“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 205

31 Saturday Jan 2026

Posted by percivalhenry in The World's Greatest Comic Magazine

Tags

1979, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 205, Keith Pollard, marv wolfman, Marvel comics, Skrulls

Fantastic Four 205
“When World’s Die!”
Published January 1979
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Pencils: Keith Pollard
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: Jim Novak
Colors: Glynis Wein
Editor: Wolfman
Cover: Pollard and Sinnott

Synopsis

Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Girl and the Thing travel by “teleportation ray” to the Andromeda Galaxy where Xandar is attacked by the Skulls. The FF battle on the side of the Xandarians before they are captured by the Skulls. Meanwhile, back on Earth, the Human Torch is hypnotized, along with other students at his new colleges, as part of some nefarious scheme of the Monocle and his unknown employer.

What’s going on here?

This comic does a capable job of advancing the two storylines that were kicked off in the previous issue. The main story is very much a space opera, with the Fantastic Four as players in the bigger struggle between Skulls and Xandar.

The fact that the FF are on Xandar came as a surprise, since it was never mentioned in the first issue. I confess I am not a reader of Nova, so I wasn’t familiar with the planet’s unique set-up, but I did think the soldiers looked suspiciously Nova-like. For a comic published in the era where it was assumed every issue was someone’s first, omitting the name of the planet seems like a big goof, and yet another reason why writer’s shouldn’t be their own editors.

While Wolfman’s story hums along, the star is really Keith Pollard, who delivers some incredible images, including a stunning double-page spread, which needs to be seen in a comic to really do it justice. With each issue, my appreciation for Pollard grows. Like John Buscema, he seems very comfortable within the official house style, as established by Kirby and policed by Sinnott, yet brings a flair for storytelling and dynamic panel designs.

What I liked

Here’s some more Pollard:

What I didn’t like

There are a number of odd elements in this comic, such as the narrator’s description of Ben as a “monstrous orange-hided Thing.”

The Watcher shows up and, of course, violates his oath. has there been a comic where he actually honors his oath? I would never lend that guy money because his word is just no good.

For an alien race, the Skulls seem very obsessed with dogs. Do they even have dogs?

Overall

A meh comic redeemed by Pollard

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 204

18 Sunday Jan 2026

Posted by percivalhenry in The World's Greatest Comic Magazine

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

1978, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 204, marv wolfman, Marvel comics, Skrulls

Fantastic Four 204
“The Andromeda Attack!”
Published December 1978
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Pencils: Keith Pollard
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: Jim Novak
Colors: Françoise Mouly
Editor: Wolfman
Cover: Al Milgrom and Sinnott

Synopsis

Mr Fantastic, investigating lingering damage caused by Quasimodo, discovers a ray leading from Earth to the Andromeda Galaxy. It delivers an alien woman, who is quickly followed by a Skrull. The FF subdue the Skull and learn the woman’s home planet is being attacked. When the team prepares to journey to space to save it, Johnny says he wants to remain on Earth and enroll in a new college, which unbeknownst to him is a trap set by The Monocle.

What’s going on here?

Despite it being a bit of a jumble, I liked this comic. It’s very much a setting-the-stage issue, putting into motion two plots but still leaving plenty of room for the character work that Wolfman excels at. There is an overly-long flashback that goes into great length about the history of the alien race, but it’s sort of fun and feels like a story from the golden age of science fiction. It’s also good to see the Skrulls again; a successful comic rotates stories between new menaces and old, familiar villains and it had been a while since we heard from the Skrulls.

Keith Pollard and Joe Sinnott are again solid on the art. The cover is by Al Milgrom, with inks by Sinnott.

What I liked

Johnny is really the star of this issue, and Wolfman returns to his feelings of loneliness and lack of independence. There is a cutting sequence where he tries to impress a girl and ends up doing the opposite:

(We later discover she may be a plant from The Monocle to undermine his confidence).

Johnny also runs into Franke Ray again, with similar results.

Johnny’s frustrations are revealed at this family conference, a reminder of how the FF is different from other teams:

I also liked this action sequence with Reed, Ben and the Skrull:

What I didn’t like

Comics often play fast-and-loose with science, and lord knows I’m no physicist, but everything about the ray from outer space makes no sense (and in fact seems borrows from the zeta-beam Adam Strange uses to jaunt around the galaxy). Since when do rays contain minerals?

There is an extended scene of Johnny moping around the city looking for a friend, which begins to feel a little maudlin. If I was a cynic, I would suspect this was just a ploy to plug ASM 190.

Anything else?

Future Marvel writer Peter Sanderson writes another long letter from his Columbia dorm, this time about issue 200. His analysis of that story just happen to agree with mine.

Some more cool house ads, for a pair of comics I never really read (that looks like Gil Kane on the PM/IF ad).

Edited to add: It’s actually Rich Buckler and Dave Cockrum on the PM/IF . A few readers set me straight.

Overall

A satisfying comic book

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine! Fantastic Four No. 203

11 Sunday Jan 2026

Posted by percivalhenry in The World's Greatest Comic Magazine

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

1978, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 203, marv wolfman, Marvel comics

Fantastic Four 203
“…And a Child Shall Slay Them!”
Published November 1978
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Pencils: Keith Pollard
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: John Costanza
Colors: Glynis Wein
Editor: Wolfman
Cover: Dave Cockrum and Joe Sinnott

Synopsis

After Reed cleans up left-over radiation from the FF’s fight with Quasimodo last issue, he and Sue are summoned to a hospital to treat Willie Evans Jr., a young boy who is in a coma because his father was exposed to cosmic radiation as a soldier. In his coma, Willie, a mutant and Fantastic Four fan, manifests evil versions of the FF that rampage throughout New York. The FF struggle to contain them until Reed figures out their source and uses his radiation-absorbing device to neutralize them. Willie recovers and Reed suggests the family take him to Professor X for training.

What’s going on here

This is a perfectly fine one-and-done. Nothing of great consequence happens and while the premise is hard to swallow — why does the boy create evil versions of the FF if he’s a fan? — it’s resolved neatly and in classic FF fashion, with Reed saving the day with science. And at least in this issue, Marv Wolfman introduced the device Reed used at the beginning of the story, unlike in the Stan and Jack days, where it would just appear at the end, deus ex machina.

In his ability to create super-powered entities out of radiation, Willie Evans Jr. appears to be an enormously powerful mutant, on a par with the Scarlet Witch and adult Franklin Richards. Apparently there were plans for him to become part of an early version of the New Mutants (along with Kitty Pryde) but Jim Shooter killed that idea. He does reappear many years later, in Iron Man Annual 8, where a manifestation of his power — an evil frog called Grunt — pushes him to battle Iron Man and X-Factor. It’s a pretty good story and worth seeking out.

Iron Man Annual 8 (1986), Words by Bob Harras, art by Paul Neary, Ian Akin and Brian Garvey)

Also of note: the cover is by Dave Cockrum (with Joe Sinnott’s inks). One of the few Cockrum FF covers. I don’t think it’s a particularly good cover, but there it is.

What I liked

There was some fun kibbitzing among team members. Team dynamics is Wolfman’s strength, here and later in the Teen Titans.

There’s also time for some domesticity, and a glimpse into Franklin’s growth (although it seems like he stays this age for the next two decades):

And I liked this image of Reed and Sue arriving at the hospital, like benevolent deities granting mortals a favor:

What I didn’t like

As mentioned earlier, Wille’s creation of the evil FF didn’t make a lot of sense to me. Buy, hey, mutant powers. They cover up a lot of plot holes.