“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 188

14 Sunday Sep 2025

Posted by percivalhenry in The World's Greatest Comic Magazine

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Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 188, George Perez, Len Wein, Marvel comics, Molecule Man

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.

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 187

31 Sunday Aug 2025

Posted by percivalhenry in The World's Greatest Comic Magazine

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1977, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 187, George Perez, Klaw, Len Wein, Marvel comics, Molecule Man

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

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine” Fantastic Four No. 20

30 Sunday May 2021

Posted by percivalhenry in The World's Greatest Comic Magazine

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1963, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 20, jack Kirby, Molecule Man, Stan Lee

Fantastic Four 20
“The Mysterious Molecule Man”
Published: August 1963
Story: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Pencils: Kirby
Script: Lee
Inks: Dick Ayers
Letters: Art Simek
Cover: Kirby and George Roussos

Synopsis

As the Fantastic Four help Mr. Fantastic in his lab, a glowing ball of energy appears on the streets of New York. The team is eventually drawn within it, and it’s revealed to be a gateway sent by the Watcher, who violates his oath of non-interference (again) to alert the team of a new threat to earth. An employee of a nuclear plant suffered an accident, he tells them, and was transformed into Molecule Man, a villain capable of manipulating matter.

The team returns to New York to find the Baxter Building has been moved to Times Square, where the Molecule Man declares he is now ruler of the earth. After a long battle, the FF is unable to subdue him. They retreats into hiding after the Molecule Man announces he will hold Manhattan hostage unless the FF are delivered to him. The FF are rescued by a member of the Yancy Street gang, who delivers them to the apartment of Alicia Masters. There, Reed is inspired by Alicia’s sculptures and devises a trap for the Molecule Man. Deducing he can’t manipulate organic molecules, Reed and the team cover themselves in plaster and pretend to be statues. After he is lured to Alicia’s by a flare, the Molecule Man is overcome with feedback after trying to alter the “statues.” Then the Watcher reappears, and after determining the FF defeated the Molecule Man, he disappears with him after returning the Baxter Building to its normal location.

What’s going on here

Fantastic Four 20 repeats the same basic plot points of earlier issues, such as FF 16, when they battled the Super-Skrull. As in that issue, after an unsuccessful battle with an overpowering villain, the team relies on Reed to outwit the bad guy.

Owen Reece, as the Molecule Man is later identified, goes on to occupy an interesting niche in the Marvel Universe. Although he made occasional appearances as a standard-issue bad guy, he really is too powerful for normal comic purposes and is instead deployed in Marvel’s big events, like Secret Wars and its various sequels, where his power matches the magnitude of the stories.

Here he is in Fantastic Four 188 (written by Len Wein), one his last appearances as an ordinary bad guy (he has taken over Reed’s body in this issue):

FF 188 (1977), art by George Perez and Joe Sinnott

In the first Secret Wars, where earth’s heroes confront the all-powerful Beyonder, writer Jim Shooter writes him as a neurotic nebbish who’s true potential is revealed to him by Dr. Doom (who at this point as stolen the Beyonder’s power):

Secret Wars (1984), art by Mike Zeck and John Beatty

By Secret Wars II, the almost-unreadable sequel about the Beyonder’s sojourn on earth, Reece is now living comfortable in suburbia when he realizes he must confront the Beyonder.

Secret Wars II (1985), art by Al Milgrom and Steve Leialoha

Three decades later, in a new Secret Wars, Johnathan Hickman redeploys the Molecule Man, this time as a human battery powering Doom’s Battle World.

Weird science

Throughout FF 20, Stan and Jack toss around various notions about molecules, some of which may surprise chemistry teachers:

I guess newspaper ink contains zinc and lead, but mostly I think they’re paper, ie., carbon (this may be Stan working around Jack’s pencils, since later in the issue it’s revealed that the Molecule man can’t affect “organic” molecules, which presumably includes carbon).

We also have this odd moment of Reed finding proof of life in outer space, as if they hadn’t been to an alien plant in FF 7, much less encountered Skrulls and the Watcher.