Fantastic Four 188
“The Rampage of Reed Richards!”
Published August 1977
Writer: Len Wein
Pencils: George Perez
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: Joe Rosen
Colors: Glynis Wein
Editor: Len Wein
Cover: Perez and Sinnott

Synopsis

The Molecule Man has taken over Reed Richards’s body and goes on a rampage throughout New York as the Watcher mysteriously shows up and silently observes. The Molecule Man is defeated when he tries to manipulate the unstable molecules in the FF’s uniforms, and the issue concludes with Reed quitting the team.

What’s going on here?

This is a fun, slightly goofy issue. The main storyline, of the Molecule Man inhabiting Reed’s body and battling his consciousness, is hard to follow and doesn’t make a ton of sense. And the climax, where the Molecule Man is undone by the FF’s unfits, is pretty anticlimactic. But the fight scenes are fun and the sequence where the Molecule Man animates a New York building, is pretty epic. George Perez does a great job with the details of this crazy idea (and he pours on the Kirby Krackle).

Here’s some more of that sequence:

A few words about the Molecule Man. His powers obviously extend far beyond the ability to transform molecules from one chemical to another, as his name implies (and which is basically the power set of Element Lad in the Legion of Super Heroes). In the building sequence above, he’s not transforming chemicals as much as manipulating matter, a power more akin to the Scarlet Witch’s. In my recap of Fantastic Four 20, I address his transformation from standard-issue bad guy to one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe. And interestingly, as writers like Joe Shooter and Johnathan Hickman imbued him with more power, they also changed his personality, from the megalomaniacal super villain to an insecure, borderline insane nerd.

The allegedly most consequential event of this issue is Reed quitting the team (and Sue following him). Len Wein sets this up like it’s a big deal, even having the Watcher appear to observe it, but it’s hard to get too worked up about it. By this point every member of the FF had quit at least once, and the team always gets back together. And in the future, there will be many more departures and reunifications. I can’t imagine many FF readers even in 1977 would be very distressed by this turn of events,

What I liked

As discussed in previous posts, Wein seems committed to expanding Sue’s abilities. Here, even Ben takes note:

Perez turns in another solid job, although, as in recent issues, his unique style feels somewhat muted by Joe Sinnott’s inks. I liked this panel:

What I didn’t like

As mentioned, the Molecule Man’s defeat didn’t feel particularly hard-earned by the FF:

(This is more-or-less how the team defeated him back in FF 20, too).

I also didn’t care much for the Watcher hovering in the background. While he didn’t violate his oath of non-interference (for once) he also didn’t have much purpose other than to signify this story was a Big Deal.

Anything else?

Some fun ads, including a classic for Spalding by Jack Davis (of Mad Magazine). And I would totally go for a Frazetta calendar.

Overall

A solid B.