Fantastic Four 134
“A Dragon Stalks The Skies!”
Published: Feb. 1973
Script: Gerry Conway
Pencils: John Buscema
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Colors: Dave Hunt
Letters: Artie Simek
Editor: Roy Thomas
Cover: Buscema and Sinnott

Synopsis

While the new-look Fantastic Four investigates Agatha Harkness’s missing home, the Invisible Girl and Franklin are abducted by Dragon Man, who is under the control of Gregory Gideon, the world’s richest man. When the rest of the FF attempt to rescue Sue and Franklin, Gideon subdues them and takes them prisoner.

What’s going on here?

Gerry Conway is credited as the sole writer of this issue—albeit as “scripter— although a previous letters page says he is working from a Roy Thomas plot. Thomas’s influence seems obvious, since the villain is a minor figure summoned from obscurity, a very Thomasian trope. In this case, the bad guy is Gregory Gideon, who last appeared 100 issues ago in FF 34, and was then called the richest man in the world (and who, in passing, was said to have owned the Baxter Building). In FF 34, after attempting to defeat the FF to win a bet, Gideon is remorseful and the issue concludes with him renouncing his fortune and vowing to spend time with his wife and son.

It’s fair to say that his redemption didn’t take, because in FF 134 he is a raving megalomaniac. (The relationship with the son doesn’t seem much improved, either).

By the end of the issue he’s gone full-blown Lex Luthor, complete with a battle suit. But despite his transformation into a standard super villain, he never appears after the conclusion of this arc.

What I liked

This is another place-setting issue and as such, there are some fun interludes and bits of character development. For example, Sue and Franklin are shown visiting Sue’s childhood friend Carol Landers, and her husband, Bob, on a farm in Pennsylvania. I’d never encountered the characters before but apparently they hang around for about a dozen issues before fading away. (If they appeared today, there is a 100% chance that one of them would have developed powers within 10 issues).

Note the reminder about Franklin’s powers, a plot point which will only become more prominent from here. Also note the horse is named Zelda, which happens to be the name of my dog.

Another odd appearance is of Dorrie Evans, the Human Torch’s girlfriend in the early days of the FF, and now a rebound target after his breakup with Crystal. If they had Facebook in 1973 he might have avoided this awkwardness.

I’m also a sucker for building diagrams and cutaways. Not sure why John Buscema felt one was necessary here; maybe he was just a sucker for them too.

What I didn’t like

On an otherwise great cover, Franklin’s hair is red. Oops.

The issue opens en media res, with the FF examining a crater where Agatha Harkness’s home used to sit. The disappearance of your witch-nanny’s home seems like a big deal! But by the third page it’s basically forgotten and never referenced again. I assume Conway will back to it, but the sequence felt very abrupt and odd.

Medusa has been on the team for about a week and she already seems to know an awful lot about their history.

Also, I didn’t much care for how Gideon’s henchmen subdued Ben and Medusa so easily. It should take more than one panel to knock out the Thing.

Overall

A satisfying comic book.