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Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Writer-editor Tom DeFalco came to the series with a mission of undoing all the changes of the ‘70s and ‘80s, resetting the series back to how it was during the Lee/Kirby years. That means finding a way to undo not just Johnny and Alicia’s marriage, but their entire relationship. That brings us to the big reveal in issue #357.  

 The issue begins with Reed in his lab, just having invented a “brain-patternizer.” He says this device will protect the FF from mind-controlling villains such as the Puppet Master. Our heroes testing out this device makes for a pretty weak excuse-for-the-characters-to-show-off-their-powers-for-a-few-pages thing. Alicia (who, as we’re about to learn, is secretly Lyja the Skrull in disguise) walks into the lab, and she refuses to be hooked up to the machine.

 We then visit the Vault, a special prison in Colorado built for superhuman criminals — basically Marvel’s equivalent of Arkham Asylum. There, the Mad Thinker is locked up. Except not really, because he mentally projects his consciousness into an artificial body of his, located in his secret Manhattan lab. There, he can conduct crimes with a perfect alibi. He meets with the Puppet Master, who says he desperate for help. Puppet Master says his daughter Alicia has undergone a “transformation” since marrying Johnny. Mad Thinker says the solution is to destroy the FF, but then his computers announce that the FF are already as good as dead.

 At an art gallery, Alicia/Lyja learns her newer, abstract sculptures aren’t selling as well as her earlier lifelike work. Outside, Johnny flirts with some pretty girls before having to admit to them that he’s married. He later has a heart-to-heart with Sue, saying he never realized how much work went into marriage. Sue wants to talk to Reed about this, but he’s concerned about one of the brain readings he took earlier.

 There’s a short scene with the Puppet Master reviewing the Mad Thinker’s findings, saying, “They can’t be true! And yet… they explain everything!” Back at FF HQ, Ben is making a late-night sandwich when he hears noise coming from Reed’s lab. He finds a stranger in there, whom we only see in silhouette. The stranger is able to shape-shift into a bird-like form and then a snake-like form before escaping from Ben. The rest of the FF can’t find any sign of an intruder, with Johnny and Franklin joking that Ben might have dreamed the whole thing. Reed, however, believes the answer lies in his brain-patternizer device.

 Ben goes for a light-night walk out in the city, where Puppet Master finds him. Puppet Master says they share common ground in their love of Alicia. At HQ, Alicia/Lyja tells Johnny that she suspects Puppet Master is the one who infiltrated the building. She then says she has something important to say to Johnny. They’re interrupted by Ben and Puppet Master, who come crashing through the wall. Ben says he’s going to kill Alicia.

 Ben and Johnny fight while Alicia/Lyja flees. Sue wants to stop Ben, thinking he’s being mind-controlled by Puppet Master, but Reed stops her, saying the brain-patternizer has found something startling. Alicia/Lyja makes it the FF’s hanger bay, with Ben and Johnny fighting all around her. Ben finally confronts Alicia/Lyja, punching the wall around her, demoing, “This is your last chance! Show yourself!”

 Reed and Sue arrive, just as Alicia starts to transform, right in front of everyone. Then, on the last page, we see the true face of Lyja the Skrull. Longtime fans know how much a continuity headache this represents, but first-time readers don’t know who Lyja is yet. All they know at this point is that this is…

 To be continued!

 Unstable molecule: Reed makes a joke about how he invented an anti-gravity device when he was in high school. (Or, perhaps he’s not joking.)

 Fade out: Sue says she is “deeply offended” by Alicia/Lyja doesn’t want Reed to mess with her brain.

 Clobberin’ time: Ben’s wacky sandwich recipe includes hot peppers, sardines, peanut butter, and pickled beets. He then says he’s going to enjoy the sandwich while watching The Rocketeer on VHS.

 Flame on: Ben is able to defeat Johnny in their fight by using all of the fireproof devices in the building, including ripping up the fireproof carpeting and wrapping Johnny in it.

 Four and a half: Has Franklin been de-aged? When we last saw him in Power Pack, he started attending school (first grade, I think, but can’t find a real confirmation) alongside Katie Power. Here, however, he seems written and drawn more preschool-y.

 The Alicia problem: The foreshadowing of the Alicia/Lyja reveal is laid on really thick, with a sense that the noose is tightening around Lyja, so she knows she’s on the verge of being caught.

 Commercial break: It’s somewhat telling that the free poster is the smallest image in the ad:

 Trivia time: The Iron Man-like guard the Vault isn’t identified. He’s the Guardsman, using technology adapted from Iron Man’s armor. The most well-known prisoner of the vault was Venom, who escaped on multiple occasions. The Avengers were also locked up there when they were falsely accused of treason. The Vault was later replaced by the oceanic prison The Raft, a microscopic prison created by Hank Pym, and the Negative Zone prison from Civil War.

 Fantastic or frightful? If it weren’t for all the problems that go with the reset, this issue wouldn’t be so bad. The characters are written old-fashioned, but consistently so, and the always dependable Paul Ryan does a great job drawing the fight scene. But, man, the reset…

 Next: It’s a nice day for green wedding.

****

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

Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. In issues #355-356, longtime Marvel editor Tom DeFalco takes over writing duties, and he’s here to push the reset button in a big way.

In issue #355, Ben goes back to his childhood neighborhood on Yancy Street, reuniting with his old neighbors, after which he gets into a fight with the Wrecker and a depowered Thunderball, both of the Wrecking Crew. What’s interesting here is that a footnote states that this takes place before Thor #418. But wait, that was 1987 — five years earlier! That means this issue likely takes place around Fantastic Four issues #300-303. Was this issue written with that intent, or was it created years ago, and pulled out from storage now to meet deadline? We may never know.

DeFalco’s run truly begins in issue #356. Despite (or perhaps because of) the Image Comics revolution happening all around him, DeFalco mission statement for Fantastic Four was to go back the 1960s, clearing the table of all the changes made by Byrne, Englehart, and Simonson, and restore the FF to their original, classic status. As such, the issue begins like so many of the Lee/Lirby issues, with Ben and Johnny bickering in headquarters, and Reed and Sue breaking up their fight. It’s the old excuse-for-the-characters-to-show-off-their-powers-for-a-few-pages thing.

As Ben walks off to sulk, Reed explains to the others that Ben is merely upset because he’s now a monster again, after being human for a while. And in one short sentence, Reed adds that Sharon has “deserted” him. With that throwaway explanation, Sharon is off the team after we’ve spent more than 50 issues with her.

Cut to the Puppet Master, who is standing by his wife’s grave, speechifying about how he can tell something is wrong with Alicia, and how her personality has seemingly changed since she married the Human Torch. He says these are things that only a parent can notice. He swears to solve the mystery.

Then this ‘60s-style comic takes a left turn into the ‘90s, as we visit the New Warriors, who were Marvel’s hot property of the moment. But is the ‘60s throwback version of them. They’re in their version of the X-Men’s Danger Room, getting their own excuse-for-the-characters-to-show-off-their-powers-for-a-few-pages thing. The New Warriors consist of Firestar, Nova, Marvel Boy, Namorita, Speedball, and the super-skateboarding Night Thrasher. Marvel Boy gets a telepathic flash warning him of danger. While the others remind him that he’s not telepathic, Marvel Boy flies off. The rest of the team follows him.

We then catch up Johnny and Alicia (who is secretly Lyja the Skrull in disguise) where they discuss her making abstract sculptures rather than the realistic ones she used to make. Marvel Boy comes flying in through the window and abducts Alicia. (The reader knows Marvel Boy is being controlled by Puppet Master because his earlier scene showed him creating a Marvel Boy puppet.) Johnny pursues Marvel Boy, but can’t attack for fear of harming Alicia.

The New Warriors see Johnny chasing Marvel Boy, so they attack Johnny. He signals the rest of the FF, who are quick to show up in a Fantasticar. Everybody fights! Firestar is no match for Johnny, but Namorita manages to punch him in the face. Nova smacks right into Sue’s force field. Reed tries to stretch himself around Speedball, but he can’t contain Speedball’s non-stop bouncing kinetic energy. Speedball escapes Reed, and that same kinetic energy sends Ben flying through the air.

Marvel Boy delivers Alicia to the Puppet Master, just before overcoming Puppet Master’s mind control and flying off. Alicia (Lyja) doesn’t recognize Puppet Master, and he exclaims “The truth is so obvious!” The FF and the New Warriors very quickly set aside their differences and charge the Puppet Master, but he has a contingency plan. He pulls out a tiny robot puppet, which controls a gigantic robot conveniently hidden nearby. The two super-teams make short work of the robot, smashing it up real good. This, however, gives Puppet Master time to escape. (You’d think Reed and/or Night Thrasher would have scanning equipment and whatnot to search for Puppet Master, but the attitude instead is “Oh well, he got away.”)

The issue ends Reed and Sue wondering what Puppet Master wanted with Alicia. Reed ominously says he has a hunch they’re about to learn the answer about Alicia — and that they won’t like it. (Just imagine how the readers are going to feel.)

Unstable molecule: Reed knows about how Speedball’s powers work because, he says, he makes it a point to study up all new superheroes’ powers. Is that creepy? I’m thinking it’s creepy.

Fade out: When Sue has Night Thrasher trapped in a force field, he says he has weapons that can break through it, but we never see what those weapons are.

Clobberin’ time: Ben is upset at the beginning because someone crushed a statue of himself. Reed later deduces that Ben was so down in the dumps that he smashed it himself.

Flame on: Johnny demonstrates a new power while fighting with Ben. He breathes hot steam into Ben’s face.

Fantastic fifth wheel: After all that drama about Sharon’s PTSD and then her romance with Ben, it’s a huge disappointment to have her written out of the team so dismissively.

The last time the FF was just the original four members was in issues #301-302. The last time before that was way back in issue #264.

The Alicia problem: The Alicia/Lyja thing was Tom DeFalco’s idea, so this issue is the first official foreshadowing, and the hints that Alicia is not really Alicia are all over this issue. What’s odd, though, is that Lyja doesn’t recognize Puppet Master, even though she’s been immersed in Alicia’s life all this time. Maybe she was just caught off guard.

Commercial break: Okay, there’s a human, Dr. Doom, Spider-Man, the Lizard… whose hand it that supposed to be on the top right?

Trivia time: Although the FF and the New Warriors act like they’ve never met before, the crossed paths during the Atlantis Attacks and Acts of Vengeance crossovers. Not a lot of time for socializing during crossovers, I guess.

The New Warriors’ headquarters was located inside Night Thrasher’s huge Manhattan penthouse. Skateboarding might be Night Thrasher’s gimmick, but with the way he’s written, he’s basically Batman.

The New Warriors’ version of Marvel Boy is Vance Astrovik, son of Vance Astro of the original Guardians of the Galaxy. His powers are often described as “psychic,” which looks to me like basic telekinesis. Like Ben and Sharon, he too was once involved with the ridiculous Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation.

Fantastic or frightful? Although I feel that the “back-to-basics” approach isn’t what’s needed for the Fantastic Four at this time, this issue isn’t so bad. The fact that the New Warriors are able to hold their own against the FF in the fight makes it all worth it.

Next: I married a what now?

****

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. It’s writer-artist Walt Simonson’s last issue on the series. His run on the comic is defined by time travel stories, and his finale in issue #354 is no different.

The FF have been arrested by the otherworldly bureaucrats of the Time Variance Authority, who intend to place our heroes on trial for authorized time travel. The FF isn’t having it, attempting an escape. The TVA agents offer Ben a deal — to rewrite history so the Fantastic Four never existed, allowing Ben to re-live his life an ordinary human. Ben considers the offer for a second, but then remembers that the FF stopped Galactus from devouring the entire universe in issue #341. He says that without the FF, there’s no one to stop Galactus, and he calls out the TVA officials, saying they knew Ben’s universe would be destroyed if he took the deal.

The TVA sends their Minutemen cyborgs after Johnny and Ben, for several pages of fighting. Meanwhile, Justice Peace, the TVA’s top enforcer, searches for Reed and Sue, who are hiding behind an “invisibility sphere” created by Sue. Reed says he’s reverse engineered the TVA’s tech to create a computer virus to attack them. Justice Peace spots them and uses a high-speed gun that can break through Sue’s force field faster than she can regenerate it. Then the virus starts working, splitting the TVA’s timeline into multiple parallel timelines. (This is depicted in the art by having the other timelines “splitting off” in smaller panels to the left and right of each regular-sized panel.)

We catch up with Sharon, who reveals that she let herself be taken captive by the TVA. She uses a wrestling move to get away from her captor. She reunites with Ben and Johnny who then reunite with Reed and Sue. Then, in this crazy story, things take an even crazier turn. Our heroes end up in a railroad yard, full of old-timey trains. Reed identifies this as the Cross-Time Central Railroad. It’s run by an alien named Casey, who explains he is enamored with antique Earth trains.

Casey offers the FF a ride in exchange for “certain goods.” The train flies off into space, with Justice Peace and the Minutemen in pursuit. There’s another big fight, and Justice Peace manages to hold his own against the FF. The train is then pursued by a “reality wave,” depicted as a large white surface covered with cracks. Reed says this is another part of his virus, which is erasing all references to the FF’s universe from the TVA’s database, so the TVA will never again bother Earth. With the rules of reality being rewritten, Justice Peace says the FF have no longer broken any laws. He leaps into the wave and vanishes.

The train then reenters the FF’s universe. Casey reveals that the “goods” to pay for the trip are the FF’s uniforms, which he intends to turn into railroad worker uniforms. So the FF strip down to their undies and return to Four Freedoms Plaza. We see that Ben has mutated from his spikey form back to his classic rocky form. As he and Johnny banter, Reed comments that everything’s back to normal.

Unstable molecule: Maybe it’s too much of a stretch (heh) for Reed to create a computer virus that can alter reality, but he’s doing this with the TVA’s own tech, so I guess that explains it.

Fade out: The comic would have us believe that Sue and Reed cannot be seen inside her “sphere of invisibility,” even though that’s not how her powers work. A few pages later, Justice Peace is able to spot them, revealing that they’re not invisible after all.

Clobberin’ time: Absolutely no reason is given as to why Ben reverts from his spikey form to his more-familiar rocky form, except to say, “somebody up there just likes me better like this.” This is a not-so-subtle jab at Marvel editorial’s efforts to undo all the big changes of the last hundred issues or more and get back to Silver Age Fantastic Four.

Flame on: Johnny doesn’t like Ben calling him “Flame Brain.” Ben apologizes, saying it’s getting harder and harder to come up with good insults.

Fantastic fifth wheel: Sharon uses wrestling moves to escape a guard, remembering that she got her start in the goofy Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation.

Commercial break: This is three years after the movie came out.

Trivia time: The rumors state that Walt Simonson’s wife, writer Louise Simonson, had one too many feuds with Marvel editorial over her work on X-Factor, so she was leaving Marvel, and Walt left with her. He returned a few years later to work on Iron Man 2020 and Heroes Reborn: Avengers. Mostly, though, he became a DC Comics mainstay, working on Orion, Hawkgirl, Batman: The Judas Coin, and Michael Moorcock’s Elric, among many others.

Fantastic or frightful? What started as a Douglas Adams-style romp ends with a lot of running around, and a wacky cartoon space train. Fortunately, Simonson’s artwork is so good, it carries the lack of a real plot. It would have been nice to have Simonson on the series for more, but this is as good a sendoff as any.

Next: Out with the new, in with the old.

****

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

Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Writer-artist Walt Simonson really had a thing for time travel stories, because our heroes are time travelling it up yet again in issue #353.

Recap: Dr. Doom retook the Latverian throne and tricked the Fantastic Four into a time travel fight with him. This caught the attention of the Time Variance Authority, an otherworldly bureaucracy that monitors time travel, who put our heroes under arrest. Meanwhile, Ben has become the Thing again just as Sharon transformed from a Thing back into a human — like Gift of the Magi but with orange rock monsters.

The issue begins when Justice Peace, the TVA’s chief enforcer, delivers the FF to the TVA board. What follows is a lot of legal mumbo-jumbo with words like “time” and “temporal” thrown into the mix. The gist of it is that the TVA is putting the FF on trial for all their unauthorized time traveling, saying that their timeline should have been destroyed already if not for their meddling. Reed asks why the TVA has never gone after the Avengers, the X-Men, or Kang for similar offenses. The TVA places the FF in custody, saying further investigations are needed.

“Custody” for the TVA is a big white space where the FF float weightlessly. Reed admits he was just stalling for time. Reed and Sharon contact their guard and ask for a tour of the gigantic TVA facility. The guard agrees, after Sharon pretends (or not?) to flirt with him. On the tour, we meet the robot-like Time Police, and the Hall of Discontinued Realities, where unaccounted-for items from destroyed universes are kept.

The next stop is the Hall of Chronometry, the location of the endless sea of desks we’ve seen in the TVA’s previous appearances. There, Ben pretends to bump into a desk. While their guide chides him, Reed and Sue sneakily swipe some chips from inside the desk. Back in “custody” Sue turns invisible to trick the guards into thinking she’s escaped. This allows the FF to break out of their cell and fight all the Time Police. Ben and Johnny run around causing a lot of destruction while Reed and Sue stealthily research the TVA’s software tech.

Ben and Johnny reach a power generator room (called a “power substation” a few pages later) where the Time Police reveal they’ve taken Sharon hostage. Ben is not going to play ball, so the Time Cops sweeten the deal. They offer to change time so that the FF’s original spaceflight never actually happened, and Ben can re-live his entire life as a human. Johnny doesn’t buy it, but Ben stays quiet, contemplating taking the deal.

To be continued!

Unstable molecule: When Reed is arguing with the TVA, he mentions the X-Men’s Days of Future Past event, calling it by that name. In that story, the X-Men fought the Brotherhood in Washington DC, so that would’ve made the news, but how does Reed know time travel was involved? This once again raises the question of whether the superhero teams ever compare notes.

Fade out: Sue uses her invisibility powers for theft in this issue, something that seems natural, but she rarely does — even when it’s in the name of stopping the bad guys.

Clobberin’ time: During the fight with the Time Cops, Ben references the 1991 Iraq war. The Marvel heroes haven’t been involved that much in Iraq. Iron Man and Wolverine have had covert missions there, and Spider-Man’s friend Flash Thompson served in Iraq. He was injured there, eventually leading to his becoming the new Venom.

Flame on: Johnny is the key to the escape plan, with the team needing him to blast through the door and take out as many Time Cops as possible so the others can have a chance to get out.

Fantastic fifth wheel: Sharon flirting with the guard and then getting taken hostage seems out of character for her, but we’ll see next issue that this is all part of the plan.

Commercial break: Shots fired at the Ninja Turtles!

Trivia time: Look closely. The Hall of Discontinued Universes contains two familiar characters. One appears to be Alex Power of Power Pack after he was transformed into an alien. The Power Pack comic was cancelled before that storyline could be resolved. (Turns out the alien Alex was actually an Alex clone.) The other figure is Supergirl, who was written out of continuity in DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths. Supergirl later came back as the Matrix alien in the ‘90s, and then the original was finally reintroduced in the early 2000s.

Fantastic or frightful? The Time Variance Authority once again provides some amusing Douglas Adams-style comedy/satire, but other than that, the issue sets up the pieces to be knocked down next issue.

Next: It’s about 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. Issues #351-352 offer cosmic weirdness, time travel fights, bewilderment drama, and experimental page layouts.

Issue #351 is a filler issue, in which we’re reunited with Kosmos, the godlike being who was created when the Beyonder and the Molecule Man merged into a single being. She’s on a tour of the universe hosted by fellow cosmic being Kubik. The two of them take the Fantastic Four out of the timestream, watch them escape from a maze, and then return the heroes back to where they were with no memory of what this happened. This was all to teach Kosmos about the courage and resilience of Earth’s heroes. Or something.

Issue #352 then picks up where #350 left off. Dr. Doom has retaken the Latverian throne, with his usurper now acting like his sidekick. Doom defeated the Fantastic Four, and offered Reed a challenge — a one-on-one fight between the two of them, outside of the timestream, between mere minutes. Meanwhile, Doom turned Sharon human again, and Ben transformed back into the Thing to come to her rescue.

How to read this comic: Issue #352 has two stories being told simultaneously. The main FF story is read linearly, like any comic would be. The Doom vs. Reed fight, meanwhile, is non-linear. Each panel in their part of the story has a time stamp, and readers have to read them in order of the time stamps, regardless of what page they’re on.

In the main story, Ben wakes up after being knocked out by Doom. He takes Sharon, who is still unconscious. He gets Sharon to safety, and then frees Johnny from the tank of water where Doom had trapped him. After a short fight with a robot, they then revive Sue, who had been knocked out with gas. Sharon wakes up, disoriented. She’s not able to understand how she’s changed, leading to a weird bit of business where Ben wears her FF uniform to convince her that her Thing form has disappeared.

If you’re having trouble following the puzzle-like Reed and Doom story, you’re probably good, because it’s mostly the two of them throwing punches at each other. Reed at one point dons a suit of armor he finds to give him an edge in the fight. Reed finally deenergizes the time sequencer devices that allow them exist outside of time, bringing them back to the present. Somehow, this gives Reed the advantage, as he beats the crap out of Dr. Doom.

At this point, a bunch of robots appear, courtesy of the Time Variance Authority, the otherworldly bureaucracy that for some reason monitors time travel throughout the multiverse. They want to put everyone under arrest for unauthorized time travel. Doom destroys the robots, but then is blasted to death (to death!) by Justice Peace, the red-white-and-blue clad chief cop of the Time Variance Authority. Justice Peace teleports himself and the FF out of there, so they can stand trial for their time traveling.

Then, a second Dr. Doom steps out of the shadows. Turns out Kristoff was the one fighting Reed this whole time, and was killed by Justice Peace. Doom then exposits that this was his plan from the start, to trap Reed into a time-travel caper, just so the Time Variance Authority could sweep in and remove the FF from the Earth… forever.

To be continued!

Unstable molecule: Reed says he was able to out-punch Dr. Doom because Doom “overlooked” Reed’s stretching ability. Perhaps this was hint that it was really Kristoff Reed was fighting.

Fade out: When Sue discovers that Ben has mutated into his spikey Thing form, she tells him, “I don’t think I’ve ever known anybody braver than you.”

Clobberin’ time: Ben said Dr. Doom’s robot hit him harder than he’s ever been hit, and that includes his fights against the Hulk.

Flame on: After rescuing Johnny, Ben and Johnny take a few panels to exchange some jokes. It’s a fun little character moment that gives the sense that escaping from Dr. Doom’s deathtraps is just another day at the office for these two.

Fantastic fifth wheel: Sharon’s confused metal state harkens back to the PTSD storylines from when she first joined the team. She does, however, promise to love Ben no matter what he looks like.

Commercial break: Again, I dare somebody to call this number:

Trivia time: Look closely, although the time stamps begin at 1:00 a.m., one of Dr. Doom’s energy blasts gets a 12:30 a.m. The idea is that this beam went back in time to issue #350, where it freed Reed from his underground cell. This issue’s cover gets into the act, depicting Reed escaping, also with the 12:30 time stamp.

No, Kristoff isn’t really dead. He’ll return later… as one of the good guys!

Fantastic or frightful? The “puzzle-box” nature of this issue is amusing, but other than that, very little happens other than a lot of punching and Sharon being confused.

Next: Desk job.

****

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