Fantastic Four 235
“Four Against Ego!”
Published July 1981
Writer: John Byrne
Pencils: Byrne
Inks: Byrne
Lettering: Jean Simek
Colors: Bob Sharen
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Cover: Byrne and Terry Austin


Editor’s Note: Before we dig into FF 235, first I want to offer Doug Moench a conditional apology. I attended New York Comic Con last week and was able to talk to Bill Sienkiewicz about his and Moench’s run, which I have generally disparaged. I picked up a few tidbits:

1, Sienkiewicz referred it as “our fill-in run,” and he suspected that they were keeping the seat warm for John Byrne the whole time. As a result, he was under the impression Moench was prohibited from using the FF’s main villains, saving them for later Byrne plots (although he didn’t know for sure). I’ve criticized Moench’s stories for lacking the sweep and scope the FF demands, but if he was operating under those constraints, the narrowness of his plots are more understandable. So, sorry Doug!

2, Byrne offered to keep him on as inker,on the FF, Sienkiewicz said, which he (obviously) declined. He sensed Byrne really wanted to have complete control, and Sienkiewicz was itching to do something ambitious on his own. Editor Louise Jones (now Simonson) offered him the X-Men, he said, but he was afraid his new, experimental style would alienate fans and he would be blamed for tanking Marvel’s best-selling book. Chris Claremont then suggested he take on the New Mutants for his three-part Demon Bear story, which Sienkiewicz thought would be a good fit for his style, and then he stayed on.

3, Sienkiewicz was incredibly generous with his time and, for everything he has done in the business, seems to have no ego. I really appreciate his sharing his thoughts with me.



Synopsis

Fantastic Four 235 picks up immediately after the previous issue, with the FF confronting Ego the Living Planet, who seems intent on destroying Earth. The FF land on Ego and after battling “antibodies,” remove a power-pack from giant rockets previously attached by Galactus. The team then travels to Ego’s interior to find his brain, but one by one they succumb to the heat and pressure until only the Thing remains. He attempts to blow up the brain using the power pack as a bomb, but misses. However, Ego is destroyed when his rockets misfire and he travels to close to the sun, breaking up. Ben is then rescued by the rest of the FF.

What’s going on here?

This is a fun science-fiction adventure that, after getting his feet wet with smaller stories, feels like the first true FF story by Byrne. Despite plot holes big enough to drive the Fantasticar through, the comic succeeds through its propulsive action, amazing art and basically insane premise.

Ego is a great Jack Kirby creation who first appeared in Thor, and Kirby’s designs clearly inspired what Byrne is doing in this issue. Check out this incredible Kirby double-page splash:

and compare it to this Byrne panel:

The swiping / homaging gets even more explicit later:

In some ways, Ego feels a bit like Galactus-lite, ie., a cosmic-scale, Earth-threatening foe without the baggage of Galactus. Given that, it’s a bit surprising the FF haven’t confronted him (it?) before. Of note, Reed seems to have no compunctions about throwing a bomb into Ego’s brain, whereas in about a dozen issues he will agonize over saving the life of Galactus.


What I liked

As mentioned, Byrne delivers some knockout art that really emphasizes the alien (and somewhat disgusting) nature of Ego, like here:

And here:

I liked that it was Reed who faltered first, leaving Sue to venture on with Ben and Johnny:

And I liked the continued evolution of Sue’s powers under Byrne. Three issues ago, she just began to use her force field to propel her, here she’s carrying the whole team:

Lastly, I appreciated this tribute to Ben’s heroism:

What I didn’t like

I suppose if you can accept the premise of a living planet, you shouldn’t be bothered by gaps in logic, but it’s hard not to wonder why Ego speaks English, or why his atmosphere seems perfectly breathable, or how a power pack the size of a refrigerator is sufficient for a rocket “hundreds of miles tall.”

Or how, in all the detritus of an exploded planet, the FF can find Ben:

(I’m not saying I couldn’t concoct No-Prize-worthy explanations for all these inconsistencies, just that Byrne doesn’t bother to provide them).

I also thought it was odd that Johnny, encountering this bizarre alien landscape, first thinks of a newspaper comic strip as a point of comparison.

This is what he’s referring to:

I’m not sure this was intended as a joke or not, but every time Ego appears, he introduces himself, making me think he has a really big, ahem, ego.

Lastly, this digression with Frankie Raye seems weirdly voyeuristic (although no doubt exciting to the comic’s 13-year-old readers). It seems to suggest she’s never seen herself naked before. Also, who says “swain?”

Anything else?


Here’s a great letter:

You get ’em Cindy! I searched for Cindy to see what became of her and sadly it appears she passed away in 2017 at age 57. She was just 13 or 14 when she wrote this letter.

Overall

Fun comic!