“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 77

16 Sunday Oct 2022

Posted by percivalhenry in The World's Greatest Comic Magazine

Tags

Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 77, galactus, jack Kirby, Psycho-Man, Silver Surfer, Stan Lee

Fantastic Four 77
“Shall Earth Endure?”
Published: May 1968
Story: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Script: Lee
Pencils: Kirby
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: Sam Rosen
Cover: Kirby and Sinnott

Synopsis

The three male members of the Fantastic Four are in the Microverse, where in the last issue they persuaded the Silver Surfer to return to Galactus and spare the earth by finding him another planet to consume. The FF, minus the soon-to-give-birth Invisible Girl, remained behind to pursue the Psycho-Man, and in the opening pages of FF 77, they are whisked via teleportation to the villain’s headquarters. There, they confront him only to discover they were fighting an illusion created by his emotion warping powers.

Meanwhile, the Silver Surfer has returned to the earth’s dimension, and flies across space to convince Galactus to spare the earth. Galactus commands the Surfer to find him another planet to consume, which he somehow is able to do quickly. But when the Surfer asks to be released from his imprisonment on earth, Galactus refuses, saying he needs to be able to find him.

Back in the microverse, the FF fight first a giant version of the Psycho-Man, then one in armor outfitted with weaponry. The FF eventually triumph when the Thing collapses his headquarters around the Psycho-Man, trapping him. But Mr. Fantastic orders him freed, explaining they need him to return to earth since they have been teleported away from their Reducta-craft. Reed tells the Psycho-Man that Galactus threatens his universe as well, and when he examines Reed’s mind and sees he’s telling the truth, returns the FF to their dimension to battle Galactus.

What’s going on here?

This issue concludes the four-issue Galactus/Pyscho-Man arc and unfortunately it ends with a fizzle, not a bang. The story’s problems started last issue, when Reed tells the team they need to remain behind to end the menace of the Psycho-Man. But how he intended to do that is never clear, and even when they have trapped him, it’s not clear what the next move was supposed to be—arrest him? murder him? The confusion about their purpose in the microverse speaks to the general aimlessness of the issue. The Surfer’s reunion with Galactus is unsatisfying and anti-climactic—he finds him new planet to consume in what seems like minutes—and the FF’s confrontation with the Psycho-Man ends with Reed sheepishly needing him to give the team a ride home.

On the plus side, Kirby is on the top of his game in this issue.

They’re fighting again

When I first read this panel, I assumed the Psycho-Man was using his mood altering powers to pit the team against each other. Nope, just their usual bickering.