Fantastic Four 109
“Death in the Negative Zone!”
Published: Jan. 1971
Writer: Stan Lee
Penciler: John Buscema
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: Sam Rosen
Cover: Buscema and Sinnott

Synopsis

Reed, Ben and Johnny pursue Janus, the Nega-Man, into the Negative Zone to prevent him from helping Annihilus destroy Earth. While they succeed, Reed is left behind in the Negative Zone.

What’s going on here?

This is a fun comic, and big improvement from the mess of last issue. The pace is brisk, the stakes are high and Ben’s banter is zinging. The Buscema/ Sinnott combo really clicks, as well. The story does feel vaguely familiar, probably because so many Negative Zone stories have the same elements, but all in all it reads like a Fantastic Four comic should.

What I liked

Annhilus is a great villain, and Stan let’s him shine here, with the right mixture of grandiosity and nastiness. In a great and creepy sequence, Reed doesn’t hold back about the threat he poses (never mind that in future issues Annihilus comes to Earth and none of this stuff happens):

I also liked this sequence with Sue, which captures the dilemma faced by modern women everywhere:

These ads were cool (I kind of want a Bug Bomb now):

What I didn’t like

I have never understood Annhilus’s title, “The Living Death that Walks.” If the death is alive, the walking part is sort of implied. Plus, Annihilus has wings! He doesn’t need to walk!

On a more personal note, someone took a pair of scissors to my copy of this issue and did unspeakable violence to it:

Anything else?

The statement of circulation shows the FF is averaging about 519,000 issues a month. That’s roughly 10 times what a decent selling comic averages these days.

Overall

A fine comic book