macmcentire

Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. The series gets a special 1/2 issue, courtesy of the one and only Wizard Magazine. You might think that 1/2 should come before 1, but this takes place between issues 1 and 2 in official continuity. Never change, Marvel.

This issue could only be purchased polybagged with Wizard #85. It’s a co-promotion so that first-time readers can check out the new reboot of Fantastic Four, and long-time Marvel fans could check out Wizard. While Scott Lobdell and the great Alan Davis were killing it in the first few issues of the reboot, this (sort-of) freebie is courtesy of writer/editor Ralph Macchio and artist Ron Lim.

We begin with archipelago in the Bermuda Triangle, containing an entrance to the Mole Man’s subterranean lair. Even though the previous issue had the Mole Man calling off an attack on the surface world, this one has him back at it. He has a device called a “tremor trigger,” which will wrack the surface world with earthquakes. He then plans to reshape the Earth in his own image. Then there’s several pages of retelling the Mole Man’s origin, how he fled into solitude because of his ugliness, only to find Subterranea and become its king.

Cut to New York and… it’s the first appearance of Pier Four! This will be the FF’s new headquarters for the time being. It’ll get a proper introduction in the next issue, but this is our debut glimpse of the new locale. Ben and Johnny argue over what to watch on TV, leading to some of their classic bickering. Sue breaks them up, and they all meet in the Reed’s “ancillary research laboratory,” where Reed is at work inventing an enlarging/reducing field to shrink or grow objects. He’s using Ant-Man’s Pym particles to help with this experiment. Reed has Johnny and Sue use their powers on the device, for this issue’s excuse-for-the-heroes-to-use-their-powers-for-a-few-pages thing.

The fun science is interrupted when a nearby city block is struck by an Earthquake. The FF rush into action, using their powers to rescue people trapped in the damaged buildings. Some cops show up with the Mole Man in custody, saying he’d just shown up nearby. He admits to being responsible for the quake, saying it was a mere demonstration of his power. He then says he plans to deliver an ultimatum to the United Nations. Ben threatens to clobber the Mole Man, so Mole Man uses his staff to summon his giant monsters from Subterranea. (Why didn’t the cops confiscate his staff?)

The FF battle the monsters, using their powers in creative ways. It’s still not enough, though. Reed has Johnny speed back to Pier Four to retrieve the particle projector used in his shrinking/growing experiment. Reed uses the device and shrinks the dinosaur-sized monsters down to the size of mice. The Mole Man admits defeat, but then bonds with the shrunken monsters. He says they’re like family to him and he promises to protect them. Reed lets the Mole Man return to Subterranea, and Ben says that Mole Man has finally found peace, in that an outcast can find acceptance among other outcasts. He admits to being “just a tiny bit jealous” of the Mole Man. “But tomorrow – I’ll deny it,” he says.

Unstable molecule: During the fight, Reed does his classic move of stretching into a big slingshot and hurling a boulder at a monster.

Fade out: Sue is in rescue mode during the fight, using her force fields to protect bystanders. Reed praises her, calling her power “the most remarkable of all.”

Clobberin’ time: The issue begins with Ben watching a Yankees vs. Red Sox game, and during the fight, he continues grousing about missing the game.

Flame on: When Johnny’s flame isn’t able to burn the monsters’ hides, he instead dazzles them with a blinding bright flame to slow them down.

Fantastic fifth wheel: Although Hank Pym and Pym particles are mentioned, this comic is intended to promote the reboot, so the Scott Lang Ant-Man and his recent membership in the FF goes unmentioned.

Commercial break: We all remember Wizard magazine, but who else also read Toyfare, the home of Twisted Toyfare Theater?

Trivia time: There’s mention of the Mole Man’s former love Nala, who left him for fellow underground kingdom ruler Tyrannus, a nice continuity nod for longtime fans. But wait – Nala was last seen in the short-lived Fantastic Four Unlimited #4 where she and the Mole Man reunited. This means there was an untold story at some point where she dumped him and went back to Tyrannus again.

The Mole Man’s monsters seen in this issue are Giganto, Tricephalous, and Vandroom. There’s some confusion among fans about the Mole Man’s island being in the Bermuda Triangle in the Atlantic Ocean instead of the South Pacific in the Pacific Ocean. I say read closer. This issue never says the island is the Monster Island, just an island. Who says Mole Man can’t have more than one island?

The issue ends with the threat of the Mole Man’s tremor trigger earthquake machine still a threat. The Marvel Wiki has no entry for the tremor trigger, so let’s assume Mole Man dismantled it after his epiphany at the end of this issue.

Fantastic or frightful? This a simplistic story meant to introduce the Fantastic Four to first-time readers. As first issues go, I suppose there are worse out there. And after you’re done, you get to enjoy Wizard’s 25 greatest moments in comics history article, and wonder why almost all of them are from the ’80s.

Next: Iconoclastic.

****

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. With Heroes Reborn and Heroes Return mercifully over, it’s time for a fresh new start. In vol. 3 issue #1, legendary artist Alan Davis and writer Scott Lobdell do a smashing job of bringing the FF into the modern age without undoing what was done before.

Gimmie a gimmick: This was a wraparound cover with the FF on the front and the villains on the back. Also there was a separately-sold alternate cover, featuring the FF standing behind a glowing gold “4” logo.

We begin in the Mole Man’s underground kingdom, where he has amassed an army of Moloids and monsters, announcing that the time has come for all-out war against the surface world. He then receives a message tha the Fantastic Four are still alive, and not dead as previously reported. He calls off the attack. Then, alone, he raises a toast to the FF, in front of a Mount Rushmore-style monument had built of them.

Cut to Antarctica, where it’s back to business for our heroes. Ben out on the ice, about to test one of Reed’s new inventions, an “electromagnetic meson velocirator.” Johnny interrupts for some horseplay, melting the ice under Ben and kicking off some classic playful brawling between them, with Reed and Sue breaking them up. It’s the old-fashioned excuse-for-the-characters-to-use-their-powers-for-a-few-pages thing.

Then we cut to Paris, France, where the locals are protesting the presence of an American company, DRC (short for Deterrence Research Corporation). DRC head Aaron Starr meets with protestor Yvette Diamonde to give her a tour of the company’s archeological dig, where they’ve uncovered a sculpture thousands of years old. Diamonde seems okay with this at first, until the DRC goons use a laser gun-like device to “breach” the sculpture. Diamonde tries to stop them and accidentally kicks the laser gun. As she and the other protestors keeping fighting to preserve the sanctity of the site, the sculpture cracks and starts to break apart.

Back to the FF, we learn that this arctic base is the team’s new headquarters, thanks to the fact that the Thunderbolts have taken over the old Four Freedoms Plaza. Nearby, Johnny and Reed construct a new Fantasticar in the style of the original. Johnny wants to jazz up the design, but Reed says, “Image isn’t everything, Johnny,” and “Sometimes there’s no improving on the original concept.” (Oohh, shots fired at Jim Lee and the Wildstorm guys!) Reed gets an alarm warning him of a “transpatial anomaly” and says it’s time for the team to regroup.

Back in France, Diamonde ducks for cover as strange lights burst from the sculpture. Everyone else in the area is transmutated into ancient aliens called the Ruined, led by B’arr, Exalt, and Stem. The Ruined say that what humans call “progress” is just one step closer to destruction. To preserve the past, the Ruined give Dimaonde a mystic sword and ask her to be their new leader. She raised the sword He-Man style, and transmutates into a barbarian swordswoman.

Reed and Sue show up, using their powers to sneak onto the DRC site. Reed says the general public is not yet aware the FF are still alive, and he wants to keep operating in secret for the time being. Ben and Johnny are a few blocks away, where they’ve been instructed to keep a low profile. Johnny flirts with a model named Arlise, when Ben goes for a walk and is pestered by France’s version of the Yancy Street Gang, here called Rue de Yancy.

When alien tentacles break through the ground to the surface, Reed signals the others for some action. The Ruined arrive and everybody fights. Daimonde shows up, now calling herself Martyr. With a single punch, she sends Ben flying across the city and into the bell tower at Notre Dame. Reed deduces that the Ruined are using the sculpture’s strange energies to transform all modern-day architecture back into structures ancient times. What’s more, the energy is following Martyr wherever she goes. Reed tries to use science to stop the energy, but the Ruined claim they are beyond science.

Johnny tries to destroy the source of the energy, only for it to absorb his flame. He starts to get drawn into the energy, but Martyr rescues him. She joins the fight against the Ruined, after they knock out Reed, Sue and Johnny. Martyr says the Ruined are doing more damage than DRC was going to do. Exalt tells her there’s nothing she can do now that the Fantastic Four are defeated. Ben returns, telling him he needs to learn to count. Reed comes to just long enough to tell Ben that “triangular harmonics” are needed to stop the energy. Ben lifts up that big pyramid thing at the Lourve and throws into the energy, which shorts it out and returns everything back to normal.

Not everything, though. Dimaonde is still transmutated into the superhuman Martyr. Starr, now human again, insists that Martyr’s armor and sword are now DRC property. Another fight is about to break out, but Martyr says she’s willing to work alongside DRC as its new spokes-superhero. She says she will fight to make sure that technology will not tamper with the natural order. Reed lets them go, saying “Science without morals is a disaster waiting to happen.” As the Fantasticar flies over Paris, the city’s population comes out to cheer them on, revealing to the world that the Fantastic Four are back.

Unstable molecule: Reed says he’s had this arctic base all along, but absent-mindedly never mentioned it to Ben and Johnny. Was this his and Sue’s secret private getaway?

Fade out: In the introductory text page states that Sue’s responsibilities include the non-profit/charitable arm of Fantastic Four Inc., something I don’t recall coming up before.

Clobberin’ time: Unlike the others, Ben is still struggling with the events of Heroes Reborn. He’s bothered by the fact that he got to live his whole life all over again, and still made most of the same mistakes.

Flame on: The Marvel Wiki insists that Arlise, the model who flirts with Johnny, turned into the one of the Ruined, named Katar. We’ll have to see if she shows up again when the Ruined return in a few issues from now.

Four and a half: After a year of Franklin crying about the death of his parents in Generation X and Daydreamers, Franklin is back to being a happy-go-lucky fun-loving kid in this issue. The state of his reality bending mutant powers remains unmentioned.

Sue-per spy: While this blog was on a break last year, Marvel went and published an Invisible Woman miniseries that revealed Sue has had a double life as S.H.I.E.L.D. agent all this time! Moving forward, you can bet I’ll be looking for anything that might suggest Sue’s spycraft.

Commercial break: Police state.

Trivia time: Again according to the Marvel Wiki, the other members of the Ruined not named in this issue are C’hin, Casque, Feuille, Griffe, S’pyke, Touffe, and M’stapha.

Fantastic or Frightful? The reason I started this blog way back when was to put into words why I was disappointed in the Tim Story Fantastic Four movies, and what elements from the comics could make for a good movie. This issue fulfils the unfulfilled promise of Heroes Reborn by being a fresh new start for first-time readers while also being big and cinematic. It’s a blockbuster action movie in a single read. Too bad we’re only getting Lobdell and Davis for three issues, but the good news that this issue #1 is an all-timer.

Next: Half of one.

****

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. When the Heroes Reborn reboot fell below expectations, Marvel was quick to re-reboot it. Time for the FF, the Avengers, and more to reenter regular Marvel continuity, and it was decided that the FF’s own Franklin Richards as the reason for it all, hence the notorious Heroes Reborn: The Return.

By now, everyone knows the story – everything that happened in the Heroes Reborn Universe (hereafter called “HRU”) took place in a pocket universe created by Franklin Richards’ reality-bending powers. When a bunch of superheroes sacrificed their lives to defeat supervillain Onslaught, Franklin subconsciously created another universe for them to live, where their lives began anew with no memory of their previous lives in the Marvel Universe (hereafter “MU”). We the fans already know this, but how did this play out in the actual comics, exactly?

After Onslaught, Franklin spent a short amount of time as a supporting character in Cable, where it looked like Cable might become his new father figure. Franklin next showed up, however, in Generation X, finding a new home at the Xavier School. When the school was attacked, he and a bunch of others fled to the nexus of all realities, home of Man-Thing. There, they formed their own super-team, the Daydreamers. That’s all well and good, except that through this all, Franklin can be seen carrying around a blue sphere, which he’s had since the last issue of the Onslaught event. This sphere contains the HRU, but for the life of me I can’t figure out when this was officially revealed. After a while, it’s as if readers are just meant to pick up on it. If anything, it looks to me like the fact that Franklin created the HRU wasn’t revealed in a story, but in all the ads for this event. Whatever. Let’s just get on with the story.

Every issue of Heroes Reborn: The Return begins with the same four-page text piece catching new readers up to speed. This is a little awkward for the first issue in that it summarizes what we’re about to read, but whatever. The issue begins with Franklin Richards alongside a mysterious woman as a storm hits NYC. The woman tells Franklin his parents are still alive, “elsewhere and elsewhen.” Franklin is teleported away from her to the Florida swamp, home of his new Daydreamers teammate Man-Thing. Back in New York, Peter Parker and Aunt May watch a news report recapping Onslaught and the first appearance of the Thunderbolts. Then we see the Hulk is also in New York, wandering the back streets in his anger. Remember that Onslaught separated Bruce Banner and the Hulk into two individuals. The Hulk stayed in the MU, while Banner was in the HRU where he of course transformed into a second Hulk. (You getting all this?)

Back in the swamp, Man-Thing fights an alligator (he always fights alligators), while Franklin looks into his sphere and sees a vision of Bruce Banner and not one but two Hulks. He then sees images of the HRU where Ben and Thor are fighting the Hulk. The mystery woman reappears and fights Man-Thing, burning him with his own fear (dang). She tells Franklin her name is Ashema and that they have to talk. She tells Franklin that when his father was done with an experiment, he cleaned up afterward. Now, she says, Franklin has created an experiment that he has to clean up. Ashema teleports Franklin to the HRU, explaining that this is a universe he created. She says Franklin has a choice. Only one of the two universes can survive – either one that’s his home or one where his parents live but don’t know him – and he has to choose.

Issue #2 begins with Franklin astral-projecting to his parents’ room (hey, the comic remembers his “Tattletale” powers from Power Pack). He warns them the “Cestials” are coming before he vanishes. Sue says she feels like she knows him somewhere, and the FF agree to find him and help him. In the MU, Dr. Strange is contacted by Loki, who warns him about another world where powerful beings are trapped, and that Strange must find a “nexus point” to deal with the upcoming crisis. Ashema appears and takes Loki from the scene, saying he is not to interfere with the Celestials’ business. In the MU, Spider-Man learns about the Hulk wandering the streets during the storm, so he swings off to investigate. Outside of a Broadway theater (!) the Hulk fights Doc Sampson, the Thunderbolts, and Thor, all of whom are trying to get him to calm down. The street is torn open in an earthquake, allowing the Hulk to escape while Thor rescues some civilians. Dr. Strange travels to Man-Thing’s swamp and finds Franklin’s sphere. He too sees an image of the Hulk in it, and considers showing it to the Hulk.

In another wilderness, Franklin and Ashema talk some more. He doesn’t want to destroy an entire universe full of people’s lives. They find a wounded bear cub, and Franklin insists Ashema use her powers to heal it. She does, but then turns around and kills it right in front of him. Angered, Franklin lashes out at her with his own power. She says that Franklin can’t make his choice, the Celestials will make it for him.

Back in New York, the Hulk is now fighting Spider-Man, Hercules and the Thunderbolts in Central Park, when Dr. Strange appears. Spidey and the Hulk are both drawn into the sphere, teleporting themselves to the HRU, where the Hulk is confronted by… another Hulk!

Onto issue #3. In the HRU, Reed and Iron Man work in the lab, discovering two giant fireballs headed toward the Earth. Sue interrupts to say she can somehow sense Franklin is in danger. Then there’s additional science talk as Iron Man has been getting strange readings from rocks at the Earth’s core (how’d he get those?) and he flies into the Negative Zone to test them. Reed, meanwhile, considers asking Dr. Doom for help, since Doom recently helped them fight Galactus.

The MU Hulk thinks the HRU Hulk is Bruce Banner and attacks, with Spider-Man caught in the middle. The Hulks fight their onto the Brooklyn Bridge and then down into the water. Spider-Man follows them there, wondering what to do, when the Avengers show up, along with Ben and Johnny. Spidey is relieved to see they’re all alive, but they have no idea who he is.

In the MU, Franklin runs off and accidentally falls off 100-foot cliff (!). Ashema is willing to leave him for dead, but then she receives a telepathic message from the rest of the Celestials, telling her to bring Franklin back to life. She does, and in doing so she experiences what it means to be human, through his experiences and through the experiences of all humanity who are connected through Franklin’s reality-bending powers. Now emotionally transformed, Ashema agrees to help Franklin.

In the HRU, Iron Man returns from his test, which determined that the Earth’s core is only one year old. He and Reed are baffled by this, while Sue insists that Franklin and the Celestials hold the answer. Franklin then appears in the room, and runs into Sue’s arms. Elsewhere in New York, a giant ship flies out of the water near the Brooklyn Bridge, having captured both Hulks. Spider-Man, and the HRU heroes jump into action, learning that Dr. Doom is piloting the ship. Doom flies the ship to FF headquarters, saying he’s discovered transdimensional energy leaking from another world into theirs. The heroes and Doom all regroup, and Reed says Franklin, Spider-Man, and the Hulk all reveal the existence of another world, and that they should take Doom’s ship there.

Ashema is also there, and she says Franklin has made his choice. Franklin admits he has, and that he couldn’t allow everyone in the Marvel Universe to die. At that moment, the group alerted to activity from outside. They look to see a Celestial appearing in space, looming over the Earth.

Issue #4 begins with the rest of the HR heroes also on the scene, including Iron Man’s Hulkbusters team, and Rikki Barnes, a.k.a. the new Bucky. Also, everyone has now been clued into the fact that the HR universe is only a manifestation of a young boy’s imagination. Rikki is not happy about having to stay behind. Then things get complicated when Ashema says the heroes will return to the Marvel Universe, but not with Franklin. Franklin is coming to space with her to fulfill his destiny. The heroes aren’t having this, saying that whether they remember him or not, Franklin should stay with his parents. Ashema is about to start to fight, but Franklin talks her out of it. She demonstrates her power, though, by temporarily transforming Thor into… Thorg! This is, of course, the frog Thor from back in the Walt Simonson days.

Dr. Strange takes Franklin’s sphere to outer space, where he speaks with an unknown power. He says this unknown being has always refused to help in the past, but Strange urges them to help just this once. Strange hands the sphere over to the mystery figure. In the HRU, Iron Man takes some time to say goodbye to Pepper Potts, knowing what’s going to happen. Everyone then boards Dr. Doom’s ship, where Reed explains that they must first take the ship into the Negative Zone, and from there to edge of this reality – in this case, the edge of Franklin’s imagination. The ship takes off, with Ashema flying outside, alongside it. She transforms into some sort of energy being and says it’s time for the heroes to “see the light.”

The ship enters the Negative Zone, and that’s when Doom makes his move. He abducts Franklin and flees the ship, with the intent of stealing Franklin’s powers for his own. Doom plans to rule over both universes as a god, believing not even the Celestials can stop him. They’re in the distortion area of the Negative Zone, where air breathers can fly around in space with no problems. Reed and Thor pursue Doom and Franklin. Reed rescues his son while Thor beats up on Doom. Thor says his hammer has the power to tap into dimensional energies to create a rift between universes (could Thor always do this?). Iron Man takes the controls of Doom’s ship, to ensure that everyone enters the rift at the same time, as per Ashema’s instructions.

Then it happens. All the Heroes Reborn characters get their Marvel Universe memories back. Sue remembers her family. Bruce Banner remembers his traumatic childhood. Iron Man remembers his addictions and his anger. Captain America remembers a lifetime of battles. Then there’s a whole two pages dealing with Bruce Banner and Hulk reintegrating, becoming one person again. The caption reads, “To put it simply, the heroes return.”

Somewhere on Earth, the Fantastic Four regroup in a forest. Ashema appears before Sue, and Sue is done putting up with Ashema. Sue asks, “Who are you to decide that Franklin has been ruined by us?” Ashema responds, “Someone who has also been ruined by you.” Ashema disappears, telling Sue to take care of her “precious cargo.” There’s a quick glimpse of the Heroes Reborn universe, still existing, with Rikki watching over it. Then we see Ashema having returned to her Celestial form on the Celestials home planet. She is asleep, surrounded by the other Celestials. The captions say that granting Franklin the power to create this other universe was an experiment on the Celestials’ behalf, and that is how they learn and grow. When Ashema experienced the human condition, she too was transformed. As she sleeps, she dreams.

On the last page, we see the stranger Dr. Strange spoke to earlier. It’s Eternity, the living embodiment of reality itself. Eternity is now the keep of Franklin’s sphere. Eternity muses whether the dreams of a Celestial could be figment of someone else’s imagination. Perhaps we all are.

Unstable molecule: Reed rescues Franklin by stretching from Doom’s ship and out into space to grab hold of his son. His teammates then reel him back into the ship as if he’s one big fishing line.

Fade out: Sue’s certainty that she has a long-lost son she doesn’t remember is more or less the inciting incident that kicks off the whole adventure.

Clobberin’ time: We don’t see how Ben’s fight with the Hulk ended, except we’re told that the Hulk merely ran off. Later, the comic remembers that Ben is a pilot when Ben grouses that he should be flying Doom’s ship instead of Iron Man.

Flame on: Johnny barely appears in these comics, his only function is to look cool when standing next to his teammates.

Fantastic fifth wheel: Where is Crystal?!? Previous issues made the point that Crystal in Heroes Reborn was the same on from the Marvel Universe, but she doesn’t appear in this miniseries. The Marvel wiki insists that her and the Inhuman Royal Family were aboard Doom’s ship, but just in the lower decks where we couldn’t see them. The HRU versions of the rest of the Inhumans were merged into their MU selves, the wiki says.

She-Hulk and Spider-Man act all flirtatious with each other, with Spidey making the most of how this version of She-Hulk has no idea who she is. Since when was there romantic inklings between these two? Also, the Marvel wiki says the HRU She-Hulk also merged with her MU self.

Four and a half: Using Franklin’s powers to fix comic continuity might be convenient, but it’s also consistent, as there’s been a fear from the beginning that his powers represent a potential threat to reality itself. Throughout his appearances in Cable, X-Man, Generation X, and Daydreamers were all about Franklin coming to terns with his parents’ deaths, only for him to turn a corner in Heroes Return, where he succeeds in bringing them back.

Commercial break: Each of these four issues concludes with a tiring eight pages of ads for the upcoming Fantastic Four, Avengers, Iron Man and Captain America reboots.

Trivia time: This is not the final word on the HRU. Rikki Barnes, the new Bucky, later crossed over into the MU where she fought crime as Nomad for a while. Then the HRU got one last chance as superstardom with the miniseries Onslaught Reborn where Heroes Reborn did its own take on the Onslaught event that created it, courtesy of controversial artist Rob Liefeld.

Why is a Thor a frog? It’s a reference to a famous Walt Simonson Thor comic in which Loki transformed Thor into a frog, only for Thor to fight back after transforming again into a half-Thor, half-frog form. Since then, Marvel keeps coming up with ways to bring back “Throg” as his own character.

Fantastic or frightful? This whole thing is a mountain of Marvel continuity, with sole purpose of streamlining said continuity. Yet, somehow, writer Peter David finds a way to break through the editorial mandates and find the human story beneath. The debates between the all-powerful Celestial and the kid who just misses his parents are great moments, enough to make this worth reading.

As for the entire 16-month Heroes Reborn experiment, it was a disappointment overall. At its best, Heroes Reborn: Fantastic Four was familiar stories retold with some nice Jim Lee art. At its worst it was overly confusing writing with plots that never needed to be so confusing. I wanted to deep dive into Heroes Reborn hoping to make some great discovery, but there’s just nothing there. It was swept under the rug for a reason.

Next: Davis squared.

****

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. The Heroes Reborn event refuses to die, because vol. 2 issue #13 kicks off a whole new crossover, World War III, complete with a whole bunch of characters from another company.

The previous issue ended with the Earth being devoured by Galactus. After that, in the tie-in issues, Dr. Doom time-traveled to the past where the Marvel heroes eventually saved the Earth. Then we circle back to issue #13, which ignores the time travel stuff and takes us back to the timeline with the destroyed Earth. In this continuity, the destruction of the Earth causes all of time and space to rewrite itself into yet ANOTHER new timeline. By my count, then, the Heroes Reborn universe concludes by being split into five alternate timelines.

Remember how Amalgam Comics mixed and matched the Marvel and DC universes in all sorts of kooky ways? This World War III crossover does the same thing, but with Marvel and Jim Lee’s Wildstorm characters. Wildstorm, formerly of Image Comics, is of course the imprint that gave us WildC.A.T.S., Gen13, and a bunch of others. The issue begins with a short recap of the Marvel heroes fighting Galactus, along with the Wildstorm heroes fighting a villain named Damocles in their universe. From these two events came this new timeline, where New York is under attack by an alien force. Fortunately, the WildC.A.T.S. jump to help. This WildC.A.T.S. team contains Grifter, Zealot, Void, Warblade, and Emp – and also Giant-Man and Gorgon from the Marvel Universe are also C.A.T.S. now. Their enemies are a combination of Skrulls and the C.A.T.S.’ old enemies the Daemonites. The fighting goes on for several pages with narration telling us that the Defenders and D.V.8 have already fallen to the aliens. Then the S.H.I.E.L.D. Black Knights, including the Inhumans’ Karnak, join the battle.

Cut to two teens, who are watching the battle as it appears on a TV military enlistment commercial, and they consider signing up, saying NYC isn’t what it used to be. We go from there to the Baxter Building, which has been abandoned for months. Four individuals come through a portal – it’s a new version of the Fantastic Four, featuring Reed, Sue, Maul from the WildC.A.T.S. and Burnout from Gen13. They’re returning from the Negative Zone where they’ve been searching for their lost friend Ben. Villains Annihilus and Defile follow them through the Negative Zone portal, though, ready for a fight. Then there’s a few more pages of fighting as this new FF toss the baddies back through the portal and close it.

The FF then get a message from S.H.I.E.L.D., which is now run by Lynch, originally from Gen13. Lynch says that Nick Fury and Ursa Major recently died in a battle against Dr. Doom, so Lynch is taking over for Fury. Reed tells Lynch “I found a way to beat them! I found a way to win!” He tells Lynch to assemble a team, made up of “everyone.” Lynch summons the Avengers, led by Spartan, who in this reality is the new Captain America, along with Thor, Scarlet Witch, Swordsman Freefall, Hellstrike and Brass. The second group is Stormwatch, made up of Vision, Triton, Fairchild, Battalion, Fuji, Hellstrike, Winter, Jenny Sparks, and Jack Hawksmoor. Third is Wetworks, made up of the Wetworks regulars Dane, Claymore, Jester, Mother-One, and Pilgrim, along with Hawkeye. Fourth is the WildC.A.T.S. team with Gorgon from the start of the issue.

Lynch meets with S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Kitaen (who was Voodoo in the original WildC.A.T.S.), who tells him that three lone guns, Iron Man, Majestic, and Steve Rogers – the original Captain America before Spartan – are still out there somewhere. Lynch fills in the reader about this whole alternate history, where the Daemonite invasion became known to the public and their teaming up with the Skrulls, and Dr. Doom taking advantage of the alien invasion to make a move and conquer all of Europe. We also learn Reed has developed new cell phone-like devices that help ordinary folks tell whether someone is a Skrull in disguise. This becomes another recruitment ad, after which we meet up with those two teens from earlier. They’re Rick Jones and Grunge, sign up to join the “United Forces.” Then there’s an epilogue in the Negative Zone in which a silhouetted character who appears to be Ben befriends a mysterious stranger, and they start looking for a way out.

The next chapter is in Avengers #13, where Iron Man comes out of hiding to help Wetworks and Hawkeye to destroy a Skrull bioweapons facility in Italy. All the heroes gather aboard the Stormwatch satellite, where Iron Man explains that he’s been in hiding since the alien invasion, developing new tech to fight them. Reed then explains that the FF went into the Negative Zone to find a new energy source to fight the aliens. Johnny died, and Ben was lost. Reed says he glimpsed numerous alternate realities while in the Zone. Reed says their current reality was formed from two realities when both experienced a simultaneous cataclysm, and the only way to stop the alien invasion is separate this universe back into two universes. Further, somehow Dr. Doom is the one who has a “lock” on the universe, keeping it from splitting back into two. What the heroes don’t know is that Doom, the Daemonite leader Helspont, and the Skrull High-Emissary are spying on the heroes’ every move. The “lock” exists half on Earth and half in the Negative Zone, so the heroes plan to split into two groups for two assaults. Before they can, though, the Skrulls attack the Stormwatch satellite, destroying it.

In Iron Man #13, the team attacking Negative Zone catch a glimpse of other realities, and then fight Annihilus and Defile again. The heroes win the fight, with some of them dying the process. Dr. Doom announces that he’s taking an army into the Negative Zone. We finally meet Steve Rogers, the former Captain America who is now fighting crime as Nomad. Agent Kitaen finds him and gives him back his shield, hoping he will join the fight. Among the survivors of the Satellite, Iron Man reveals that he was the one who lowered the satellite’s defenses, allowing the Skrulls to destroy it. Iron Man fights the Stormwatch team. At that moment, the Thing escapes from the Negative Zone and fights Iron Man. The Thing’s new friend is Deathblow, who also fights Iron Man. The two of them defeat Iron Man, who turns out to be a Skrull in disguise. The heroes on Earth fear they can’t attack Latveria until the battle in the Negative Zone is won, and there’s talk among them of whether the situation is hopeless, only for Captain America to join them all and announce, “It’s time to take back the world!”

Then we go to Captain America #13, we see that Rick Jones and Grunge are joining the attack on Latveria, and the new combat tech has given them the equivalent of ten years’ combat training in a single day. Majestic – Lynch’s third “lone gun” is also here, having been horribly scarred from fighting the aliens. The battles in the Negative Zone and Latveria occur simultaneously, with a lot fighting and superheroes dying. To fight the Latverian attackers, Helspont releases the Elementrons – four heroes possessed by Daemonites. These are the Human Torch, the Hulk, Namor the Sub-Mariner, and former Gen13 member Rainmaker. There’s even more fighting with more characters dying. Spartan sacrifices his life to destroy the Negative Zone’s half of the lock. In Latveria, Captain America and Deathblow die while getting to the lock, but not before Cap hands a grenade to Rick Jones so that Jones can destroy the lock in Latveria.

With both halves of the lock destroyed, reality falls apart to re-form into two universes. Reed and Dr. Doom have the last words as everything fades away around them. Doom tells Reed that he, Doom, won in this universe, and he says they will both remember this, on some subconscious level, in whatever universe they find themselves in next. Then everything fades to white.

And we’re still not done with Heroes Reborn. One more week… one more week…

Unstable molecule: During the battle, Reed stretches out his leg to super-kick a Skrull in the face. Awesome.

Fade out: When the Elementrons attack, Sue is so desperate to win this fight that she actually stabs Johnny in the chest with a force field, killing him. Hardcore.

Clobberin’ time: Ben and Deathblow become immediate friends, finding commonality in how they are both soldiers. In one of the few character moments in this event, Ben also befriends Maul. Ben says Maul did a great job filling in for him while he was gone.

Flame on: We’re not given the specifics of how Johnny died and/or was possessed by Daemonite. In his absence, we’re told Burnout became a valued member of the team, helping them fight the Mole Man and the Mad Thinker.

Fantastic fifth wheel: I suppose now we’ve got to add Maul and Burnout to the list of alternate FF team members. Burnout will return in the Fantastic Four/Gen13 special in a few years.

Commercial break: Did anyone actually get these glasses and watch Nickelodeon’s 3-D broadcast? Did it actually work?

Trivia time: These comics hit shelves mere months before Jim Lee sold off all the Wildstorm characters to DC Comics. As such, they’ve never been reprinted. Those original issues could be big money if a WildC.A.T.S. movie ever gets made.

Speaking of crossovers, Reed’s two-page vision of other universes is a real headache of copyright issues, with appearances not just from Spider-Man, Ghost Rider and the X-Men, but also Batman, Charlie Brown, Mickey Mouse, Chance from Leave it to Chance, Quantum and Woody, and a blonde girl whom I think is supposed to be Gully from Battle Chasers, but it’s hard to tell.

Fantastic or frightful? I’m at a loss as to how and why this storyline came about. Maybe the Wildstorm guys thought this was their last shot to have their characters crossover with the Marvel Universe. Either way, this story is so rushed and plot-heavy that there’s little time to have any fun with Wildstorm and Marvel characters interacting. It’s like reading chapter 12 of a 12-part story. Outside of the novelty of seeing tons of superheroes in each panel, there’s not much else to say about these.

Next: Afterbirth.

****

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