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Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. The rambling, meandering storyline we’ve been following for the last 7 issues comes to a close in the double-sized issue #319.

To recap: Dr. Doom has temporarily joined the Fantastic three — Ben, Johnny, and the Sharon Ventura Ms. Marvel — on a journey into the Negative Zone, to investigate godlike aliens named the Beyonders (mentioned in an old Marvel-Two-In-One issue) who may or may not be related to the Beyonder from Secret Wars. This issue begins aboard the FF’s spaceship, where Ben and Dr. Doom argue about who’s in charge (Doom has enacted his rarely-used status as an alternate member of the FF). The ship approaches a swirly space thing that Doom calls the Crossroads of Infinity. He then says that when the Beyonder died, his power exploded through the Crossroads to create a new universe. Ben isn’t convinced that this is the same Beyonder as the Two-In-One Beyonders. Sharon, meanwhile, has heard the others speak with awe and fear of the Beyonder, and is concerned about encountering him. There’s a quick cut to New York, where the Molecule Man has recovered from Doom trying to kill him last issue, and then to Alicia (who is secretly Lyja the Skrull in disguise) at FF headquarters, losing track of the FF’s ship.

The ship passes into the crossroads, and through a bunch of different universes, and getting a brief glimpse or Reed, Sue, and the Silver Surfer in some sort of trouble. They’re not able to turn back and help them, though, pressing forward into another universe that looks a lot like Earth. Johnny thinks they’ve circled back home, but then the face of the Beyonder appears in the sun.  Doom explains that it’s not just the sun — everything in this universe is made of the Beyonder. (So, are they breathing the Beyonder? Questions like this go unanswered.)

The Beyonder teleports everyone down to the planet and appears before them in his metallic “superhero” outfit he wore briefly in Secret Wars II. There’s a multi-page recap of the first Secret Wars and Fantastic Four #288, and then Doom demands the Beyonder give him power to retake Latveria so he can be “whole again.” Doom almost convinces the Beyonder to do this by saying the Beyonder knows what it’s like to be unfulfilled.

Before the Beyonder can grant Doom’s wish, everyone is interrupted by Kubik and the Shaper of Worlds, two cosmic beings. Kubik and the Beyonder fight, threatening to destroy the Beyonder’s universe, when everyone is interrupted again, this time by the Molecule Man and his girlfriend Volcana. Molecule Man calms everyone down, and explains that Doom is trying to trick the Beyonder, hoping to steal the Beyonder’s power again once the Beyonder made Doom “whole.” Outsmarted, Doom simply says, “It was worth the try.”

Then Ben interrupts, demanding to know where the Beyonders are. The Shaper of Worlds says the Beyonders exist outside of space and time in a “lightless universe” where they observe humanity, wishing it well, and wanting humans to grow to their full potential. The Beyonders influenced Earth in many ways, most notably the Cosmic Cubes, devices which grant their users the power to control reality itself. The lab accident that gave the Molecule Man his powers was also tapping into the Beyonders’ influence. This same accident is what drew the Secret Wars Beyonder to notice Earth, where he experienced desire and unfulfilment for the first time. Therefore, in a very roundabout way, the Two-In-One Beyonders created the Secret Wars Beyonder by creating the Cosmic Cubes. (I think.)

Ben talks about losing his relationships with both Alicia and Tariana as a result of the Secret War, but now his love for Sharon makes him “whole.” Similarly, the Molecule Man says that despite all his power he became “whole” with his love for Volcana. But so much for that, because the Beyonder realizes that his unfulfilment comes from how he does not have a person in his life who is his equal. The Molecule Man agrees to be that person. He and the Beyonder merge into one another, transforming into a single cosmic cube. Okay.

No longer defeated Dr. Doom touches the cube and demands his “missing memory” that will allow him to retake Latveria. He then tries to steal the cube’s power, but Sharon stops by grabbing him and pulling him away from the cube. Kubik teleports the FF, Doom, and Volcana back to Earth. Doom storms off, saying he fulfilled his end of his deal with the FF, and Ben lets him go. Sharon comforts Volcana, and Volcana says she’ll survive, that “was always stronger.”  Johnny checks on Alicia, leaving Ben and Sharon alone, and all this ends when Ben says, “And to think it all started in the tunnels of the Mole Man.”

Unstable molecule/Fade out: What was with that Reed and Sue cameo? In Silver Surfer #15-17, the Surfer enlisted Reed and Sue to help save Galactus, who was dying after he tried to eat the Soul Gem. This then led to a battle with the In-Betweener.

Clobberin’ time: Ben touches Dr. Doom at one point, and gets an electric shock from Doom’s armor. This time, however, it doesn’t hurt Ben because Ben in his spikey form is that much stronger.

Flame on: Johnny asks whether cosmic grandeur can change Doom’s perspective at all, harkening back to Johnny’s newfound maturity after traveling across the galaxy during the original Galactus trilogy.

Fantastic fifth wheel: Sharon’s role in this story is definitely the “ordinary person caught up in cosmic weirdness,” in some attempt to keep things grounded.

I’m not clear on what this “missing memory” is that Dr. Doom says he needs in order to re-take Latveria. I suspect it’s not something specific, but merely a McGuffin to get him involved in this story.

The Alicia problem: Is it safe to assume that Lyja’s training as an outer space spy helped in her monitoring the Negative Zone portal?

Commercial break: A new and exciting game you play straight up!

Trivia time: Who’s this Kubik guy? He’s a life form that evolved out of the original cosmic cube. By this point in Marvel history, there’s a bunch of cosmic cubes to be found.

At the end of Secret Wars II, the Beyonder’s death created a new universe. Many believed this to be the beginning of Marvel’s New Universe line of comics, but Marvel editorial later alleged that wasn’t the case. In this issue, we finally see the Beyonder’s universe, where he still lives.

Don’t go around thinking this is the Beyonder’s real origin story, because it’ll later be re-written at least two more times. It seems every writer who takes on the Beyonder just has to dream up a new origin for the poor guy.

Fantastic or frightful? What an absolute disaster of a comic book. The story goes that Marvel brought back the Beyonder for this story to give him a proper send-off. Originally, he died while trying to become human, which seemed to me like a perfectly good end for him. Merging with the Molecule Man to create another cosmic cube? How is that better? If you’re not that interested in continuity and just want some superhero action, the issue still disappoints, because it’s mostly alien gods standing around explaining everything. Just the worst.

Next week: A real fixer-upper.

****

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Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Issue #318 continues this ongoing tour of the weirder corners of the Marvel Universe, only now that Crystal has left the team, it’s the Fantastic Three. Or… is it?

We begin with Dr. Doom, wandering the streets of New York (!) where he attacks and seemingly kills a random passerby. This man, though, is revealed to be the Molecule Man in disguise, having recently moved to NYC. Doom exposits that the Molecule Man’s location is the info that Quicksilver secretly gave him in annual #21. Doom then marches to Alicia’s apartment building and presses the doorbell.

Cut to Four Freedoms Plaza, where Ben, Johnny and Sharon talk about how Crystal recently left the team. Johnny says he doesn’t like it, but he’s nonetheless glad to be back with Alicia (who is secretly Lyja the Skrull in disguise). Also, we’re reminded that the portal to the Negative Zone has been moved to inside the building, and the team is readying a Negative Zone expedition to discover the origins of godlike beings called Beyonders (that’s the Beyonders mentioned in an old Marvel Two-in-One story, and not the Secret Wars Beyonder — at least as far as anyone knows at the moment).

Johnny gets a call from the building’s lobby, to see Dr. Doom there with Alicia. He dives right into action, flying straight there and starting a fight with Doom. Doom says he’s modified his armor specifically for fighting the FF. Not only is he fireproof, but he fires tiny chemical missiles from his knuckles (!) that manage to put out Johnny’s flame.

Ben and Sharon arrive, but Alicia breaks up the fight, saying she can tell Doom is telling the truth, and came to her with peaceful intent. Doom says he’s learned from “sources” (Quicksilver again?) that the FF are planning to enter the Negative Zone. Doom says the new FF team is not equipped for the Negative Zone with Reed’s genius, and offers to take Reed’s place. Then there’s a great panel where Ben laughs in Doom’s face:

Ben reminds everyone how Dr. Doom tried to steal the Beyonder’s powers in the first Secret War, and that Doom’s ulterior motive is to retake the Latverian throne from the usurper Kristoff. Doom won’t put up for this, so he escapes FF by using a “time-shift bomb” that puts him two seconds into the future. In this state, he rushes straight to the Negative Zone portal and enters it. Ben is furious that Doom outsmarted him, but the others are on his side, saying this was merely Doom’s fall-back plan. The FF board a space shuttle-looking ship to enter the Negative Zone. Alicia stays behind to monitor them, using sound alarms and “plasma bubble screens” on the computer.

There’s a short scene at a hospital, where we learn the Molecule Man survived Doom’s attack, and his girlfriend Volcana (addressed here as “Miss Rosenberg”) is at his side while he’s unconscious. Back in the Negative Zone, the FF fly by the duplicate of Earth made of anti-matter, reminding us that’s a thing in Marvel, and then their ship is attacked by Blastaar the Living Bomb-Burst. He announces that he’s made himself monarch of the Negative Zone.

There’s a big fight, in which Blaastar blows the heroes out into space, bombarding Johnny with meteors. Just when it looks like all hope is lost, Dr. Doom flies up and defeats Blastaar by cutting off his oxygen. Doom and the FF hijack Blastaar’s ship, agreeing that they must work together to find the Beyonders.

To be continued!

Clobberin’ time: There’s all this talk about Ben entering the Negative Zone without Reed’s help, but no one mentions how Ben did exactly that in Marvel Two-In-One #75. Sure, he had a bunch of Avengers with him, but he was in a leadership role, teaching the Avengers all about how the Negative Zone works.

Flame on: For as much as Johnny has matured and gotten more powerful, he gets easily defeated by both Dr. Doom and Blastaar in this issue.

Fantastic fifth wheel: Upon Ben’s laughing in the face of danger, Sharon says she’s “just as committed” to the FF as much as the four original members.

Dr. Doom working together with the FF means we can count this issue as him acting upon his status as an alternate member of the team.

The Alicia problem: A lot of this issue hinges on Alicia/Lyja’s uncanny knack for knowing when someone is or isn’t lying. Does this ability come from the fact that Lyja is a shape-changer and spy?

Commercial break: G.I. Joe! Now with the Fridge!

Trivia time: Look closely: When Doom presses Alicia’s doorbell, you can see that controversial former Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter’s name is also listed as living in the building, but with an “evicted” notice next to it.

Fantastic or frightful? Basically, this issue is only here to set up the next one, but it has a lot hallmarks of what Fantastic Four comics are famous for, namely Dr. Doom’s scheming and Negative Zone weirdness. So, a low-substance issue, but there’s some fun to be had.

Next week: Cosmic continuity a-go-go.

****

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Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Annual #21 is a crossover in the truest sense, in which the drama and cosmic adventure of the current story arc mixes and matches with all the drama and cosmic adventure of Marvel’s Evolutionary War event, which ran in all of that year’s annuals.

In Evolutionary War, the High Evolutionary, a mad scientist with a god complex, enacts a plan to purify all of humanity. This includes sending an army of armor-clad Eliminators to “purify” people by blowing them up. Before dealing with that, though, we catch up with the new FF — Ben, Johnny, Crystal, and the Sharon Ventura Ms. Marvel — who are still planning on entering the Negative Zone in search of godlike aliens called the Beyonders who aren’t (or are they?) related to the Beyonder from Secret Wars.

Before doing that, though, the team returns to headquarters for a breather. The FF’s mailman Willie Lumpkin is there, saying the FF has been flooded with fan mail, and that the new team is way more popular than the original team. (Yeah, I’m sure.) All four members of the team take a bath — separately, of course — and reflect on what’s happened. Ben and Sharon are totally in love at this point, with her commenting that men always used to pursue her for her beauty, but Ben loves her for the real her. Johnny, meanwhile, considers leaving the team rather than continually be tempted with Crystal around. Crystal doesn’t want to hurt Johnny and Alicia, but she’s nonetheless unapologetic about still having feelings for Johnny.

Crystal is reunited with her daughter Luna, who has been staying at FF headquarters with her nanny, Maya. Medusa and Black Bolt then appear via teleportation, demanding that Crystal rejoin the Inhumans on the moon. (For those just joining us, Crystal is Medusa’s younger sister, and a member of the Inhumans’ royal family.) Medusa says Crystal’s husband Quicksilver has changed his ways, and is now a good guy again. Crystal doesn’t buy it, arguing that Quicksilver recently tried to kill the FF and the Avengers on separate occasions. Medusa says Quicksilver was secretly being manipulated by Maximus the Mad, and he’s better now.

Crystal still refuses to leave, and the FF rally by her side. Black Bolt and Medusa are joined by fellow Inhumans Lockjaw, Karnak, and Gorgon (who, let’s never forget, once single-handedly defeated the entire FF). The FF do a good job of fighting the Inhumans, who aren’t used to this new team. After several pages of fighting, Black Bolt calls for a truce. Then another Inhuman contacts everyone and says Attilan (the Inhumans’ city on the moon) is under attack. The heroes set their differences aside and teleport to the moon to save the day.

Cut to the moon (anyone get that reference?) where the High Evolutionary wants to get his hands on the terrigen mists, the substance that gives the Inhumans their power. The Watcher appears for a dialogue with the High Evolutionary, but then the Watcher says he’s neither for or against the H.E.’s plan, insisting multiple times that he’s only there to watch.

The Eliminators attack Attilan, and Quicksilver leads the Inhumans in fighting back. It’s rare to see other Inhumans outside of the royal family, so these pages of the whole city rallying to fight give us some great looks at other Inhumans, making them look more like stock space alien types rather than stock superhero types. The FF join the battle, and the Eliminators are driven back. The High Evolutionary teleports away. Ben confronts the Watcher, who’s been viewing this from a distance the whole time, and asks where the H.E. has gone. The Watcher refuses to say, until Ben reminds him of all the times he’s helped Earth in the past. The Watcher is about to answer when a second Watcher appears. The two Watchers converse telepathically, and “our” Watcher goes back to his original “we only watch” stance.

Crystal tells the Inhumans that Quicksilver can’t be trusted, and that she’s staying with the FF. This sets the stage for Johnny to announce him leaving the FF in her place. Before that can happen, Black Bolt grabs Crystal and flies her out to the edges of the city, where there’s very little atmosphere. In this setting, Black Bolt is able to speak. He says one word, “Stay.” You’d think that’d be enough for this big dramatic moment, but then he brings the point home by writing the word “family” in the moon dust.

Upon returning, Crystal announces that she’ll be staying in Attilan, both for the good of her family, and for the good of the FF. Sharon gets the final word, saying “I’ve never seen a woman do anything braver — or sadder!”

Clobberin’ time: Ben in incapacitated when Lockjaw bites down on his arm. According to the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, Lockjaw’s jaws are in the stronger-than-strong 100-plus category. But, in his current spikey form, Ben is also a 100-plus character! The explanation is also in the Handbook, in a hard-to-find passage stating that in a conflict between an unstoppable force and an immovable object, the latter will win. Therefore, Lockjaw is able to trap Ben in his jaws.

Flame on: Black Bolt defeats Johnny by using that antenna thing on his forehead. The antenna is able to draw all of the fire out of Johnny’s body and absorb it. This is a very rare use of the antenna, which normally channels Black Bolt’s incredible power into a weaponized energy beam.

Fantastic fifth wheel: This annual contains a backup story about Crystal re-acclimating to life on the moon. Quicksilver wants them to be a couple again, but she gives him the ol’ “I’ll think about it.” We see Quicksilver secretly working with Dr. Doom, to help Doom re-take his kingdom back from the imposter Kristoff.

Sharon is given her due during the fights. She punches out Gorgon real good, and she and Ben throw around an Eliminator while making wacky baseball jokes.

Back when Medusa was a member of the FF, she was all into learning about Earth culture (remember her trip to the local library?), but in this issue she’s insistent on maintaining Inhuman traditions and not bothering with pesky humans.

Commercial break: Death Hawk!

Trivia time: How did the Evolutionary War end? After a lot of running around and messing with various Marvel heroes, the High Evolutionary placed a “purification bomb” in the undersea city of Lemuria. With the Avengers out of commission, a makeshift group of former Avengers — Captain America, Hulk, Beast, Yellowjacket, Falcon, and Jocasta — formed to stop the High Evolutionary. Hercules died putting a stop to the bomb. Herc and the High Evolutionary later both come back to life in a Thor story.

Fantastic or frightful? This one I really liked. The action scenes are great, really taking the time to show how the heroes’ various super power match up against each other, and then with each other. The Black Bolt/Crystal scene is also nicely done, making it feel like they’re genuinely family.

Next week: Beyond(er) Thunderdome.

****

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 issue #317, the new FF — Ben, Johnny, Crystal, and the Sharon Ventura Ms. Marvel — continue their romp through various forgotten concepts in the Marvel Universe.

We begin with Johnny kissing Alicia (who is secretly Lyja the Skrull in disguise) before apologizing for having to leave on yet another adventure. Ben gets down to business, asking the A.I.M. scientists from last issue how the name “Beyonder” ended up written in huge letters (in English!) inside an ancient alien device buried under the surface of the Earth since ancient times. Max the alien, who is one half of the duo known as Comet Man, explains that there are other aliens called “Beyonders,” and not just the one we all met in Secret Wars and Secret Wars II. These other Beyonders are creatures hired by the High Evolutionary to move his Counter-Earth into another orbit. It’s pointed out that Ben previously heard about these Beyonders in Marvel Two-in-One #63.

Max teleports the FF and the other Comet Man, Beckley, into space, first to a space station, and then aboard the Comet Man ship. They’re searching for yet another group of aliens called the Nuwali, who apparently built the machine with the Beyonders’ name on it. (I think. Geez, this stuff is confusing.)

We finally get a breather from all this alien stuff for some character moments. Ben and Sharon have a heart-to-heart, remembering how they close they were getting before Belasco attacked three issues ago. This culminates with Ben and Sharon kissing (and possibly more) on a couch. Then there’s a wordless exchange between Johnny and Crystal, who have been rekindling their attraction throughout this arc. He looks at her, and then flies away. She watches him go with a tear in her eye.

Max and Beckley have a short talk about whether they can trust the new FF, then their ship arrives at the Nuwali planet. The Nuwali, who look like big yellow bugs, say they built the machine in the Savage Land for the Beyonders, but were never paid for their work.  There’s some bit of business about adrenaline being like poison to the Beyonders, and how the Beyonders only communicated with Nuwali through a two-way artefact and never face-to-face. The Nuwali promise to work with the FF.

While Ben inspects the artefact, Johnny and Crystal have a heart-to-heart. He says that although he’s married to Crystal now, Crystal is still his first love. He then says that no matter how he feels about Crystal, he must nonetheless remain faithful to his wife. Crystal says very little during this. It appears that she’s on board with getting back together with Johnny, but it’s ambiguous.

After tinkering with the artefact, Ben deduces that it’s similar to the one from issue #51, a “radical cube” which can open a portal to the Negative Zone. With this mystery solved, the Nuwali break their truce with the heroes and attack. Another A.I.M. scientist shows up out of nowhere and reveals that A.I.M. and the Nuwali have been working together all along, with A.I.M. using the alien tech in their evil plots on Earth.

Fighting! The Nuwali’s weapons are powerful enough to knock out Ben, Sharon and Johnny. Crystal defiantly says she’s willing to give her life to protect theirs. She doesn’t get the chance, because Beckley unleashes the full force of his Comet Man power to defeat the aliens. The A.I.M. guy tries to escape, but Crystal stops him. She says the FF will travel into the Negative Zone to find the Beyonders and put an end to this conflict.

To be continued!

Clobberin’ time: Ben continues to show his smarts as team leader, figuring out what the alien artefact is. But, if he’s as strong as the Hulk now, how do the alien guns knock him out so easily?

Flame on: Johnny turning down Crystal in favor of Alicia is meant to be his ongoing maturity, being a responsible adult by not cheating on his wife.

Fantastic fifth wheel: This issue would have us believe that Ben and Sharon are officially a couple now. Let’s see how long that lasts.

The Alicia problem: It’ll later be established that Lyja studied the Fantastic Four in depth before she started impersonating Alicia, so it’s probable that she knows all about the events of Marvel Two-in-One #63.

Commercial break: Now we know what McCree was doing before he signed up with Overwatch.

Trivia time: Here’s what happened in Marvel Two-in-One #63. Counter Earth — an artificial Earth created by the High Evolutionary — turned up missing, so Ben, Alicia, and a bunch of Marvel’s space/cosmic heroes went searching for it. An alien named Sphinxor had moved the planet, and had been paid to do so by these mysterious Beyonders. Just like FF #317, the Beyonders are talked about but never shown. Further, Sphinxor describes them as the most powerful creatures in the universe, greater than Galactus, Thanos, and the Watcher combined. And this was written years before Secret Wars!

Fantastic or frightful? This issue has more character work and more action than the last few, but this entire arc continues to be unfocused and unwieldy. There’s yet another big shake-up coming soon down the line, so we’ll see.

Next week: Talking ‘bout my e-e-e-evolution.

****

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 #316 continues our tour of the more bizarre aspects of Marvel. This time the new FF — Ben, Johnny, Crystal, and the Sharon Ventura Ms. Marvel — kinda/sorta visits the Savage Land.

To recap, the FF ended up in space, where they formed a temporary truce with demonic supervillain Master Pandemonium. They then ran into Comet Man, who is actually to guys the human Beckley and the alien Max, who teleported everyone back to Earth, in a frozen wasteland. This issue begins with Alicia (who is secretly Lyja the Skrull in disguise) aboard a US Air Force plane flying toward the South Pole, as Master Pandemonium flies past them. The plane lands at a South Pole USAF base, where the FF are waiting. Johnny is delighted to see Alicia, hoping she’ll put thoughts of Crystal out of his mind.

There’s a quick roll call. Beckley and Max are here, as is Morbius the Living Vampire, who had been to the planet the FF just returned from, and has been called in as a consultant of sorts. Ka-Zar and Shanna are also here. Who are these two? They’re the Marvel Universe’s version of Tarzan and Jane, having jungle adventures in the Savage Land, a secret warm and tropical area of Antarctica where dinosaurs still exist. Except, there has been a recent disaster that destroyed the Savage Land, leaving them without a home.

This is the first time Alicia has been around Ben and Sharon since they transformed, so she asks to touch Ben’s face so she can visualize his new look. (She doesn’t even acknowledge Sharon.) This is played as a big dramatic moment, with Ben thinking of all the happy memories he once had with Alicia, and Crystal thinking about her former relationship with Johnny.

That night, Johnny and Alicia talk while he stands guard at the base. Johnny suspects that the seemingly random adventures of the last few issues might not be random, and the someone or something is pulling the team’s strings. They are interrupted by the sudden appearance of an army of ice men. Fighting! The ice men are no match for Johnny’s flame, Crystal’s elemental control over water, or Ben and Sharon’s strength, yet no matter how many our heroes destroy, the ice men keep coming. Johnny flies ahead and discovers the ice men originating from a tank-like machine out in the snow. He destroys it and captures the men inside.

The attackers are mad scientists from A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics). Ben then has all the characters sit down for what he calls a “conference,” and the rest of this issue is some of the most dense, impenetrable comic book reading I’ve come across in a long time. The gist of it that a variety of aliens visited Earth in ancient times, creating (all?) most of the “hidden continent” stuff in the Marvel Universe, including Atlantis, Lemuria, the Savage Land, and even the city of those underground cat people from a few issues back. There’s a lot of attention paid to massive underground “heaters” which allowed the Savage Land to thrive in the otherwise frigid Antarctica.

Everybody heads back into the snow to investigate the giant alien heater (I’m still not clear on why, exactly). The FF use their powers to dig deep into the ice, and then to tear open the surface of the machine. Then, to everyone’s surprise, there’s the name “Beyonder” inside the machine, like some kind of giant billboard. “No! Not again!” Ben says, no doubt echoing the thoughts of all the Marvel fans still disappointed with Secret Wars II.

To be continued!

Clobberin’ time: Filling the leadership role, Ben is not only the one who calls for the conference, but he’s the one who recounts all this cosmic “life began on Earth began thanks to aliens” stuff to the rest of the team, just as Reed might have done back in the day.

Flame on: Johnny stops and makes sure all the A.I.M. scientists evacuate their machine before he blows it up.

Fantastic fifth wheel: Sharon tells Crystal to go ahead and call her “Sharon” in public, now that she no longer has need of a secret identity.

The Alicia problem: Lyja dwells on how she’s hardly seen Johnny since they were married, and how that’s expected when one marries an adventuring superhero. Then she thinks, “I wouldn’t be human if I weren’t glad he sent for me.” Make of that what you will.

Commercial break: Hey, Hollywood, where’s our Lane Mastodon movie?

Trivia time: How did the Savage Land get destroyed? It was the FF’s foe Terminus, who battled the West Coast Avengers there. The Savage Land would later be restored to its former glory when the god Garokk sacrificed his life to bring it back.

Speaking of the West Coast Avengers, that’s where Master Pandemonium went after taking off in this issue. He believed that Scarlet Witch’s twin sons contained two pieces of his missing soul, but this was all a trick played on him by Mephisto. It’s like Mephisto can’t be trusted or something…

Fantastic or frightful? Here’s the second issue in a row that brings up a bunch of Marvel obscurities and then tries to make them interconnected where they weren’t interconnected before. World-building continuity is meant to add flavor to a story, not to be the entire story.

Next week: I am (not) from beyond.

****

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