“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 218

25 Monday May 2026

Posted by percivalhenry in The World's Greatest Comic Magazine

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1980, Bill mantlo, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 218, Frightful Four, Joe Sinnott, John Byrne, Marvel, Marvel comics, Spider-Man

Fantastic Four 218
“When a Spider-Man Comes Calling!”
Published February 1980
Writer: Bill Mantlo
Pencils: John Byrne
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: Jim Novak
Colors: Ben Sean
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Cover: Al Milgrom and Joe Rubinstein

Synopsis

Disguised as Spider-Man, the Trapster infiltrates the Baxter Building and subdues the Human Torch and Thing before letting the rest of the Frightful Four in. After capturing the Invisible Girl, they corner Mr. Fantastic but Spider-Man, whom they had previously abducted, breaks free, and joins Reed in battling the bad guys. Soon, the rest of the FF join them in defeating the Frightful Four.

What’s going on here?

This is a pretty pedestrian comic, which is a sequel to an equally pedestrian comic, Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man 42, also written by Bill Mantlo. In that issue, The Frightful Four (who have added Electro to their ranks) lure Spider-Man into a trap by pretending to be the Human Torch. Now, with Spider-Man captured, they figure to use the same trick to take out the Fantastic Four.

That Peter Parker issue has a cool cover by Mike Zeck and Joe Rubinstein, but not much else going for it:

Overall, FF 218 is a very by-the-numbers story, in which the FF repel bad guys who invade the Baxter Building. We’ve seen probably a dozen variants of this plot over the last 200+ issues, and this one is as forgettable as most of the others.

What I liked

One fun aspect of the Frightful Four is their constant bickering, and Electro adds an even more curmudgeonly member. The Trapster gets most of the spotlight in this issue and is surprisingly effective at neutralizing half of the FF, even while holding a grudge at everyone who made fun of him when he was Paste Pot Pete.

This is not a great issue for John Byrne, who must have provided only rough pencils for Joe Sinnott to finish, but I liked this image of three villains:

And this one of the Thing being electrocuted:

It’s been a while since we had some wacky credits. These are all building themed, since the splash page is of the Trapster ascending the Baxter Building dressed as Spidey. (It’s possible only New Yorkers would get the co-opted joke).

Lastly, this was a fun sequence:

What I didn’t like

I’ve already outlined my critiques of this issue. There’s nothing awful in it, just not much that’s worth celebrating. It feels a bit like Mantlo is stalling for time as the fill-in guy, stretching out his Spider-Man story before the new creative team takes over next issue.

Anything else?

Some more house ads

Overall

A gentleman’s C

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 117

19 Tuesday May 2026

Posted by percivalhenry in The World's Greatest Comic Magazine

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1980, Bill mantlo, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 217, Herbie, John Byrne, marv wolfman, Marvel, Marvel comics

Fantastic Four 217
“Masquerade!”
Published January 1980
Writer: Bill Mantlo (based on a Marv Wolfman plot suggestion)
Pencils: John Byrne
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: John Costanza
Colors: Bob Sharen
Editor: Mark Gruenwald
Cover: Sinnott

Editor’s note: I’ve fallen off the pace a bit on my FF blogging but hope to get back on track starting this coming weekend, inshallah.

Synopsis

After the Fantastic Four’s battle with Blastaar, Mr. Fantastic upgrades the Baxter Building’s security system with the help of Herbie. But the robot turns evil, revealing himself to be the artificial intelligence Doctor Sun (who appeared in FF 206), then capturing the Invisible Girl and battling the Thing and Reed. The Human Torch, out at a disco, returns only to be captured by the Baxter security system under Sun’s control. When Reed realized Sun exited Herbie to enter the building’s computer system, Reed attempts to disable it. Ultimately Sun is defeated when Herbie sacrifices itself to destroy the main computer system.

What’s going on here?

Long time readers of this blog are familiar with my disdain for Herbie, the robot foisted on the FF by his insertion in the 1978 cartoon. I knew this Herbie-centric issue was coming, and I anticipated it with dread, expecting some Impossible Man-type shenanigans. Reader, I was very wrong. This issue is a little gem, with a well-designed plot, some interesting developments and a tidy way of wrapping up the Herbie era.

Marv Wolfman, who left for DC after last issue, gets a plotting credit since it’s clear he had this story in mind for months, given Herbie’s malicious behavior over the last few issues. But the Doctor Sun twist was ingenious and one I definitely didn’t see coming. Interestingly, we never see Sun in his normal cyborg form, making this the rare comic where the villain doesn’t actually appears. And while the “evil robot” concept dates back decades before this comic, it certainly resonates today given our anxieties about AI.

Also of note is the appearance of Dazzler, who meets Johnny at the disco. The two hit off before he was to answer the FF flare, and I wonder why no writer has taken up the idea of them as a couple. It seems like a natural match. Dazzler was introduced the previous year in X-Men, and was in an issue of Spider-Man before her FF appearance, which suggests that Marvel was still hoping the Dazzler TV special would be a thing (it wasn’t). She will get her own series in December of 1980, and it will last a respectable 42 issues.

The uninteresting cover to this issue is by Joe Sinnott, whom I am guessing had to fill in when someone missed deadline.

What I liked

As mentioned, the end of Herbie was handled adroitly and, defying all expectations, it (he? they?) went out as a hero. Ben sums it up nicely here.

John Byrne again delivers some great visuals. I love how he creates a sense of motion and speed by repeating the shape of panels and angle of action.

I thought both this idea — Reed infiltrating a computer’s circuitry — and Byrne’s execution of it were brilliant.

Lastly, this whole page was so well done I couldn’t pick any one or two panels:

What I didn’t like

Over his career Byrne has been shadowed by accusations of sexism and creepy treatment of women. I’m not sure I agree with those critiques but this sequence doen’t help his case.

Anything else?

For years I have seen the “Mark Jewelers” designation on listings for back issues without really knowing what it meant. Today I learned it refers to comics with an advertising insert for jewelry that was targeted at the military, and therefore were primarily sold on military bases. Apparently these are prized by a sub-set of collectors, primarily because they are rare. As it happens, this issue of FF 217, which I probably picked up as a back issue from a comic book store or convention, has the Mark Jewelers insert. And here it is:

Some other cool ads in this issue, some house ads and an interesting one for action figures. It’s easy to forget how big a deal The Black Hole movie was when it came out.

Overall

A better comic than it had any right to be

“The World’s Greateast Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 216

03 Sunday May 2026

Posted by percivalhenry in The World's Greatest Comic Magazine

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1979, Bill mantlo, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 216, John Byrne, marv wolfman, Marvel, Marvel comics, Pablo Marcos

Fantastic Four 216
“Where There Be Gods!”
Published December 1979
Plot: Marv Wolfman
Script: Bill Mantlo
Pencils: John Byrne
Inks: Pablo Marcos
Letters: Irving Watanabe and Michael Higgins
Colors: Carl Gafford
Editor: Mark Gruenwald
Cover: Rich Buckler and Al Milgrom

Synopsis

Now transformed into the evolutionarly advanced Futurist, Dr. Randolph James wanders the streets of Manhattan, dispatching would-be muggers and police officers. Blastaar, on the run in New York since last issue, makes him an ally by convincing him the Fantastic Four want to capture him and return him to his previous state. After battling Reed, Ben and Johnny, the two travel to the Baxter Building, where Blastaar wants James’s help destroying the passage to the Negative Zone. There, James subdues Sue, which triggers Franklin’s latent powers, and he expels Blastaar back to the Negative Zone. James, now aware of Blastaar’s deception, departs Earth to commune with the universe. In the last panel it is revealed the robot Herbie was responsible for opening the portal to the Negative Zone that allowed Blastaar into our world.

What’s going on here?

Another satisfying, well-told comic that nicely tied together the Blastaar and Futurist storylines and delivered a dramatic conclusion. This isn’t the first or last time Franklin’s latent powers are awakened to save the day (a phenomenon some call baby ex machina) and while it later becomes a crutch for lazy writers, I wasn’t troubled by it in this issue. Here, it suggests his powers are still developing and will eventually settle into some sort of predictable pattern. Little did readers of 1979 know that 500 issues and 47 years later, his powers are still being sorted out.

That this comic succeeds is a bit of a surprise, given that it’s very much a transitional issue, with one creative team leaving and another coming aboard. As a result, there are nine credits for this issue — 10 if you want to count temporary editor Mark Gruenwald, who managed to hold it all together. It makes sense Gruenwald kept everything aligned, because for years, before his untimely death in 1996 at age 43, that was his unofficial role at Marvel: The keeper of continuity and editor of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. (In recognition of his importance, Walt Simonson modeled the men who ran the Time Variance Authority, the organization charged with maintaining timelines, after Gruenwald).

As mentioned last time, this is Marv Wolfman’s final issue on the Fantastic Four after an uneven 21-issue run. There were definitely some enjoyable issues, but his run was dominated by the cumbersome Skrulls/Sphinx/Galactus arc, and his occasional sloppiness was a distraction. Bill Mantlo, Marvel’s utility infielder, stepped in to script this issue and write the next two, before he and John Byrne both give way to a new creative team of Doug Moench and Bill Sienkiewicz.

Also filling in is inker Pablo Marcos, who did such a good job in the recent FF Annual. As in that issue, his work is more subtle than Joe Sinnott’s, and he lets Byrne’s pencils shine. Notably, Reed’s appearance changes quite a bit, depending on who is inking Byrne.

On the left are Sinnott’s inks from last issue, on the right is Marcos from this issue.

There are also two fill-in letterers on this issue, Irving Watanabe and Michael Higgins. Normally I don’t pay much attention to the letterer, and there are only a very few, like John Workman and Moebius, whose work I can recognize on sight. But here, it’s very obvious there are two letterers at work. I don’t know who did what, but there’s a big difference between the letters on the left and those on the right.

Lastly the cover is by Rich Buckler, his first FF work in five year, with Al Milgrom on inks.

What I liked

I don’t know if this Ben/Johnny banter is by Wolfman or Mantlo but it was fun. The Reed/Sue exchange is nice, revealing moment about their two characters as well.

Speaking of banter, this was well done, too.

Are the people in the crowd identifiable? I’m guessing that’s Byrne in the beard on the right, and maybe Wolfman behind him.

Byrne delivers his usual excellent work in this issue. I really liked this sequence:

What I didn’t like

Mantlo seems to struggle with the Torch’s voice. Here, he seems to need a reason to save Ben’s life:

And this is just odd (“hairless hyena?)”

The thugs in Marvel’s New York don’t look anything like the thugs I remember when I grew up there. There must have been a sale on purple pants at the thug store, because last issue’s hoods hade the same look.