Fantastic Four 187
“Trouble Times Two!”
Published July 1977
Writer: Len Wein
Pencils: George Perez
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: Joe Rosen
Colors: Glynis Wein
Editor: Len Wein
Cover: Perez and Dave Cockrum

Synopsis

Returning to the Baxter Building from their adventure in New Salem with Agatha Harkness, the Fantastic Four discover the Impossible Man unconscious. They quickly run afoul of Klaw and the Molecule Man, who have teamed up and plan to use Reed Richards’s psi-amplifier to give the Molecule Man a permanent body. The villains defeat the FF but a revived Impossible Man attacks them, thwarting their plans until a misstep by Reed allows the Molecule Man to take over his body.

What’s going on here?

This is generally a satisfying issue. Len Wein has a good handle on plotting and pacing and his issues thus far have a nice mix of character development, plot and action. I have some quibbles, which I’ll get to, but nothing that gets in the way of this being a fun read.

The most interesting aspect of the story is Reed’s apparent depression over losing his powers, which has been a subplot for some time now (and recall his robotic arms were destroyed last issue). It’s a bit puzzling, since most of Reed’s value to the team has little to do with his stretching ability, but for whatever reason it’s got him in the dumps. Wein develops a lot of space to this psychological development. Here:

and here:

and here:

Reed finally snaps out of his funk long enough to literally pull the plug on the Molecule Man, only to make an uncharacteristically dumb mistake:

It’s as if losing his stretching power has also dulled his intellect. Or maybe he subconsciously is drawn to the wand’s power, as a way to regaining his own lost potency. The result is this surprising cliffhanger:

Also of note: the (excellent) George Perez cover is inked by Dave Cockrum, one of his very few contributions to the Fantastic Four.

What I liked

This is a pretty cool sequence, as a diminished Reed still has some fight left in him:

Perez again only appears to be providing layouts and breakdowns, leaving the finishes to Joe Sinnott. That said, he still delivers some great panels, like the entrance of Klaw, complete with Kirby Krackle:

(Only in comics do characters call themselves murderous).

And this panel which reveals the secret villain on the cover is Molecule Man:

I liked this sequence too:

What I didn’t like

Longtime readers of this blog know how annoying I find the Impossible Man. For the last few issues he’s been harmlessly in the background but here he takes center stage, ultimately saving the day. He is essentially a gag character, a parody of Mr. Mxyzptlk, who has been upgraded into a character of consequence — and enormous power —while retaining his essential silliness. It’s not an effective combination. He’ll hang around the Fantastic Four another few issues before he thankfully disappearing for several decades.

Klaw’s explanation of how he survived his near-death (which happened in a Ka-Zar comic) and his teaming up with the Molecule Man felt unnecessarily elaborate and detailed. I recognize it’s this sort of continuity accounting that fans loved about this era of Marvel but now it only gets in the way of storytelling.

Wein invests Johnny with a level of emotional insight here that seems pretty out of character. I would say he’s growing up, but it sure doesn’t last.

Anything else?

Another letter from Kurt Busiek, his second in two months.

Overall

A fine comic book