Fantastic Four 182
“Enter: The Mad Thinker!”
Published February 1977
Plot: Len Wein, Archie Goodwin and Jim Shooter
Script: Bill Mantlo
Pencils: Sal Buscema
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: John Costanza
Colors: George Roussos
Editor: Goodwin
Cover: Ron Wilson and Sinnott

Synopsis

The Thing returns the bank-robbing android to the Baxter Building, and the evil Reed Richards doppleganger claims it comes from the Negative Zone, sending Ben and Johnny there ostensibly to investigate but in fact to strand them with the real Reed. In the Negative Zone, they encounter Reed and Annihilus battling a giant android, and after a brief battle, they flee and realize that they’ve been fooled by the evil version of Reed. The android vanishes, and it is revealed it is being summoned back to our dimension by its creator, the Mad Thinker. Meanwhile, Sue and Alicia travel to Agatha Harkness’s home on Whisper Hill to retrieve Franklin, only to witness the the child and his nanny abducted by mysterious, apparently supernatural creatures. Back home, Sue confronts the evil Reed, who turns into the Brute, and after a brief battle, throws her out of a Baxter Building window.

What’s going on here?

This issue is jammed full of plots and sub-plots, and coheres fairly well, despite it being the product of four (!) writers, including the FF debut of Jim Shooter. While Shooter was never a regular FF writer, he had a big impact on the comic as Marvel editor-in-chief from 1978 to 1987. He sadly passed away earlier this month at age 73.

Why so many writers were needed is unclear, although last issue Roy Thomas suggests he made an abrupt departure from the FF, leaving incoming editor Archie Goodwin in the lurch. Also filling in is penciler Sal Buscema, Marvel’s ultimate journeyman penciler, making his Fantastic Four debut. Buscema, younger brother of John, would contribute a few more fill-in issues before taking over as semi-permanent penciler in 1986. And Ron Wilson penciled the cover.

There are so many creators for this issue that it appears they only added credits for the letterer and colorist as an after thought:

It’s no secret Marvel was in a state of editorial flux, if not chaos, in the late seventies and the revolving door of creators during this stretch of comics is certainly evidence of a lack of stability. In the four issues from 178 to 182—and not including 180, a reprint of issue 101 (and more proof of the upheaval) the Fantastic Four was credited with six writers, three pencilers, two inkers, two editors and four cover pencilers.

What I liked

Sue finally confronted the evil Reed, a satisfying resolution to an uncomfortable storyline.

I also liked this elegant solution that established that the Reed on Earth was in fact the evil version.

This scene was appropriately unnerving:

As was this:

What I didn’t like

This vignette with the Mad Thinker was deeply confusing, in part because issue 69 (discussed here) doesn’t really explain what’s going on.

Even after Sue recovers some agency and confronts evil Reed, she’s easily battered about and defeated by the Brute:

Overall

A perfectly fine issue, particularly given the disruption on the masthead.