Fantastic Four 177
“Look Out For The Frightful Four!”
Published Sept. 1976
Writer: Roy Thomas
Pencils: George Perez
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: Joe Rosen
Colors: Marie Severin
Editor: Thomas
Cover: Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott

Synopsis

The Fantastic Four confront the Frightful Four (really, just three) in the Baxter Building and are subdued by the Trapster’s booby trap. Imprisoned, they are forced to watch the villains audition a potential fourth member. Among them is Tigra, who initially pretends to be a villain before freeing the Human Torch and the Thing. In the ensuing battle, a villain named the Brute appears and manages to force the Thing into the Negative Zone. The Brute is then revealed to be a transformed version of Reed Richards from Counter Earth.

What’s going on here?

Like last issue, much of this comic is ridiculous and played for laughs. But unlike last issue, which was self-indulgent and tiresome, this comic is a lot of fun. The central conceit — the Frightful Four are auditioning new members and for reasons unexplained, they want the Fantastic Four to watch — makes no sense. But it allows for a procession of characters both new and familiar to troop through the Baxter Building and interact with the pompous Wizard and the hapless Sandman and Trapster. It’s a clever idea and one well executed by Thomas, aided by Perez’s stellar artwork.

While mostly a goof, the story does end in a dramatic showdown and big reveal, with a classically Thomasian call-back to an obscure comic, in this case Warlock 6 and 7, where the Brute was first introduced. I am completely unfamiliar with this character, and had to dredge up the issue to find out on this version of Earth, he alone was transformed by the cosmic rays and during a full moon, transforms into a purple monster. In the Warlock comic, he was manipulated by Man-Beast into battling Adam Warlock. At some point he turned evil and made his way to Earth proper.

Warlock 6 (1972), script by Mike Friedrich, art by Bob Brown and Tom Sutton.


The cover is a return to form for Kirby, and even features some Kirby Krackle. Marie Severin handles colors in this issue, further proof she could do just about anything in comics when given the chance.


What I liked

As mentioned, the parade of characters hoping to join the Frightful Four makes this an entertaining comic. There’s the Osprey …

… the Texas Twister, the debut of a character who would pop up here and there over the years (note the painful accent) …

… the return of Thundra (in a great Perez sequence)…

… Captain Ultra, another debut for a D-list character …

… and Tigra, who recently debuted and would become a founding member of the West Coast Avengers.

Sue doesn’t have a lot to do in this issue — and to be fair, the rest of the FF are mostly sidelined too — but she does get to do this:

Lastly, Thomas manages to dispose of the Impossible Man quickly, and he blessedly is mostly absent from this issue:

What I didn’t like

I regret I never started tracking how many times the Fantastic Four have been captured and imprisoned in cells or devices uniquely configured to neutralize their powers. Surely it’s been a dozen instances by now.

Anything else?

I’m curious about this encyclopedia of comics. Has anyone seen one in person?

Overall

Successfully putting the comedy in comic books.