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Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Our heroes continue to battle politicians and wacky villains as the Acts of Vengeance crossover comes to an end in issue #336.

Our heroes are in Washington D.C., where Reed is testifying against the government’s proposed superhuman registration. (This group is “the committee” and several characters are identified as “congressmen” but that’s as specific as it gets.) The meeting keeps getting interrupted by bumbling C-list villains who are attacking the FF as part of the Acts of Vengeance event, in which all the villains are working together to fight heroes they don’t normally fight. As this issue begins, a Representative Pertierra accuses the FF of secretly orchestrating the villain attacks just to make their point. Reed dismisses this argument, saying that if were to send supervillains to attack Washington, it’d be “a better class of villain,” which is a rare glimpse into Reed’s dark side.

There’s also some talk about the mysterious electronic device, planted in the room by a shadowy stranger who’s been following the FF this whole time. The committee believes that the machine is what drew the villains to this location. Reed speculates that perhaps the device is also somehow influencing the minds of the committee. Someone announces that more supervillains are gathering outside. Ben, Johnny, and Sharon head outside to fight them. This leads to a funny bit where Sue tries to give a speech with the sounds of a superhero battle coming from outside.

The electric device goes off again, mind-controlling all the members of the committee, who try to kill Reed and Sue. They’re no match for Reed and Sue’s powers, of course. Reed and Sue hold them back while Reed finally disables the device. Outside, we see that Ben, Johnny, and Sharon have successfully defeated a whole gang of lesser-known bad guys — Whirlwind, The Owl, Orca, Man-Ape, Armadillo, Baron Brimstone, and Stilt-Man.

Reed then produces a device of his own, which scans the genotypes of everyone in the room, to show whether someone is a mutant, or at least has the potential for superhuman abilities. Two members of the committee (we’re not told which two) have more-than-human genotypes. Reed not-so-subtly threatens to release this information to the public, and then the committee votes to indefinitely table the superhero registration bill. (This is blackmail, right? Reed just went and blackmailed the government?)

The FF leave Sharon behind to track the electric device back to its source, which takes them to an industrial park in Albany. They kick down a door and find Dr. Doom waiting for them. Doom explains what Acts of Vengeance is all about, and that’s he’s no longer working with the rest of the AoV villains (they split up in Avengers #311). Johnny attacks, only to discover that this is yet another Doombot.

This defeat causes yet another villain to emerge, the Super-Adaptoid, who has “adapted” the FF so that he now has all their powers combined. Note that this is not one of Mad Thinker’s power-adapting androids that the FF have fought in the past, but a similar one who has been an Avengers villain since the early days of Captain America.

The fight is over pretty quick. Ben is able to knock out the Super Adaptoid with one punch. The explanation for this is because Ben is human now, he has no super powers for the Adaptoid to adapt. He is wearing his Thing-shaped exoskeleton at the time, but the comic pretty much says that doesn’t count. (It’s okay. I can’t figure out the logic of any of this either.) The issue ends with one last “bumbling villain” joke in which Hydro-Man and Water Wizard show up to fight the FF, only to crash into each other and create a big splash.

Unstable molecule: Reed is anti-registration in this story, but he’ll later be pro-registration in Civil War. Many have called this poor continuity, but because this blog series is a re-read and not a first time read, I’m going to be looking out for what will happen between now and then that gets Reed to change his mind.

Fade out: Sue is the first to suspect that the device is affecting the politicians, calling one of them “weak of mind” only to then show that man thinking, “Cheese dip?” This has got to be a reference to Groo the Wanderer, right?

Clobberin’ time: It’s not mentioned in this issue, but Ben did fight the Super Adaptoid once before, in the incredibly awesome Marvel Two-In-One #75.

Flame on: Upon discovering that this Dr. Doom was another Doombot in disguise, Johnny says he wonders if Doom was ever a real person at all. This is something to keep in mind as we continue on into Walt Simonson’s take on these characters.

Fantastic fifth wheel: Reed says he didn’t bother trying to stop Flying Tiger last issue, because he trusted that Sharon would save them all. He added that she did it “elegantly.”

Four and a half: Franklin appears in only one panel, paying off the running gag of him wanting to see dinosaurs at a museum with him and Sharon off to finally see those danged dinosaurs. (Franklin has been to the Snark homeworld. Aren’t the Snarks more or less dinosaurs?)

Commercial break: I hope Marvel paid artist Marc Silvestri a lot for drawing this.

Trivia time: That’s a wrap on Acts of Vengeance. A few interesting things happened during the crossover, most notably Spider-Man temporarily gaining the cosmic powers of Captain Universe, and the bizarre Daredevil versus Ultron fight which was psychedelic and dreamlike. Acts of Vengeance came to end in West Coast Avengers #55, in which Loki was revealed to be behind the whole thing, only for Thor to bury him deep beneath the Earth.

Fantastic or frightful? This issue cuts down on the political discourse and brings back more action and humor, which is welcome. Artist Ron Lim continues to be an unsung hero of Fantastic Four, giving all the characters a lot of personality through his great facial expressions.

Next issue: 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. Issue #355 finds us still in the middle of the Acts of Vengeance crossover, in which our heroes face both politicians and villains. There’s a joke somewhere in that, isn’t there?

The FF are on their way to Washington DC so Reed can testify regarding the government’s hotly-debated superhero registration bill. Meanwhile, this is Acts of Vengeance, in which all the supervillains are working together to attack heroes they don’t normally fight. We begin with three pages of the FF landing at the airport in Washington DC, being followed around by reporters, and then making their way to the Capital Building. The small electronic device that a stranger planted on the Fantasticar by a mysterious stranger last issue is still with the team, able to fly around and follow them in secret.

The FF make it to the Capital to testify before the committee. That’s the wording the comic uses, making it unclear just what this committee is or what the nature of this testimony is. The words “congress” and “congressman” get thrown around a lot as well. Basically, this is debate class, where a bunch of characters arguing different sides of superhero registration. Oh, and the mysterious electronic device flies into the room and attaches itself to the ceiling and no one notices.

The first person to speak is a General Nettington, who argues in favor of registration for the safety of all Americans, saying that superhumans have great potential military applications. Next up is a guy named Hamilton Nathanson, representative for the NRA, who says that registration could lead to a ban on superhumans, which would force superhumans underground and into criminal activity.

At this point, an alarm goes off. The X-Men’s villain Apocalypse is flying straight for Washington DC. The FF rush into the nearest bathroom (!) to change into their uniforms. By the time they do, however, Apocalypse flies right over the city and out beyond Chesapeake. The meeting is about to resume, when it is interrupted by Ramrod, a Daredevil villain with skin as hard as steel. I guess it’s not that hard, because as he leaps into action, he trips and knocks himself unconscious before our heroes can do anything.

The next person to testify is Henry Peter Gyrich, a government stooge who often made life miserable for the Avengers and others. He is in favor of registration, just as he was in favor of the mutant registration controversy a few years earlier in all the X-Men comics. He says superhumans in government employ can track down the criminal ones. To remind us that he’s a jerk, he adds that mutants aren’t human, so he believes the constitution doesn’t apply to them.

Just as Reed is about to begin his testimony, the room is attacked by two more supervillains, the Quill and Plant-Man. The Quill is a mutant covered with tiny sharp spikes and a member of a group called the Resistants, hence the “R” on his costume. Plant-Man, with his Poison Ivy rip-off powers, has been around since the ‘60s, even fighting the Human Torch a bunch of times back in Strange Tales. As they both leap into action, they clumsily crash into each other, knocking each other out.

Reed finally gets a chance to speak. He says that most superhumans, including the FF, have received their superpowers through accidental means. To show the usefulness of superheroes, he pulls a Miracle on 34th Street by producing stacks of files showing all the good superheroes have done over the years.

Then there’s another villain attack, the Flying Tiger, a half-man half-tiger who often fought Spider-Woman. He gets punched out by Sharon. She says that all the attackers have been hiding in the backrow in hats and trenchcoats, and there are still three guys back there wearing hats and trenchcoats. On cue, three more villains attack — Thunderball (of the Wrecking Crew), the Eel (a Power Man and Iron Fist villain), and Mad Dog (a Defenders villain). This fight lasts a little longer, with the Eel able to electrocute Johnny. But the three villains go down easy.

Before the meeting can resume, the electric device on the ceiling goes off, mind-controlling a security guard, who pulls his gun on Reed. Ben tackles the guy, and Sue notices the electric device. Reed fiddles with the device, hoping to track it back to its creator. Then a Congressman Pertierra interrupts, accusing Reed of planting the device in the room. Pertierra says Reed orchestrated all the supervillain attacks just to convince the committee of the value of superheroes. And that’s the cliffhanger.

Unstable molecule: As part of his Miracle on 34 Street routine, Reed regales the committee with the story of when the FF stopped the Mole Man from hitting NYC with blindness rays. This happened way back in issue #89.

Fade out: Sue, Ben, and Johnny also give testimony for one panel each. Sue says she is against registration because wants her son to grow up in a country of freedom.

Clobberin’ time: Ben says ID cards aren’t going to matter much when two superhumans start opening fire on each other.

Flame on: Johnny says the government won’t have any luck trying to register the likes of Dr. Doom or Annihilus. This is the only time in the debate that magic-users and aliens are mentioned. Also, neither of those characters are Americans.

Fantastic fifth wheel: Sharon called herself “She-Thing” for the first time in this issue, correcting a congressman who calls her “Ms. Thing.”

Four and a half: During the Apocalypse fly-over, Franklin dutifully stays in his seat while everyone else runs for cover. (Why did they even bring him to this meeting?)

Commercial break: The winner got a free trip to Disney World. Did Disney even know about this?

Trivia time: The Eel in this issue is the second Eel, Edward Lavell. This is a different character from the first Eel, Leopold Strike, who fought the Human Torch a couple of times in Strange Tales.

I’m not sure why Apocalypse is in this issue, or what he’s up to. His next appearance after this was in X-Factor #51, where he was spying on X-Factor after they returned from space. So, I guess he flew over Washington on his way to do that.

Fantastic or frightful? If you’re going to introduce real-world issues into your fantasy superhero comic, it’s best done with a light hand. This issue, however, is the heavy hand. In addition to what I’ve summarized above, the issue also comments on racism, sexual harassment, gun control, and even the Vietnam draft. All this talk adds up to very little. I’m also not digging these villains being portrayed as bumbling losers. They may seem silly, but any one of them could be a credible threat if written well. I want this story arc to be over so we can back to some good stuff.

Next week: …and I’m hoping that they’ll ratify me.

****

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. Last week, we wrapped up the Atlantis Attacks crossover, and this week, in issue #334, we’re right in the middle of the Acts of Vengeance crossover. That’s Marvel for you — a new crossover every week.

The premise of Acts of Vengeance is that all the superheroes are fighting villains they wouldn’t normally fight. The plot description is pretty much the same as that description of the premise — a bunch of megavillains, including Dr. Doom, the Kingpin, Magneto, and the Red Skull, get together with a plan to organize all villains and send them after heroes they don’t normally fight. It’s later revealed that the whole thing was secretly orchestrated by Loki as a way to bring down Thor.

This issue begins with a mysterious figure skulking around the outside of Four Freedoms Plaza, with a device that can hack into the building’s defenses. Ben, who is still in human form, and Sharon, still in her Thing form, are returning from a night on the town, with the security tech going haywire. After some jokey bantering about this, we see Reed, Johnny, and Alicia (who is secretly Lyja the Skrull in disguise) discussing the government debating a superhero registration act. There’s also more business about building security as Reed plans to install retinal scanners for all members of the team.

The security alarms go off again, and the heroes rush into action, only to find that the building’s defenses have defeated the Constrictor, whom Reed describes as a “two-bit hood.” The police show up and take the Constrictor away. The team then resumes discussion of the registration act. Reed says some people fear that registration means the government will militarize superhumans, while others think it will lead to an increase in superhumans hiding as outlaws and fugitives.

From this point, the issue becomes a repeating cycle in which the building’s defenses defeat another villain, after which our heroes discuss registration some more. The Beetle and the Shocker are both defeated without the FF lifting a finger. Reed eventually decides to testify in Washington DC on behalf of superheroes everywhere, not necessarily for or against, but to keep the lines of communication open.

The FF take off for Washington DC. After they leave, Thor and Iron Man show up at Four Freedoms Plaza. The Avengers’ Hydro-base was recently destroyed (in Avengers #311) so they are there to ask the FF for a place to crash. Because Cap and Thor don’t have the retinal scans, however, the building’s defenses attack them, too. I don’t know what the building’s energy beams are, but they’re powerful enough to hurt the all-powerful Thor. The two of them leave, with Thor joking that next time they should phone ahead.

There’s an entire page devoted to the mysterious figure from the start of issue navigating his way through NYC’s public transportation, eventually hopping a bus for DC. The FF then arrive at the Capitol Building, not aware that another one of the mystery man’s hacking devices is affixed to the Fantasticar. To be continued, I guess.

Unstable molecule: Reed doesn’t appear to take a side for or against superhero registration in this issue, although that will change in upcoming issues.

Fade out: Sue appears to be against registration, arguing that heroes with secret identities be allowed to keep those secret identities. She shows sympathy for the pro-reg side, though, saying “they’re just scared.”

Clobberin’ time: Ben remarks that flying the Fantasticar is a lot easier with human-sized hands. So much for the thought that Reed built controls specific to his size as the Thing.

Flame on: This isn’t the first time that Johnny has encountered the Beetle. They duked it out back in the Beetle’s first appearance in Strange Tales #123.

Fantastic fifth wheel: Sharon is seen reading The Dancing Wu Li Masters by Gary Zukav, a real-life book about advanced physics published in 1979. This is the creators still trying to play her up as “the smart one.”

Four and a half: There’s a running joke about Franklin wanting to go to a museum to see dinosaurs, leading to this terrifying panel of Reed stretching into a dinosaur shape for him:

The Alicia problem: If Lyja is wearing contact lenses to simulate blindness (as will later be revealed), then how does Reed’s retinal scanner work on her? I think we can assume she did some shape-shifting switcheroo at the last minute so the scanner read her “real” eye at that moment.

Commercial break: Be a video warrior!

Trivia time: What happened in Avengers #311? The Avengers Hydro-base, also known as Avengers Island, was attacked by Doombots in the opening chapter of Acts of Vengeance. Quasar and a bunch of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, including Peggy Carter, were the only the only ones home at the time, and not able to stop the Doombots from sinking the island. Years later, the Hydrobase was restored when the Avengers were rebranded as “Avengers Idea Mechanics,” but that didn’t last long. According to the Marvel Wiki, the Hydrobase’s current status is abandoned.

Fantastic or frightful? The joke here is supposed to be that these are lame villains, not good enough to fight the FF. But when the headquarters defenses also defeat frickin’ Thor, the joke instead reads that the building is ridiculously powerful. Still, it’s amusing to have a “hangout” issue seeing our heroes do everyday stuff.

Next week: It’s getting political up in here.

****

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. This is Marvel, so of course it’s time for another big crossover. This is annual #22, in which Atlantis Attacks.

Fantastic Four gets the distinction of being the grandiose final chapter of the 16-part Atlantis Attacks storyline that crossed over all of that year’s annuals. That’s a lot to recap. The villain is Ghaur, an ancient alien who founded the undersea kingdom of Lemuria. After coming back from the dead, Ghaur united Lemuria and Atlantis, urging them both to wage war on the surface world. What Attuma, the current ruler of Atlantis, and Llyra, the queen of Lemuria, don’t know is that Ghaur has an ulterior motive. The war is just a cover for his quest to re-create the Serpent Crown, which will unleash the Egyptian snake god Set onto the Earth, which would be bad. To accomplish this, Ghaur has abducted seven “brides of Set” made up of She-Hulk, Jean Grey, Scarlet Witch, Storm, Dagger, Andromeda (an Atlantean princess) and the FF’s own Invisible Woman. The FF, Spider-Man, and the Avengers stopped the Atlantis invasion in NYC, while Thor, Dr. Strange, and the West Coast Avengers defeated Set. Ghaur then escaped to Lemuria with the seven brides.

The annual begins the FF and the two Avengers teams heading deep into the ocean in high-tech submarine-like ships in pursuit of Ghaur. (We’re not told why Spider-Man stays behind.) The heroes arrive in Lemuria and enter the “damp zone,” a space where air-breathing and water-breathing creatures can coexist. (How convenient.)

There’s a huge battle, in which most of the Avengers are defeated, or at least held back. Namor the Sub-Mariner shows up, and this is supposed to be a surprise since he “died” at the start of the crossover. The final battle comes down to Ghaur and Llyra versus Reed, Ben, Johnny, and Namor. Reed describes this makeshift group as “a fantastic foursome.”

Llyra uses her mental telepathy to coerce the FFers into fighting each other. She also torments Namor with visions of his dead loves, Dorma and Marrina. Ghaur uses his new Serpent Crown to achieve godlike power, but then he is interrupted abruptly by Naga of Lemuria, a demonic figure who once wore the crown. (This seems to come out of nowhere, but it was foreshadowed in the “saga of the Serpent Crown” backup stories that run through all these annuals.) Naga and Ghaur destroy each other, and Llyra vanishes without a trace.

The seven brides, now free from Ghaur’s influence, work together to bury the Serpent Crown deep beneath the ocean floor, where we’re told no one will ever find it again. The kingdoms of both Atlantis and Lemuria are fallen, their inhabitants spread out across the oceans. Namor is reunited with his young cousin Namorita, who is hanging around Lemuria after her role in the New Mutants’ part of the crossover. Namor says he has been both a king and a lone wanderer, but he’s truly happy now that he has family. So, this was his story all along?

Unstable molecule: In the Web of Spider-Man annual, Reed is seriously injured while trying to help Spidey swing around, which seems like an uncharacteristic miscalculation on his part. The plot demands it, though, because the Atlanteans abduct Sue while he’s out cold.

Fade out: While Sue is being mind-controlled by Ghaur, there’s a subplot in West Coast Avengers where she and Jean Grey steal a magical gizmo from a Chicago museum.

Clobberin’ time: Even though Ben is human currently, in most of these annuals he’s drawn as though he’s still the Thing. This gets explained away here and there by having him wearing the Thing-shaped exoskeleton from way back in issue #169. (Or, more likely, Reed built him a new one after the destruction of the original Baxter Building.) Many have speculated that the annuals were drawn before it was decided to keep Ben as a human.

Flame on: During the battle, Johnny is reunited with the WWII android Human Torch, currently a member of the West Coast Avengers and going by the name “Torch.” There’s a quick reference to how they were enemies the last time they met, but that was only because of the Mad Thinker’s influence. They’re buddies now.

Fantastic fifth wheel: Sharon doesn’t do much except throw a lot of punches during the battles. This does show, however, that the rest of the superhero community has accepted her as one of their own.

Reed comments that She-Hulk always had “a weird Hollywood-type personality.” I’m not sure what in their history would have Reed think this. She-Hulk later fights a giant sea monster while mind-controlled by Ghaur.

One-time FF member Tigra shows up alongside the Avengers, even though she was out of continuity at this time, having devolved into a full-on cat. Marvel later published a cartoon explaining that Tigra’s appearance in Atlantis Attacks was a mistake, asking readers to just imagine Tigra was never there. (Continuity!)

Commercial break: Here’s an Atlantis Attacks promo. Take the plunge.

Trivia time: As far as I can tell, the Serpent Crown never did actually return. An evil priestess named Nagala was later shown wearing what looked like a Serpent Crown, but it was never revealed what this crown was or where she got it. There were then a couple of stories about the “Thorn Crown,” which was basically the same thing, but different.

This was Ghaur’s last shot at real supervillainy, appearing only sporadically after this. Llyra, however, would continue to be involved in Atlantis-based intrigue. She had a son, Llyron, who became king of Atlantis for a short time.

Fantastic or frightful? When Atlantis Attacks works, it does what these big crossovers are supposed to do, by generating a real sense of excitement that comes with getting all the superheroes together for one big battle. The Avengers, Web of Spider-Man, West Coast Avengers, and Thor annuals do this the best. The same can’t be said the Fantastic Four chapter. I counted thirty-three Marvel heroes in this one issue, only for most of them to be forgotten about after the first few pages. And, yes, it’s more of an Avengers story than an FF story. A mixed bag, I guess.

Next week: Acting out.

****

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 #330-333 are writer Steve Englehart’s last word on the series. It’s a bunch of dream sequences that have nothing to do with anything, followed by a mean-spirited satirical jab at his bosses at Marvel. This one’s going to be a bumpy ride, people.

Issue #330 is Sue’s dream, but, oddly she doesn’t dream about herself. Her dream is all about Dr. Doom making a last-ditch effort to re-take the Latverian throne from the Doom imitator Kristoff. Doom assembles a team of the Hulk, the Hobgoblin, Absorbing Man, the Beetle, Dormammu, Attuma, and Master Pandemonium. They attack the Latverian castle, only to learn that Kristoff has assembled his own team, made up of Electro, Sandman, Mysterio, Annihilus, Rhino, and the Abomination. There’s a big fight, ending with Kristoff setting off a series of atomic bombs, eventually destroying the Earth. For if he can’t rule the Earth, no one can. Then we’re reminded that this was all a dream Sue is having.

In the real world, Aron’s clones of the FF still believe it is the 1960s. Because they think this is issue #2 and Skrulls are afoot, they refuse to help the U.N. during an international crisis.

Issue #331 is Reed’s dream. He imagines the newly-reunited FF just as they were before Aron abducted them, with Sharon and a human Ben on the team. The previous few issues have had a running joke about the genius inventor Reed being delighted with having an ordinary home computer. In the dream, the computer turns out to be Ultron in disguise, as part of a plot to take over the advanced machinery inside FF headquarters. Sharon is the one who defeats Ultron, deducing that he can’t still be made of Adamantium, but of weaker metal, in order to be disguised as a smaller computer. Reed is overjoyed to see the FF working as a team again, and then we’re reminded that this was all a dream.

In the real world, the FF clones attack a magician they think is the Miracle Man from issue #3. Clone Reed then announces he is instituting a “Fantasti-tax,” demanding that the people of New York pay the FF in exchange for protection.

Issue #332 is Johnny’s dream. He fantasizes about Crystal visiting HQ. She says she is unhappy in her marriage with Quicksilver and she wants to rejoin the FF. Everyone is good with this, even if it brings back temptation for Johnny, still married to Alicia. Crystal fits right in the team, making for a Fantastic Six for a while. Sue, however, asks Crystal to leave, worried that she’s there to break up Johnny and Alicia. Sue and Crystal fight. Franklin sees the fight, and this breaks down the mental barriers keeping his powers under control.

There’s a multi-page flashback to issue #245, in which Franklin’s powers went out of control, but he couldn’t turn Ben human because of Ben’s fears of losing Alicia. Franklin then admits that Johnny’s relationship with Alicia was not natural, but created by Franklin’s powers in an attempt to make everyone happy. Now that Ben is human, Franklin says he is free to “fix” everything, by restoring Ben and Alicia’s relationship and Johnny and Crystal’s relationship, for a big happy ending. Then we’re reminded that this was all a dream. (The clones don’t appear in this one.)

Issue #333 has the Avengers show up at FF headquarters. The Avengers have figured out that this isn’t the real FF, and a fight breaks out. After a few pages of fighting, the FF clones are teleported to Aron’s hideout in Canada. There, they find the real FF in battle with the Frightful Four. Johnny explains that his dream allowed his body temperature to rise just enough for him to wake up and free the others. The Frightful Four help the FF defeat the clones. Aron reappears with a new plan. He sends the Frightful Four off to jail and sends the FF home. He then puts his clones to sleep so that he can watch their dreams. He says dreams, not reality, are what excites him. Sue says they need to contact the government and the news media right away to inform everyone of the clone situation.

Later, the Avengers and the West Coast Avengers team up to investigate a mysterious craft flying toward Oakland, California. It’s one of Reed’s aircrafts, piloted by Alicia (who is secretly Lyja the Skrull in disguise) and Franklin. They’ve come to Oakland to meet with comic book writer John Harkness (a.k.a. real-life comic book writer Steve Englehart). Franklin asks Harkness/Englehart to write a comic book letting the world know that Reed is really a good guy and that “this was all a mistake.” Harkness/Englehart responds with, “It might take a better man than me to straighten out this mess.” And with that, the issue ends.

Whew. Nothing says “editorial interference” like these issues. It’s obvious that these stories weren’t meant to be dreams, but actual continuity. To what extent, though, remains unknown. The story goes that Englehart allegedly wanted to take the series in experimental new directions, but that Marvel editorial wanted to go back to the original, old-fashioned FF. Therefore, in these issues, the villains argue in favor of stagnation and returning to the past, while our heroes argue for change and personal growth. Here’s my question: If Marvel editorial was so against what Englehart was writing, why did they allow all these not-so-subtle satiric jabs at them in this comic? It looks to me like the bosses at Marvel were trying to be in on the joke. Without access to their side of the story, all we really know is that Englehart was out the door.

Then there’s Zak-Site. http://Zak-site.com/Great-American-Novel is a must-read website for Fantastic Four fans. It is a thorough and exhaustive analysis of these comics, making the case that issue #333 is the end of the Fantastic Four’s story, and the end of Marvel continuity. Further the site speculates that everything that occurs after issue #333 is “the Franklinverse” existing only in Franklin’s imagination. It additionally speculates that everything from here on is the dreams experienced by the clones at the end of #333. (Note, however, that the site lists a couple of times between issues #333 and #355 as the time continuity ended.) The site argues that the series has been about Reed learning to set his scientific pursuits behind and learning to put his family first, thereby opening the door for Ben to emerge as team leader and true hero of the story, which is partially what Englehart wrote. The site goes on to say that everything that happens after this, characters’ histories no longer matter and are often re-written, and that actions no longer have consequences.  I’d argue that the changes in history and continuity represent characters and their world evolving over time. As for consequences, Sharon will still be with the team for quite some time, the Dr. Doom vs. Kristoff conflict is ongoing, there’s a big Galactus story coming up, and, most importantly, Valeria has yet to make her debut.

The next few issues find the FF in the middle of Marvel crossovers, after which the legendary Walt Simonson begins his run on the series, so I’m convinced good times are ahead.

Unstable molecule: Reed convinces the Wizard to help the FF by saying “You and I may be enemies, but we’re both human!”

Fade out: Sue says twice that her Doom vs. Kristoff dream is a parallel for the FF versus clones fight. Not buying it.

Clobberin’ time: Human Ben tries to jump into the fight, only to get knocked out by Reed’s clone just as the fight starts. (He gets better.)

Flame on: Johnny does not get along with his clone, referring to the clone as a “hipster façade.”

Fantastic fifth wheel: Sharon tells Reed that she’s developed an interest in science, and that she served as the brains of the group while Reed was away. I wouldn’t go that far.

She-Hulk is with the Avengers as they storm FF headquarters, but there’s no mention of her being a former member of the team.

Four and a half: Franklin tells the Avengers he used his dream-based powers to peek on the FF’s dreams to discover what was really going on. His powers are all over place during this time. He’s still insisting everyone call him Frank instead of Franklin.

The Alicia problem: Are we to assume that Lyja is able to fly the FF’s aircraft thanks to her experience as a space-faring alien?

Commercial break: “What hit me?”

Trivia time: Aron the Watcher will later return during the Infinity War crossover. I don’t believe we ever learn the fate of the FF’s clones. The best I can do is a fan-made wiki, which says the clones are “assumed to be still on Earth.”

Fantastic or frightful? The reason I started this series on the blog was an attempt to put into words why I was so disappointed with the Tim Story Fantastic Four movies, and what it is that makes the comics work that was lacking in the movies. Steve Englehart’s version of the FF has big ideas and big ambition, but is marred by clunky storytelling. The movies have had the clunky storytelling, but lack the ideas and the ambition. Therefore, I come to praise Englehart, not bury him. His version of Fantastic Four didn’t work, but he really went for it in an attempt to push the limits of what the series can be.

Next week: It’s hotter under the water.

****

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