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Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Writer Jonathan Hickman’s years-long mega-epic finally comes to a close in Fantastic Four #604. Was the journey worth it?

Gimmie a gimmick: The cover sports an Avengers vs. X-Men logo in the corner, even though the Fantastic Four were not major players in that crossover. (At least not to my recollection.)

All this business of the past several issues has finally come to a head, with the Council of Reeds, four lost civilizations, and more all leading to Earth under attack by gigantic Mad Celestial, with adult versions of Franklin and Valeria arriving from the future in hopes of saving the day. In a single flash of light, the two of them disappear the Mad Celestials, and that’s that.

Nathaniel Richards celebrates with future Franklin and Valeria, saying that this was their plan all along, and that it actually worked. Turns out the Celestials were only teleported into a gas giant, and they’ll be back. Future Franklin asks our Franklin to hand over the pocket universe he has created in secret over the last few issues. The Celestials return. Future Franklin tries to fight them, but he’s not powerful enough. During the fight, Nathaniel says this was meant to be the day Reed died. It all began when he opened the Bridge, his portal to other worlds, and met the interdimensional Council of Reeds. That moment, Nathaniel says, always led to Reed’s death at this moment, and it’s what Franklin is fighting to prevent.

Future Franklin sends the pocket universe to the corpse of Galactus (which has been another ongoing concern during all this). Franklin says “To me… my Galactus!” and Galactus returns from the dead. Galactus and future Franklin team up to fight the Celestials, while Nathaniel speechifies some more about how the Council of Reeds eschewed love and family in favor of power. Our Reed chose his family first, which led to future Franklin fighting to save him.

Future Franklin flies into a Celestial’s chest, creating an explosion so huge it’s seen all over the Earth and through space. The Celestials are defeated, and Galactus reveals future Franklin survived. There’s a speech about how hope exists, while Reed and his grown son embrace. This is followed by a black page with just “The Fantastic Four” in big letters. There’s a one-page epilogue of Reed and current-day Franklin on the edge of a building, with Franklin leaping off and flying for the first time.

FF #16 picks up the pieces. Franklin connects with his future self, with them being buddies. Valeria, however, dislikes her future self, and there’s mistrust between them. Ben and the others remember that the new Baxter Building and huge chunks of New York were trashed in the big battle, so they head home to make things right. In space, Galactus and future Franklin muse about the end of the universe. Galactus says he always thought it would end with him alone, and Franklin says, “But now, you know better.” The end of the universe will be the birth of a new universe, Franklin says, but only if Galactus does not devour the Earth.

Back in NYC, the FF and the Avengers repair the damage, sending the debris into the Negative Zone, where scavenger aliens will use it to rebuild. Reed uses the teleporter to restore the Baxter Building. Not only that, but it’s been redesigned so the Future Foundation kids now have their own personalized quarters. The kids’ uniforms get a redesign, with them each assigned a number. Then Reed has an even bigger surprise for them. He takes the kids into space, showing them their very own orbital space station, simply called the Foundation. It’s here that the kids can study all things space-y, and Johnny’s Negative Zone battleship is parked there as well. But Johnny decides to move back into the Baxter Building, joking that he and Spider-Man can be roommates now.

Throughout all this, there’s been a running gag about Valeria being grounded. But now it’s no joke as her parents confront her about her secret dealings with Dr. Doom. Sue says she understands why Valeria did it, but she cannot abide Valeria being deceitful. Valeria promises, “I won’t keep any more secrets. Ever.” Cut to the other side of the Bridge, where Dr. Doom survives. There’s a flashback to Valeria saying she’s leaving a gift behind for him, and that it’s their secret. (Uh-oh.) Doom rises from the wreckage and helps himself to all the tech left behind by the evil Council of Reeds, including an Infinity Gauntlet from another universe. A bunch of Doombots also emerge from the wreckage, chanting Doom’s name. He says, “Here, I can rebuild.”

To be continued?

Unstable molecule: While the Fantastic Four are on the sidelines during the final Franklin/Galactus/Celestials fight, it’s Reed hugging his future son that’s the emotional climax to this entire story.

Fade out: When the Future Foundation kids first visit their new orbiting satellite, an unseen force lifts them up through the air and into space. Is it understood that Sue is doing this with her force fields, or is this some unseen tech?

Clobberin’ time: Ben also makes a reference to moving back to the Baxter Building, saying his bed was destroyed in the New York battle. Was his living situation something we’ve meant to follow during all this?

Flame on: These issues make it a point that Johnny is keeping his space battleship for future use. We’ll see how long that lasts.

Fantastic fifth wheel: Spider-Man is given less and less to do with so many characters around. She-Hulk and Power Man are seen among the Avengers during the NYC cleanup scenes.

Four and a half: Lots of unanswered questions about future Franklin. Time travel in Marvel Comics normally dictates that he’s not from the only future, but one of many possible futures. Okay, sure. But then there’s the matter of the baby universe present-day Franklin created, and how this of all things brought Galactus back from the dead. I suppose when things reach a cosmic level, they’re not for us to understand.

Our gal Val: Val promises no more secrets, only for the series to suggest immediately that there are still plenty of secrets. And we all know that whatever this thing is between her and Dr. Doom will still be a concern through the 2015 Secret Wars and maybe beyond.

Foundational: Each Future Foundation kid is now an assigned number, something that’ll be a thing moving forward. Bentley-23 is somehow not 23, but 13. He likes it, though, because it’s the ol’ unlucky 13. Valeria ponders her having a crush on him someday.

The kids’ new rooms in the Baxter Building are built to their specifications, so Atlanteans Vii and Wu have a big pool to swim around in, and subterranean Moloids have a rocky, cave-like room.

Trivia time: Galactus not devouring the Earth and witnessing the end of the universe flies in the face of John Byrne’s 1984 classic “The Last Galactus Story” that ran in Marvel’s Epic Illustrated in 1984. Or does it? The story has Galactus and Nova (the FF”s own Frankie Raye!) finding an abandoned Earth in the distant future, and then a cluster of planets hidden away from him. The story was unfinished, and Byrne alleges it would have concluded with Galactus being part of the end of the universe, and the birth of a new one – just like these issues suggest.

Fantastic or frightful? So, this whole story is about Reed refusing to join the Council of Reeds due to his love of his family, and because of that his own son appears from the future to save him when things become dire. That sounds like a pretty cool story. But then why is this also about four lost civilizations and Dr. Doom’s struggle to retake Latveria, and Reed starting a school for kid geniuses, and Johnny dying and coming back while also being replaced by Spider-Man and a couple dozen other things. These final issues (are they final?) get to the heart of what this has been all about, but it’s been such a long and unwieldy tale so full of other stuff. I applaud writer Jonathan Hickman for his ambition, but the run of issues leading up to this has just been TOO MUCH.

Next: Fathers and sons.

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Want more? Check out my novel MOM, I’M BULLETPROOF. It’s a comedic/romantic/dramatic superhero epic! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08XPXBK14.

Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. We’re in the middle of some of the most ambitious – and most bewildering – run of issues the series has ever done. Buckle up.

In what has got to be one of the most convoluted storylines in comics history (including that one where Superboy Prime punched all of reality itself), New York is under attack by four ancient civilizations and four evil versions of Reed from other universes. The Inhumans, the Kree, and the Avengers are also involved. Oh, and Johnny died a while back, Spider-Man took his place, and we just learned Johnny is still alive. Oh, AND the series is now two series, Fantastic Four and FF, with the story running across both titles. We’ve reached the “don’t even try to follow all this” point in the story, and instead we’re just going along for the ride.

FF #12 follows the kids from the Future Foundation after they teleported several floors of the Baxter Building away from the NYC battle. Unfortunately, they’ve ended up on a mountaintop in Latveria. They’re rounded up by Doombots and taken to the castle. There, Nathaniel Richards and an evil Reed have subdued Dr. Doom before Kristoff, who is currently ruling the country. Valeria and Nathaniel have a conversation about time travel, and he says he’s the one who sent Franklin from the future to give her message that “all hopes lie in Doom.”

With Kristoff and Nathaniel’s help, the Future Foundation kids return to their section of the Baxter Building up on the mountains. Valeria sneaks away to steal a small device from Reed’s lab, and then the kids get to work rebuilding the Bridge, Reed’s teleporter to other dimensions. The evil Reed says it’s time for him to go home.

Fantastic Four #601 takes us back to the battle in New York, where the Kree use a feedback device to break through the force field Sue put around the city. Spider-Man and Johnny are reunited at the Negative Zone portal. After seeing NYC under attack, Johnny takes off and creates the “4” symbol in the sky, letting everyone know he’s back. Ben defeats the robots on street level, rescuing Alicia and the other civilians, and the original Fantastic Four are reunited.

There’s a bunch of business where the Kree floating city merges with the floating city of Attilan. Ronan the Accuser tries standing up to the Kree Supreme Intelligence, but the S.I. says his plan will go forward. The FF and the Avengers try to come up with a plan to save New York. Johnny says that now that he has Annihilus’ Cosmic Control Rod, he has his own army – the Annihilation Wave. He opens the Negative Zone portal thanks to those obelisks the cultists put around the city (remember what I said about not trying to follow all this) and the FF lead the Annihilation Wave into space to take on the Kree Armada. Black Bolt sides with the FF and also fights the Kree. It looks like they’ve won, but debris from the battle is about to fall down onto NYC.

Then it’s back to Latveria in FF #13. The whole group enters the Bridge, only to find the Mad Celestials on the other side. The Mad Celestials are the ones who defeated the interdimensional Council of Reeds. (Again, don’t try to follow all this.) There’s a flashback to Valeria and Nathaniel talking about time travel and whether they can prevent future catastrophes.

The Doombots fight the Mad Celestials, and Valeria reveals the device she stole from Reed’s lab is (of course) the Ultimate Nullifier. Franklin catches the attention of the Celestials, who describe him as “beyond omega classification.” They try to destroy him, but Franklin’s reality-altering powers kick in, turning their weapons into flowers (!). The Celestials show Franklin an empty void, telling him it’s his future. The Celestials permanently open the Bridge, preventing Valeria from using the Nullifier. The evil Reed has a redemption moment, saying he will stay behind to buy the kids more time to close the Bridge. Doom also stays behind, saying “What gods dare stand against me?”

In Fantastic Four #602, the battle is suddenly not going well, despite the ending of the previous issue, with the surviving Kree laying waste to the Annihilation Wave. While Reed tries to devise a way to stop the debris from hitting New York, the Kree breach Johnny’s battleship and attack. The heroes fight them off, and Reed recovers. The Supreme Intelligence orders the Kree to redirect their attacks on Attlian. Reed then activates his new device, opening a singularity.

Galatcus comes through the singularity, and tells Reed he will take care of the Kree. (Remember that Reed contacted Galactus before the battle. Also remember that’s really no point in trying to follow all this.) The Kree try to fight Galactus, but then Galactus says his vision of death is now fulfilled, and “mad gods” are here. Turn the page and the Mad Celestials are there, facing off against Galactus.

Then it’s back to the Bridge in FF #14, where at this point the Mad Celestials are still on the other side of the Bridge. There’s a lot of technobabble as the kids undo the Celestials’ devices to get the Bridge closed on their side. The devices transform into a robot to fight the kids. In the ongoing flashback scenes, Nathaniel teaches Valeria about constants in the timestream that cannot be stopped, and they work to find more time. They reach the conclusion by repeating the “all hope lies in Doom” line. Nathaniel says Dr. Doom must be convinced to sacrifice himself.

There’s another flashback, this time to the Council of Reeds, where one Reed tells another that the Ultimate Nullifier can be used successfully, but only if the user has enough focus. In the present, the evil Reed falters, pondering how the Council could have changed everything for the better. In his moment of weakness, the Nullifier destroys him. All alone, Dr. Doom stands up to the Celestials, saying he will not be moved. The Celestials blast him, and then they travel through the Bridge to Earth, back atop the mountain in Latveria. It looks as if all is lost, but Valeria says, “We bought enough time.”

In FF #15, there’s more technobabble as the kids debate what to do about Mad Celestials on Earth. The Bridge is shut down too late, with Dr. Doom on the other side. Kristoff wants to go back for him, but Nathaniel says Latveria needs Kristoff now. Stranded on a mountaintop, Alex Power says help is on the way. It arrives in the form of living spaceship Friday and Alex’s siblings in Power Pack! They’re back in their original outfits, moon boots and all.

Friday flies everyone to the Hub, former headquarters of the four evil Reeds. Franklin has a conversation with the image of his future self, saying he had to use some of what future him gave him. There’s a fight with the advanced Moloids who still live there. After that, Franklin, Nathaniel, and Valeria stay behind while Power Pack and the Future Foundation return to the Latverian mountain. The Fantastic Four arrive aboard Johnny’s battleship, and now the whole family is reunited. Everyone’s about to fire up Sol’s Anvil, the mega-weapon built at the hub. But then the Mad Celestials catch up with them and blast the place. Franklin survives, and amid the rubble, he sees the future versions of himself and Valeria appear. Future Franklin says, “I’m here now.”

Then it’s a jarring jump back to Fantastic Four #603, where the Mad Celestials are not in Latveria, but confronting Galactus in space. Galactus and the Celestials fight in epic cosmic grandeur, so much so that the Kree and the Inhumans flee Earth for deep space. Galactus kills one of the Celestials, but then the other three form into one bigger Celestial like they’re freakin’ Voltron or something. They blast Galactus back to Earth, seemingly killing him.

This is where the issue crosses over with FF #15, as Valeria contacts Reed and tells him to meet the Foundation kids at the Hub. We see the FF’s side of the big family reunion.  The one big Celestial flies toward Earth. Reed uses the Hub to combine the energies of the four lost cities into a massive energy weapon to attack the Celestial. It breaks up back into three Celestials, and now the FF have no way to fight them. The Celestials lay waste to the place until only Sue is left standing. Then a portal opens up, and we see the same (or, similar) scene to the end of FF #15, where future Franklin and Valeria appear. Sue says, “It’s our children.”

To be continued!

Unstable molecule: I know Reed is a super-genius and all, but wow he whipped up that singularity device on the fly awfully quick.

Fade out: The Kree describe Sue’s force field as “subatomically frictionless.” Add that to the list when trying to figure out how the force fields work.

Clobberin’ time: Ben makes short work of the Kree’s robots when he sees Alicia in danger. Later, he’s the first one to get taken out by the Mad Celestials.

Flame on: There are references to Johnny looking older now, and Reed surmises that time passes differently in the Negative Zone, so two years have passed for Johnny during his time there.

Fantastic fifth wheel: Spider-Man is on hand throughout, but he doesn’t do much now that Johnny is back.

During the fight in New York, She-Hulk and the Red Hulk do their version of Wolverine and Colossus’ famous “fastball special,” where Red Hulk uses his strength to throw She-Hulk at a Kree ship.

Four and a half: Franklin has long been designated as an omega-level mutant (but really, which Marvel mutant isn’t omega-level these days?), and yet here the Celestials call him “beyond omega.” I think this refers to whatever power his future self gave him, and not some silly-sounding new mutant designation.

Our gal Val: There’s a running joke about Valeria and Nathaniel building a working lightsaber. Val chooses red as its color, somewhat tellingly.

Foundational: Bentley-23 is all about being villainous in this issues. He talks about overthrowing Latveria for himself, he tries hijacking Val’s message to her parents to make evil demands, and he suggests eating Atlanteans Vil and Wu if stranded in the wilderness.

Everyone keeps calling Dragon Man just “Dragon” in these issues. Nobody tell Erik Larsen’s lawyers.

Trivia time: Where were the Power Pack kids in continuity at this time? God only knows, because trying to track them after their series ended is next to impossible. Their appearance in these issues is not in their Marvel Wiki page. By this point Julie Power had all kinds of grown-up adventures (in more ways than one, wink-wink) in series like The Loners and Avengers Academy, while little sister Katie Power is still being drawn like she hasn’t aged since the early days.

Fantastic or frightful? I can see what writer Jonathan Hickman is going for, in making things more and more cosmic and increasing the stakes higher and higher. But how much is too much? Also, how and when the two storylines cross over is inconsistent, and you’d think having one writer on both series could prevent that. I don’t know. I’m ready to move on from Hickman, but we still have a way to go.

Next: Future shock.

* * * *

Want more? Check out my novel MOM, I’M BULLETPROOF. It’s a comedic/romantic/dramatic superhero epic! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08XPXBK14.

Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. In between issues #11 and #12 of the rebooted FF, we went back to the original Fantastic Four title for the big 50th anniversary issue #600.

Gimmie a gimmick: Starting with this issue, this series becomes two series. Fantastic Four continues after this with a #601, and FF continues with its #12 issue.

We spend two pages setting the stage for all the various plot threads and characters to keep track of:

• The Inhumans on a rampage on board their floating city of Attilan.

• The High Evolutionary’s Forever City, where Ronan the Accuser and his new wife Crystal (!) have brought the Kree Supreme Intelligence back to life.

• Dr. Doom, Nathaniel Richards, and an evil alternate universe version of Reed arrive in Doom’s former stomping ground of Latveria.

• At the new Baxter Building, the young geniuses of the Future Foundation are hard at work on a new emergency teleporter.

• On “the other side of zero,” the villainous Anti-Priest is in contact with Annihilus.

• In the streets of New York, the FF, the Avengers, and assorted other heroes assemble as Kree warships appear in the sky overhead.

What’s interesting here is that the superheroes have no idea why the Kree are attacking. Sue plans to use her force fields to push the entire armada outward away from civilians. Then, fighting! The combined heroes battle the Kree through the city. Dr. Strange takes down one the Kree’s big dreadnought ships, but it crashes into the city instead of the water. The Anti-Priest, now in a NYC skyscraper, says this is not the destruction he wanted. Annihilus tells him to “access the gate,” and the Anti-Priest unleashes the Annihilation Wave (an army of monsters) into New York.

In Latveria, that group confronts Kristoff, who is ruling the country in his own Dr. Doom mask and armor. Nathaniel says Dr. Doom’s life depends on his return to Latveria. In Attilan, Medusa says the Inhumans should flee as they are outnumbered, but something in Black Bolt insists on staying. The Supreme Intelligence senses that Black Bolt, the “anomaly” it is seeking, is right above them in Attilan.

Atop the Empire State Building, Reed, Spider-Man, and Iron Man invent a device that projects Sue’s force fields through Iron Man’s armor (!) to create a force field around Manhattan. This keeps out the Kree ships, but not their ground forces already in the city. The monsters of the Annihilation Wave attack the Baxter Building, while a bunch of Kree robots attack Soho. Ben is there, hoping to get them away from Alicia’s apartment.

The Future Foundation kids activate the teleporter, sending several floors of the Baxter Building to the moon. Spider-Man swings over the building to check on the kids, fighting the monsters as they try to open the building’s Negative Zone portal. He fights the monsters, who tell him the children died (!). He doesn’t manage to stop them all, and the portal opens.

Turn the page and… it’s Johnny, back from the dead! He’s wearing some sort of alien armor, and he has Annihilus in chains (!) kneeling at his feet. He asks Spider-Man, “Pete, what the heck are you wearing?”

To be continued!

But this is a big anniversary issue, so there’s backup stories. The first one takes us to Johnny’s supposed death, where he sealed himself inside the Negative Zone to keep Annihilus’ forces from getting through to Earth. He uses his all-powerful nova flame to thwart the army and subdue Annihilus, only for more of Annihilus’ forces to show up. Annihilus seemingly kills Johnny. Cut to months later, and Annihilus still can’t open the portal. He’s contacted by Reed, who demands Johnny’s body be returned to him. He threatens to use the Ultimate Nullifier to wipe out Annihilus. Annihilus says he’s doing all this because he wants to die, and that he’s sick of always being resurrected.

We see Johnny hallucinating as the aliens rebuild his body with weird biotech. Johnny is locked up in a jail with members of the Universal Inhumans’ Light Brigade, who had been brought to the Negative Zone by the all-knowing teleporter Eldrac. (Are you getting all this?) They’re being forced into gladiator games in Annihilus’ arena, and a few days later it’s Johnny’s turn. Johnny tries to attack Annihilus instead, only for Annihilus to kill and have him come back via the biotech. Johnny then watches as Annihilus makes a deal with one of the evil alternate universe Reeds who have been running around, who will open the portal for his own needs.

Johnny convinces the Light Brigade to help him steal Annihilus’ cosmic control rod, the source of his power. Then we catch up to the present, as Annihilus prepares to unleash the Annihilation Wave while the Kree attack New York. There’s a big fight, with Johnny again using his nova flame, until he and the Light Brigade subdue Annihilus. Johnny affixes the cosmic control rod to his arm, hence his new alien armor.

Backup story number three is set in Attilan. Medusa and Black Bolt meet in some sort of telepathic space where they can converse normally. Medusa doesn’t like the idea of Black Bolt having four other wives, but Black Bolt says it was the universe’s doing and not his choice. He talks about how things have changed, and he asks her to love him for who he is now and not who he once was. Medusa then makes peace with the other wives and calls them sisters.

In the next backup, we cut to the moon, where Reed arrives in a spacesuit to meet Galactus, just standing there in a big crater. Galactus has given Reed a device called the Arc, that can summon him when needed. Galactus wants to save the Earth because, he says, there is a “Galactus seed” on the planet. This is followed by a bunch of talk about Asgard and its connection to Earth via the “world tree” which must not be severed. Galactus gives a death-and-resurrection speech similar to the ones in the Johnny/Annihilus story. He tells Reed that the Galactus seed must not emerge and to use the Arc if needed. The story ends with him asking Reed, “Have you even noticed what your son has been doing?”

The final backup follows up on Galactus’ question, flashing back to Franklin meeting a future version of himself, and reigniting his mutant powers, creating his own “baby universe.” He hides the universe in his closet (!) during all the recent events. Then he and Leech open the closet door and they fall into a void. Inside the baby universe is an alternate version of NYC, where Franklin and Leech don superhero costumes as Hyperstorm and Kid Incredible. A mysterious figure, who appears to the Franklin of the future, encourages Franklin to do more with his power, and truly make the universe into anything he wants. “If you can make everything, you can make everything better,” the man says.

Unstable molecule: The Reed/Galactus backup story is ambiguous, but it once again shows that Reed is the only Earthling that Galactus respects enough to have a casual conversation with.

Fade out: Sue using Iron Man’s armor to make her force fields more powerful is interesting. It raises questions of whether she can use this tech for more uses in the future.

Clobberin’ time: Ben succeeds in spotting Alicia among the crowd in New York. He tells her to run while he fights off the Kree.

Flame on: I’m sure a lot of readers asked if this issue means Johnny is immortal now, with a Wolverine-like healing factor. We’ll have to see how this shakes out in future issues.

Fantastic fifth wheel: Although he’s defeated, Spider-Man puts up a good fight against the Annihilation Wave inside the Baxter Building before going down.

Namor is on hand, saying he will protect the city “for love.” He addressed that to Sue of course. Sue isn’t having it, but Namor says if they’re all about to die than he has nothing to lose.

While it’s often been theorized that Medusa speaks on behalf of Black Bolt via some sort of latent telepathy, this issue makes that text by having them converse in some s

Nathaniel Richards can address Kristoff like he does because the two have a history. Remember they were both alternate members of the team during the Tom DeFalco years.

Crystal seemed all-in on Kree business now that she’s married to Ronan the Accuser. But in this issue, when the Supreme Intelligence wants extinction of all life on Earth to get at Black Bolt, Crystal responds with, “No!”

She-Hulk helps Ben out during the fight against the ground forces. Her nickname for the Red Hulk is “Big Red.” Storm, Black Panther, and Luke Cage are also on hand during the battle.

Four and a half: Franklin’s create-pocket-universes powers are officially back, and he has considerable control over them this time.

Our gal Val: Valeria calls the shots during the attack on the Baxter Building, giving Bentley-23 the order on when to activate the teleporter.

Foundational: Alex Power uses his gravity-based powers to keep Annihilus’ monsters at bay. He suggests knocking Leech unconscious to short out Leech’s power-dampening abilities. But doesn’t Leech’s powers only work on mutants? And hasn’t Leech learned to control his power by now.

Trivia time: If the Kree robots seen during the fight seem kind of retro, it’s because they’re old school Lee/Kirby creations! They are the Kree Sentries, who made their debut in our very own Fantastic Four #64. They’ve shown up a bunch of times since then, as antagonists in the Annihilation and Empyre crossovers.

Fantastic or frightful? My apologies if this synopsis is a little confusing. As all the story threads and characters from the last dozen issues are now all crisscrossing, it’s hard to keep track of everyone. Each character is given only a few panels to move their part of the story along. The exception is Johnny, as his story is a lot of fun, another variation on the Gladiator and/or Planet Hulk formula.

Next: Twice the F.

* * * *

Want more? Check out my novel MOM, I’M BULLETPROOF. It’s a comedic/romantic/dramatic superhero epic! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08XPXBK14.

Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Time to start breezing through the rest of Jonathan Hickman’s run multiple issues at a time, with FF #8-11. Fantastic Four’s “lost years” in the 1970s is where things got all confusing and impenetrable, and now we’re back there.

Picking up where we left off two long issues ago, there are four lost civilizations recently discovered that are causing tensions around the globe, and there are four evil alternate universe versions of Reed also running around creating trouble. After Johnny’s death (he’s not really dead) the Fantastic Four have rebranded as the Future Foundation, with Spider-Man and a bunch of young geniuses as new members.

Issue #8 begins with Black Bolt, his new five wives (!) and the floating city of Attilan attacking the High Evolutionary’s city. At the new Baxter Building, Sue confronts Nathaniel Richards about everything that’s happened, namely a bunch of the FF’s enemies being brought in as consultants – Diablo, the Mad Thinker, the Wizard, a bunch of A.I.M. scientists, and the High Evolutionary himself. With his time travel-y knowledge of the future, Nathaniel insists it must be done, and that he’s preparing for war.

Valeria and Bentley-23 scheme to escape the Baxter Building even though Valeria is grounded for bringing the four evil Reeds to Earth. Reed, Nathaniel, Spider-Man and all the villains infiltrate the High Evolutionary city while the Inhumans attack. Medusa and Lockjaw appear, teleporting Reed away from the scene, saying Black Bolt demands Reed’s presence. Dr. Doom, whom you’ll remember is now technically a member of the Future Foundation, confronts one of the evil Reeds. But before he can get information, Doom is attacked and betrayed by Diablo and the Wizard.

Issue #9 begins with Doom easily recovering from the attack and fighting back. Reed, Spidey, and Nathaniel meet with Black Bolt, who tells them to stand aside while he deals with the evil Reeds. The evil Reeds debate whether to shut down the evolutionary engine that powers the city while the Mole Man escapes. Then Maximus, Black Bolt’s evil brother, joins the fight in a huge battle mech. This turns the tide of the fight. The Inhumans win, capturing two of the evil Reeds.

There’s tension between Dr. Doom and the Inhumans. Doom refuses to join the others in Attilan after seeing a third evil Reed watching from a distance. This Reed has his universe’s version of the Infinity Gauntlet, which he uses to defeat and then enslave Doom. The fourth Reed escapes, but Black Bolt and Medusa insist he will be caught. To get Reed, Spidey, and Nathaniel back home, Medusa offers them Eldrac, a powerful teleporting door, which she says will take them wherever they need to go, which may or may not include time travel.

Issue #10 begins among the Kree, where Ronan the Accuser plans to attack the Inhumans and take Kree leadership back from the Inhumans. (Because there’s not enough characters and storylines happening at once, here’s another.) Ronan is married to Crystal at this time, remember, and she chooses to stay by his side rather than return to her family.

Eldrac returns Reed to the new Baxter Building where he catches up with Sue. Natheniel is teleported to Latveria, to meet with the evil Infinity Gauntlet Reed and the enslaved Dr. Doom. There are references to the “great game” from a few issues back, and Nathaniel says he’s there to help Doom, not the evil Reed. Then we catch up to Ben, still in mourning over Johnny. He’s been staying at Avengers Mansion. Spider-Man appears there courtesy of Eldrac. He tells Ben it’s time to come home. Ronan, Crystal, and the Kree arrive outside Attlian, ready for battle. Then Ben returns to the Baxter Building, bringing the Avengers along with him.

Issue #11 begins with the Future Foundation kids building a giant teleporter inside the Baxter Building in case of emergency. The Kree move on Attilan, attacking a prison and locating the two evil Reeds captured during the battle. Then we’re reunited with Anti-Priest and the Cult of the Negative Zone. They contact Annihilus with a new plan to reopen the Negative Zone portal by putting amplifiers in place around New York, surrounding the Baxter Building. That’s where Reed addresses the Avengers, apologizing for his past actions and hoping that they can succeed where the group of villain consultants did not. Reed and Captain America form a plan to deal with the Inhumans.

Ronan confronts the two evil Reeds. He does his thing, accusing them of crimes of arrogance. His hammer weapon opens up, revealing a Kree biological entity of some kind. It merges with the two Reeds, transforming into the Kree Supreme Intelligence, now alive once again. But now he has knowledge of the multiverse he didn’t before. He asks, “Where are my armies?” Then, as the FF and the Avengers gather on the Baxter Building’s roof, a Kree fleet appears in the sky over New York.

To be continued!

Unstable molecule: This is the usual character arc for Reed. He gets lost in his own head with all the big science stuff, and then comes around to realizing what’s important. Hence his acknowledging that working with the villains was a bad idea and calling in the Avengers instead.

Fade out: Sue sits out the battle because she’s still recovering from injuries from previous issues. We see her working in the Baxter Building’s garden to relax. Have we ever seen this garden room before?

Clobberin’ time: Ben enjoys “Jarvis burgers” while at Avengers mansion. He later jokes that he maintained his task of doing the dishes even when in mourning.

Fantastic fifth wheel: Alternate FF members among the Avengers are She-Hulk, Luke Cage, Namor (who officially joined the team during the Onslaught crossover), and Tigra (who was a member of the short-lived “Fantastic Seven” team in the ’70s).

Crystal has fully entered her villain era (era), as she’s all-in on the Kree conquests. Medusa is on hand throughout, speaking on behalf of Black Bolt. She seems perfectly okay with her husband having a bunch of other wives.

We get another look at the face of H.E.R.B.I.E. the robot as the Baxter Building’s computer. This time, it’s identified as “H.E.R.B.I.E. Home System.” Freakin’ H.E.R.B.I.E. the robot.

Four and a half: Franklin jokingly (or not?) gives himself the codename “Hyperstorm” while on lookout for the Future Foundation kids. Does he not remember that Hyperstorm was the deadliest threat in the FF history? Or could this be foreshadowing big things to come for Frankllin?

Our gal Val: Valeria “escapes” being grounded, only to have lunch with Bently-23 in the room with the Bridge, the teleporter that brought the four evil Reeds to Earth. Bently likes the bridge for its villain potential, while Valeria finds comfort there, saying it’s the safest room in the building.

Foundational: The Future Foundation kids’ plan is to create a teleporter powerful enough to zap multiple floors of the Baxter Building away to safety in case of emergency. The three Moloid kids discuss developing a sense of humor. Leech chooses “Kid Incredible” as his codename. We’ll see how long that lasts.

Trivia time: The Marvel Wiki insists that the Avengers team in this issue is a combination of multiple teams, the Avengers, the New Avengers, Avengers Academy, the Young Allies, and… the X-Men.

The Wiki also offers partial information on how the Supreme Intelligence comes back to life. Ronan’s hammer, the Universal Weapon, contained the Supremor Seed, the last remains of the Supreme Intelligence. The engine at the heart of the High Evolutionary’s city is what merged the seed with the two evil Reeds, bringing the Supreme Intelligence back to life. It’s as easy as that!

Fantastic or frightful? Comics are often criticized as being unforgiving for new readers, with hundreds of characters and plotlines all running at once. These issues are exactly that. Yes, there’s a big battle with a lot of action, but all the twists and turns, and the constant changes in location, and all the shifting alliances, it’s just too much. The handful of character moments we get are nicely done, and I really wish there was more of a balance between those all this plot, plot, and more plot.

Next: Turning 50.

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Want more? Check out my novel MOM, I’M BULLETPROOF. It’s a comedic/romantic/dramatic superhero epic! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08XPXBK14.