Fantastic Four 105
“The Monster in the Streets”
Published Sept. 1970
Story: Stan Lee
Pencils: John Romita
Inks: John Verpoorten
Letters: Artie Simek
Cover: Romita and Verpoorten

Synopsis

While a mysterious energy creature roams the streets of Manhattan, Crystal falls ill and must return immediately to the Inhuman city of Attilan. Then, as Reed prepares to return Ben back to human, Johnny urges him to help save Sue from the creature.

What’s going on here

This is a bit of an odd issue, with a bunch of different threads that don’t really weave together. There’s Crystal’s illness, which initially seems tied to the energy monster, but not really. There’s her need to return to Attilan, which distracts Johnny, but mostly seems to be a device to get back to a team of four. There’s Reed once again trying to transform Ben, which is loosely tied to Crystal’s illness—Reed saw something Crystal’s blood that he could use to cure Ben—but isn’t really impacted by Crystal. Then there’s Sue battling the energy monster, which is strangely removed from the rest of the action until the end.

What I liked

There’s a brief re-cap of the origin of the FF, which I we haven’t seen for a while, and it gives us a chance to see John Romita’s rendition of these iconic events. After an uneven issue the previous month, Romita and John Verpoorten seem to be hitting their stride, and the art overall seems more polished and dynamic. They are aided by the uncredited colorist, who creates some dramatic effects, like these:

What I didn’t like

As mentioned above, the story is disjointed, and seems engineered to A) create an emotional separation between Crystal and Johnny and B) force Reed to choose between transforming Ben and saving Sue. Both of these basic plot points have been use before, and cramming them into one story just seems to ramp up the melodrama at the expense of a coherent plot.

Also, we have an unfortunate flashback to the Sexist Sixties when Sue, in a free moment, is depicted shopping.

Anything else?

This issue features the introduction Dr. Zolten Rambow, about as obscure an FF character as exists. Savor him, because he will gone soon.

Overall

A mixed bag.