Fantastic Four 170
“A Sky-Full Of Fear!
Published Feb. 1976
Writer: Roy Thomas
Pencils: George Perez
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: Joe Rosen
Colors: Phil Rache
Editor: Thomas
Cover: Ed Hannigan and Sinnott

Synopsis

Mr. Fantastic reveals to Ben that the replica Thing is an exoskeleton which will allow him to resume his place on the team. After testing the suit by battling Reed, the two fly off to confront Phillip Masters, aka the Puppet Master, whom they include has been controlling Power Man, the team’s newest member. Meanwhile, Alicia Masters is confronting her step-father in prison when he is broken out by the mind-controlled Power Man, who takes Alicia hostage. Ben and Reed intercept them in mid-air and Ben battles Luke on the speeding Fantasti-Car. The conflict ends when the Puppet Master’s clay idol of Luke falls into the river and loses its power over him.

What’s going on here?

This is one of the best issues in a long time. Often Fantastic Four story arcs start out full of promise but fizzle out when Stan Lee or Roy Thomas couldn’t stick the landing. This one is the opposite: a storyline that began feeling like a gimmick — Red hiring Luke Cage to fill in for Ben — concludes with a very satisfying comic, full of action (but not too much), character development, and an ending that makes sense. Of course, all of this is helped by the return of George Perez, who delivers probably his best issue of the FF to date, with his trademark innovative page designs and dynamic action.

Also of note is the Fantastic Four debut of cover artist Ed Hannigan, with his first and, as far as I can tell, only work on the FF. Does anyone else think Luke as two left feet on the cover?

What I liked

Ben and Reed are really the stars of this comic, and we are treated to lot of interplay between them. First, Ben apologizes for thinking Reed was replacing him with an extra-dimensional Thing:

Then Reed loses his cool when Ben starts sulking again:

After a short fight, Reed gives up:

Did Reed goad Ben into a scrap to test the exoskeleton, or did he just lose his patience? I love the ambiguity in Reed’s non-answer.

I also liked the FF’s teamwork in puzzling out the Puppet Master was behind Luke’s actions:

And I loved how Alicia took control, confronting her father and using her sensitive touch to detect where he hid the Power Man figurine:

This sequence continues with a masterful, 12-panel page from Perez. It’s stuffed with activity but never feels crowded:

I also enjoyed the fight atop the Fantasti-car. Perez does a great job of conveying the precariousness of their position while Thomas supplied some fun dialogue (calling “It’s Clobberin’ Time” a corny war-whoop is just harsh).

What I didn’t like

Not much. Sue is shuffled off out of the action without any explanation, with the assumption being she needs to look after Franklin. Not great, but at least Alicia got some attention. Also, the fight between Reed and Ben seemed silly and like a bit of unnecessary padding. But I’m picking nits — this is a very good comic book.

Anything else

A letter from Bill Mantlo, already a prolific writer for Marvel at this point but who still wrote a fan letter. Mantlo left comics in the 1990s to become a lawyer, then suffered a horrible accident that left his severely disabled. You can read more about his life and accident in an article here.

Also, Twinkies! is this the first of the long-running Hostess ads? It might be.

Overall

Two Thumbs Up!