“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.

Overall

A good comic book

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 215

26 Sunday Apr 2026

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1979, Blastaar, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 215, John Byrne, marv wolfman, Marvel, Marvel comics

Fantastic Four 215
“Blastaar!”
Published November 1979
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Pencils: John Byrne
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: Joe Rosen
Colors: Carl Gafford
Editor: Wolfman
Cover: Ron Wilson and Joe Rubenstein

Synopsis

The issue opens with the Fantastic Four battling an explosion in the lab of Dr. Randolph James, a friend of Reed’s, whose experiments into evolution are going haywire. Meanwhile, Blastaar enters the Baxter Building from the Negative Zone, and the FF rush to confront him. A long battle ensues, and Blastaar escapes. Reed then gets a call from Dr. James, who has been assaulted and needs help. When Reed arrives he find James has used his evolutionary device to evolve himself into an advanced being.

What’s going on here?

This issue took me by surprise. This is Marv Wolfman’s last issue as a full writer of the FF (he just plots the next issue), and following the very long and elaborate Sphinx/Galactus arc and Annual 14, I just assumed he would mail it in with a by-the-numbers story. Instead, this is one of the best issues of Wolfman’s FF run, as the slightly odd Dr. James subplot delivers a genuine surprise at the end. We knew something was up with him but I will fully admit I was not expecting him to turn into this:

Instead of the main event in this comic, Blastaar then serves as a mildly interesting distraction. Of the two main Negative Zone villains, Annihilus is by far the more compelling, and Blastaar mostly takes up space. Here, Wolfman takes advantage of that to occupy the FF (and the readers) with a satisfying fight scene before the big reveal. (Although it should be said we never get an explanation of how Blastaar can just stroll in from the Negative Zone). Overall the issue is well paced with nice moments of character development, while Byrne and Sinnott do an outstanding job on the art.

The cover is by Ron Wilson and Joe Rubenstein, who is making his Fantastic Four debut. Rubenstein will go to have an incredibly long and prolific career, inking just about every comic character created by Marvel or DC, but never had a steady run on the FF.

What I liked

This issue reveals how good Byrne is at constructing action sequences (as if we had much doubt), like in these panels. Note how the perspective changes in the bottom three panels to create the illusion of Blastaar falling.

It’s not just action, where Byrne excels, either. I really like this quiet sequence, where the dynamic shifts in angles keeps our attention in what could have been a few dull, expository panels.

And I really liked this image:

What I didn’t like

It’s been a while since we had a Reed-is-a-Jerk moment, but Wolfman gives us one on his way out:

James’s assault doesn’t make much sense. These thugs just show up because they hear he’s a scientist? And it happens very conveniently just after the FF’s visit.

This is a great splash page but it reminds me that whenever Blastaar appears, he seems anatomically lacking in, ahem, certain respects. Note the cover as well. Maybe that’s why he’s so mad all the time.

Lastly, Wolfman cannot let the Herbie subplot drop:

Anything else?

This ad is awesome. I am pretty sure I had the Hammerhead action figure.

Overall

A pretty good comic book

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four Annual No. 14

19 Sunday Apr 2026

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1979, Agatha Harkness, Annual, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four Annual 14, George Perez, marv wolfman, Marvel, marvel-comics, Salem's Seven

Fantastic Four Annual 14
“Cat’s-Paw!”
Published October 1979
Story: Marc Wolfman and Geore Perez
Pencils: Perez
Inks: Pablo Marcos
Letters: Jim Novak
Colors: Carl Gafford
Editor: Wolfman
Cover: Joe Sinnott

Synopsis

After a brief battle with Sandman, the Fantastic Four return to the Baxter Building to find Agatha Harkness, who convinces the team plus Franklin to accompany her to New Salem for her annual visit. Meanwhile, a group of Salem witches is plotting to restore Nicholas Scratch — defeated by his mother, Harkness, and the FF in issue 186 —and then reveal themselves to be Salem’s Seven. They battle and subdue the FF, but Franklin escapes and is found by Harkness. Back in New York, Salem’s Seven harnesses the powers of the unconscious FF in order to summon Scratch, creating a powerful force field around the Baxter Building that resists the military and the Avengers. With Franklin, Harkness withstands Scratch’s assaults and once in the Baxter Building, Franklin’s latent powers restore the hostile, mind-controlled FF back to normal. Harkness then defeats Salem’s Seven and prevents Scratch from returning to Earth.

What’s going on here?

This is a big, fun, rollercoaster of an annual that only barely makes sense and is held together by George Perez’s amazing layouts and pencils. He is ably assisted by Pablo Marcos on inks, who has a nice light touch. If Perez had not worked on this book I would likely have a much lower opinion of it but thankfully we’ll never know. More on this great art in a bit.

Like a lot of annuals, this story feels a bit padded, particularly the opening sequence with Sandman, which serves no real purpose. It’s filled out at the end with a series of pinups. The story hinges entirely on the FF’s impromptu decision to join Harkness, and she ultimately is the hero of the story. After they are captured, the FF are barely players in their own annual.

This annual brings back Salem’s Seven, a fun group of villains who are surprisingly underused. They only appear a handful of times after this issue, despite seemingly tailor-made for fighting other super teams. Couldn’t the X-Men have fought these guys?

Also of note, the cover is by Joe Sinnott working solo, which is rare. It’s unfortunately not a particularly exciting or interesting cover, and my guess is Perez either couldn’t deliver his cover on time or it was rejected by Jim Shooter, necessitating a quick fill-in job by Sinnott.

What I liked

This is the first comic I’m aware of where we really see Perez’s layout innovations take hold. He was a master of propelling the story with panel designs, and often can fit seven, eight or nine on a page without it feeling cramped (most artists don’t exceed six). We can see the beginnings of that here, where he uses the bottom panel on four consecutive pages (I can only show three here) to introduce the main plot of the story through the sinister villainy of Salem’s Seven. Another artist might gave simply broken away from the main action and used four contiguous panels, but by using one panel per page, Perez undergirds the FF’s triumph over the Sandman with a portent of menace.

Here’s another page where Perez creates simultaneous action through page design. The small light blue panels show the machinations of the villains at the same time Harkness invites the FF to the evening’s big event. It’s a technique unique to comics; the movie or TV equivalent would be a picture-in-picture with separate characters and dialogue, which would be awful (you do sometimes see this in sports, but it’s hard to watch).

Perez uses 10 panels on this page, and it allows him to give the readers a sense of New Salem’s weirdness while advancing the plot.

The high point of Perez’s panel wizardry was probably Crisis on Infinite Earths, six years later, where he had roughly a zillion characters to include and a lot of story to tell. Here, in issue seven, he uses an insane 16 panels to record the death of Supergirl.

Today, one wide-screen artist like Brian Hitch would probably use half of a comic for the same sequence.

There’s lots of other great Perez art FF Annual 14, too, like this crazy double page splash:

Although the design is pretty rudimentary, with its one-point perspective, it’s full of fun details, like Johnny making time with a New Salem native (later revealed to be a succubus) and Franklin and Sue (and what is Sue wearing on her head??)

While this issue (and blog post) is really about Perez, Marv Wolfman has his moments. This was a fun sequence that followed the team thwarting the Sandman’s bank robbery and getting a kitten-themed calendar for their troubles:

And to finish up, just a few more amazing pages from Perez (the one with Avengers is stunning):

What I didn’t like

This being a Wolfman comic, there were all sort of odd plot devices and inconsistencies that seems could have been avoided with a bit of thought or (cough) an editor (cough) who wasn’t the same person as the writer.

Here, Harkness invites the FF to join her on a trip across the country and they decide to drop everything and go. Apparently world-class scientists like Reed don’t have meetings or lectures or experiments that keep him tied down. Would it have ruined the story to have made this a trip they planned in advance?

Then, instead of flying one of their several vehicles, they fly commercial. Because who doesn’t like an easily avoidable trip to the airport? (Also, note Reed is smoking a pipe on the plane. It was the seventies).

Later, the Salem witch Gazelle announces she’s a “beast of prey.” Really? Her name is Gazelle and she’s a predator??

And this feels like an own-goal, but when the Defenders show up and Iron Man says they’re helpless against this mystical, magical forcefield, it kinda begs the question about a certain missing Defender. Wears a cape. Lives in the village. Sometimes called the Sorcerer Supreme. Maybe he could have helped.

Anything else?

The pinups in the end are by Keith Pollard and Marcos. It’s called a gallery of the FF’s most famous foes but most of these guys are pretty obscure (there were six in total). I like that they each get a custom designed logos.

Overall

A Perez triumph!

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 214

11 Saturday Apr 2026

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1979, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 214, Joe Sinnott, John Byrne, marv wolfman, Marvel, Marvel comics, Skrulls

Fantastic Four 214
“…and then there was — ONE!”
Published October 1979
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Pencils: John Byrne
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: John Costanza
Colors: Carl Gafford
Editor: Wolfman
Cover: Byrne and Sinnott

Synopsis

The Human Torch, distraught that the rest of his team is approaching death after succumbing to the effects of the Skrull aging ray, goes on a desperate hunt to find a cure— first seeking out Tony Stark, then the Xandarians — but to no avail. Back at the Baxter Building, Johnny is attacked by Skrull X, who, like the Super-Skrull, can mimic the powers of the FF. Johnny defeats him (and reveals he was a robot) but realizes the skrull’s aging ray can be reverse engineered to revive his teammates. He wakes Reed from his “cryonics tube” and helps the very elderly Mr. Fantastic alter the device. Johnny is initially devastated when there is no result but is soon reunited with the rest of the team, now stronger than ever.

What’s going on here?

A good chunk of this issue wallows in the Torch’s self-pity, which is pretty tedious. But despite that, it’s a very good comic, and a solid ending to the Xandar/Sphinx/Galactus arc. There is real dramatic tension as the Torch tries to find a cure, and the fight with Skrull X feels almost desperate (particularly after Johnny incinerates the skull before learning it was a robot). Waking Reed from his death bed also felt like a grim, last-chance gambit. And while there wasn’t much doubt the FF would be saved — the comic does continue after this issue — it’s a sign of successful story telling that there is suspense at all.

This issue concludes what is the FF’s longest story arc to date, one that kicked off in issue 204, 10 issues ago. It suffered from a meandering beginning, and a confusing and unnecessary cast of characters imported from Marv Wolfman’s canceled Nova book. It picked up steam when the Sphinx grew in power and the FF sought out Galactus, which introduced Terrax. But that story element landed with a thud last issue, and while issue 214 resolves the aging-skull-ray storyline more gracefully, it doesn’t exactly salvage the whole arc.

What I liked

Johnny’s fight with Skrull X is probably the highlight of the book. It’s really everything you want in a comic fight: dynamic action, equally matched opponents, high stakes and not overly long. John Byrne really nails this one.

I also enjoyed Johnny’s search for Tony Stark, which takes him to Avengers Mansion (with an amusing cameo from Jarvis) and then the SHIELD Helicarrrier. I’m a fan of these brief interactions with the rest of the Marvel universe. All these characters know each other; they shouldn’t only get together for a major team up or cross over.

And while it was predictable, I liked the reunion of the Torch and the newly revived FF.

Lastly, Byrne and Joe Sinnott delivered some great sequences, like this one (dig that Kirby Krackle):

And this one:

What I didn’t like

As mentioned, Johnny’s moping around is maudlin and unbecoming. Unfortunately, Wolfman seems to love this sort of pathos, because we got a lot of it the Teen Titans

It starts on the first page:

And gets worse from there:

I’ll spare you the rest.

Anything else?

A variety of fun ads. I distinctly remember learning the word “akimbo” from the gum ad when I first encountered it as a kid. Also, why does Superman need an airplane (much less a van).

Overall

Solidly above average.

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 213

28 Saturday Mar 2026

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1979, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 213, galactus, John Byrne, marv wolfman, Marvel, Marvel comics, Sphinx, Terrax

Fantastic Four 213
“In Final Battle!”
Published September 1979
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Pencils: John Byrne
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: John Costanza
Colors: Ben Sean
Editor: Wolfman
Cover:Byrne and Sinnott

Synopsis

Aboard Galactus’s ship, Reed, Ben and Johnny confront Terrax, who wants his revenge after being humiliated by the team on his home planet. Ben, under the effects of the Skrull aging ray, is overcome, and Johnny defeats Terrax by freezing him in liquid oxygen. Meanwhile, Galactus battles, and defeats, the Sphinx for the rights to the Earth. In punishment, Galactus send the Sphinx to his past to re-live his long life again. Galactus can now consume the Earth, but is confronted by Reed, who again wields a version of the Ultimate Nullifier, this one of his own making. Galactus cannot read his mind, and so can’t tell if Reed is bluffing and so leaves Earth. Reed reveals was a fake nullifier, and the Watcher blocked Galactus’s mental probe of Reed. The issue ends with Reed collapsing from the aging ray, leaving the Torch alone.

What’s going on here?

As promised in the last issue, we finally get the big confrontation between Galactus and the Sphinx we’ve been headed toward for many months, and in truth, it’s a bit of a dud. I’ll get into particulars below, but broadly, it didn’t feel big enough to justify the build up. Galactus takes care of the Sphinx without too much effort, and the fight serves both to marginalize the Sphinx as a cosmic baddie and reinforce Galactus as someone you definitely don’t want to mess with.

The John Byrne/ Joe Sinnott art team does another solid job, and it’s very clear Byrne draws the best Galactus, bar none.

What I liked

The conclusion of the Sphinx / Galactus fight had some cool moments, like this:

Unfortunately, that great panel is just one third of a page. In a just world, it would have been a double-page splash (we got one last issue) but it seems there was so much story to cram into this comic that Byrne was tight on space.

This was also impressive:

I like how the Sphinx literally shrinks before Galactus.

And I enjoyed this sequence where Johnny calls the Watcher on his non-interference bullshit:

What I didn’t like

I’ve said this before, but my preferred version of Galactus is one who uses his power from an Olympian remove. He should be above the fray, god-like, dispatching his minions to fight on his behalf or zapping enemies with his eye beams. I don’t even think he should touch the ground, but should hover above it. So I’m always disappointed when writers pull him into physical confrontations, and this one was just silly.

Galactus in a fist fight? It’s … unbecoming.

There was also some weird stuff between Galactus and the Sphinx, which suggested they have fought before. Is this a possible reference to the time loop Galactus condemns him too? That seems too subtle and intricate for Wolfman. (This is another cool sequence from Byrne and Sinnott).

Reed’s Ultimate Nullifier gambit was also a big disappointment. For the last few issues we’ve been promised he has a secret means of defeating Galactus. But it turns out it’s just the same way he defeated Galactus the first time he came to Earth, only dumber. Also, how is Galactus supposed to recognize Reed’s new Ultimate Nullifier when it looks nothing like the device from issue 50.

After Ben is defeated by Terrax, Reed orders Herbie to fly him home. To New York. From Egypt. More than 5,600 miles, dangling from the air. And since I’m pretty sure that little robot can’t fly as fast as a commercial airline, that must have taken a very long time.

Lastly, I’m not sure this was intentional or not, but Galactus really can’t accuse the Sphinx of speaking in riddles. That’s his whole schtick!

Anything else?

It’s that time of year when the networks rolled out their Saturday morning cartoon lineup. Here are CBS’s and ABC’s (I think NBC’s was in the last issue):

Overall

A fairly predictable disappointment

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 212

23 Monday Mar 2026

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1979, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 212, galactus, John Byrne, marv wolfman, Marvel, Marvel comics, Skrulls, Sphinx, Terrax

Fantastic Four 212
“The Battle of the Titans!”
Published August 1979
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Pencils: John Byrne
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: John Costanza
Colors: Carl Gafford
Editor: Wolfman
Cover: Walter Simonson

Synopsis

Galactus, Terrax and the Fantastic Four head to Earth to stop the Sphinx. Once there, the Invisible Girl falls unconscious as the Skrull’s aging ray takes effect. The rest of the FF track the Sphinx to Egypt (naturally), where he announces his plans to remake the world. Terrax attacks the Sphinx and is quickly defeated. Galactus then arrives and while he and the Sphinx prepare to do battle for the right to Earth, Terrax launches an attack on the FF.

What’s going on here?

This is a table-setting issue, laying the ground up the next and (one hopes) final chapter in a very long story arc that began way back in issue 204. After maneuvering the chess pieces around for nearly a year, Wolfman seems to have what he wants: Galactus vs. the Sphinx for the Earth, with the FF helpless as they succumbs to the Skrull’s aging ray. It took a lot to get us here and it remains to be seen if Wolfman can stick the landing.

The art in this issue is unremarkable. There are a few panels that have Byrne’s signature elements, but it’s much more by-the-book than last issue. Maybe he got a talking-to.

He does deliver an impressive double-page splash which also seems like an exercise in illustrating one-point perspective:

Perhaps the most significant aspect of this comic is the cover, which marks Walt Simonson’s Fantastic Four debut. At this point Simonson was an established creator with runs on comics like Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica, but he was still a few years from his legendary run on Thor which established him a comics superstar. Simonson, of course, would go on to have his own, too-brief run on the FF as writer and illustrator for 20 issues from 1989 to 1991. I consider it one of the top 5 FF runs of all time.

While I am a huge Simonson fan, I have to say this cover is not exactly his best work. Ben, particularly, is hard to look at. But it has his signature dinosaur signature, which is something.

What I liked

It took a while, but the Skrull aging ray finally is having a serious impact on the FF, as Sue approaches death. Johnny explains that there’s a history of early death in their family, which was brought up a few issues ago. This sequence is appropriately grave and ratchets up the stakes for the team.

I also liked the reappearance of the Skrull from issue 204, who seems to have spent the previous week as a computer.

And I liked how Terrax is again reprimanded by Galactus in a great Byrne panel:

What I didn’t like

A big chunk of this issue is taken up by recaps and flashbacks. The first four pages are devoted to explaining the last eight issues, which makes for a very dull start to the comic. There’s so much to recap Wolfman drags in the Watcher for the sequence:

We also get a lengthy flashback explaining how the Sphinx became suicidal, which involves the intervention of a character called Sayge. Sayge apparently has been around for a while, first appearing in the mid-60s as a Dr. Strange character, but here their appearance feels utterly unnecessary and just drags out the Sphinx’s mostly uninteresting origin story.

Anything else?

These look cool:

Overall

Nothing to get excited about

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 211

15 Sunday Mar 2026

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1979, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 211, galactus, Joe Sinnott, John Byrne, marv wolfman, Marvel comics, Terrax

Fantastic Four 211
“If This Be Terrax!”
Published July 1979
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Pencils: John Byrne
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: Joseph Rosen
Colors: Ben Sean
Editor: Wolfman
Cover: Byrne and Sinnott

Synopsis

As part of their bargain with Galactus, the Fantastic Four are transported to an alien world, where they are to locate a new herald. They are captured by stone-based robots and summoned to the throne room of the local warlord, Tyros the Terrible, and after besting him in battle, it is revealed he is to be the new herald. Galactus transforms him in Terrax the Tamer, imbuing with potent earth-based powers, and, with the FF, departs for Earth to battle the Sphinx.

What’s going on here?

This is the best FF issue in quite some time, and not coincidentally, it’s the one that most feels like a John Byrne comic. Despite Marv Wolfman being credited with the writing, it would not have felt out of place during Byrne’s later run when he wrote and plotted the stories. I have no way of knowing how much of this story was Byrne’s vs. Wolfman’s but if I were to bet, I’d say it was mostly Byrne.

Much of the story involves Galactus’s transformation of Tyros into Terrax, and Byrne takes his time demonstrating both the power of Galactus and then Terrax.

I’ve always liked Terrax as a villain, in part because he featured prominently in Fantastic Four 260, my first FF issue and (I still maintain) one of the best single FF issues ever. It makes sense that he is a Byrne creation, since he contains so many traits Byrne loves in his bad guys: pomposity, arrogance and cosmic power.

What I liked

This issue spells out why Galactus chose Tyros to make into his herald: His powers are earth based, following a roster of heralds with similar, element based powers, which I’m guessing was a coincidence up to this point: the Silver Surfer (water), Airwalker (air, duh) and Firelord (also duh). And since the morality of other heralds got in the way of their service, this time Galactus deliberately chose an amoral asshole.

I’ve groused about how the effects of the Skrull’s aging ray, which is suppossed to rapidly age and kill Reed, Sue and Ben, have been more or less ignored by Wolfman since they were zapped in issue 206. But here, Byrne visibly ages Reed and Sue without calling attention to it. In fact, the only reference to their altered appearance comes from Tyros, who objects to Sue’s wrinkles (although he will still ad her to his harem):

I also liked how Ben points out that a life of servitude to Galactus is what Tyros deserves after subjugating his own people.

And lastly, there are some just great Byrne panels and sequences throughout, like this

and this:

and this:

What I didn’t like

Not much. As I said, this is a really good comic and I’m just picking nits here. I thought this was an oddly formal turn of phrase from Johnny:

I also thought is was strange that the aliens on this planet initially communicate telepathically — which makes sense because they don’t speak English! —then just start speaking English after a few page:

Anything else?

Some fun new ads. Did anyone have a banana walkie-talkie?

Overall

An excellent comic

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 210

08 Sunday Mar 2026

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1979, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 210, galactus, Joe Sinnott, John Byrne, marv wolfman, Marvel comics

Fantastic Four 210
“In Search of Galactus!”
Published June 1979
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Pencils: John Byrne
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: John Costanza
Colors: Ben Sean
Editor: Wolfman
Cover: Keith Pollard and Frank Giacoia

Synopsis

The Fantastic Four battle a meteor shower before reaching Galactus’s spaceship. After overcoming a few obstacles, they negotiate a deal whereby Galactus will travel to Earth to defeat the Sphinx and in exchange, Mr. Fantastic releases Galactus from his promise not to devour the Earth. But first, Galactus sends the FF on a quest to find him a new herald.

What’s going on here?

This is a fun issue, and much more engaging than the two that preceded it. The story is straightforward, there are some modest twists and turns, and we get some nice moments between members of the FF. It’s not a coincidence that in this issue Marv Wolfman finally jettisoned Nova, Xandar and those random characters that were weighing down the story.

The art is again strong, and although only the layouts are credited to John Byrne, with Joe Sinnott handing finishes, it’s easy to see Byrne’s style all over this comic, such as in the panel above.

The cover, by Keith Pollard and Frank Giacoia, is less successful, and proves not everyone is great at drawing Galactus.

What I liked

In an early scene, Ben refuses to come inside the spaceship because he’s needed to swat away meteors. Johnny somehow thinks he can save him. None of it makes much sense but the sequence looks amazing. Credit to Ben Sean, the colorist.

This is followed by a touching scene were Ben performs mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on Johnny.

There’s also a poignant scene where Sue realizes she’s going to die before her teammates, the result of a punishment meted out by the Skrulls a few issues ago.

This may be Byrne’s first attempt at drawing Galactus, a character he goes on to depict many, many times over his career. I would argue his version is perhaps the best ever.

Byrne also likes drawing weird aliens, and he goes to town with the inhabitants of Galactus’s zoo (the question of why Galactus has a zoo goes unanswered).

What I didn’t like

Not much, to be honest. I do think Reed (and thus Wolfman) is being way to lackadaisical about the team’s imminent demise from old age. Perhaps Reed figures he’ll whip a cure when he gets a chance, but he’s cutting it close. Maybe he should have asked Galactus to throw in a cure as part of their bargain?

I also thought the flashback explains why Galactus wasn’t dead was convoluted and totally unnecessary. Did anyone think Galactus was really dead?

Anything else?

A cool house ad by Gene Colan:

Overall

A vast improvement over recent issues

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 209

01 Sunday Mar 2026

Posted by percivalhenry in The World's Greatest Comic Magazine

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

1979, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 209, Joe Sinnott, John Byrne, marv wolfman, Marvel comics

Fantastic Four 209
“Trapped in the Sargasso of Space!”
Published May 1979
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Pencils: John Byrne
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letter: Tom Orzechowski
Colors: Glynis Wein
Editor: Wolfman
Cover: Keith Pollard and Sinnott

Synopsis

The Fantastic Four head off into space in search of Galactus — whom they hope to recruit to battle the Sphinx — accompanied by the robot H.E.R.B.I.E. (hereafter just “Herbie”). They find themselves in a junkyard of abandoned spaceships where they get encounter a dying alien police officer and escaped criminals. The FF defeat the criminals, keep therefrom stealing their Xandarian spaceship, and continue on to finding Galactus.

What’s going on here?

This is issue of notable firsts. Most prominent is the FF debut of John Byrne, who will go on to become one of the Fantastic Four’s most significant creators. This, however, is Byrne’s first stint on the FF, where he will last about a dozen issues, and worked only as a penciler. At this point he was juggling penciling duties on the FF, X-Men and Avengers, which is a lot of characters to draw (!) and had no time for inks. Byrne would rejoin the book with issue 232 as writer, penciler and inker, and launch the legendary five-year run that made me fall in love with comics in general and the FF in particular. In truth, I never gave this first run much thought; considering it an odd footnote in Byrne’s career, a prelude before the big show. What little of it I had seen didn’t appear particularly Byrne-like, as he seemed overshadowed by Joe Sinnott’s inks and he was following Marv Wolfman’s lackluster plots.

So it was a pleasant surprise to realize there is plenty of quality Byrne to be found in this issue, and while Sinnott’s inks can obscure Byrne’s unique pencils, they don’t erase it. Here are some solid examples of his distinct, fluid style that would not look out of place in Byrne’s subsequent run:

This issue also marks, for better and probably worse, the comics debut of Herbie. Herbie at this point had been featured as the fourth member of the FF (replacing the Human Torch) on the 1978 version of the Fantastic Four’s Saturday morning cartoon show, leading to an urban myth that the network was afraid children would light themselves on fire in imitation of the Torch. The truth was less interesting: Marvel had previously sold the rights to the Torch for a planned movie, and so he couldn’t he used in this show (the movie never happened). Herbie was apparently the idea of Stan Lee, who was inspired by R2-D2, and it was designed by Jack Kirby.

In the comic, the FF tackles the rumors head on, acknowledging the TV cartoon but providing an alternate explanation:

For the record, I’ve always disliked Herbie, and filed him alongside the Impossible Man as gimmick designed to provoke cheap laughs. So I was pleased to see Wolfman poke fun of the concept, and he drops some hints that Herbie may have a darker side. One can hope.

Lastly, this marks the FF debut of letterer Tom Orzechowski. Best known for his work on the X-Men (and in fact, any X-book written by Chris Claremont) Orzechowski has had a long and distinguished career, which you can read more about here.

What I liked

Wolfman’s strength is interpersonal relationships, and this was a nice scene between Sue and Johnny:

What I didn’t like

Pretty much everything else in this issue seemed poorly thought out. As Reed makes clear, the Earth is in imminent danger, they need to recruit Galactus, and yet the FF are engaged in what the kids today would call a side-quest that is confusing and has no real purpose. We never learn why all these space ships are marooned, we never learn what these space criminals did, and we don’t really know what will become of them. It feels like Wolfman is stalling for time before getting to Galactus, but it’s really unclear why.

Here’s another silly element that goes unexplained: Why is there breathable air in space (and even if the team can breath, wouldn’t they surely die in seconds from the extreme cold)?

Another thing that bugs me: Wolfman makes Ankara the destination for the dying space cop, perhaps forgetting Ankara is the capital of Turkey. Like his use of “suzerain” last issue, it seems like Wolfman chooses words based on their sound and associations without considering what they actually mean.

And I didn’t much like this “one to grow on” moment at the end. It felt like a throwback to Stan’s ham-handed endings during the FF’s early years. Note the hint about Herbie.

Lastly, the cover made no sense. It seems pretty clear that Pollard was given just a rough idea of what the story was about without ever seeing an actual plot.

Anything else?

Some cool looking ads. Seems weird to see ads for Superman-related stuff in a Marvel comic but I guess a buck’s a buck.

Overall

An unsatisfying comic saved by Byrne’s art

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 208

23 Monday Feb 2026

Posted by percivalhenry in The World's Greatest Comic Magazine

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

1979, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 208, marv wolfman, Marvel comics, Nova, Sal Buscema, Sphinx

Fantastic Four 208
“The Power of the Sphinx!”
Published April 1979
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Pencils: Sal Buscema
Inks: “D. Hands”
Letters: Joe Rosen
Colors: Glynis Wein
Editor: Wolfman
Cover: Keith Pollard and Joe Sinnott

Synopsis

After destroying their spaceship in a case of mistaken identity, Nova rescues the Fantastic Four, who confront the Sphinx aboard Nova’s ship. As they approach Xandar, the Sphinx senses the power of the Xandar living computer and teleports to it. Meanwhile back on Earth, the Human Torch returns to the Baxter Building where he is also teleported to Xandar, and where he rejoins the rest of the FF. The FF and the champions of Xandar then battle the Sphinx, who has tapped the living computer and has become vastly more powerful. After swatting away their attacks, he heads to Earth vowing to destroy it. The issue ends with Reed concluding they need the help of Galactus to defeat the Sphinx.

What’s going on here?

Marv Wolfman’s confusing and tedious space epic drags on. While it’s all revealed in the final few issues of Nova (also written by Wolfman), he never explains why the Sphinx seems to have joined forces with Nova, and why all these other characters are along for the ride. Dr. Sun? Powerhouse? Diamondhead? The Comet and Crimebuster? Who are these guys? Don’t expect to get any answers here. I’m repeating myself but it’s a major failing of Wolfman’s and of Jim Shooter for allowing him to be his own editor. And it speaks to the general neglect of the FF by the powers-that-be during this era.

Here’s a bunch of them fighting the Sphinx, whoever they are.

The Sphinx is an odd Marvel character. He’s powerful and cosmic, but never got the traction of other, similar characters like Galactus or Thanos. He does reappear over the years, but in second-tier books and never in the Fantastic Four or Avengers main titles. It could be because he debuted in Nova, somewhat of a Marvel backwater, or because he was so closely associated with Marv Wolfman. It’s also possible that he was pre-empted by Apocalypse, another powerful, grey-skinned villain with origins in ancient Egypt.

Sal Buscema is again the penciler, while the inks in the comic are credited to “D. Hands,” which is Marvel code for inkers by committee (sometimes it’s M. Hands). Mike’s Amazing World of Comics credits Al Milgrom with the inks, while GCD says it’s a combination of Milgrom, Frank Giacoia, and Frank Springer.

Keith Pollard contributed the cover (with Joe Sinnott inking) and it might be the best single thing about this comic.

What I liked

When preparing these reviews, I occasionally have to strain to find something positive to say, and this is one of those issues.

We do get a cool splash page from Buscema:

And I liked Johnny’s journey from the Baxter Building to Xandar:

(Incidentally “Suzerain” seems to the wrong title for Adora, since Xandar is not a vassal of another entity, but it’s own independent state. I’m guessing the editor-less Wolfman just liked the sound of it and no one told him not to use it. In later comics she is called Queen Adora, which seems more appropriate.)

What I didn’t like

We are reminded early in this comic that the FF have been subject to a Skrull aging ray, which is beginning to take effect and weaken them. Here, Reed has trouble stretching and Ben can barely lift a chair:

But that all seems forgotten it comes time to fight the Sphinx:

Anything else?

This was a good comic for ads featuring wholesome, all-American sports heroes like Johnny Unitas and, um, Pete Rose and, well, errr, hmm … O.J. Simpson.