macmcentire

Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. It’s the Thing versus Dr. Doom in issue #380, except it’s a battle of wits rather than fists.

Recap: After Sharon Ventura betrayed Dr. Doom and returned to the Fantastic Four, Doom had Sharon transformed back into a Thing. Mistakenly believing Sharon killed herself, Ben flew to Latveria in a rage, to take vengeance on Doom. The Latverian defenses shot down Ben’s plane as he approached, though.  This issue begins with two pages of Doom’s agents recovering unconscious Ben from the wreckage. Doom, meanwhile, is in lab, more occupied with drawing a cosmic being to Earth so he can steal its power.

In New York, Reed has put Sharon in suspended animation while working on a cure for her. Johnny announces that Ben has left for Latveria and can’t be reached on his radio. Reed wants to help, but he and Sue are still weak from the big battle in issue #378. In another part of the building, Franklin, who is now in his late teens due to a time travel adventure, finds Lyja doubled over in pain. She insists she’s fine, but asks him not to tell Johnny. Now a telepath, Franklin can sense this has something to do with Lyja’s pregnancy.

In Latveria, Dr. Doom’s scientists report that the cosmic being has somehow slipped below their “space radar” in an attempt to avoid them. They get to work at finding it before alerting Doom. Ben wakes up in Doom’s banquet hall, where Doom does the pompous villain thing, preparing him a lavish meal. Ben tries to attack, but Doom has affixed manacles onto Ben’s wrists, giving him a neuroelectric shock if he gets too close to Doom. Doom gives a big speech about how he’s not evil, and that under his leadership, Latveria is free from crime, poverty, debt and disease. Ben argues that all those positives come from loyalty to Dr. Doom, which he says is too steep a price.

Out in the Latverian countryside, we finally get a look at this cosmic being, which appears some sort of glowing cloud of light. It attacks some Latverian guards, sucking the life out of them. The caption tells us this creature is simply the “Hunger.”

Back in the castle, Doom has Ben hooked up a big science machine. Doom removes Ben’s metal helmet, and we see that Ben’s scars now cover more than half of his face. Doom says he sympathizes, as his face, too, must remain prisoner of a metal mask. Doom offers not just to heal Ben, but to restore his humanity.

The Hunger attacks Doom’s castle, fighting its way through all the guards and Doombots. Doom jumps into the fight, hoping to absorb the hunger’s cosmic power. Doom attacks, using the same device he used to steal Aron the Watcher’s powers a few issues back. Ben uses his awesome strength to break free of the neuroelectric shocks and escape Doom’s lab. He comes across Doom fighting the Hunger. He uses two live wires from the lab and jumps into the fight, hoping to electrocute both Doom and the Hunger.

Outside, the FF — specifically Reed, Sue, Johnny, Franklin, and Lyja — arrive flying a borrowed Avengers Quinjet. Half of the castle explodes, and the heroes fear there won’t be any survivors. If that’s not enough of a to be continued, the letters page promotes the next issue as “Someone dies,” “End of an era,” and “The start of a new FF.”

Unstable molecule: It was Reed’s idea to borrow a Quinjet from the Avengers. This issue takes place in between two big Avengers storylines, The Terminatrix Objective, which was a confusing time travel story, and Bloodties, a long-running crossover with (of course) the X-Men.

Fade out: The previous issue stated that Sue was too weak from the battle in issue #378 to create force fields. In this issue, she has that power back, but it causes her a lot strain to use it.

Clobberin’ time: Doom promises to cure Ben’s scarred face, but in a thought bubble, Doom reveals that he’s not able to do so, and is just placating Ben. Ben’s face scarred because Wolverine sliced him, and there’s still no real explanation as to why that can’t heal.

Flame on: Johnny is shown behind the controls of the Quinjet, so I guess he got pilot training at some point.

Fantastic fifth wheel: Reed says he’s halted Sharon’s metamorphosis as long as she’s in suspended animation, and that’s all we see of Sharon this issue.

Four and a half: Franklin says his mother still believes he’s an imposter, and refuses to trust him.

The Alicia problem: It’s not said why Lyja joins the team on their trip to Latveria. It’s likely she wants to keep an eye on Johnny.

Commercial break: “Kidnap the Sandy Claws, lock him in a box, bury him for ninety years, and then see if he talks.”

Trivia time: Is this Hunger creature the same one that menaced the X-Men in the famous Heroes for Hope charity fundraiser comic? No, it isn’t. For one, that creature went by the name “Hungry,” and the Marvel Wiki identifies it as such. (The actual comic mostly just calls “the entity,” however.) Further, Hungry is not from space like the Hunger is, but instead was born on Earth, at the dawn of mankind.

Fantastic or Frightful? This issue is huge improvement over the previous ones, and one of the best of Tom DeFalco’s run as writer.  The conflict between Dr. Doom and Ben is well done, with Doom’s world-conquering audaciousness contrasting nicely with Ben’s down-to-earth street smarts.

Next: For real this time.

****

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. Most of issue #379 is picking up the pieces after the previous month’s battle and shocking plot twist.

Last issue, Dr. Doom’s henchmen attacked Sharon Ventura and transformed her back into a Thing-like monster, in response to her betraying Doom and siding with the FF a few issues earlier. This one begins with Sharon and the FF in Reed’s lab with Reed working furiously to find a cure. Sharon says Reed couldn’t cure her when she was “She-Thing” before, but Ben encourages her to have faith. Reed doubles over with pain as a result of being stabbed by Huntara in last issue’s battle. We’re told (but not shown) that Sue is currently unable to use her force fields because she’s “too afraid” as a result of that same battle.

Cut to Latveria, where Dr. Doom and his scientists are collecting results of a space probe launched in search of beings with cosmic power. One such lifeform has been located, and the scientists say they will attempt to lure the creature to Earth. At FF HQ, we’re reminded that Franklin is now in his late teens, having grown up while time traveling to prevent a dystopian future and now returned to the present. Franklin uses his telepathic powers to “rip” an image of Huntara from Johnny’s mind. Franklin not only knows who Huntara is, but he fears Huntara has traveled to this timeline to prevent Franklin from doing something. Before we learn what that is, Ben interrupts and announces that Sharon has run off.

In space, villains Klaw, Huntara, Paibok the Power-Skrull, and Devos the Devastator regroup, and Paibok announces he has yet another new plan to destroy the FF. In NYC, Johnny meets up with feisty coed Brigit O’Neil, who thanks him for saving his life. She asks about the public’s negative reaction to him. He says he’s used to being in the public eye, and that it might be worse to be ignored. He flies off, and we see that “Brigit” is really Lyja the Skrull in disguise. She believes this conversation reveals that Johnny is a “two-timing snake.”

Ben finds Sharon hiding out in an alley in the city. He wants her to come back and give Reed another chance. She believes a cure is impossible, and she attacks Ben out of rage. Ben tries to fight back while hoping to prevent Sharon from causing property damage, injuring herself, or injuring Ben’s vulnerable scarred face beneath his metal helmet. Johnny finds them fighting, and launches a “4” signal flare in the sky. Reed sees the flare and insists on jumping into action, despite his injury.

Ben pursues Sharon into a subway station. Fearing she’s also losing her mind, Sharon decides to attempt suicide by jumping onto the electrified third rail. Ben pleads with her to reconsider, saying suicide is not the answer no matter how bad things are. She throws him into an oncoming train, and then she jumps onto the rail. Reed, Sue, and Johnny arrive, finding that the electric rail knocked Sharon out but didn’t kill her. He says there’s still time to save her.

Ben, meanwhile, ends up in another part of the city, believing Sharon is dead. He blames Dr. Doom for her death. He returns to Four Freedoms Plaza and boards the FF’s Pogo Plane to fly straight to Latveria. Dr. Doom says an attack by the FF is anticipated, and he cannot be distracted from summoning the cosmic being, so he orders the Pogo Plane shot down. The issue ends with the plan exploding in a huge fireball over Latverian airspace.

To be continued!

Unstable molecule: The exact nature of Reed’s injury is unclear. The previous issue stated that Huntara’s blade not only hurt him physically, but psychically as well. Does that relate to his working himself to death in his lab?

Fade out: Sue has a moment where she admires Reed’s inner strength, and how she loves him even during those times when he exasperates her.

Clobberin’ time: This issue features a half-page pinup of Ben and the Hulk. Hulk should get that growth on his shoulder looked at.

Flame on: There’s one sentence referring to how attorney Matt Murdock worked out a deal to clear Johnny of all charges. Just like that, this concludes the Johnny-as-a-fugitive storyline that we’ve been following since issue #371.

Fantastic fifth wheel: It’s not known just how strong Sharon is in her new form, but she throws 500-pound Ben around like he weighs nothing.

Four and a half: Johnny appears to have come around in believing that this is the real Franklin. The specific details of his time travel years continue to be glossed over.

The Alicia problem: At the start of the issue, Lyja is working alongside the FF to help Sharon. Later, though, she’s tricking Johnny and is still vengeful toward him.

Commercial break: A superhero for the 90s!

Trivia time: It took some Googling, but I can confirm that Ben flew to Latveria in the Pogo Plane and not the FF rocket. The Pogo Plane was located in the hanger of Four Freedoms Plaza, where we see it in this issue, while the FF’s rocket was stored in a silo that ran the length of the entire skyscraper. The rocket could fire straight upward into space, or straight downward, to enter the Negative Zone.

Fantastic or frightful? Poor Sharon Ventura. We already went through this, where she was initially suicidal after transforming into a monster. When Steve Englehart was writing the comic, though, her becoming a monster eventually gave her self confidence and helped her overcome her earlier PTSD. All that is either forgotten or ignored in this issue, and it feels like we’re putting this character through hell just for the sake of it. How disappointing.

Next: Men in the iron masks.

****

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. Sometimes you just want to see superheroes battling villains, and that’s just what you’re going to get in issue #378.

While Johnny is on trial for accidentally burning down part of Empire State University, the courthouse is attacked on one side by Paibok the Power-Skrull and Devos the Devastator, and on the other by Klaw and barbarian swordswoman Huntara. A two-page spread reminds us of who all the players are. Representing the FF are Reed, Sue, Ben, and Lyja. Johnny has been instructed not to use his powers to avoid further legal trouble. On the sidelines are attorney Matt Murdock, photographer Peter Parker, Peter’s Boss J. Jonah Jameson, college coed Brigit O’Neil, and the Wildpack, featuring both Silver Sable and Sandman.

Matt Murdock slips away and dons his Daredevil uniform. Similarly, Peter Parker vanishes only for Spider-Man to show up and join the fight. Silver Sable doesn’t want to fight because no one is paying her to, but Sandman convinces her that helping the FF is the right thing to do.

Everybody fights, with the action leaving the courtroom and out into the street. Ben takes a beating, with his scarred face causing him great pain, even with the protection of his metal helmet. Huntara does a little explaining of what her deal is, saying she is the “princess of Elsewhen,” adding that the Fantastic Four are an “anathema” to the “chosen realities” and therefore must be destroyed. The fight appears to be going in the heroes’ favor until Huntara stabs Reed right through his chest, despite his stretchy powers. (Dang.) Then Devos unleashes an attack on Sue that knocks her unconscious.  Johnny decides he can’t take any more, so he flames on and joins the action.

Cut to Four Freedoms Plaza, where Sharon Ventura is keeping an eye on Franklin, who was recently abducted into the future and time-traveled back to the present in his late teens. They’re working out in the FF’s version of a Danger Room, with Franklin showing off his new telekinetic powers. Sharon presses him for information about the future, specifically whether Ben and her will ever be a couple again. He refuses to answer, saying the future isn’t locked into a single course. Sharon leaves (so much for keeping an eye on him) where she is abducted by Dr. Doom’s henchmen.

We then cut to Avengers Mansion, where those heroes learn of a battle going on in the city streets, so they too jump into action. This Avengers team is Black Knight, Vision, Sersei, Thunderstrike, and the FF’s own Crystal. The tide starts turning against the heroes, with Johnny getting shot in the back and Ben getting pummeled into the ground. Then the Avengers arrive and the villains decide to retreat. Huntara opens a portal for their escape. Daredevil tries following them, only to get trapped in a psychedelic otherworld between dimensions. Spider-Man pulls Daredevil out of the portal with a web line.

The comic then abruptly cuts to later, so we don’t see any of the fallout from the battle. Ben is wandering the street of NYC alone, ruminating about how the FF nearly lost the fight and how they don’t feel like much of a team these days. He hears Sharon calling to him from a nearby alley. He steps closer to find she has once again been transformed into… a Thing!

To be continued!

Unstable molecule: Huntara is able to stab Reed because her weapon is a psionic blade, injuring him both physically and in his psyche. Look closely and you can see paramedics tending to Reed once the Avengers arrive.

Fade out: This issue also features this nifty pin up of Sue and the Super-Skrull, drawn by Karl Altstaetter and Joe Chiodo.

Clobberin’ time: Ben’s musings on the FF falling apart is foreshadowing for an upcoming storyline in which just that happens.

Flame on: Although not using his powers, Johnny puts himself between the battle and Matt Murdock, to protect Murdock from danger. Johnny of course not knowing that Murdock is really Daredevil.

Fantastic fifth wheel: A lot of Sharon’s past character development, such as her fighting to overcome PTSD and her growing science genius, gets swept under rug, as all she cares about now is whether Ben is attracted to her.

As an Avenger, Crystal is reintroduced to readers as “Crystal the Elemental.” She scolds her teammates for making jokes when lives could be at risk. Once the Avengers join the fight, her job is to hang back and care for the wounded.

Four and a half: Sharon also does not believe that Franklin is really Franklin, even as she pesters him with questions about his time travel into the future.

The Alicia problem: Although technically still their enemy, Lyja fights alongside the FF throughout. The mystery of her pregnancy continues in one panel where Paibok says she and the baby will not survive without “Lacaroo.”

Commercial break: “Neon” is a flavor now?

Trivia time: It was around this time that Marvel published Fantastic Four Unlimited #5, which takes place immediately following this issue. Reed takes Sharon back to his lab where he works with Ant-Man to find a cure, only for Klaw and the Wizard to abduct her in hopes of starting a new Frightful Four. The Wizard, Klaw, and a bunch of other villains are defeated, and it ends right back where it began in Reed’s lab. Marvel promoted a sixth issue, featuring the Sub-Mariner, but it was never published.

Fantastic or frightful? I’m always up for a big superhero brawl, but it’s disappointing to see the FF beaten down and have to be rescued by the guest stars. Things like Johnny’s trial and Franklin’s time travel being introduced and then not dealt with in any meaningful way are also frustrating.

Next: Riding the rails.

****

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. Like any good ’90s comic, issue #377 features multiple plotlines happening at once with tons of guest stars.

To recap, Johnny is in jail after accidentally burning down part of Empire State University. Franklin was taken into the future by his time-traveling grandfather and came back at least ten years older. Lyja and Sharon Ventura are still hanging around. The issue begins with a flashback (flashforward?) showing Franklin and Nathaniel Richards in as renegades in a dystopian future, where Franklin’s fought giant robots with a psionic sword and a plasma rifle. Sue still refuses to believe he’s the real Franklin and attacks him. Reed stops the fight, more worried about Sue’s furious anger than about Franklin. Sue and Franklin wander off to different parts of the building to calm down. Sharon and Lyja want to interfere, but Ben stops them, saying this is a family matter, and that there’s nothing they can do.

Cut to the streets of New York, where supervillain Klaw is roaming the streets in a Raphael-style hat and coat disguise. He’s just learning that Johnny is jail awaiting trial. A portal opens near him, and out leaps Huntara, a barbarian swordswoman. She says she is seeking “the four who must be destroyed.” Some trigger-happy cops open fire on her. Klaw helps her out by scaring the cops away. He promises to lead her to “the four.”

Back at HQ, Sue takes her anger out on supernatural nanny Agatha Harkness, blaming her for letting Nathaniel take Franklin away. Agatha says it had to be done because Franklin’s powers would have gotten too far out of control otherwise. Agatha adds that she’s seen the Malice persona as part of Sue’s mind.

In space, we catch up with villains Paibok the Power-Skrull and Devos the Devastator, not giving up on taking revenge against the FF despite their recent defeat. There are then several pages devoted to telling us Devos’ origin story. He was a child when an army of raiders destroyed his planet. The raiders abducted him, taught him to fight, and a scientist named Symka turned him into the killing machine he is now. Through all this, he developed his philosophy of creating peace by destroying any species capable of war. That includes Paibok, whom Devos is eyeing closely.

Back to HQ, where Lyja is suffering intense pain. She insists that it’s only stress, but Franklin can sense there’s more going on. Sue, meanwhile, calms down and admits to Reed that she’s been acting “like a total witch.” (Her words, not mine.) She says the world around them changed and grown darker, and she admits she’s struggling to keep up.

Reed, Sue, Ben, and Lyja head to the trial, with Sharon staying behind to keep an eye on Franklin. They’re being watched by agents of Dr. Doom, who we learn is sending out a probe in search another cosmic being whose powers he can steal. Outside the trial, we see photographer Peter Parker is there, alongside his boss J. Jonah Jameson. Silver Sable and the Wildpack are there as well, with the Sandman now among their membership.

Inside the courthouse, the FF meet with Johnny and attorney Matt Murdock, who says that because the university agreed to settle, the trial is a mere formality. Also there in this private meeting is Bridget O’Neil, the feisty co-ed whose live Johnny saved during the fight that destroyed the school. Lyja appears jealous seeing Johnny and Bridget get a little flirtatious.

The trial begins, with Murdock’s opening statement emphasizing that the fire at ESU was an accident. He is interrupted when Paibok and Devos come crashing through a wall, with Paibok boasting that he’s going to destroy the FF with the whole world watching. Then a wall on the other side of the comes crashing down thanks to Klaw and Huntara. Paibok can tell these two have similar goals, so the villains immediately team up, surrounding the FF.

To be continued!

Unstable molecule: Despite Reed’s insistence that his tests prove that this Franklin is the real Franklin, there’s one panel where he thinks to himself, “Who is this teenager who claims to be Franklin?”

Fade out: Sue’s speech about how the world has gotten darker is a curious meta moment, addressing (or not?) the sweeping changes in the comics industry in the early ‘90s.

Clobberin’ time: There’s a humorous bit where the FF need a cab to go to the courthouse Ben stops one by standing in front of it and then lifting it over his head. Why they’re not taking the Fantasticar I’ll never know.

Flame on: While in jail, a thug tries to pick a fight with Johnny and he uses his powers to scare the guy off. A guard chews Johnny out, saying that he’s not in one of the “special cells” because Murdock promised that Johnny wouldn’t use his powers while locked up.

Fantastic fifth wheel: Sharon still wants to reconcile with Ben, but he doesn’t trust her because she recently worked with Dr. Doom. When she stays behind with Franklin, whom he also doesn’t trust, that just makes things worse.

Four and a half: Again, there’s only a partial explanation as to where Franklin went during his time traveling. Aside from a fleeting mention of his “responsibility” that brought him back to the present, it’s still a mystery.

The Alicia problem: This issue seems to forget that Lyja is here to kill Johnny. Instead, she’s experiencing mysterious pains she wants to keep secret from everyone, and she feels jealousy when seeing Johnny interact with Bridget O’Neil. Bafflingly, one panel describes Lyja’s emotions as “hot and pungent.”

Commercial break: That’s one cool dinosaur.

Trivia time: We see Silver Sable hand Jonah Jameson a bill for when he hired her to capture Johnny a few issues back, and a second bill for the time he hired her to capture Venom in Amazing Spider-Man #375. The FF story wasn’t mentioned in the Spider-Man issue, so this “fixes” that continuity hiccup.

Klaw had a lot of appearances prior to this, but almost always whenever a big group of villains gather for whatever reason. It’s like he’s just wandering around the Marvel universe looking for a group to join, and that makes sense how he partners with Huntara so quickly.

Fantastic or frightful? This is an in-between issue, catching up on ongoing storylines, while moving the pieces in place to set up the next issue. You could argue it’s a few storylines too many, but that’s really all there is to this one.

Next: Superhero soup.

****

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. Things are about to get wild in annual #26.

Throughout the summer of 1993, every one of Marvel’s annuals introduced a new character, in the hopes that some of all of them would go on to be the next big thing. Fantastic Four got the first appearance of… Wildstreak!

Gimmie a gimmick: Each 1993 annual was polybagged, containing a card for every new character. Collect them all!

We begin at King’s Castle Luxury Resort for rich mobsters. One of the mobster’s wives goes for a swim, only to bond with the symbiote Dreadface, last seen as a gorilla symbiote in issue #360. Now a sexy lady symbiote, Dreadface makes a deal with Emmanuel King, leader of this place, to seek revenge on Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm.

At Four Freedoms Plaza, we pick up from the cliffhanger at the end of issue #376, in which Franklin was taken into the future and returned as adult Franklin. Reed runs some tests in the lab to authenticate that this is the real Franklin, but a distraught Sue refuses to believe it. Franklin wanders off by himself, giving only the faintest hints of where he’s been, and his psychic powers draw him to a letter the FF has received from the King Resort. Meanwhile, Sharon Ventura is still trying to get through to Ben. He takes off the metal helmet he’s been wearing to reveal that the scars on his face are now horribly infected. Franklin shows Ben the letter, and Ben doesn’t want to investigate. Franklin uses his powers to change Ben’s mind.

Cut to a seedy bar, where new hero Wildstreak is beating up a bunch of thugs with her cool fight moves and exoskeletal arms and legs. She gets some info a big crime about to go down in Florida. She then goes to a van outside where her father is waiting. She sits in a wheelchair while he recharges the power to her exoskeleton.

Ben and Franklin arrive in Florida, passing by Wildstreak and her dad at the airport. They arrive at the resort, which is now run down and empty. Franklin is unable to read the minds of any of the staff, with all of them coming off like automatons. Inside, we see that Dreadface has scared all the resort’s customers away while building a device called a duplitron.

We then get a flashback to Wildstreak’s origin. She’s Tamika Bowden, daughter of Dennis Bowden. Dennis is a genius mechanical engineer who fell on hard times, forced to take work for criminals. He tried leaving the life, only for the crooks to take revenge by staging an accident at one of Tamika’s gymnastics events. She lost the use of her legs, so her father built the super-powerful exoskeleton, which she now uses to after the bad guys.

At the resort, Franklin dons his “Psilord” (without a hyphen) armor to fly overhead and scan the place. Wildstreak also searches the place, coming across the symbiote, appearing less like a liquid and more like “living shroud.” She fights it, getting Ben’s attention, and he fight it as well.

Elsewhere at the resort, Franklin spies on more crime bosses confronting Emmanuel King. They then get taken over by symbiotes. Dreadface explains that the duplitron can create more and more symbiotes. Dreadface then leave’s King’s wife’s body, killing her, so it can possess a thug named Mr. Fisherman.

Ben finds his way to the duplitron room where he fights Dreadface. Franklin flies around overhead, avoiding attacks from the symbiote-possessed mobsters. Wildstreak catches up with King, who reveals he has explosives hidden throughout the entire resort as a contingency plan. Dreadface goads Ben into hitting him, causing Ben to come into contact with the symbiote. He struggles to resist becoming possessed by it. With Franklin’s telepathic help, Ben frees himself of Dreadface’s grasp.

King sets off the explosives, destroying the entire resort, sacrificing his own life, and seemingly killing all the symbiotes. Franklin protects himself, Ben, and Wildstreak in a telekinetic force field. Ben makes a quip about how this was a lousy vacation, and the story ends.

Then we get a backup story, returning to the deeply-buried storyline of cosmic beings Kubic and Kosmos taking a tour of the universe. This time, Kubik teaches Kosmos about the Celestials, and this several pages of grade-A sci-fi gobbledygook. It’s full of prhases like “the Philosophix Ultimus of the Xch’tul Hegemony,” “the Consortium of the Velsarius Six,” and “the recursive plasticity of the universe.” If you can follow this, you’re a greater nerd than I.

Unstable molecule: After proving that Franklin is really Franklin, Reed swears to find some way to restore his son back to childhood.

Fade out: The new tough, take-charge Sue refuses to believe the truth about Franklin, even threatening to suffocate him with a force field at one point.

Clobberin’ time: In addition to Ben’s scars being sensitive and easily harmed during a fight, we now learn they’re also infected, further necessitating Ben’s metal mask.

Flame on: There are several references to Johnny having turned himself in to the cops last issue, and now he’s locked up while awaiting trial.

Fantastic fifth wheel: We’re told several days have passed, so I guess Sharon is living with the team again. She’s not subtle at all about wanting to get back together with Ben in this issue.

Four and a half: Frustratingly, no one asks where Franklin was during his years-long time travel adventure. He thinks to himself thoughts about how he’s been trained to eb a warrior, and how he’s seen a lot of violence and slaughter over the years.

Franklin calls his armor “Psilord” armor, but he’s not calling himself “Psi-Lord” yet.

Commercial break: “It’ll be just as big as Jurassic Park, we promise!”

Trivia time: Like most of the 1993 annual characters, Wildstreak never gained a following. She returned in Thunderstrike to once again fight the mob. Much later, she had a cameo in the controversial Civil War event, where she was arrested for being on the anti-registration side.

There’s just not enough time in the day to go over all 27 new characters, but I did compile the list. Along with Wildstreak, there was Annex, Bloodwraith, Raptor, Bantam, Darkling, Cadre, Charon, Kyllian, Dreamkiller, Hitmaker, Assassin, Lazarus, Devourer, the Flame, the Face Thief, Nocturne, Night Terror, Legacy, Empyrean, Tracer, Phalanx, Khaos, Irish Wolfhound, Eradikator Six, X-Treme, and X-Cutioner (a different one from the X-Cutioner’s Song crossover).

This was Dreadface’s last hurrah as a villain. He had a very brief cameo in the Fantastic Four: Foes miniseries in the 2000s, and he showed up in the Fantastic Force series, which was set in the distant future, and that was it.

Fantastic or Frightful? This comic isn’t perfect, but I did enjoy it in an old-fashioned superheroics kind of way. I also like Wildstreak. The fact that she fights organized crime instead of supervillains could have made for a cool street-level Marvel comic. Maybe somebody at Marvel can bring her back someday, and really give her a moment in the spotlight.

Next: Join the hunt.

****

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