Fantastic Four Annual 15
Published July 1980
Cover: George Perez & Joe Sinnott
Editor: Jim Salicrup

“Time for the Prime Ten!”
Writer: Doug Moench
Pencils: Perez
Inks: Chic Stone, John D’Agostino and Mike Esposito
Letters: Jim Novak
Colors: George Roussos and Ben Sean

“The Power of the People!”
Writer: Moench
Pencils: Thomas Sutton
Inks: Sutton
Letters: Novak
Colors: Sean


Synopsis

In the first story, Mr. Fantastic — after toiling for weeks in his lab — makes a breakthrough discovery that allows him to transmit energy through the air. But unexpectedly, Reed realized it has opened a portal into space, where he witnesses Captain Marvel, and discovers solid objects can also be transmitted. Meanwhile, the FF gets an unexpected visitor, their former mailman Willie Lumpkin, who soon reveals himself to be a Skrull. The Skrull confronts Reed, telling him he has captured the rest of the team and demanding he turn over his new energy transmitter. Suddenly, Captain Marvel appears, traveling through the energy transmitter, and asks Reed to hand it over so he can defeat the Skrulls. Reed deduces Marvel is also a Skrull at the same time the real Marvel appears. More Skrulls arrive, but with the rest of the FF, they are defeated and sent them back to space, destroying the transmitter at the same time. An epilogue reveals Sue, Ben and Johnny were never captured but were shunted two hours into the future by the Skrull.

The second story takes place in Latveria, where its new leader Zorba, who has introduced democracy after the defeat of Dr. Doom in FF 200, is confronted by protests. Anxious, Zorba checks on the catatonic Doom only to discover he is a robot replaced by Doom loyalists. They then steal Doom’s armor, and through some science, use the armor’s energy to restore Doom to consciousness. Doom then drives out Zorba and makes plans to regain control of Latveria.

What’s going on here?

This is a pretty satisfying pair of stories and as a young reader I would have been pretty pleased with 75 cent investment in this annual. The Skrulls and Doom are not only among the FF’s oldest enemies (first appearing in issues 2 and 5) but some of their best, and put together these stories feel like a bit of a reset, returning the FF to core principles.

In some ways, the shorter Doom story is the better of the two. The FF don’t appear, but it’s a tightly plotted tale that further develops Latveria as a character in its own right, and gives more dimension of Doom’s henchmen and lackeys like Boris and Hauptman. It also serves the important role of returning Doom to the status quo ante and restoring a major part of the FF’s universe.

My sense is Moench — who spent a decade writing mostly horror, kung-fu and science-fiction comics — is more comfortable with a story of palace intrigue than the classic super hero adventures he’s tasked with writing for the Fantastic Four. The artist, Thomas Sutton, who is making his FF, had a very long career, starting in 1967 mostly at Marvel and Warren before working at DC and on independent comics in the 80s and 90s. He and Moench appear to have worked on many titles together.

The other, main story is a bit more uneven, although still solid. The appearance of Captain Marvel, or Mar-Vell, is interesting one. His own comic, last written by Moench, was just canceled, and I suspect Marvel was under pressure to use him in order to preserve the copyright, which was the subject of a long and tangled legal battle. Marvel was killed off by Jim Starlin right before I began reading comics, and unlike virtually every other deceased hero, he has managed to stay dead. Because I never made the effort to read his back issues, he’s always been a bit of a mystery. I’m not sure his appearance here was particularly illuminating, but it’s fun to see a new guest star.

George Perez returns to pencil the story, although he is credited only with breakdowns. Three inkers (Chic Stone, John D’Agostino and Mike Esposito) finished the art, although I’m not skilled enough to identify what pages were inked by what artists. Despite all that, Perez’s stamp on this comic is pretty clear, particularly in his dynamic layouts. Perez’s cover, inked by Joe Sinnott, is also excellent (although marred by that dumb Toys R Us ad)

What I liked

Moench does a good job of keeping us guessing throughout the story, particularly with some odd cutaways to ordinary people on the streets of Manhattan who have nothing to do with the story.

Only later are they revealed to be the Prime Ten Skrulls.

I also liked this interaction between Marvel and Reed, who is understandably a bit skeptical that he is who he says he is.

This is a notable exchange. Reed accepts congratulations for his new invention, the first (and maybe last) time I’ve read an actual discussion of the realities of science research funding in the FF (also, in that first panel you can see the limits of Perez’s breakdowns)

What I didn’t like

Despite all the dramatic potential of having two Captain Marvel’s face off — one ersatz, one real — it never comes to pass. First Reed suspects the Skrull of being a fake, then the real Marvel shows up It seems like a huge missed opportunity from Moench.

Also, the story’s time traveling twist serves no real purpose, and the epilogue just adds unnecessary confusion

I’m not sure why Reed is so broken up about losing his energy transmitter. Surely he wrote down the plans, right?

And lastly, are they really packing of Franklin for the weekend just so Reed can concentrate? Another dubious parenting decision from the Richards.

Overall

A lot of bang for the buck