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Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Now that all the Dr. Doom/X-Men/Mephisto stuff is over, we get back to the main plot in issue #306, in which Reed and Sue are out the door, and Ben is leading a whole new FF team. The current lineup is Ben, Johnny, and Crystal. Who will be the fourth?

The Inhumans show up at Four Freedoms Plaza so Crystal is reunited with her infant daughter, Luna. We’re told that an Inhuman nanny, Maya, is taking care of the kid while Crystal is off doing the superhero thing. Medusa, who is now queen of the Inhumans, says she and Black Bolt approve of Crystal joining the FF, adding it’s just what she needs right now.

Out in the streets of New York, Captain America shows up with Ms. Marvel. That is, the second Ms. Marvel. A lot of you are probably saying “Who?” right now. For most, Ms. Marvel is either the original, Carol Danvers, who went on to become Captain Marvel, or Kamala Khan, the new teen Ms. Marvel. This one, though, is neither. Meet Sharon Ventura, who was Ms. Marvel during the Thing solo series. We’ll get to her background in a bit. Captain America is just giving her a ride. He reaches out to touch her cheek in a friendly gesture (okay…) and she shies away from him, not wanting to be touched. Cap drives off, leaving her standing there rather bewildered-looking on the streets of Manhattan.

Inside HQ, there’s a bit of action as the Inhumans release Quicksilver from his cell where he’s spent the last few issues. There’s a quick fight before Lockjaw, the Inhumans’ giant dog, subdues Quicksilver. The Inhumans take Quicksilver back to the moon, saying he’s their problem now. Ben then sees Sharon outside and runs out to greet her, only to find she’s run off.

Wandering New York, Sharon flashes back to her origin. She was a pro wrestler who became enamored with Ben while he was with the goofy Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation. She went to a mad scientist called the Power Broker and got superhuman strength and agility thanks to his evil super-steroids. The steroids made her addicted. She went to another mad scientist, Dr. Malus, who promised her a cure, but instead he abducted her and had all his henchmen, uh, have their way with her. (Gross!!!) With Captain America’s help, she escaped and now wants to reunite with Ben.

Crystal catches up with Ben and they have a heart-to-heart about how weird it is to be back on the team now that Johnny and Alicia are married. Ben promises that they can tough it out together. Then, out of quite literally nowhere, Diablo appears. He says he wants revenge on the Fantastic Four for trapping him beneath the Earth. (This happened in issue #232, but he later got out and made appearances in other Marvel comics between then and now.)

Everybody fights! Diablo has used his powers of alchemy to create a bunch of monsters to counter the FF’s powers. A “trans-mutant” turns Crystal into gold. Ben finds himself swarmed by a hurricane-like air creature that he’s not able to punch. Reed, Sue, and Johnny join the fight. A mud-like creature buries Reed so he can’t breathe, a water monster snuffs out Johnny’s flame, and a fire creature traps Sue inside one of her own force fields. Just when all seems hopeless, our hero Sharon Ventura sneaks up behind Diablo and punches him real good.

Knocking out Diablo also conveniently destroys his monsters. Sharon wants to beat up Diablo some more, but Ben stops her. She admits to Ben that, because of what happened to her, she hates all men except for him. (She didn’t seem to hate Captain America earlier, so maybe she’s exaggerating a little.) She asks Ben what she should do, and he invites her to become the new fourth member of the Fantastic Four.

Unstable molecule: Medusa states that the medicine Reed made for Crystal will now allow the Inhumans to visit Earth whenever they want without fear of pollution harming them.

Fade out: Seeing Crystal with Luna reaffirms for Sue the importance of leaving (or at least taking a break from) the Fantastic Four, to spend more time with her son.

Clobberin’ time: Ben appears to have turned a corner as to his heartbreak over Alicia and Johnny being married. We’ll see how long this lasts.

Flame on: Johnny manages to turn all of Diablo’s water into steam, only for Diablo to instantly re-form it back into water, trapping Johnny in an endless cycle of water-steam-water.

Fantastic fifth wheel: Everyone say hello to Sharon Ventura. Get used to her, because she’s going to be around for a long time. The concept here is that she’s a superhero with PTSD. For some, that’s empowering. Others, however, feel the PTSD was poorly handled. In issues to come, the “T” in PTSD is going to get a lot, lot worse. So settle in for a lot of tears and dramatic hand-wringing wherever Sharon goes.

Crystal and Diablo both remember how he enslaved her way back in issue #118. That’s why he brought the trans-mutant along with him — specifically to deal just with her.

Four and a half: Franklin is referred to as “Frank” throughout this issue, perhaps to make him appear older in comparison to baby Luna.

Commercial break: Look at TSR trying to be all wacky by publishing an upside-down ad. But, really, did anyone ever manage to level up their characters to the point where they could do far-out stuff like visit other planes?

Trivia time: In addition to Carol, Sharon, and Kamala, there was another Ms. Marvel — Carla Sofen, a.k.a. Songbird, who was an evil Ms. Marvel during the Dark Reign crossover.

Look closely at the billboards in the background of this issue. “Balent’s Photos” is a shout-out to comic artist Jim Balent. Also Walter Hill’s 1979 film The Warriors is still playing at a movie theater.

Fantastic or frightful? Other than introducing readers to the then-new Ms. Marvel, there’s not much that happens in this one. Diablo especially suffers from generic villain syndrome. There’s one more issue to go before we settle into this new team, then we’ll see what’s really in store for our heroes.

Next week: Have fun storming the castle.

****

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 week, I’m at annual #20, which is a direct continuation from the cliffhanger at the end of #305. Except, I stopped reading the annuals a while back simply because they’re really long, and a pain to summarize in a blog post. No getting around it now, though. First, here’s a quick rundown of the annuals I haven’t yet covered, and then we’ll get into the meat of annual #20.

Annual #7 repeats issue #1 and annual #2 in their entirety, with no new material except for the cover.

Annual #8 reprints annual #1 in its entirety, adding some pinup pages of the FF and their villains, and a new cover.

Annual #9 reprints issue #43, annual #3, and a Human Torch solo story from Strange Tales in their entirety, with no new material except for the cover.

Annual #10 reprints annual #3 (again!) and annual #4 in their entirety, with no new material except for the cover.

Annual #11 has the FF traveling back in time to team up with WWII superheroes the Invaders to battle Nazis. Note that this takes place during that short time during the ‘70s when Ben was human, and wearing that robotic Thing suit to join the team.

Annual #12 has the FF and the Inhumans teaming up to fight Thraxon the Schemer and the Sphinx. There’s a funny subplot about the Hollywood making a Fantastic Four movie and having the movie be nothing like the FF. Prescient!

Annual #13 has the FF stopping the Mole Man from abducting people from the surface world to rebuild his underground kingdom.

Annual #14 has the FF visiting the magical town of New Salem, where they save the world from an evil cult. Franklin’s magic-using nanny Agatha Harkness plays a prominent role.

Annual #15 has the FF and Captain Marvel (a.k.a. the alien Mar-Vell) teaming up to fight some Skrulls. A backup story reveals how Dr. Doom recovered from his defeat in issue #200.

Annual #16 has the FF meeting the alien Dragonlord, who meets and becomes best pals with FF villain Dragon Man. Art by Steve Ditko!

Annual #17 has the FF investigating strange goings-on in a small town. Remember back in issue #2, when Reed hypnotized those Skrulls into thinking they were cows? Now the milk from those cows has turned this town’s populace into shape-shifters! Written and drawn by John Byrne!

Annual #18 has cosmic beings declaring the long-running Kree vs. Skrull conflict to be settled by a single warrior of each species in a one-on-one fight. Their final battle is to take place on the moon. Unfortunately, this is also happening while the FF are there for Medusa and Black Bolt’s wedding. My description’s not doing this one justice, as it’s some terrific space opera.

Annual #19 has the all-powerful but childlike alien Infant Terrible return to Earth, pursued by Skrulls (so many Skrulls in these annuals). The FF and the Avengers team up to stop the Skrulls.

Now we’re finally caught up with annual #20. Just after Crystal decides to rejoin the team, Dr. Doom shows up at headquarters, demanding that the FF turn Franklin over to him. Doom explains that once a year (!) he battles Mephisto in an attempt to free his mother’s soul from the afterlife. Because Franklin defeated Mephisto when in Mephisto’s realm (in issue #288), Doom wants the kid to do it again. (Remember that Franklin has godlike, world-ending superpowers when he’s in Mephisto’s realm.) The FF refuse, so Doom leaves. The FF’s building is then immediately attacked by “tau neutrino” robots. After much fighting, one of the robots abducts Franklin.

Dr. Doom explains to Franklin that Mephisto has his mother’s soul, so Franklin agrees to help Doom. While the FF mount a rescue, one of the robots frees Kristoff, the little kid brainwashed to think he’s Doom. Arriving in Latveria, Doom takes Franklin to an underground chamber to begin the Mephisto-summing ritual. Kristoff arrives next, sneaking into Doom’s castle and donning an adult-sized suit of Dr. Doom armor. Then the FF arrive, and they chase Kristoff around Latveria’s underground tunnels for a while.

Doom confronts Mephisto and reveals his true plan. He doesn’t want Franklin to defeat Mephisto. Instead, he offers Franklin’s soul to Mephisto in exchange for Doom’s mother. Kristoff and the FF interrupt the ritual and everybody fights. Mephisto draws Reed and Franklin into his realm, only to withdraw once Franklin threatens to destroy him again.

Back on Earth, all the Doombots are unsure whether Kristoff or Dr. Doom is the real Doom. Because Dr. Doom failed in his mission, the Doombots declare him an imperfect copy, and he’s forced to leave as Kristoff becomes the new leader of Latveria. Our heroes are reunited. Upon leaving Doom’s castle that remark that no matter what happens, no one will ever defeat the Fantastic Four.

Unstable molecule: Reed fakes being injured to fool Mephisto. You’d think an all-powerful demonic entity would be smarter than to fall for that.

Fade out: Aside from throwing her force fields around during the fights, Sue does very little during the annual. This is strange considering her son has been kidnapped.

Clobberin’ time: There’s a lot of talk about Ben being the new team leader, with others asking him to call out the shots during battle, even though Reed is still right alongside the team.

Flame on: Johnny and Crystal spend a lot of the annual fretting about being exes who also teammates, with each saying it might be harder than they both realized.

Fantastic fifth wheel: Crystal says Doombots are powered by plutonium, and this makes it “child’s play” for her to shut them down with her elemental powers.

Four and a half: Big character development for Franklin here, first when Doom appeals to his better nature to help him, and then later when really has to appeal to his better nature not to destroy Doom.

Commercial break: Speaking of Mephisto…

Trivia time: Dr. Doom reveals he’s been secretly spying on Franklin for some time while planning this, to the point where he knows about Franklin’s membership in Power Pack while Reed and Sue still don’t. Doom even knows enough to call Power Pack’s villainous Snarks by their real name, the Sn’rx.

Fantastic or frightful? Annual #20 has a lot of big drama and it positions Kristoff as a major player in the Marvel Universe, but it still doesn’t work as well as it should. It’s more interested in robot fights and Mephisto weirdness than in whatever emotion might be under it all.

Next week: After Carol, before Kamala.

****

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 finally happened — Marvel continuity got the better of me. In my last regular blog post, I wrote about issue #305, only later to check the Marvel wiki, where I learned the miniseries Fantastic Four vs. The X-Men takes place during that issue. (Between pages 17 and 18, specifically.) That puts Dr. Doom’s appearance in that issue after the miniseries, so… let’s just read it.

We begin with one of Franklin’s dreams, where he sees Reed murder the X-Men and then transform into Dr. Doom. Upon waking, Franklin wants to talk to Reed about this, but his dad’s too busy in the lab. He hangs out with Sue instead, as she unpacks some items she and Reed had in storage since before they were married. (We’re not told exactly where their old stuff was stored.) Among their old junk is Reed’s college journal, which Franklin had seen in his dream.

Cut to the X-Men. Our favorite mutants have been through a lot since we last saw them in Fantastic Four. During the epic Mutant Massacre crossover, a bunch of X-Men were horribly injured and a whole new group joined the team. Magneto is still leading the team in his “I’m a good guy now” phase, and the team has relocated from New York to the science lab in Muir Island, Scotland. Pyslocke, Havok, Longshot, and Dazzler are the new X-Men, while Nightcrawler and Colossus are in comas. Most important to this story is that Shadowcat, a.k.a. Kitty Pryde, was also injured during the massacre, messing with her walk-through-walls power so that now she’s in a constant intangible state. After several pages establishing all this, Magneto states that a device invented by Reed might be able to cure Kitty’s condition. The other X-Men, however, fear that Reed won’t help, thinking that Magneto is still a criminal.

At Four Freedoms Plaza, Sue confronts Reed. She’s read his college journal and found something she didn’t like. Before we can learn what, we then cut to a library in Greenwich Village, where She-Hulk is studying the trial of Magneto (from Uncanny X-Men #200) for an upcoming presentation at her old school, and Ben is studying to re-certify his pilot’s license. They’re interrupted by a series of explosions in the neighborhood. Magneto shows up and helps them save a building from collapsing. At HQ, the FF still don’t trust Magneto, even as he pleads for their help to save Kitty. Sue is still mad at Reed, so she stays behind while Reed, Ben, Johnny, and She-Hulk take Magneto back to Muir Isle.

Upon arriving, Reed is overcome with self-doubt, because what was revealed in his old journal. Because of this, he tells the X-Men they can’t use his machine to cure Kitty. This is called Fantastic Four vs. the X-Men, so of course a fight breaks out. Wolverine is, as always, the center of attention, first he knocks out Johnny (it looks like he stabs Johnny, but the comic later says he merely “elbowed” Johnny) and then threatens to slice n’ dice Reed. Storm gets burned by Johnny’s flame, Rogue knocks Ben out by temporarily absorbing Ben’s powers (and his memories), and Psylocke invades She-Hulk and Johnny’s minds. The fight ends when the X-Men’s scientist friend Moira McTaggert steps between Wolverine and Reed.

As both sides lick their wounds, Reed and Storm agree that both teams should go their separate ways. Then, a stranger the X-Men rescued from drowning walks up to everyone. Turns out this guy is a robot. And not just any robot, but a Doombot. Dr. Doom speaks to everyone through the ‘bot, saying that he will do what Reed refuses to, and save Kitty himself. “My reasons are my own,” he adds. Reed implores the X-Men not to deal with Doom, but Storm insists that the FF no longer stick their noses in the X-Men’s business.

Back at Four Freedoms Plaza, Ben and Johnny have read Reed’s old journal by now, and the truth comes out. Reed know (or at least suspected) that the FF’s original spaceflight might give them all superhuman powers. He went ahead with the flight after reading a paper by Dr. Xavier about the emergence in mutants among the populace. Ben doesn’t like hearing this, and neither do Johnny or She-Hulk. All three walk out on Reed. Meanwhile, not all the X-Men are cool with making a deal with Dr. Doom, but Storm steps up and says she’ll take responsibility, that she’s willing to do whatever it takes to save Kitty. The rest of the X-Men then agree to back her up.

The X-Men temporarily relocate to Dr. Doom’s castle, where he cures Storm’s burn as a show of good faith. Kitty decides that she would rather die than let her friends the X-Men be in Dr. Doom’s debt. Before she allowing lets her molecules dissipate (or something like that) Franklin appears to her in his astral projected form. In this form, he can communicate with Kitty and even touch her. He tearfully convinces her to stay.

In New York, Reed doubts himself, wondering why and how he repressed the memory of writing this journal. Ben drowns his sorrows in a Yancy Street bar, and then saves a baby from a fire, which helps him put things in perspective. Similarly, Johnny has a heart-to-heart with Alicia about how he always has to keep his fire under control for fear of accidentally burning someone. He flies around an NYC pier to further hone his skills. Reed and Sue then have a heart-to-heart, with her telling him that the young man who wrote the journal is no longer the man he is now. The rest of the FF reconcile, and Reed says they will all go to Latveria to save Kitty.

Dr. Doom begins the procedure to try to save Kitty. The FF arrive in Latveria, and the X-Men are hostile to them, thinking the FF is there to stop Doom. Another fight breaks out. One punch from Ben knocks out Wolverine, and Rogue snuffs out Johnny’s flame by tossing him into some snow. With use of a force field, Sue takes out Rogue, Havok, Dazzler, and Longshot simultaneously. Magneto threatens to destroy the FF’s plane when Franklin, who was on board, stops the fight, asking whether they’re more interested in fighting each other or saving Kitty.

Both teams enter the chamber where Doom is trying to save Kitty. Doom makes a big show about how if he can pull this off, then it’ll finally prove the world that he’s better than Reed. Reed sees an error in one of Doom’s displays, and insists that the machine be shut off. Reed tries to save Kitty, but is still wracked with guilt over the journal. After much drama, Reed decides to fight through his personal anguish and make the attempt to save Kitty.

Cut to later, when we’re told (but not shown) that the procedure was a success, and that Kitty is now slowly returning to normal. Reed and Magneto shake hands, apologizing for misjudging one another. Sue then deduces that the journal is fake, created by Dr. Doom to undermine Reed’s confidence. Everyone braces for a fight, but Sue says now that Doom’s treachery is exposed, the battle is already over.

Unstable molecule: What does it say about Reed that this old (and fake) journal shakes him to his core like this? I suppose this can be interpreted as part of what’s driving him to take a break from superheroing to spend more time with his son.

Fade out: Still think Sue isn’t the most powerful member of the team? She wipes out four X-Men in a single blow. This includes Rogue, one of the team’s heaviest hitters.

Clobberin’ time: A lot of fans have disliked how Ben is able to knock Wolverine unconscious with a comedic bop to the head. Try to remember that this was before Wolverine achieved the godlike “ultimate badass” status he enjoyed in the late ‘90s/2000s, so it was possible for the ol’ canucklehead to get roughed up in a fight.

Flame on: It’s been established that being doused with water no longer stops Johnny (he just goes ahead and flames on again) so it’s incongruous that getting thrown into a pile of snow defeats him so easily.

Fantastic fifth wheel: There’s a lot of talk about how She-Hulk puts her “4” uniform back on even though she’s back with the Avengers full-time now. That makes this miniseries her official farewell to the FF (even though she’ll be back).

Four and a half: Franklin previously befriended Kitty and the X-Men when the Power Pack kids got involved in the Mutant Massacre. Including the kids in the megaviolent crossover was controversial at the time, and you do have to wonder why they don’t have PTSD now. (Maybe Julie Power does, because she joined that support group in Runaways and The Loners.) Also note that Franklin appears in his Power Pack uniform in front of Kitty, but not his parents, so he’s still doing the secret identity thing.

The Alicia problem: Alicia, who is secretly Lyja the Skrull in disguise, only appears in one scene, but her dialogue is loaded with double meanings now that we know she’s a Skrull. She commiserates with Johnny about his having to be in control of his powers all the time, because she has to maintain her disguise all the time. She also talks about learning from mistakes and changing for the better, which recalls her change of heart from being a spy infiltrating the FF to genuinely falling in love with Johnny.

Commercial break: Each issue of this mini was 32 pages with no ads (and a jacked-up cover price). It did get its own trading card:

Trivia time: Kitty, Colossus, and Nightcrawler all return to normal pretty much right after this, during the Fall of the Mutants crossover. Kitty and Nightcrawler then leave the X-Men to co-found the England based Excalibur team. Allegedly, writer Chris Claremont tried several times over the years to have Kitty join the Fantastic Four, but it never happened for whatever reason.

Fantastic or frightful? There’s a lot to like about this miniseries, but it has a lot of problems, too. The entire fight could have been avoided if Reed and Magneto had just talked for a minute before exchanging blows, which is frustrating. Still, the big drama and big emotion we all remember from Chris Claremont’s X-Men is in full force. So it’s not just fighting, but huge swells of operatic emotion to go with it. As a kid, I never liked artist John Bogdanove because his work wasn’t as flashy as others, but I’ve grown to like his work more since then, especially his expressive faces. Even Dr. Doom is expressive! The good outweighs the bad.

Next week: Still more Doom.

****

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 the holiday weekend and I’m feeling lazy, so here are some Fantastic Four videos for you:

****

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. We’re in the middle of an ongoing arc, in which the we say goodbye to the classic FF and hello to a whole new team. In issue #305, that’s not so easy, because one of the new members has a long history with our heroes.

The issue begins with Ben brooding on a rooftop, Batman-style. He exposits about how Reed and Sue are leaving the FF, he’s the new team leader, and he’s got to come up with new team members. He talks with Reed, who’s still hanging around, about who the replacement should be. Reed suggests Black Panther, along with former alternate FF members Power Man, Thundra, and Tigra. They’re interrupted by Crystal, hovering outside a nearby window. She used her elemental powers to create a thermal updraft, giving her temporary flying-like powers.

We get a lot of exposition about how Crystal and her hubby Quicksilver recently broke up. She cheated on him with a real estate agent, and he turned into a murderous supervillain. (But, hey, what relationship isn’t complicated?) After having fought and defeated Quicksilver in the previous issue, Reed has him in a cell inside Four Freedoms Plaza, next to the padded cell they’re keeping young Kristoff in. Crystal steps into the cell to confront Quicksilver. After bickering a bit about one another’s discretions, it turns into a full-blown fight. Crystal uses the small space to her advantage, using her elemental powers to command the “earth” (a.k.a. the floor) beneath quicksilver so he can be as speedy. She says this is her goodbye to him.

Johnny and Alicia (who is secretly Lyja the Skrull in disguise) show up, and Crystal congratulates them on their recent marriage. Crystal says it’s time for her to return to the Inhumans’ home on the moon, but Ben instead asks her stay and rejoin the FF as one of the team’s new members. Johnny doesn’t like this at all, and he curtly asks Ben to speak with him in private on the roof.

Johnny angrily accuses Ben of using Crystal to bother him, as he doesn’t want his ex around while starting a new marriage. Ben says Johnny’s doing the same thing with Ben’s ex. They fight, but it’s not much of fight because they both know how each other’s powers work. Johnny declares that he’s not leaving the FF, no matter what decisions Ben makes as team leader. Johnny and Alicia then have a heart-to-heart, with him promising her that Crystal is in his past, whereas she’s in his future. They go apartment-hunting, hoping to have their own life, separate from superhero craziness (yeah, good luck with that).

Sue and Crystal then have a heart-to-heart, with Sue rather abruptly bringing up Crystal’s infidelity. Crystal stands by what she did, saying “It was right for me at that time.” She further tells Sue, “We’re from different generations.” She assures Sue that she’s not here to break up Johnny and Alicia. The issue ends when the security system at Four Freedoms Plaza goes off. Everyone rushes to main entrance to find Dr. Doom there. The big twist is that he’s not there for Kristoff, he’s there for Franklin!

To be continued!

Unstable molecule: This issue remembers that the Inhumans left Earth because of pollution. Reed then whips up a formula to cure Crystal of pollution poisoning so she can stay with the FF. We’re not told why he doesn’t send cases of this stuff up to the moon for all the Inhumans.

Fade out: Sue’s reaction to Crystal sleeping with someone other than her husband is initial surprise that the “nice girl” Crystal would do that, but it doesn’t seem to me to be all that judgmental beyond that. (A quick trip around the internet and back shows a lot of folks interpreting this in other ways, though, with many readers damning Crystal for her behavior. I don’t believe this was the author’s intent.)

Clobberin’ time: Ben’s philosophy for recruiting new team members is that they have to be like family, and not just “powers and a good attitude,” which is how Ben describes the Avengers’ membership requirements. During the fight, Ben blows out Johnny’s flame with a huge gust of breath, something I don’t recall seeing him do before.

Flame on: Johnny and Alicia’s new loft apartment is only a few blocks from Four Freedoms Plaza, not taking him too far from the action. Their new landlord insists on an indemnity against smoke and fire damage.

Fantastic fifth wheel: Crystal’s superpowers continue to be ill-defined. Now she seems to controlling elements not in a “table of elements” way, but in a “air/earth/water/fire” way (maybe she’s the new reincarnation of Aang and Korra). She’s still shooting those yellow energy beams out of her hands, and we’re still not told what those are.

Four and a half: Franklin says he remembers when Crystal was a member of the team before, even though he was too young to remember.

The Alicia problem: Lyja talks about Crystal as the “woman I once knew,” except this is the first time she’s met Crystal. Lyja’s just maintaining her cover, no doubt.

Commercial break: Time machine!

Trivia time: Look closely: Some of the captions in this issue aren’t just the usual comic book narration, but Dr. Doom, secretly watching the FF via hidden cameras. It’s a really subtle touch that a lot of folks miss on their first read.

Fantastic or Frightful? This one has a lot to unpack. Before the new Fantastic Four can be introduced, the characters’ histories have to be dealt with. So this is mostly setting up future issues, but it’s still a smart play, keeping readers from asking “But what about the time that…”

Next: All Doom, all the 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 #304 promises a bold new direction for our heroes, but is it?

First things first: This issue was written by Steve Englehart, and he’ll be with the series for the next 30 issues, leaving quite a footprint on FF history. Englehart has a history of taking on an old franchise and breathing new life into it, years before guys like Grant Morrison, Alan Moore, and James Robinson made it cool to do that. For example, he’s one of several writers and artists to take credit for making Batman serious again after the campy ‘60s show went off the air, and he alleges that his writing on Batman inspired the 1989 Batman movie. Englehart says Fantastic Four was floundering and directionless when Marvel offered him the job. His solution was to take Reed and Sue out of the picture, claiming they were reasons the series had become boring and old-fashioned. We see him laying the groundwork for this in issue #304. However, like so many other writers and artists, Englehart famously feuded with Marvel editorial. (Has anyone not famously feuded with Marvel editorial? I’m starting to think I’ve famously feuded with Marvel editorial.) As we’ll see in the months to come, these feuds will lead to some odd twists and turns for the FF.

Issue #304 begins simply enough, with Reed, Ben, Sue and Franklin in Reed’s lab as he tinkers with some sci-fi device. There are several pages of recaps, reminding readers of Franklin’s new powers, and Ben’s recent short-lived stint with the West Coast Avengers before he returned to the FF. Reed then makes a big announcement. He says he and Sue are leaving the team to focus more on Franklin, and Reed wants Ben to be the new team leader. Ben says no, thinking to himself that this is just an act of charity on Reed’s part. It’s also during this time that we see, somewhat terrifyingly, Reed still has Kristoff in a padded cell (!), and Kistroff still believes he’s Dr. Doom.

Johnny and Alicia (who is secretly Lyja the Skrull in disguise) are back from their honeymoon. They talk a leisurely stroll through the NYC sidewalks, talking more about Ben and how he’s having a tough time dealing with their marriage. Alicia is then swept away in what appears to be a gust of wind. Johnny pursues, flying at maximum speed, but can’t catch the “wind.” Johnny flies back to HQ, deducing that Quicksilver has abducted Alicia. Ben agrees, expositing that Quicksilver has turned evil and, with the help of the Zodiac gang, recently battled the combined forces of the East Coast and West Coast Avengers. Reed says he might have a way to track Quicksilver.

Quicksilver takes Alicia to a partially-collapsed building in the Bronx, which this comic depicts as some sort of post-apocalyptic wasteland. Specifically, Quicksilver describes the Bronx as, “Desolate and dangerous to human life,” and his evil plan is simply to leave Alicia there, where she will face death at the hands of “rats and roving street gangs.” He further explains that his wife Crystal (Johnny’s old girlfriend and a former FF alternate member) recently dumped him and had an affair with a real estate agent. Now, Quicksilver is enacting epic revenge by seeking to harm anyone who ever cared about Crystal.

The Fantastic Four find Quicksilver at that moment, with Reed giving a long-winded explanation of how they found him. (Something about his lungs expelling natural poisons faster than anyone else thanks to his speed.) Then it’s several pages of fighting. Quicksilver’s speed, combined with his insanity, make him too unpredictable for the FF’s usual tactics. Ben tricks Quicksilver into showing off how he can run on air, by running so fast he creates a cushion of kinetic energy beneath his feet. The problem is, he can’t outmaneuver Johnny when in the air, so Johnny knocks him out.

Johnny rescues Alicia, and everyone praises Ben for his quick thinking in the heat of battle. Johnny adds that it felt just like old times. Then the issue ends with Ben announcing that he’ll take the job and become the new leader of the Fantastic Four.

Unstable molecule: Reed stretches his body to a rope-like thinness in an attempt to trip Quicksilver, only for Quicksilver to tie him in knots.

Fade out: Sue can’t do anything during the fight, but does keep the unconscious Quicksilver in a force field once the battle is over.

Clobberin’ time: Despite his still being mopey about Johnny and Alicia, Ben says he justifies his staying with the FF because he feels it’s better confront your problems and deal with them, rather than run and hide from them.

Flame on: Johnny states that his maximum speed is about 150 miles per hour, and he stimates Quicksilver to be more around 170 miles per hour.

Fantastic fifth wheel: She-Hulk doesn’t appear in this issue, although Franklin mentions her as “Aunt Jenny.”

Four and a half: We’re told through narration that Reed and Sue still have no idea Franklin’s been doing the superhero thing alongside the Power Pack kids. There’s a one-panel flashback to Franklin and the Pack fighting in the Snark War.

The Alicia problem: Alicia toughens up when held captive, demanding answers from Quicksilver. Can we interpret this as Lyja, a spy, being trained to withstand harsh interrogation techniques?

Commercial break: Raise your hand if your parents ever had (or still have) a problem with stuff like this:

Trivia time: Crystal’s break up with Quicksilver and her fling with the real estate agent were chronicled in the Vision and Scarlet Witch miniseries.

Fantastic or frightful? The “Quicksilver is a villain now” thing provided a lot of drama in the Avengers titles, but not so much here. It’s interesting in that introducing the new team lineup was done gradually, instead of in one big event issue. Nonetheless, this is where the new team begins.

Next week: Crystal clear.

****

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Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. You want alternate what-if timelines? Issue #303 has alternate what-if timelines.

We begin with Ben, moping around Four Freedoms Plaza, still dreary and bummed out about Johnny and Alicia’s recent wedding. He goes for a walk in the rain, where Thundra teleports right in front of him. Thundra, a former alternate member of the FF, reminds us that she’s from an alternate future where the women are literally at war with the men. Ben reminds us that she’s 7 feet tall and has superhuman strength. Thundra says a group of rebels named the Warriors of Machus have taken over a prison, holding the guards hostage. Thundra needs Ben’s help because the rebels also have an android which sends out “alpha waves,” incapacitating women but not men.

With the help of a high-tech “D-belt,” Ben and Thundra travel to her timeline. They teleport right into the middle of the prison and immediately fight the rebels, including a big bearded six-armed guy who puts up quite a fight for a few pages. (This guy is the android, it turns out.) After the fight, Ben discovers that Thundra has been named empress of her people. She then asks Ben to marry her, saying her respect for him has turned into something resembling love. Ben considers her offer, but finally says no, that his home is on Earth, not her world.

Ben then says that he wishes he could have lived his life differently, and Thundra says it is possible. She says her world’s scientists are able to send him back to just before the Secret War, where he can stay on Earth this time. After a bunch of sci-fi techno jargon, they do this, and Ben finds himself back in time. He jumps out of the Beyonder’s machine just before it teleports Reed and Johnny to Battleworld. With all of Earth’s greatest superheroes in space for the Secret War, Ben goes running back to Alicia.

Remembering that Ben and Alicia broke up just before the Secret War, Ben tells Alicia “scratch that,” and he asks her to marry him, right then and there. She says yes. (There is, obviously, no reference to Alicia being secretly replaced by Lyja the Skrull during this time.) From there, the timeline flashes forward to Reed and Johnny returning from the Secret War to get the big news, and no reaction from Johnny. This has Ben thinking, “I won!”

We flash forward again, this time to the wedding from issue #300, only this time Ben is marrying Alicia. He sees a look of sadness on Alicia’s face, and it dawns on him that this timeline is not the way history was meant to go. Ben bails on the wedding. Thundra reappears with a more tech jargon about how she can only return Ben back to the original timeline, and not hers. She does this, and Ben is back where the issue began.

Ben watches over Franklin while Franklin sleeps. Ben muses to himself that this is where he belongs. He says it’s up to him to solve his own problems and not run from them, even if part of him will always be in love with Alicia.

Unstable molecule/Fade out: Reed begins to say “About that invitation…” to Sue, and we never learn what the invitation is. Perhaps this is setting up the big shakeup next issue.

Clobberin’ time: Just before going back in time, Ben thinks to himself that yes, he does love Thundra as well. This is an emotionally confused time for ol’ Benjy.

Flame on: After Ben leaves the wedding, Johnny consoles Alicia with a big hug, suggesting that their romance might have still occurred in this timeline.

Fantastic fifth wheel: After her short membership in the FF, Thundra made a bunch of appearances in Marvel Two-in-One, where she and Hyperion (leader of the Squadron Supreme) had a partnership of sorts. She also had a brief involvement in the all-female super-powered wrestling group, the Grapplers. She returned to her home timeline in Marvel Two-in-One #67. She’ll next appear in Captain America #392 as part of a mass gathering of superhuman women, and then in West Coast Avengers #75, for a battle against Arkon.

She-Hulk appears as a guest at Ben’s wedding, with Ben commenting that even in the alternate timeline, she and Wyatt Wingfoot became a couple.

Four and a half: Franklin is shown sleeping with one teddy bear at the start of the issue, but a completely different teddy bear at the end. Oh no, Ben really did change the timeline!

The Alicia problem: Are we to assume that, in the alternate timeline, Lyja succeeded with her plot to replace Alicia and infiltrate the FF through Ben? If so, does that mean she never had her change of heart, which could also explain her look of sadness at the wedding?

Commercial break: Young Josh Brolin! Young Pamela Gidley! On videocassette!

Trivia time: Ben begins the issue hanging out in the trophy room in Four Freedoms Plaza. In the old Baxter Building, the trophy room was where the FF kept various oddities they collected on their travels. In this issue, the trophy room contains a glowing red rock, a model of the Fantasticar, puppets of the FF, and a newspaper headline reading “The FF go bad.” There’s much debate online as to what previous stories these items are referencing, with no definitive answers.

Fantastic or frightful? An interesting issue, even though we’ve been doing the Ben-is-heartbroken-about-Johnny-and-Alicia thing for several issues now, so it’s starting to feel awfully repetitive. It’s also nice to see Thundra again, even though she’s not given much to do. So, it’s a decent read, but inconsequential.

Next week: Quickly, now.

****

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Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Now that Johnny and Alicia (who is secretly Lyja the Skrull in disguise) are married, issue #302 spins them off into their own adventure.

While on their honeymoon in upstate New York, Johnny and Alicia are headed to the town of Athenvillie, where they are stopped by Army soldiers. The soldiers won’t let them pass until they realize Johnny is the Human Torch. They then claim this was only a training exercise, which Johnny doesn’t believe. In town, Johnny and Alicia learn there have been a bunch of disappearances, which some people blame on the increased military presence. They meet with Alicia’s friend Myrna and the local Marshal. (Upstate New York is a lot more like the Old West than I thought.) Turns out many of those who’ve disappeared were local artists, only for them to return days later, wandering the streets with no memory.

Back at Four Freedoms Plaza, Reed continues to experiment with (on?) Franklin, determining just how Franklin’s dream-based astral projection works. Franklin’s dream-self spies on Johnny and Alicia for a moment, where Johnny says he’s going off by himself to investigate the disappearances. At HQ, Ben gripes at Reed to not let Franklin become a peeping tom. The point gets across, as Reed, Sue and Franklin sit down for a talk.

Johnny visits the army camp and talks to a cigar-chompin’ captain. The captain doesn’t want Johnny there, but then Johnny overhears another soldier talking about missing nukes. Before he can investigate further, he sees an FF signal flare in the sky, recognizing it as the one he gave Alicia in case of emergency. Johnny flies back to where he left Alicia, but she’s already gone. Her friend Myrna catches him by surprise, gassing him unconscious.

Johnny and Alicia wake up in a town-sized underground facility called Project Survival. Johnny can’t use his powers because he’s covered with a special anti-fire solution. Myrna is there, and she introduces them to the project’s inner council. Project Survival is basically a giant bomb shelter/spaceship hidden inside a nearby mountain, collecting humanity’s best and brightest, with a plan to escape the Earth when or if World War III starts.

Johnny asks the council about the stolen nukes, saying they could use the nukes’ firepower to blast off and escape the earth. The council members say they would never do this, fearing that would start the nuclear war they fear. One man, known only as “Tech,” admits to the theft, saying it’s time for Project Survival to leave the Earth. Tech summons the guards and locks up Johnny and Alicia. Johnny concentrates, managing to get his power back. He flies through the place, dismantling the engine mechanics without harming or setting off the nukes.

Later, the cops arrive and haul off Tech and the inner council, while Myrna and the rest of Project Survival wonder what to do now. Alicia (secretly a Skrull, let’s not forget) gives a big speech about how nuclear war can be prevented, but only if all humans can work together and whatnot.

Unstable molecule: Excellent science-y dialogue from Reed about Franklin’s powers: “As long as he remains in a state of somnambulance, Franklin apparently has full control of his mental manifestation!”

Fade out: Sue is in the room while Reed experiments on Franklin, but she doesn’t say or do anything.

Clobberin’ time: Look closely: Ben is reading a book titled “How to Pick Up Girls.” Make of that what you will.

Flame on: The air grows colder around Johnny as he does he concentrates on bringing back his powers, suggesting that he’s gaining strength by drawing heat from the air around him. I don’t recall him doing this before.

Four and a half: This issue raises the question of how far Franklin can travel when in astral form. Here he travels across state, while in Power Pack he mostly just traveled around NYC.

The Alicia problem: What to make of Lyja being the one who gives the big “humans can save the Earth” speech. Does this show how much she’s come to care about the Earth since she’s been here, or is she merely maintaining her cover?

Commercial break: Whatever happened to Captain Clueless?

Trivia time: A note on the first page says, “Thanks to the folks at Omacon 6 for all the story ideas.” What happened here is that co-writers Tom DeFalco and Roger Stern allegedly gave a “how to write comics” presentation at a convention in Omaha, Nebraska, where they plotted this whole issue live on stage, complete with suggestions from the audience.

Fantastic or frightful? A zero substance issue, the usual mysterious small town/underground sci-fi facility story we’ve seen before. Tacking on a heavy-handed anti-nukes message makes it more groan worthy than deep and meaningful. Not a bad issue, just a forgettable one.

Next week: Bring the thunder!

****

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Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Now that Johnny and Alicia are married, it’s time to further establish the series’ new status quo. First up is Franklin revealing his new powers to his parents.

We begin with Reed, Sue, and Ben leading an all-out assault on the Mad Thinker’s secret headquarters. This means they did learn he was messing around with other villains during the wedding last week. What’s more, young Franklin is at home, asleep, seeing all this in a dream. The FF team up the local SWAT team to fight their way through the Thinker’s hideout, smashing up all the Thinker’s androids real good. Franklin watches the fight in his astral-projected dream self, staying out of site. But when an android tries to sneak up Reed, Franklin cries “Look out!” Reed wonders if his mind is playing tricks on him.

We see the Mad Thinker coordinating all this from inside his jail cell. The idea here is that he can mentally control his entire network of machines from anywhere, so as long as his body is just sitting there in his cell, there’s nothing the cops can do. We then cut to the Wizard’s hideout (we’re not told where this is, exactly) where the Wizard and one of the Thinker’s androids discuss their next move. The Wizard was watching the battle and saw Franklin’s dream-self there. He wants to use Franklin’s powers to destroy Reed. The Thinker says his grudge is with the FF and not a little kid, and he refuses to have any part of this.

Later, Franklin uses his dream powers to spy on Johnny and Alicia on their honeymoon. (No, he doesn’t spy on that, you perv.) While out hiking, Johnny saves Alicia (who is secretly Lyja the Skrull in disguise) from a rockslide. Franklin wonders why it’s okay for Johnny to use his powers, but for Franklin to keep his a secret. Franklin then pays a visit to Ben, who is considering wearing the mask from his issue #3 costume some more, to hide his face in public. Franklin says people aren’t afraid of Ben’s face, but of his attitude, and the way he keeps fighting with Reed.

In Reed’s lab, Reed hooks Franklin up to a machine. Reed fears the psychic dampers on Franklin’s mutant abilites are breaking down, and this might mean a return of his potential world-ending power we saw back around issue #150 or so. Ben interrupts, saying he won’t let Reed turn Franklin into a monster, like he did with Ben. Ben agrees to take Franklin to the hospital to visit Jarvis the butler, who was injured in Avengers #277. In a NYC taxi cab (with Franklin still in his pajamas, somewhat strangely) Ben and Franklin are knocked out with sleeping gas — it was a trap set by the Wizard.

In the Wizard’s hideout (which I guess is right there in New York), he gives unconscious Franklin some sort of truth serum to determine how Franklin’s powers work, but all Franklin says is “special dreams.” The Wizard knows he’s got a good thing going by also capturing Ben. He uses the brainwashing helmet on Ben, the same helmet he used way back in issue #41. Franklin’s dream self leaves his body and finds its way to Four Freedoms Plaza. Reed is happy to see Franklin, and goes to hug him. When Reed’s hands pass through the kid, the jig is up. Franklin warns Reed and Sue that Ben’s in trouble and leads them to the Wizard’s hideout.

Ben overcomes the brainwashing helmet, explaining it won’t work because he’s a lot meaner and angrier than he used to be. (Is he, really?) Reed and Sue show up, and all three heroes fight the Wizard. Sue knocks him out by cutting off his with a force field around his head. They rescue Franklin and he pleads with them no to hate him because he has powers. Back home, Reed and Sue apologize to Franklin for letting their own fears get in the way of their parenting. They promise not just to accept but to explore Franklin’s powers further, this time as a family.

Unstable molecule: Reed thinks he hears his son’s voice, so his response is to hook his son up to machines in his lab? I guess this is his fears getting the better of him.

Fade out: Sue continues to be one of the team’s most powerful members, not only defeating the wizard, but also by taking out several of the androids in the opening fight.

Clobberin’ time: What to make of all this talk about Ben being meaner and nastier than he used to be? Part of it simply because of all the changes the team has gone through (notably Johnny’s wedding) but it’s also foreshadowing yet another big change coming up in a few issues.

Flame on: There’s some forced exposition-speak between Johnny and Alicia/Lyja on their honeymoon. Does he really have to remind her that he’s also known as the Human Torch?

Fantastic fifth wheel: She-Hulk only appears on the left-hand cover corner illustration. It appears that they are slowly (or not-so-slowly) phasing her out of the series.

Four and a half: While Franklin reveals to his parents that he has powers, he doesn’t mention that he’s been out superheroing as a member of Power Pack. In that series, Reed and Sue actually have met the Power family by now, but know them only as Franklin’s friends.

The Alicia problem: Lyja hears a rockslide coming for her and Johnny before he sees it. Does being a shape-shifter make her more in tune to the environment around her, or has she gotten so used to her simulated blindness (she wears special contacts that block her vision) so that her other senses have gotten sharper?

Commercial break: Because girls dig guys who are into model kits:

Trivia time: The Mad Thinker’s androids seen fighting the FF in this issue are the same model the FF fought in issues #70-71, that could only be defeated by flinging it into the Negative Zone. (I guess these copies are not as good as the original.) Spider-Man ran into the same model in Amazing Spider-Man #242 and Spider-Man Team-Up #2.

Fantastic or frightful? This issue has the family dynamic that the Fantastic Four is famous for, so that’s good. I also liked the superheroes fighting alongside the cops, something I’m surprised we don’t see more often. The problem is the dreadful artwork, though. It’s doubly upsetting seeing it come from Marvel legends John and Sal Buscema. I promise there’s some interesting stuff coming up in future issues.

Next week: The honeymoon’s over.

****

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