Fantastic Four 181
“Side By Side with … Annihilus??”
Published January 1977
Writer: Roy Thomas
Pencils: Ron Wilson
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: Joe Rosen
Colors: George Roussos
Editor: Thomas
Cover: Jack Kirby and Sinnott

Editor’s note: The previous issue, FF 180, was a reprint of FF 101, so this comic picks up the story from issue 179

Synopsis

Mr. Fantastic, exiled to the Negative Zone by his evil doppelgänger, is attacked by Annihilus, who eventually admits he needs Reed’s help in defeating the Mad Thinker, who is attempting to conquer the Negative Zone. The rest of the issue is taken up by various subplots which are either advanced or introduced, and will be discussed below.

What’s going on here

This is very much a place-setting issue, with the main storyline — Reed in the Negative Zone —inching along, and a whole of space is devoted to four other narratives. This issue also happens to be Roy Thomas’s last as writer, and in an editor’s note he almost gleefully announces he is handing over this mess to his successor, Len Wein (and in fact next issue is written by four writers). Thomas, who wrote 32 issues of the title in the 1970s, won’t return to the FF until 1995, when he writes something called Fantastic Four Unlimited.

Thomas finishes his run as the writer with, to date, the second or third longest tenure writing the FF, depending how you want to count Stan Lee’s solo writing efforts. Not counting annuals and the like, here is how it breaks down (occasionally two writers are given credit for the same story):

Stan Lee and Jack Kirby: 102 issues
Thomas: 32 issues
Lee solo: 11 issues
Gerry Conway: 20 issues
Len Wein: 3 issues
Archie Goodwin: 3 issues
Tony Isabella and Bill Mantlo: one each

The art was again handled by Ron Wilson, who does a workman-like job filling for George Perez. It’s unclear if the editor’s note announcing Perez’s absence is meant to be taken seriously.

The cover, by Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott, is pretty generic, probably because they used the story-specific one last issue.


What I liked and didn’t like

Instead of my usual likes and dislikes commentary, I’m going to discuss the various plots in this issue in order of my interest in them:

1, The Creepy Evil Reed

This storyline continues to give me the willies, as an evil Reed is sharing a home (and bed) with Sue. At least in this issue she realizes it’s not really her husband, but it’s definitely an icky idea.

2, Reed in the Negative Zone

Despite the absurdity of its various elements (Annihilus just happens to stumble upon Reed floating on a rock in the middle of nowhere), a villain needing Reed’s help is an intriguing concept. The monster animated by the Mad Thinker looks pretty lame though.

3, Agatha and Franklin

This came out of nowhere. While Sue visits Alicia, who is babysitting Franklin, to discuss her suspicions about Reed, Agatha Harkness appears and kidnaps Franklin for reasons unknown. Sue then sets off in pursuit. I suspect this will tie into a Salem’s Seven story coming later, but we’ll see. Either way, it’s unsettling.

4, About that robot …

Much of this issue is devoted to Ben — with the eventual help of Tigra, Thundra and the Impossible Man — retrieving from the ocean the bank-robbing robot he defeated in issue 179. The heroes then fight the military which the claims the robot for their own, then relent when they discover there’s more to the robot than meets the eye. I don’t know where this is going, but at least the robot now has a backstory.

5, Frankie and Johnny

Johnny once again acts like a jerk around women. Maybe it’s because I know how this relationship ends, but it’s not all that interesting to me.

Anything else?

This is the first ad for a movie I recall seeing in the Fantastic Four (also, this comic came out in January, a full year before King Kong would debut). They will appear more often in the years that follow.

Overall

A lot of spinning plates