (phwrar!) when Sue spots something. Someone invisible is the room with them, but her powers make him visible. It’s a creepy guy who calls himself the Iconoclast. He says he’s here to “null you before you null us.” A fight breaks out. Sue knocks the Iconoclast outside over the water, while Reed gets Franklin to safety. Reed then rejoins the fight after the pier’s security measures are in place. It’s a tough battle because only Sue can see the Iconoclast, while he fires his null energy bolts at them both. Franklin watches them from inside the pier and sends out a signal flare. Ben Johnny see it while bickering, and they run back to the pier to join the battle.

As the fighting continues, it’s revealed the Iconoclast’s powers aren’t just invisibility. Reed is unable to see, hear, or touch the Iconoclast, but the Iconoclast has no problem beating up Reed, with a lot of eye-popping panels of Reed’s face getting punched in. Sue has no such weakness, and she keeps up the fight. He says that millions of lives are at stake, depending on him destroying the FF. Ben and Johnny arrive, and Johnny makes the Iconoclast partially visible by generating heat. It only works for a second, before the Iconoclast blasts Johnny with an ice ray.

Sue tricks the Iconoclast into walking out over the water on one of her forcefields. She removes the field, dunking him in the water. Reed says that by making direct contact with the water, his cloaking device shorted out. The bad news is, the Iconoclast takes off in the water, making a clean escape. The team launches a search with Reed’s scanning devices but there’s no sign of him. Sue is convinced that he’s out there somewhere… watching.

Unstable molecule: Reed says his futuristic couch was a failure, but it looks like a lot of his new tech in the pier is similar silvery liquid metal stuff. So, maybe not a total failure?

Fade out: The small amount of fans online actually talking about this issue are debating how Sue’s powers work, and how she can see through another person’s invisibility. The general consensus seems to be that the Iconoclast’s invisibility powers are similar enough to Sue’s that she can see him.

Clobberin’ time: Ben ponders trying to find Alicia. It’d be a long search, because at this point in continuity Alicia was still flying around in space alongside the Silver Surfer.

Flame on: Johnny says Lyja has up and disappeared, with her shape-changing powers making it easy for her to hide in plain sight. In official Marvel continuity, the Secret Invasion storyline was already under way at this time. During Heroes Reborn, Lyja felt betrayed by Johnny and the FF, so went deep undercover with a Skrull sleeper cell on Earth.

Fantastic fifth wheel: Amid all the toys and junk in Franklin’s room, we can clearly see H.E.R.B.I.E. the robot off to one side. Freakin’ H.E.R.B.I.E. the robot.

Four and a half: Franklin’s bedroom is treasure trove of references and Easter eggs. He has a Stretch Armstrong-style toy of Reed, a Jack-in-the-box with a Skrull face, a Dr. Doom punching bag, a drawing of his mom, blocks made to look like Ben’s rocky hide, a teddy bear, a tyrannosaurus rex, a Frankenstein toy, a model of the Enterprise from Star Trek, a model of the TARDIS from Dr. Who, a TIE fighter and X-wing from Star Wars, and the penguin diamond thief from The Wrong Trousers. He also has a telescope for his brainier side, and a soccer ball, baseball bat, and tennis racket for his sporty side.

Commercial break: “Ladies, ladies, ladies, Jay and Silent Bob are in the hizzouse!”

Trivia time: This is pretty much it for the Iconoclast. We learn a little more about him next issue, but nothing definitive. He’ll later appear in one panel of the 2005 miniseries Fantastic Four: Foes as part of a gathering of villains. Beyond that, the reason he attacked Sue and the millions of lives he says are in the balance have, to date, never been revealed.

Sue-per spy: In the 2019 Invisible Woman miniseries, we learn Sue had a double life as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent all this time. Could the Iconoclast’s attack have something to do with one of her secret spy missions?

Fantastic or frightful? I like the Baxter Building as much as anyone, but Pier Four is really cool. It’s right up there with the Batcave, the Turtle’s lair, and Challengers Mountain as hero headquarters you’d actually want to live in. Even though we only get the Iconoclast for a few pages, he has a different power set from what we’ve seen before, making him an interesting challenge for our heroes to up against. Another slam dunk from Davis and Lobdell.

Next: Ape escape!

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