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“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four Annual No. 15

18 Saturday Jul 2026

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Fantastic Four Annual 15
Published July 1980
Cover: George Perez & Joe Sinnott
Editor: Jim Salicrup

“Time for the Prime Ten!”
Writer: Doug Moench
Pencils: Perez
Inks: Chic Stone, John D’Agostino and Mike Esposito
Letters: Jim Novak
Colors: George Roussos and Ben Sean

“The Power of the People!”
Writer: Moench
Pencils: Thomas Sutton
Inks: Sutton
Letters: Novak
Colors: Sean


Synopsis

In the first story, Mr. Fantastic — after toiling for weeks in his lab — makes a breakthrough discovery that allows him to transmit energy through the air. But unexpectedly, Reed realized it has opened a portal into space, where he witnesses Captain Marvel, and discovers solid objects can also be transmitted. Meanwhile, the FF gets an unexpected visitor, their former mailman Willie Lumpkin, who soon reveals himself to be a Skrull. The Skrull confronts Reed, telling him he has captured the rest of the team and demanding he turn over his new energy transmitter. Suddenly, Captain Marvel appears, traveling through the energy transmitter, and asks Reed to hand it over so he can defeat the Skrulls. Reed deduces Marvel is also a Skrull at the same time the real Marvel appears. More Skrulls arrive, but with the rest of the FF, they are defeated and sent them back to space, destroying the transmitter at the same time. An epilogue reveals Sue, Ben and Johnny were never captured but were shunted two hours into the future by the Skrull.


The second story takes place in Latveria, where its new leader Zorba, who has introduced democracy after the defeat of Dr. Doom in FF 200, is confronted by protests. Anxious, Zorba checks on the catatonic Doom only to discover he is a robot replaced by Doom loyalists. They then steal Doom’s armor, and through some science, use the armor’s energy to restore Doom to consciousness. Doom then drives out Zorba and makes plans to regain control of Latveria.


What’s going on here?

This is a pretty satisfying pair of stories and as a young reader I would have been pretty pleased with 75 cent investment in this annual. The Skrulls and Doom are not only among the FF’s oldest enemies (first appearing in issues 2 and 5) but some of their best, and put together these stories feel like a bit of a reset, returning the FF to core principles.

In some ways, the shorter Doom story is the better of the two. The FF don’t appear, but it’s a tightly plotted tale that further develops Latveria as a character in its own right, and gives more dimension of Doom’s henchmen and lackeys like Boris and Hauptman. It also serves the important role of returning Doom to the status quo ante and restoring a major part of the FF’s universe.

My sense is Moench — who spent a decade writing mostly horror, kung-fu and science-fiction comics — is more comfortable with a story of palace intrigue than the classic super hero adventures he’s tasked with writing for the Fantastic Four. The artist, Thomas Sutton, who is making his FF, had a very long career, starting in 1967 mostly at Marvel and Warren before working at DC and on independent comics in the 80s and 90s. He and Moench appear to have worked on many titles together.


The other, main story is a bit more uneven, although still solid. The appearance of Captain Marvel, or Mar-Vell, is interesting one. His own comic, last written by Moench, was just canceled, and I suspect Marvel was under pressure to use him in order to preserve the copyright, which was the subject of a long and tangled legal battle. Marvel was killed off by Jim Starlin right before I began reading comics, and unlike virtually every other deceased hero, he has managed to stay dead. Because I never made the effort to read his back issues, he’s always been a bit of a mystery. I’m not sure his appearance here was particularly illuminating, but it’s fun to see a new guest star.

George Perez returns to pencil the story, although he is credited only with breakdowns. Three inkers (Chic Stone, John D’Agostino and Mike Esposito) finished the art, although I’m not skilled enough to identify what pages were inked by what artists. Despite all that, Perez’s stamp on this comic is pretty clear, particularly in his dynamic layouts. Perez’s cover, inked by Joe Sinnott, is also excellent (although marred by that dumb Toys R Us ad)


What I liked

Moench does a good job of keeping us guessing throughout the story, particularly with some odd cutaways to ordinary people on the streets of Manhattan who have nothing to do with the story.

Only later are they revealed to be the Prime Ten Skrulls.

I also liked this interaction between Marvel and Reed, who is understandably a bit skeptical that he is who he says he is.

This is a notable exchange. Reed accepts congratulations for his new invention, the first (and maybe last) time I’ve read an actual discussion of the realities of science research funding in the FF (also, in that first panel you can see the limits of Perez’s breakdowns)


What I didn’t like

Despite all the dramatic potential of having two Captain Marvel’s face off — one ersatz, one real — it never comes to pass. First Reed suspects the Skrull of being a fake, then the real Marvel shows up It seems like a huge missed opportunity from Moench.


Also, the story’s time traveling twist serves no real purpose, and the epilogue just adds unnecessary confusion

I’m not sure why Reed is so broken up about losing his energy transmitter. Surely he wrote down the plans, right?


And lastly, are they really packing of Franklin for the weekend just so Reed can concentrate? Another dubious parenting decision from the Richards.


Overall

A lot of bang for the buck

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 222

05 Sunday Jul 2026

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Fantastic Four 222
“The Possession of Franklin Richards!”
Published June 1980
Writer: Doug Moench
Pencils: Bill Sienkiewicz
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: Jim Novak
Colors: George Roussos
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Cover: Sienkiewicz and Sinnott


Synopsis

As the Fantastic Four relax in the city, Nicholas Scratch — previously exiled to another dimension by his mother, Agatha Harkness — discovers a portal to the Baxter Building. Scratch uses it possess Franklin and attack the Fantastic Four, who answer’s Sue’s flare-gun summons. After failing to find Dr. Strange, the team brings Franklin to Harkness’s home on Whisper Hill, where their seance is interrupted by a mystic called Gabriel, who summons Scratch. Scratch then tells the FF if they want to save Franklin, they must return to New Salem.


What’s going on here?

After two issues written and penciled by John Byrne, we’re now back to the previously scheduled Doug Moench / Bill Sienkiewicz run (Joe Sinnott continues to provide inks, of course). That’s a mixed blessing, as we shall see.

The comic, once again, concerns the possession of Franklin Richards by Nicholas Scratch, picking up a story that began in FF 184 and continued through FF Annual 14. In a vacuum, there’s nothing wrong with these stories, and as we shall see next issue, they all include Salem’s Seven, a fun and underused group of super villains. But these stories are part of a long line of comics where Franklin is in Danger, which basically started with his birth in FF Annual 6 (arguably the single greatest Stan and Jack issue) and really becomes a theme in FF 141, where the extent of Franklin’s powers are revealed. Byrne devotes a number of issues to Franklin’s powers and their risk to himself and others, and he’s put in harm’s way in various ways in comics ranging from Power Pack to the Fantastic Four Vs. X-Men limited series. Together, all these stories featuring a young child in danger inevitably send the message that Reed and Sue are bad parents. I don’t want to think that; I like these characters and what they represent, but it’s very hard not to draw that conclusion given how often Franklin is put in harms way by their careers and lifestyle. The solution is not that Reed and Sue should not have had children, nor is that Franklin should be sent away to be raised by Agatha or put in a foster home. It’s that writers should just leave him alone. Unfortunately, as we will discover over the next several hundred issues, they can’t resist the temptation.

This story also features the Fantastic Four (and maybe Marvel universe) debut of Gabriel, aka Devil Hunter, who Moench created in a monster magazine, Haunt of Horror. He fits in a long tradition of FF writers importing various random characters from their other books, from Roy Thomas’s Arkon to Marv Wolfman’s Dr. Sun et al., but doesn’t stick around for long. He will go on to appear in a 1990s Hellstorm comic. There, he is called Gabriel Rosetti, a clear reference to Dante Gabriel Rosetti, a name that will be familiar to fans of mid-19th century British painting.


What I liked

We are starting to see more of Sienkiewicz’s individual style emerge from beneath Sinnott’s inks, particularly in his character poses. Here are some fun examples:


Sienkiewicz also does this fun thing where he breaks the panel boundaries to emphasize the action, as with Johnny’s foot above, and with the taxi door, below:


There was some panels devoted to character development, some better done that others. But I liked this bit, and particularly the lure of a jacuzzi.


And this sequence was genuinely menacing:


What I didn’t like

I don’t think Moench has a handle on how to write Franklin. Maybe he never spent much time with a 3 or 4 year old, but they don’t talk like this:

There’s also this weird panel of Franklin cheering on his parents making out. It’s there to set up another panel after he’s possessed, but it’s pretty creepy:


For all of Sienkiewicz’a abilities, he struggles at times with layout designs, resulting in panels that are way too small for what they are trying to depict:


Lastly, are Ben and Reed the last two men in New York to wear hats? And Ben is wearing a tie to the movies? And what is with Reed’s pipe? Is he the one scientist that doesn’t know about lung cancer?


Anything else?

Some house ads, including one for the $2500 contest that mars the cover. It looks like Marvel was using the contest to do some market research.



Overall

A mixed bag

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 221

25 Thursday Jun 2026

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Fantastic Four 221
“Tower of Crystal … Dreams of Glass!”
Published: May 1980
Writer: John Byrne
Pencils: Byrne
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: Jim Novak
Colors: Carl Gafford
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Cover: Bill Sienkiewicz and Joe Sinnott


Synopsis

Last issue, the FF rushed to the North Pole to examine an alien ship that threatened the Earth by reversing its magnetic polarity. As the Invisible Girl investigates, the rest of the team is attacked by strange alien robots that can change form. Sue reaches the aliens and discovers they simply want to return to their home planet. The aliens call off their robots and Reed fixes their ship so they can leave.


What’s going on here?

Thanks to reader and comic blogger Ben Herman (you can check out his comics reviews here), I’ve learned I was basically correct in my hypothesis that issues 220 and 221 were one story split in two. As John Byrne wrote on his Byrne Robotics forum, the story was written as a single issue to be a giveaway as a part of a promotion for Coca-Cola. According to Byrne (who should always be taken with a grain of salt), after approving the story’s plot, Coke rejected it as “too violent.” Marvel decided to salvage it by turning it into these two issues, which required Byrne adding a few pages, likely last issues’ flashback. And as predicted, all the fighting takes place in this issue.

Overall, it’s a solid and satisfying story that feels a bit like a throwback to the golden age of science fiction. If I had to guess, Byrne read somewhere about the earth’s magnetic polarity reversing half a million years ago and saw the kernel of a fun story. The issue does re-introduce to the Fantastic Four the trope of misunderstand aliens that first appeared in FF 24 and reoccurs several times over Byrne’s later FF run.

The ho-hum cover is by Bill Sienkiewicz and Joe Sinnott, leading to this fun signature:


What I liked

As we shall see, empowering Sue becomes one of Byrne’s projects during his run (picking up on the work begun by Len Wein and Marv Wolfman) and we get the first glimpses of it here. There is still too much hand-wringing from Sue for my tastes but in this issue she is the level-headed driver of the narrative and the one who resolves the conflict.


There are some nice touches throughout the comic. I liked this bit of comedy with Ben and the alien robots:


This was a very cool panel from Byrne and Sinnott which reminded me of the cover of Atlas Shrugged:


I always like it when we get fun credits (and note Jim Shooter is now appearing regularly in them, the first editor-in-chief to do so):


What I didn’t like

The aliens’ “oopsie” seems a bit too pat an answer to explain their actions. Over 500,000 years transpire and they didn’t think a civilization might have evolved in that time?


And unfortunately another Byrne-ism makes its FF debut here: really pretentious titles for his stories.

Anything else?

The letters pages of these two issues included a lively discussion of Sue and her direction as a character. The letters page of issue 220 consisted of five letters in response to a longer letter by Carol Strickland published in issue 216. Issue 221 had another long letter from Strickland and a response from Roger Stern (for some reason). It’s a reminder of how central letters pages were to comic book fandom. Back then every letter had the writer’s full name and complete address so they could correspond with each other. Today we have anonymous message boards and fans trading insults on social media. Also of note, a message from Jim Shooter about a Stan Lee appearance at a comic con. He advises fans to write the organizer for more info. Life before the internet, kids! (OK, I’ll now stop yelling at clouds).


Overall

Another solid proto-Byrne issue

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 220

15 Monday Jun 2026

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Fantastic Four 220
“…And the Lights Went Out All Over the World!”
Published April 1980
Writer: John Byrne
Pencils: Byrne
Inks: Sinnott
Letters: Jim Novak and Irving Watanabe
Colors: Bob Sharen
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Cover: Byrne and Sinnott

Synopsis

Members of the Fantastic Four are scattered around New York when all mechanical devices shut down. After saving lives, the team regroups at the Baxter Building, where they learn from the Avengers that it was a world-wide phenomenon. To investigate, the team boards its ICMB and heads to the North Pole. After a crash landing, they discover a huge alien presence.


What’s going on here?

So remember in my last post where I said FF 219 was the first issue of a Doug Moench / Bill Sienkiewicz run that would take us up to the first John Byrne written issue? That wasn’t entirely true. This comic is the first John Byrne-written issue (he writes the next issue as well), and it’s a pretty good one.

I don’t know the story behind why Byrne wrote and drew these two issues (Joe Sinnott inked), and why they appear after the first Moench / Sienkiewicz issue. My guess is the Byrne stories were once intended to be one longer story, likely an annual, and it was broken in two and used as inventory issues due to some deadline problems. Notably, there isn’t a single fight scene in this issue, which is almost unheard of for a standard Marvel comic of this era and which suggests it was a longer story chopped in two (assuming the fighting happens in part two). The issue also recaps the team’s origin at length, more evidence it was intended as a stand-alone comic that might be picked up by new readers. And there’s a pin-up at the end, which indicates the page count didn’t come out evenly when they cut the story in two.

Byrne has a long history of co-plotting the X-Men with Chris Claremont, and had written comics for Charlton, but this is just his second Marvel writing credit (following Marvel Two-In-One 50). Yet it has many of Byrne’s familiar fingerprints, including cameos of other Marvel heroes (the Avengers, Vindicator), something Canadian, callbacks to the Lee/Kirby run and cool alien stuff. In all, an auspicious Fantastic Four debut for Byrne.


What I liked

Furthering the case that this story was intended for new readers, Byrne introduces each of the FF members in turn, and gives them a chance to show off their powers. First up is Ben (who helpfully tells new readers he’s not as invulnerable as the Hulk):

Then comes Sue:

… Johnny …


and finally Reed.


All of these vignettes are elegant little snapshots into the four, and I suspect not a little influenced by a similar sequence in Fantastic Four No. 1.


I liked the inclusion of the Avengers and especially Vindicator (this is before he changed his name to Guardian), which weren’t really necessary for story-telling purposes but serve to weave the FF into the rest of the Marvel universe:


Some fun Ben/Reed banter:



The alien installation at the North Pole looks impressive, and reminded me a lot of the Master of the World story in Alpha Flight 3-4 (also by Byrne).


What I didn’t like

Despite taking up two pages, the retelling of the FF’s origin looked pretty lackluster and wan.


Reed’s plan for investigating a world-wide power outage is … just go up in a spaceship and hope you see something suspicious? Some scientist.


Also, every car, plane and mechanical device around the world suddenly switches off and no one dies?



Anything else?


This pin-up by Joe Sinnott seems pretty obviously an unused cover for FF 214. I think the design is more dynamic than the Byrne cover they used, but you can judge for yourself here.

A cool house ad. I can’t identify the artist and the signature is hard to read, but maybe it’s James Sherman, who was active around that time.



Overall

A fun surprise

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 219

07 Sunday Jun 2026

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Fantastic Four 219
“Leviathans!”
Published March 1980
Writer: Doug Moench
Pencils: Bill Sienkiewicz
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters; Jim Novak
Colors: George Roussos
Editor: Jim Salicrup


Synopsis

As the Fantastic Four squabble in the Baxter Building, the Sub-Mariner is attacked in Atlantis by Barracuda, a flamboyant pirate who steals the horn Namor uses to command sea creatures. Back on the surface, Barracuda summons sea monsters to attack Manhattan so he can rob a bank. The Fantastic Four battle them while Namor and Johnny take the fight to Barracuda’s submarine. Eventually Sue uses her force field to separate the horn from Barracuda, who is knocked out by Namor and spared from worse by Sue’s entreaties.


What’s going on here?

Fantastic Four 219 marks the debut of the new creative team of Doug Moench and Bill Sienkiewicz, with Joe Sinnott remaining on board as inker. Fittingly for a new start, this comic is very much a back-to-the-basics story, with deliberate echoes of the first FF issues and a relatively simple premise. These days, this issue would probably start another volume as a new No. 1, and be billed as a starting point for new readers.

Moench is probably best known for his runs on Batman and Master of Kung Fu, but by 1980 he had almost a decade of writing experience with dozens of credits on various horror comics. Moench and Sienkiewicz has previously worked together, mostly on Moon Knight stories that appeared in The Hulk magazine, but Moench had far more experience. Astonishingly, FF 219 was just Sienkiewicz’s 10th comic credit, and by far the most high-profile assignment for the then 22-year old. It was clear the powers that be at Marvel recognized his talent, and they would be richly rewarded in the years to come by some of the most innovative and ambitious comic art ever published in mainstream comics.

My first exposure to Sienkiewicz — and to be clear, it’s pronounced sin-kev-itch —was his groundbreaking New Mutants 18 from 1984, which shattered what I knew about comics. He quickly became one of my favorite artists, and many times I was crushed to find that a comic he provided the cover for was penciled by some lesser artist. In retrospect, it’s remarkable that in just four years Sienkiewicz went from this:


To this:


I had the pleasure of talking to Sienkiewicz at New York Comic Con a few years ago and I asked him if he felt hemmed in or cramped by Joe Sinnott’s inks on his FF run. I had assumed Sinnott was somehow holding him back, but he surprised be my saying that as a rookie artist, it was a great comfort in being inked by a legend like Sinnott, and he viewed his time on the FF as a valuable learning experience. Here’s a photo of the two of us (I’ll let you guess who is who):



To be clear, Sienkiewicz’s skills with his pencils and layouts are still embryonic, and on many pages, it looks like he’s trying to stuff to much on the page, making everything look small and cramped. Here’s an eight-panel page, which, to be fair, few artists besides George Perez can pull off:

But Sienkiewicz’s considerable abilities are also on display, such as in this quasi-comedic sequence:

Or in these dramatic panels:

What I liked

This issue featured a fun call-back to Fantastic Four 4, in which Namor summoned Giganto (a monstrous whale with arms and legs) to attack New York. The FF was able to defeat it when Ben carried a nuclear bomb into its gullet (art below by Jack Kirby and Sol Brodsky).


In FF 219, Ben wonders if the new monster is Giganto’s son.

Moench does a nice job drawing an arc from the FF squabbling in the Baxter Building (a classic Lee / Kirby opening), with first-rate Reed as Jerk material …

… to a warm, feel-good resolution.


I also liked this quip from Johnny:


And this reminder of the never quite resolved Namor-Sue dynamic:


What I didn’t like

Not much. I was prepared to be annoyed at Reed’s behavior but Moench played it off skillfully.

Barracuda’s pirate lingo is a bit much:


Overall


A promising start

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 218

25 Monday May 2026

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Fantastic Four 218
“When a Spider-Man Comes Calling!”
Published February 1980
Writer: Bill Mantlo
Pencils: John Byrne
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: Jim Novak
Colors: Ben Sean
Editor: Jim Salicrup
Cover: Al Milgrom and Joe Rubinstein


Synopsis

Disguised as Spider-Man, the Trapster infiltrates the Baxter Building and subdues the Human Torch and Thing before letting the rest of the Frightful Four in. After capturing the Invisible Girl, they corner Mr. Fantastic but Spider-Man, whom they had previously abducted, breaks free, and joins Reed in battling the bad guys. Soon, the rest of the FF join them in defeating the Frightful Four. 



What’s going on here?

This is a pretty pedestrian comic, which is a sequel to an equally pedestrian comic, Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man 42, also written by Bill Mantlo. In that issue, The Frightful Four (who have added Electro to their ranks) lure Spider-Man into a trap by pretending to be the Human Torch. Now, with Spider-Man captured, they figure to use the same trick to take out the Fantastic Four.

That Peter Parker issue has a cool cover by Mike Zeck and Joe Rubinstein, but not much else going for it:


Overall, FF 218 is a very by-the-numbers story, in which the FF repel bad guys who invade the Baxter Building. We’ve seen probably a dozen variants of this plot over the last 200+ issues, and this one is as forgettable as most of the others.


What I liked

One fun aspect of the Frightful Four is their constant bickering, and Electro adds an even more curmudgeonly member. The Trapster gets most of the spotlight in this issue and is surprisingly effective at neutralizing half of the FF, even while holding a grudge at everyone who made fun of him when he was Paste Pot Pete.


This is not a great issue for John Byrne, who must have provided only rough pencils for Joe Sinnott to finish, but I liked this image of three villains:


And this one of the Thing being electrocuted:


It’s been a while since we had some wacky credits. These are all building themed, since the splash page is of the Trapster ascending the Baxter Building dressed as Spidey. (It’s possible only New Yorkers would get the co-opted joke).


Lastly, this was a fun sequence:


What I didn’t like

I’ve already outlined my critiques of this issue. There’s nothing awful in it, just not much that’s worth celebrating. It feels a bit like Mantlo is stalling for time as the fill-in guy, stretching out his Spider-Man story before the new creative team takes over next issue.

Anything else?

Some more house ads



Overall

A gentleman’s C

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 117

19 Tuesday May 2026

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Fantastic Four 217
“Masquerade!”
Published January 1980
Writer: Bill Mantlo (based on a Marv Wolfman plot suggestion)
Pencils: John Byrne
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: John Costanza
Colors: Bob Sharen
Editor: Mark Gruenwald
Cover: Sinnott


Editor’s note: I’ve fallen off the pace a bit on my FF blogging but hope to get back on track starting this coming weekend, inshallah.

Synopsis

After the Fantastic Four’s battle with Blastaar, Mr. Fantastic upgrades the Baxter Building’s security system with the help of Herbie. But the robot turns evil, revealing himself to be the artificial intelligence Doctor Sun (who appeared in FF 206), then capturing the Invisible Girl and battling the Thing and Reed. The Human Torch, out at a disco, returns only to be captured by the Baxter security system under Sun’s control. When Reed realized Sun exited Herbie to enter the building’s computer system, Reed attempts to disable it. Ultimately Sun is defeated when Herbie sacrifices itself to destroy the main computer system.

What’s going on here?

Long time readers of this blog are familiar with my disdain for Herbie, the robot foisted on the FF by his insertion in the 1978 cartoon. I knew this Herbie-centric issue was coming, and I anticipated it with dread, expecting some Impossible Man-type shenanigans. Reader, I was very wrong. This issue is a little gem, with a well-designed plot, some interesting developments and a tidy way of wrapping up the Herbie era.

Marv Wolfman, who left for DC after last issue, gets a plotting credit since it’s clear he had this story in mind for months, given Herbie’s malicious behavior over the last few issues. But the Doctor Sun twist was ingenious and one I definitely didn’t see coming. Interestingly, we never see Sun in his normal cyborg form, making this the rare comic where the villain doesn’t actually appears. And while the “evil robot” concept dates back decades before this comic, it certainly resonates today given our anxieties about AI.

Also of note is the appearance of Dazzler, who meets Johnny at the disco. The two hit off before he was to answer the FF flare, and I wonder why no writer has taken up the idea of them as a couple. It seems like a natural match. Dazzler was introduced the previous year in X-Men, and was in an issue of Spider-Man before her FF appearance, which suggests that Marvel was still hoping the Dazzler TV special would be a thing (it wasn’t). She will get her own series in December of 1980, and it will last a respectable 42 issues.


The uninteresting cover to this issue is by Joe Sinnott, whom I am guessing had to fill in when someone missed deadline.


What I liked

As mentioned, the end of Herbie was handled adroitly and, defying all expectations, it (he? they?) went out as a hero. Ben sums it up nicely here.


John Byrne again delivers some great visuals. I love how he creates a sense of motion and speed by repeating the shape of panels and angle of action.


I thought both this idea — Reed infiltrating a computer’s circuitry — and Byrne’s execution of it were brilliant.


Lastly, this whole page was so well done I couldn’t pick any one or two panels:


What I didn’t like

Over his career Byrne has been shadowed by accusations of sexism and creepy treatment of women. I’m not sure I agree with those critiques but this sequence doen’t help his case.


Anything else?

For years I have seen the “Mark Jewelers” designation on listings for back issues without really knowing what it meant. Today I learned it refers to comics with an advertising insert for jewelry that was targeted at the military, and therefore were primarily sold on military bases. Apparently these are prized by a sub-set of collectors, primarily because they are rare. As it happens, this issue of FF 217, which I probably picked up as a back issue from a comic book store or convention, has the Mark Jewelers insert. And here it is:


Some other cool ads in this issue, some house ads and an interesting one for action figures. It’s easy to forget how big a deal The Black Hole movie was when it came out.



Overall

A better comic than it had any right to be

“The World’s Greateast Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 216

03 Sunday May 2026

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Fantastic Four 216
“Where There Be Gods!”
Published December 1979
Plot: Marv Wolfman
Script: Bill Mantlo
Pencils: John Byrne
Inks: Pablo Marcos
Letters: Irving Watanabe and Michael Higgins
Colors: Carl Gafford
Editor: Mark Gruenwald
Cover: Rich Buckler and Al Milgrom


Synopsis

Now transformed into the evolutionarly advanced Futurist, Dr. Randolph James wanders the streets of Manhattan, dispatching would-be muggers and police officers. Blastaar, on the run in New York since last issue, makes him an ally by convincing him the Fantastic Four want to capture him and return him to his previous state. After battling Reed, Ben and Johnny, the two travel to the Baxter Building, where Blastaar wants James’s help destroying the passage to the Negative Zone. There, James subdues Sue, which triggers Franklin’s latent powers, and he expels Blastaar back to the Negative Zone. James, now aware of Blastaar’s deception, departs Earth to commune with the universe. In the last panel it is revealed the robot Herbie was responsible for opening the portal to the Negative Zone that allowed Blastaar into our world.


What’s going on here?

Another satisfying, well-told comic that nicely tied together the Blastaar and Futurist storylines and delivered a dramatic conclusion. This isn’t the first or last time Franklin’s latent powers are awakened to save the day (a phenomenon some call baby ex machina) and while it later becomes a crutch for lazy writers, I wasn’t troubled by it in this issue. Here, it suggests his powers are still developing and will eventually settle into some sort of predictable pattern. Little did readers of 1979 know that 500 issues and 47 years later, his powers are still being sorted out.

That this comic succeeds is a bit of a surprise, given that it’s very much a transitional issue, with one creative team leaving and another coming aboard. As a result, there are nine credits for this issue — 10 if you want to count temporary editor Mark Gruenwald, who managed to hold it all together. It makes sense Gruenwald kept everything aligned, because for years, before his untimely death in 1996 at age 43, that was his unofficial role at Marvel: The keeper of continuity and editor of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe. (In recognition of his importance, Walt Simonson modeled the men who ran the Time Variance Authority, the organization charged with maintaining timelines, after Gruenwald).

As mentioned last time, this is Marv Wolfman’s final issue on the Fantastic Four after an uneven 21-issue run. There were definitely some enjoyable issues, but his run was dominated by the cumbersome Skrulls/Sphinx/Galactus arc, and his occasional sloppiness was a distraction. Bill Mantlo, Marvel’s utility infielder, stepped in to script this issue and write the next two, before he and John Byrne both give way to a new creative team of Doug Moench and Bill Sienkiewicz.

Also filling in is inker Pablo Marcos, who did such a good job in the recent FF Annual. As in that issue, his work is more subtle than Joe Sinnott’s, and he lets Byrne’s pencils shine. Notably, Reed’s appearance changes quite a bit, depending on who is inking Byrne.

On the left are Sinnott’s inks from last issue, on the right is Marcos from this issue.


There are also two fill-in letterers on this issue, Irving Watanabe and Michael Higgins. Normally I don’t pay much attention to the letterer, and there are only a very few, like John Workman and Moebius, whose work I can recognize on sight. But here, it’s very obvious there are two letterers at work. I don’t know who did what, but there’s a big difference between the letters on the left and those on the right.


Lastly the cover is by Rich Buckler, his first FF work in five year, with Al Milgrom on inks.


What I liked

I don’t know if this Ben/Johnny banter is by Wolfman or Mantlo but it was fun. The Reed/Sue exchange is nice, revealing moment about their two characters as well.


Speaking of banter, this was well done, too.


Are the people in the crowd identifiable? I’m guessing that’s Byrne in the beard on the right, and maybe Wolfman behind him.


Byrne delivers his usual excellent work in this issue. I really liked this sequence:


What I didn’t like

Mantlo seems to struggle with the Torch’s voice. Here, he seems to need a reason to save Ben’s life:

And this is just odd (“hairless hyena?)”


The thugs in Marvel’s New York don’t look anything like the thugs I remember when I grew up there. There must have been a sale on purple pants at the thug store, because last issue’s hoods hade the same look.



Overall

A good comic book

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 215

26 Sunday Apr 2026

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Fantastic Four 215
“Blastaar!”
Published November 1979
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Pencils: John Byrne
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: Joe Rosen
Colors: Carl Gafford
Editor: Wolfman
Cover: Ron Wilson and Joe Rubenstein


Synopsis

The issue opens with the Fantastic Four battling an explosion in the lab of Dr. Randolph James, a friend of Reed’s, whose experiments into evolution are going haywire. Meanwhile, Blastaar enters the Baxter Building from the Negative Zone, and the FF rush to confront him. A long battle ensues, and Blastaar escapes. Reed then gets a call from Dr. James, who has been assaulted and needs help. When Reed arrives he find James has used his evolutionary device to evolve himself into an advanced being.


What’s going on here?

This issue took me by surprise. This is Marv Wolfman’s last issue as a full writer of the FF (he just plots the next issue), and following the very long and elaborate Sphinx/Galactus arc and Annual 14, I just assumed he would mail it in with a by-the-numbers story. Instead, this is one of the best issues of Wolfman’s FF run, as the slightly odd Dr. James subplot delivers a genuine surprise at the end. We knew something was up with him but I will fully admit I was not expecting him to turn into this:

Instead of the main event in this comic, Blastaar then serves as a mildly interesting distraction. Of the two main Negative Zone villains, Annihilus is by far the more compelling, and Blastaar mostly takes up space. Here, Wolfman takes advantage of that to occupy the FF (and the readers) with a satisfying fight scene before the big reveal. (Although it should be said we never get an explanation of how Blastaar can just stroll in from the Negative Zone). Overall the issue is well paced with nice moments of character development, while Byrne and Sinnott do an outstanding job on the art.

The cover is by Ron Wilson and Joe Rubenstein, who is making his Fantastic Four debut. Rubenstein will go to have an incredibly long and prolific career, inking just about every comic character created by Marvel or DC, but never had a steady run on the FF.


What I liked

This issue reveals how good Byrne is at constructing action sequences (as if we had much doubt), like in these panels. Note how the perspective changes in the bottom three panels to create the illusion of Blastaar falling.


It’s not just action, where Byrne excels, either. I really like this quiet sequence, where the dynamic shifts in angles keeps our attention in what could have been a few dull, expository panels.


And I really liked this image:


What I didn’t like

It’s been a while since we had a Reed-is-a-Jerk moment, but Wolfman gives us one on his way out:


James’s assault doesn’t make much sense. These thugs just show up because they hear he’s a scientist? And it happens very conveniently just after the FF’s visit.


This is a great splash page but it reminds me that whenever Blastaar appears, he seems anatomically lacking in, ahem, certain respects. Note the cover as well. Maybe that’s why he’s so mad all the time.


Lastly, Wolfman cannot let the Herbie subplot drop:


Anything else?

This ad is awesome. I am pretty sure I had the Hammerhead action figure.


Overall

A pretty good comic book

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 214

11 Saturday Apr 2026

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Fantastic Four 214
“…and then there was — ONE!”
Published October 1979
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Pencils: John Byrne
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: John Costanza
Colors: Carl Gafford
Editor: Wolfman
Cover: Byrne and Sinnott


Synopsis

The Human Torch, distraught that the rest of his team is approaching death after succumbing to the effects of the Skrull aging ray, goes on a desperate hunt to find a cure— first seeking out Tony Stark, then the Xandarians — but to no avail. Back at the Baxter Building, Johnny is attacked by Skrull X, who, like the Super-Skrull, can mimic the powers of the FF. Johnny defeats him (and reveals he was a robot) but realizes the skrull’s aging ray can be reverse engineered to revive his teammates. He wakes Reed from his “cryonics tube” and helps the very elderly Mr. Fantastic alter the device. Johnny is initially devastated when there is no result but is soon reunited with the rest of the team, now stronger than ever.

What’s going on here?

A good chunk of this issue wallows in the Torch’s self-pity, which is pretty tedious. But despite that, it’s a very good comic, and a solid ending to the Xandar/Sphinx/Galactus arc. There is real dramatic tension as the Torch tries to find a cure, and the fight with Skrull X feels almost desperate (particularly after Johnny incinerates the skull before learning it was a robot). Waking Reed from his death bed also felt like a grim, last-chance gambit. And while there wasn’t much doubt the FF would be saved — the comic does continue after this issue — it’s a sign of successful story telling that there is suspense at all.

This issue concludes what is the FF’s longest story arc to date, one that kicked off in issue 204, 10 issues ago. It suffered from a meandering beginning, and a confusing and unnecessary cast of characters imported from Marv Wolfman’s canceled Nova book. It picked up steam when the Sphinx grew in power and the FF sought out Galactus, which introduced Terrax. But that story element landed with a thud last issue, and while issue 214 resolves the aging-skull-ray storyline more gracefully, it doesn’t exactly salvage the whole arc.

What I liked

Johnny’s fight with Skrull X is probably the highlight of the book. It’s really everything you want in a comic fight: dynamic action, equally matched opponents, high stakes and not overly long. John Byrne really nails this one.

I also enjoyed Johnny’s search for Tony Stark, which takes him to Avengers Mansion (with an amusing cameo from Jarvis) and then the SHIELD Helicarrrier. I’m a fan of these brief interactions with the rest of the Marvel universe. All these characters know each other; they shouldn’t only get together for a major team up or cross over.


And while it was predictable, I liked the reunion of the Torch and the newly revived FF.


Lastly, Byrne and Joe Sinnott delivered some great sequences, like this one (dig that Kirby Krackle):

And this one:


What I didn’t like

As mentioned, Johnny’s moping around is maudlin and unbecoming. Unfortunately, Wolfman seems to love this sort of pathos, because we got a lot of it the Teen Titans

It starts on the first page:


And gets worse from there:

I’ll spare you the rest.

Anything else?

A variety of fun ads. I distinctly remember learning the word “akimbo” from the gum ad when I first encountered it as a kid. Also, why does Superman need an airplane (much less a van).



Overall

Solidly above average.