Fantastic Four 137
“Rumble on Planet 3”
Published May 1973
Plot: Roy Thomas
Script: Gerry Conway
Pencils: John Buscema
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: Artie Simek
Colors Glynis Wein
Editor: Thomas
Cover: Buscema & Sinnott

Synopsis

In the alternate, 1950s-themed world created by the Shaper of Worlds, the members of the Fantastic Four clash, then join together to battle the Warhead, a monster created by the Shaper. When both 50s factions — the “youthies” and “patriots” — are confronted by newly politicized African-Americans of the 1960s, the ’50s construct dissolves. The Shaper admits he made a big mistake choosing Slugger Johnson as the vehicle for his powers, and restores the world back to the 70s.

What’s going on here?

Fantastic Four 137 plays out the barely-intelligible string of last issue, filling in some blanks — we learn that The Brain is actually Slugger, who is intended to resemble Albert Einstein (he doesn’t) — while doubling down on its ham-handed analysis of mid-century sociology. The best thing about this two-issue arc is that it’s over, and seems to have left little mark on the FF or Marvel. One exception: Thomas Gideon, the orphaned son of Gregory Gideon, is whisked off by the Shaper to later become Glorian, who has a long run as a minor Hulk and Silver Surfer character.

One other note: This is the first issue of the Fantastic Four colored by Glynis Wein, who went on to have a long career, with more than 1,000 coloring credits. At this point she was married to comic writer Len Wein, but after their divorce she would return to her maiden name, Glynis Oliver.

What I liked

I’m generally a fan of splash pages, and there’s a few in this issue.

I also liked this sequence of Reed and Ben kibitzing:

What I didn’t like

As with last issue, the story makes little sense, and ultimately feels like a silly and pointless exercise in clumsy cultural anthropology. Thomas and Conway compound their simplistic youths-vs.-olds of the 50s dynamic by introducing the Civil Rights struggle of the 60s (which actually began in the 40s). No doubt it was well intentioned, but in the absence of a coherent story it feels preachy and naive.

This new development somehow destablizes the Shaper’s entire project, until it fades away.

None of it makes much sense, and the Shaper acknowledges as much, telling us “the reason is unclear.” Which is another way of saying Thomas and Conway wrote themselves into a corner and had no way out. The hope is this arc was an aberration but knowing some of the stories in the next few years, I can predict more cringe to come.

Also, Warhead is one of the ugliest comic creature designs I’ve ever seen.

Overall

Good riddance