Fantastic Four 229 “The Thing From The Black Hole” Published January 1981 Writer: Doug Moench Pencils: Bill Sienkiewicz Inks: Joe Sinnott Letters: Jim Novak Colors: George Roussos Editor: Jim Salicrup Cover: Sienkiewicz and Sinnott
Synopsis
An ordinary day in New York for the Fantastic Four is interrupted by a monstrous space creature with incredible powers derived from a black hole. The FF battle the creature, called the Ebon Seeker, but are defeated and are left in a lightless region where they are met by Fire Frost, companion to the Ebon Seeker.
What’s going here?
Another Doug Moench issue, another retread of old ideas. In this case, the parallels to the first appearance of Galactus seem pretty obvious. What redeems this issue (sort of) is the amazing black-and-white rendering of the Ebon Seeker. I assume this is largely the work of Joe Sinnott, since Bill Sienkiewicz is only credited with layouts, but I’m only guessing. It’s a powerful effect and it’s more impressive in the context of its era, when coloring wasn’t as sophisticated as it is now, and virtually every comic was rendered in combinations of the same four colors. I think it looks more impressive on the original page than in the Marvel.com reproduction. Here is the Ebon Seeker’s first appearance from each:
Given that the Ebon Seeker is anchoring a multi-issue story, which is rare for Moench, I imagine he was hoping to introduce a major new FF villain but the character appears just more in subsequent decades.
What I liked
The comic is almost entirely a fight scene, and Sienkiewicz and Sinnott deliver some great action sequences and panels:
There was a fun detail in the credits, with Jim Salicrup “asking” Jim Shooter what he thinks of Alicia’s sculpture of him (I don’t know the backstory but I’m guessing Shooter’s grandiosity, which became more pronounced later in his Marvel tenure, was already an issue):
What I didn’t like
The narrative is boring and derivative, and for most of the issue we have no idea who the Ebon Seeker is or what is motivating him. When we find out — he wants to destroy Earth — it has no impact on the reader because we’ve seen this movie before. It’s more evidence that Moench really didn’t know what he was doing with this comic.
Further, the explanation of the Ebon Seeker’s powers — he is a living black hole — is nonsensical.
I’ve pointed out previously how Moench doesn’t miss an opportunity to plug the other comics he’s writing, but this might be his most blatant example:
New Yorkers turn against the Fantastic Four and riot! Why? Who knows? It’s never explained.
Fantastic Four 228 “Ego-Spawn” Published December 1980 Writer: Doug Moench Pencils: Bill Sienkiewicz Inks: Joe Sinnott Letters: Jim Novak Colors: George Roussos Editor: Jim Salicrup Cover: Sienkiewicz and Sinnott
Synopsis
As the Human Torch prepares for a date with his new girlfriend Lorrie Melton, Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman discuss how best to studying Franklin’s budding powers. With Lorrie, the team travels to Seaboard University, where Reed’s former college friend Abe Jankowitz begins testing Franklin. A biofeedback test generates a strange energy field from Franklin that travels to a nearby park where Lorrie and Johnny have decamped. The energy field transforms a local bully into a super villain who seems to embody Franklin’s darkest thoughts. After a scuffle, the FF subdue the villain and Sue unplugs the biofeedback device that triggered the reaction.
What’s going on here?
Another issue, another Doug Moench clunker. This comic begins with promise, with a lot of character development and the re-introduction of Lorrie, Johnny’s new squeeze. Reed and Sue’s commitment to investigating Franklin’s powers is also a nice narrative advancement, and builds on recent plot lines. But it all goes absurdly awry once Franklin is plugged into the biofeedback machine and somehow invents a ridiculously costumed villain. The villain is intended to embody Franklin’s anxieties, but they are never hinted at earlier in the comic (just the opposite — he is eager to be tested) and the storyline all seems so slapped together and nonsensical as to be dismissed out of hand. Further, the basic structure of the story — the FF visit an old colleague of Reed’s — seems identical to last issue.
The most interesting aspect of the story is the appearence of Lorrie, who first appeared in FF 222, and it seems Moench is positioning her to play a major role in Johnny’s life going forward (bringing a date to meet your relatives is a big step!). But as we shall see, she disappears pretty quickly and is ignored by future writers.
Joe Sinnott returned to ink this issue and it looks like he really took the reins from Bill Sienkiewicz (who in fact is only credited with layouts).
What I liked
Moench does a good job with Ben and Johnny’s banter.
And I liked how Bill Sienkiewicz drew this interaction between Reed and Sue (including the weird sculptures in the foreground):
What I didn’t like
As discussed, the transformation of the local tough-guy into a purple-clad supervillain makes no sense, was not established by any foreshadowing and he might go down as one of the most idiotic bad guys in FF history (joining Gaard and Warhead).
An awful lot of this comic was devoted to explaining Dr. Jankowitz’s tests. Biofeedback therapy exploded in popularity in the 1970s and I wouldn’t be surprised if Moench took part.
Speaking of Jankowitz, doesn’t he seem too old to have been a college classmate of Reed and Ben’s?
Anything else?
A fun house ad for Dazzler by a very young John Romita Jr.:
Fantastic Four 227 “The Brain Parasites!” Published November 1980 Writer: Doug Moench Pencils: Bill Sienkiewicz Inks: Bruce Patterson Letters: Jim Novak Colors: George Roussos Editor: Jim Salicrup Cover: Sienkiewicz and Joe Sinnott
Synopsis
An old colleague asks for Mr. Fantastic’s help investigating a meteor that landed in a Florida lake and the team plus Franklin embark on a working vacation to assist Dr. Carruthers. Once there, they discover ordinary animals are dramatically transformed into dangerous monsters by parasites that were carried by the meteor. The parasites also transform Carruthers and the Invisible Girl but are saved when the parasites are removed. It is then revealed that Franklin used his powers to destroy the monsters and parasites.
What’s going on here?
This is another old-timey science fiction story from Doug Moench that has echoes of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Robert Heinlein’s The Puppet Masters. Moench used the mysterious-meteor-with-strange-effects just a few issues ago — it’s how Korgon the giant Viking got his powers — and the FF-encounter-strange-underwater-monsters-on-a-Florida-vacation plot was previously used by Stan and Jack in FF 97.
We’re now seven issues into the Moench run and it seems pretty clear he’s most comfortable with a certain type of story that hews closely to traditional horror and sci-fi tropes. There is a place for those stories, and they can be done quite effectively in the Fantastic Four as we shall see, but telling only those stories wastes the potential of the FF. The Fantastic Four is at its best with big, sweeping epics where the villains are truly menacing and the stakes are high. I had lots of quibbles with Marv Wolfman’s run but he at least understood the importance of big stories. (This is also my main critique of the FF’s current writer, Ryan North, who prefers to deliver monthly science lessons rather than invest in multi-issue arcs.) There are four more issues of Moench; hopefully things pick up.
Joe Sinnott is again MIA (although he did ink the cover), with Bruce Patterson handling the inking. Patterson seems like a jack-of-all-comic-trades — with credits as inker, letterer and colorist — and worked steadily for both Marvel and DC from the mid 70s to the late 90s. His inks are heavy and brooding in this comic, and he gives on Reed and Johnny hollow cheeks that make them look haggard and gaunt.
What I liked
There were some fun action sequences, and Bill Sienkiewicz seems to have a blast with the monsters that attack the FF. As in this splash:
Or here:
I’m not sure this time-lapse sequence of the parasite crawling up Sue is totally successful — initially I thought she was covered in multiple parasites — but it looks cool.
What I didn’t like
The “spontaneous vacation” idea is pretty tired by now. I guess Moench thought he needed a good reason to get Franklin on the trip, but it feels forced.
Also, these recent issues have sequences of panels that jump from scene to scene without any explanation. Like here:
It’s not hard to follow the story, but I’m not sure what is accomplished by the cutting back and forth, either. I do like Franklin’s Spider-Man pool float.
Wait, did Moench finds a way to drop in a cameo of a character from one of his other books? Who could have seen that coming?
Anything else?
This is a cool house ad for a Roger Stern / Frank Miller Dr. Strange collaboration that never happened. You can read why here.
Fantastic Four 226 “The Samurai Destroyer” Published October 1980 Writer: Doug Moench Pencils: Bill Sienkiewicz Inks: Pablo Marcos and Bruce Patterson Letters: Jim Novak Colors: George Roussos Editor: Jim Salicrup Cover: Sienkiewicz and Bob McLeod
Synopsis
The Fantastic Four learn about a giant robot stealing a train carrying gold on the television news, then are met at the Baxter Building by the three former pilots of the Shogun Warrior robots, now destroyed. The FF and three pilots travel to Japan, where the new giant robot, the Samurai Destroyer, is robbing a bank. While the FF attempt (and fail) to stop it, the pilots travel to the sanctuary where the Shogun Warriors were built. There, they are confronted by the Samurai Destroyer and its pilot who explains he destroyed their robots. The FF catch up with him and eventually defeat him, but not before he self-destructs the Samurai Destroyer.
What’s going on here?
A guest appearance in a Doug Moench-written comic? What are the odds they feature in another Moench-written book? If you guessed 100%, you’d be right. For the third story in a row, Moench has slipped in characters from a former, current or future comic he’s writing (following Moon Knight and Thor). This time, of course, the Shogun Warriors make more than a token appearance, but are central to the whole dismal comic.
The Shogun Warriors were a toy tie-in that had their own comic for 20 issues, all but one written by Moench. I confess I’ve never read them, but they look pretty forgettable. Apparently while Moench was able to wrap up their story (in an issue guest starring the FF, or course), he or someone at Marvel decided they needed to tie up the loose end of three enormous robots that could be commandeered by a villain. Hence this issue, in which the robots are destroyed.
While I sort of respect the desire to address the big robot problem, I wish it hadn’t been at the expense of a decent Fantastic Four comic. This story is forced and clunky, with a cheesy lesson in parenting for Reed and way too much energy devoted to the fates of three characters most readers had never heard of. This is probably Moench’s worst issue, and Bill Sienkiewicz, aside from a few bright spots, doesn’t do much to salvage this dreck.
A few side notes: Joe Sinnott is again MIA, with Pablo Marcos and Bruce Patterson inking. And the cover is inked by Bob McLeod, making his FF debut.
What I liked
It’s hard to go wrong with a giant robot splash page:
I liked this fun scene with Ben and Alicia:
What I didn’t like
As ever, Moench is the master of unnecessary exposition. In this case, the villains’s origin is so lame he shouldn’t have bothered with a back story.
So early in the comic Reed patronizes Franklin, then later uses his story of David and Goliath to defeat the Samurai Destroyer, redeeming him in his son’s eyes. It’s as lame as it sounds.
Were they really still using steam trains in Czechoslovakia in 1980?
Fantastic Four 225 “The Blind God’s Tears” Published September 1980 Writer: Doug Moench Pencils: Bill Sienkiewicz Inks: Pablo Marcos Letters: Jim Novak Inks: George Roussos Editor: Jim Salicrup Cover: Sienkiewicz and Joe Sinnott
Synopsis
Under the threat of death, the Fantastic Four labor to restore the powers of Korgon, the Norseman who was granted immortality and strange powers by a meteor millennia ago. They succeed, and after Korgon uses his power to recharge the battery of his civilization’s ice dome, he asks Mr. Fantastic to restore his humanity. To prevent this, one of Korgon’s henchmen sabotages the machine, flooding Korgon with power. He attacks the FF, who are joined in battle by Thor, dispatched by Odin who seems to be keeping an eye on these former Vikings. Driven mad, Korgon begins destroying the ice dome. Odin then appears and restores Korgon’s sanity, and a humbled Korgon allows the FF to depart.
What’s going on here?
This is another clunky issue, with lots of exposition, a not-terribly-well explained appearance from Thor and Odin and a lackluster ending. There’s a throw-everything-against-the-wall quality to this story, with its lions and tigers in the arctic and Vikings with motorcycles, that leads to clumsy explanations that do little to further the story. The appearance of Thor makes more sense when you realize Doug Moench began writing Thor the next month, and as with last issue’s reference to Moon Knight, he apparently is happy to cross promote his books to goose their sales. FWIW, the appearance of Odin appearing to make everything better occurs again in FF 262 during the Trial of Reed Richards, although it’s handled much more adroitly by John Byrne.
Pablo Marcos handles the inks again, although Joe Sinnott inked Sienkiewicz’s cover.
One oddity: Despite Korgon and his enclave surviving, this is apparently their first and only appearance. Given Marvel’s propensity for mining its back catalog for characters and concepts, their disappearance might say something about how future writers viewed this particular story.
What I Liked
Bill Sienkiewicz’s pencils are again uneven, but he does hit some high notes. This long vertical panel of Korgon going nuts is great:
So is this panel of Thor
This may not be the best drawn panel but I enjoyed watching the FF cut loose a bit:
And I appreciated a few panels of Alicia and Franklin. On too many of the FF’s adventures that are completely absent.
What I didn’t like
If you read the middle panel, you’ll see Reed is attributing his mental agility to the cosmic radiation that gave him his powers. This has been raised a few times in more recent years, but it seems like a pretty big revelation to drop in the middle of an unrelated story.
As mentioned, the appearance of Thor and Odin feels forced and is a bit of literal deus ex machina. It doesn’t help that Odin mentions Loki, suggesting he has something to do with the story (he doesn’t)
Also as mentioned, there are pages of exposition in this comic that feel totally unnecessary. I really did not need to know the secret of the Vikings’ irrigation system.
Anything else?
It’s that time of year again when the TV networks announce their Saturday morning schedules. Here are ads for NBC and ABC’s (CBS’s ran last month). Of note is Thundarr the Barbarian, a show created by Steve Gerber with character designs by comics legends Alex Toth and Jack Kirby, and the Herculoids, a personal favorite designed by Toth. Also, I have no recollection of the Fonz in space.
Also, a great house ad by Steve Ditko (this would be an amazing piece of original art to own).
Fantastic Four 224 “The Darkfield Illumination” Published August 1980 Writer: Doug Moench Pencils: Bill Sienkiewicz Inks: Pablo Marcos Letters: Jim Novak Colors: George Roussos Editor: Jim Salicrup Cover: Sienkiewicz and Joe Sinnott
Synopsis
The Fantastic Four, home at the Baxter Building, discover that a strange red mist over New York makes their powers erratic. They trace the source of the mist to the Arctic, and depart in their Pogo Plane. While making a reconnaissance, the Human Torch loses power and is captured by what appear to be Vikings with high-tech weapons. Eventually the rest of the team is confronted by the Vikings, and after a skirmish, decide to become prisoners in order to find Johnny and uncover the mystery behind their failing powers. The source is revealed to be Korgon, a Norseman who encountered a meteor-like object that granted him powers and (apparently) very long life. Exiled from his village, he gathered a following and founded a settlement under an ice dome in the far north. He tells the FF he is now dying and demands they help him or lose their lives.
What’s going on here?
This is a clunky, old-school adventure that feels like it came from golden age of science fiction. It’s probably the kind of story Doug Moench was very comfortable spinning, given the dozens of similar stories he wrote for Warren books like Eerie and Creepy. Unfortunately, the set-up of this story — the FF must investigate a strange presence on the Arctic — reads very similarly to the John Byrne-written story in issues 220 and 221, and it’s odd that editor Jim Salicrup didn’t object. And like a lot of those early sci-fi stories, this one is full of plot holes and unexplained inconsistencies that end up distracting from what could be a fun story.
The pencils from Bill Sienkiewicz are generally solid and the comic is inked by Pablo Marcos, filling in for Joe Sinnott, who we are told is busy working on the Superman / Spider-Man crossover (Sinnott does ink the cover). Instead of a letters page or Bullpen Bulletins, the comic includes a number of pinup pages, some recycled and some new (which we will see later).
What I liked
Sienkiewicz has some strong images, here, like this parallel structure of Johnny in the same basic pose in consecutive panels.
I liked this sequence too:
What I didn’t like
Sienkiewicz also has some ill-conceived sequences with no transition from one scene to another, like here:
And here:
One of the unexplained oddities in the story is the Vikings speaking the same language as the FF:
How does the Fantasticar fit inside the Pogo Plane?
Lastly, while I respect the Marvel tradition of inserting its own comics into its stories, having Sue reading Franklin an issue of Moon Knight — the same month Moench’s Moon Knight No. 1 debuted — feels a bit much (and is that a poster of Jeff Lynne on the wall?).
Anything else?
For unexplained reasons, this issue has an alternate version of the cover of FF 3 by Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers, as well as a new FF pinup (probably a unused cover) from Sienkiewicz and Terry Austin, which looks pretty snazzy.
Additionally, there are four pages of vintage Kirby pinups (oddly, there were two of Johnny and none of Ben). Here are three of them:
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 debut, 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 an 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 off Franklin for the weekend just so Reed can concentrate? Another dubious parenting decision from the Richards.
Fantastic Four 223 “That A Child May Live …” Writer: Doug Moench Pencils: Bill Sienkiewicz Inks: Joe Sinnott Letters: Jim Novak Colors: George Roussos Editor: Jim Salicrup Cover: Sienkiewicz and Sinnott
Synopsis
As the Fantastic Four — plus Agatha Harkness and Gabriel — race to New Salem to save Franklin from possession by Nicholas Scratch, Scratch works from the Dark Realm to free Salem’s Seven from captivity. When the FF arrive, they are defeated and captured by the Seven, and Scratch announces his intentions to use Franklin’s power to spread darkness over Earth. But Gabriel and Harkness harness the Fantastic Four’s love of Franklin into a psychic weapon that eventually drives out Scratch. The issue ends with Harkness rendering Scratch an ordinary human and pledging to remain in New Salem to keep an eye on him.
What’s going on here?
This is a pretty uninspiring issue. It resolves the immediate two-part Franklin / Scratch arc, and seems to finally end Scratch as an ongoing threat (he’ll make only a handful more appearances over the next 46 years). But as a story it’s pretty lackluster and a big chunk of the comic seems devoted to exposition. The fight with Salem’s Seven feels abbreviated and Gabriel, a potentially interesting wildcard, disappears for most of the comic. And the finale was just, well, lame. Even the art feels mailed-in, as if Joe Sinnott had to take over for a distracted Bill Sienkiewicz.
What I liked
There were a few nice moments of character development. This sequence between Sue and Johnny felt pretty authentic (and Johnny was totally right, Salem’s Seven again defeated the FF).
I also liked this interaction:
This wasn’t Sienkiewicz’s strongest effort, but a few panels stood out, like this action sequence of Brutacus:
And this one of Vertigo:
What I didn’t like
As mentioned, a lot of this comic felt overly didactic. Here’s an example of a lot of unnecessary explaining:
And this declaration of the power of love just felt cheesy, and a bit like Doug Moench discovering an easy way to wrap up his story:
Lastly, what kid talks like this?
Anything else?
Some notable ads in this issue. In honor of Norm MacDonald, I will never stop posting OJ ads when they appear. And the trademark house ad is weird: what counterfeit comics was Marvel worried about? Aside from DC, no one else was really publishing superhero comics by 1980, and the other publishers of horror, like Warren, and humor, like Harvey, were well established. Comics were just entering the direct-sales era, but was Marvel really worried about indy start-ups like Cerebus the Aardvark? Odd.
Fantastic Four 222 “The Possession of Franklin Richards!” Published June 1980 Writer: Doug Moench Pencils: Bill Sienkiewicz Inks: Joe Sinnott Letters: Jim Novak Colors: George Roussos Editor: Jim Salicrup Cover: Sienkiewicz and Sinnott
Synopsis
As the Fantastic Four relax in the city, Nicholas Scratch — previously exiled to another dimension by his mother, Agatha Harkness — discovers a portal to the Baxter Building. Scratch uses it possess Franklin and attack the Fantastic Four, who answer’s Sue’s flare-gun summons. After failing to find Dr. Strange, the team brings Franklin to Harkness’s home on Whisper Hill, where their seance is interrupted by a mystic called Gabriel, who summons Scratch. Scratch then tells the FF if they want to save Franklin, they must return to New Salem.
What’s going on here?
After two issues written and penciled by John Byrne, we’re now back to the previously scheduled Doug Moench / Bill Sienkiewicz run (Joe Sinnott continues to provide inks, of course). That’s a mixed blessing, as we shall see.
The comic, once again, concerns the possession of Franklin Richards by Nicholas Scratch, picking up a story that began in FF 184 and continued through FF Annual 14. In a vacuum, there’s nothing wrong with these stories, and as we shall see next issue, they all include Salem’s Seven, a fun and underused group of super villains. But these stories are part of a long line of comics where Franklin is in Danger, which basically started with his birth in FF Annual 6 (arguably the single greatest Stan and Jack issue) and really becomes a theme in FF 141, where the extent of Franklin’s powers are revealed. Byrne devotes a number of issues to Franklin’s powers and their risk to himself and others, and he’s put in harm’s way in various ways in comics ranging from Power Pack to the Fantastic Four Vs. X-Men limited series. Together, all these stories featuring a young child in danger inevitably send the message that Reed and Sue are bad parents. I don’t want to think that; I like these characters and what they represent, but it’s very hard not to draw that conclusion given how often Franklin is put in harms way by their careers and lifestyle. The solution is not that Reed and Sue should not have had children, nor is that Franklin should be sent away to be raised by Agatha or put in a foster home. It’s that writers should just leave him alone. Unfortunately, as we will discover over the next several hundred issues, they can’t resist the temptation.
This story also features the Fantastic Four (and maybe Marvel universe) debut of Gabriel, aka Devil Hunter, who Moench created in a monster magazine, Haunt of Horror. He fits in a long tradition of FF writers importing various random characters from their other books, from Roy Thomas’s Arkon to Marv Wolfman’s Dr. Sun et al., but doesn’t stick around for long. He will go on to appear in a 1990s Hellstorm comic. There, he is called Gabriel Rosetti, a clear reference to Dante Gabriel Rosetti, a name that will be familiar to fans of mid-19th century British painting.
What I liked
We are starting to see more of Sienkiewicz’s individual style emerge from beneath Sinnott’s inks, particularly in his character poses. Here are some fun examples:
Sienkiewicz also does this fun thing where he breaks the panel boundaries to emphasize the action, as with Johnny’s foot above, and with the taxi door, below:
There was some panels devoted to character development, some better done that others. But I liked this bit, and particularly the lure of a jacuzzi.
And this sequence was genuinely menacing:
What I didn’t like
I don’t think Moench has a handle on how to write Franklin. Maybe he never spent much time with a 3 or 4 year old, but they don’t talk like this:
There’s also this weird panel of Franklin cheering on his parents making out. It’s there to set up another panel after he’s possessed, but it’s pretty creepy:
For all of Sienkiewicz’a abilities, he struggles at times with layout designs, resulting in panels that are way too small for what they are trying to depict:
Lastly, are Ben and Reed the last two men in New York to wear hats? And Ben is wearing a tie to the movies? And what is with Reed’s pipe? Is he the one scientist that doesn’t know about lung cancer?
Anything else?
Some house ads, including one for the $2500 contest that mars the cover. It looks like Marvel was using the contest to do some market research.
Fantastic Four 221 “Tower of Crystal … Dreams of Glass!” Published: May 1980 Writer: John Byrne Pencils: Byrne Inks: Joe Sinnott Letters: Jim Novak Colors: Carl Gafford Editor: Jim Salicrup Cover: Bill Sienkiewicz and Joe Sinnott
Synopsis
Last issue, the FF rushed to the North Pole to examine an alien ship that threatened the Earth by reversing its magnetic polarity. As the Invisible Girl investigates, the rest of the team is attacked by strange alien robots that can change form. Sue reaches the aliens and discovers they simply want to return to their home planet. The aliens call off their robots and Reed fixes their ship so they can leave.
What’s going on here?
Thanks to reader and comic blogger Ben Herman (you can check out his comics reviews here), I’ve learned I was basically correct in my hypothesis that issues 220 and 221 were one story split in two. As John Byrne wrote on his Byrne Robotics forum, the story was written as a single issue to be a giveaway as a part of a promotion for Coca-Cola. According to Byrne (who should always be taken with a grain of salt), after approving the story’s plot, Coke rejected it as “too violent.” Marvel decided to salvage it by turning it into these two issues, which required Byrne adding a few pages, likely last issues’ flashback. And as predicted, all the fighting takes place in this issue.
Overall, it’s a solid and satisfying story that feels a bit like a throwback to the golden age of science fiction. If I had to guess, Byrne read somewhere about the earth’s magnetic polarity reversing half a million years ago and saw the kernel of a fun story. The issue does re-introduce to the Fantastic Four the trope of misunderstand aliens that first appeared in FF 24 and reoccurs several times over Byrne’s later FF run.
The ho-hum cover is by Bill Sienkiewicz and Joe Sinnott, leading to this fun signature:
What I liked
As we shall see, empowering Sue becomes one of Byrne’s projects during his run (picking up on the work begun by Len Wein and Marv Wolfman) and we get the first glimpses of it here. There is still too much hand-wringing from Sue for my tastes but in this issue she is the level-headed driver of the narrative and the one who resolves the conflict.
There are some nice touches throughout the comic. I liked this bit of comedy with Ben and the alien robots:
This was a very cool panel from Byrne and Sinnott which reminded me of the cover of Atlas Shrugged:
I always like it when we get fun credits (and note Jim Shooter is now appearing regularly in them, the first editor-in-chief to do so):
What I didn’t like
The aliens’ “oopsie” seems a bit too pat an answer to explain their actions. Over 500,000 years transpire and they didn’t think a civilization might have evolved in that time?
And unfortunately another Byrne-ism makes its FF debut here: really pretentious titles for his stories.
Anything else?
The letters pages of these two issues included a lively discussion of Sue and her direction as a character. The letters page of issue 220 consisted of five letters in response to a longer letter by Carol Strickland published in issue 216. Issue 221 had another long letter from Strickland and a response from Roger Stern (for some reason). It’s a reminder of how central letters pages were to comic book fandom. Back then every letter had the writer’s full name and complete address so they could correspond with each other. Today we have anonymous message boards and fans trading insults on social media. Also of note, a message from Jim Shooter about a Stan Lee appearance at a comic con. He advises fans to write the organizer for more info. Life before the internet, kids! (OK, I’ll now stop yelling at clouds).
Percival Henry: The Fantastic Four and more 