Fantastic Four 140
“Annihilus Revealed!”
Published August 1973
Writer: Gerry Conway
Pencils: John Buscema
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: John Costanza
Colors: George Roussos
Editor: Roy Thomas
Cover: Rich Buckler and Frank Giacoia

Synopsis

The Fantastic Four receive a distress call from Sue about Franklin’s manifesting powers, and while they race to find her in Pennsylvania, she is summoned elsewhere by Agatha Harkness. Meanwhile, Annihilus invades the Baxter Building, defeating the returning Fantastic Four and sending them to the Negative Zone before disclosing his origin to Wyatt Wingfoot.

What’s going on here?

There’s a lot packed into this issue, which appears to be Gerry Conway’s first as full writer (up to this point he was credited only as a scripter, with Roy Thomas handling the plots). The highlight is the return of Annihilus, one of the FF’s best villains. and one who has been absent for a few years. The Annhilus plot was cooking in the background last issue, while the Franklin storyline has been developing for a few issues now, and it’s still not clear how (or if) they are related. We also get Annhilus’s complicated backstory, and a lot of inter-team bickering between Ben, Reed and Medusa.

Oddly, the story is interrupted by the events of another comic, Sub-Mariner 67, which doesn’t really effect the flow of this comic, but is blamed by the Thing for the FF not being able to find Sue.

In Sub-Mariner 67, Namor is stricken by a nerve gas, and Triton the Inhuman brings him to the Baxter Building so Reed can save him. Naturally, a fight breaks out. (Story by Steve Gerber, art by Don Heck and Frank Bolle).

Also of note, the cover of FF 140 is drawn by Rich Buckler (with inks by Frank Giacoia), who will go on to replace John Buscema as the lead artist in a few issues. The cover, with its panels, is unusual, but seems perfectly engineered to appeal to 12 year-old comic buyers.

What I liked

The back-and-forth between Ben and Reed was nicely handled by Conway, who seems to understand a friendship that’s both turbulent but build on longstanding respect and mutual history. Here, Ben tells off Reed:

Then, after Reed goes ballistic when Sue calls for help, Ben is reassuring:

I also liked this near-splash page of Agatha Harkness by Buscema and Sinnott:

What I didn’t like

The last third or so of the comic is devoted to Annhilus telling his origin to Wyatt. It’s impossibly convoluted, since it involves his putting on a helmet left by a long-dead alien race in the Negative Zone, and then relating the narration of that species. So we are reading a story told by Annihilus to Wyatt that was told to Annihilus by this other race. And none of it seems particularly relevant to the story.

Anything else?

These look cool

Overall

The return of Annihilus lifts its grade to a solid B.