Fantastic Four 110
“One From Four Leaves Three!”
Published: Feb. 1971
Story: Stan Lee
Pencils: John Buscema
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: Mike Stevens
Cover: Buscema and Sinnott

Synopsis

A desperate Fantastic Four tries to rescue Reed from the Negative Zone, and all seems lost until a spell from Agatha Harkness saves him. Meanwhile, Ben is becoming more truculent, likely a result of his new ability to change his appearance, and quits the team.

What’s going on here?

This is an an excellent issue, the best yet of the post-Kirby era. The pacing is taut, the suspense is high and there are no wasted panels. Reed genuinely seems screwed and while his rescue by Agatha feels a bit deus ex machina, it’s not like she was invented for this issue, and her capabilities were established many issues ago. The business with Ben’s increasingly aggressive and belligerent attitude was unnerving and well-handled. We know, of course, it will lead to him losing his ability to become human, and it’s to Stan’s credit that he’s unfolding it gradually.

This issue marks the lettering debut of Mike Stevens, the first FF letterer not named Sam Rosen or Artie Simek in 110 issues. It’s also his last FF lettering job, and according to Mike’s Amazing World, he only lettered 16 comics in his career.

FF 110 is also infamous for a printing error, where the magenta and cyan were mixed up on the cover, creating a green team in purple suits. The misprinted issues were recalled, and now sell at a premium ($585 for a 3.0 version, vs. $25 for the standard issue).

What I liked

The cover, for one. It’s great. Also, Big John Buscema gives us an amazing Kirby-inspired collage splash page:

There’s also a fun cameo from J. Jonah Jameson and Robbie Robertson. I think Jonah has appeared in an FF issue before, but I’m not sure. But it’s always fun to see different strands of the Marvel universe braided together.

What I didn’t like

Um, nothing? I know, usually I can find something, but this was a wonderful comic. (OK the title is a bit silly. We can all do math, Stan).

Anything else?

This stationary set looks cool. I wonder if any are still out there on eBay.

Overall

10/10. A grade A comic book.