Giant-Size Fantastic Four 2
“Cataclysm!”
Published May 1974
Writer: Gerry Conway
Pencils: John Buscema
Inks: Chic Stone
Letters: Joe Rosen
Colors: Stan Goldberg
Editor: Roy Thomas
Cover: Gil Kane and Joe Sinnott

Editor’s Note: As discussed in my my last post, I belatedly discovered the four issues of Giant-Size Fantastic Four published in 1974 contained new stories worth blogging about here, so I am catching up over the next few posts. This issue takes place between the events of FF 149 and 150.

Synopsis

After completing a test flight in space for NASA, the Fantastic Four crash land in Florida and find the world is now inhabited by primitive ape-men. The Watcher appears and violates his oath (of course he does by) telling them someone invaded the Baxter Building and used Dr. Doom’s time machine to go back in history to disrupt events, changing the course of history (presumably, the FF were not affected because they were off-planet).

The Watcher sends Reed and Johnny back to the Revolutionary War, where they rescue George Washington from the British, and Ben and Medusa to Prohibition Era Chicago, where they stop gangsters from (somehow) preventing the Great Depression. Then, all four find themselves outside time, where they learn an immortal creature named Tempus engineered the events, using their mailman Willie Lumpkin as his agent, to bring about the end of time and cure his boredom. The FF defeat him and return to a restored Earth.

What’s going on here

There’s a lot to like in this comic. It has the fun, zany quality of old Lee / Kirby time-travel stories, and the chapters in revolutionary American and 1920s Chicago are well done. The story loses steam when the FF encounter Tempus, but it’s still an enjoyable read. More so than the last Giant-Size issue, this one captures the feel of an annual — a fun, meaty story outside the flow of the main comic.

Notably, the story also features the return of John Buscema, here inked by Chic Stone, and he does his normal excellent job. The cover is by Gil Kane, with Joe Sinnott’s inks.

What I liked

The sequence of Reed and Johnny rescuing George Washington was a lot of fun, and I particularly liked them sneaking around “a small town in upstate New York in the fall of 1777.”

The encounter with Washington is also satisfying.

Ben and Medusa’s trip to the 20s isn’t quite as interesting, maybe because the FF have been to the 1920s-themes Skrull planet, but it is an opportunity for Medusa to do, you know , something.

For some reason Ben was returned to human form in the 20s, and his reversion back is as tragic as always.

What I didn’t like

The sequence at the end felt forced, and as a villain, Tempus is not terribly impressive. He does show up a few times after this, most prominently in Avengers Forever, but he’s pretty forgettable and doesn’t pose that big a challenge to the FF, who basically beat him by knocking him over.

Also, the revamped timeline doesn’t make a lot of sense. It’s hard to see how the British winning the Revolutionary War and the Great depression being averted leads to sub-human creatures living in Florida. But hey, what do I know?

Also, not one mention of, much less an appearence by, Sue or Franklin.

Overall

A fun romp