“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four Nos. 189 and 190

21 Sunday Sep 2025

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1977, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 189, Fantastic Four 190, Keith Pollard, marv wolfman, Marvel comics, Stan Lee

Fantastic Four 189
“The Torch That Was!”
Published Sept. 1977
Story: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Pencils: Kirby
Script: Lee
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: Rosen
Cover: Keith Pollard and Frank Giacoia

What’s going on here?

Fantastic Four 189 is a reprint of FF Annual 4 from 1966. It’s a fine comic book, featuring the original Human Torch, which I discussed at length here. It’s notable here for two reasons: It’s yet another sign of the chaos and lack of organization at Marvel as they cycled through editors in the late 1970s. And the cover is by Keith Pollard (in an homage to Kirby), making his Fantastic Four debut. He would go on to draw many more issues .

Fantastic Four 190
“The Way it Was”
Published Oct. 1977
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Pencils: Sal Buscema
Inks: Tony Dezuniga
Letters: John Costanza
Colors: Glynis Wein
Editor: Wolfman
Cover: Kirby and Giacoia

Synopsis

A dejected Thing, sorrowful over the latest break-up of the Fantastic Four, reminisces about the team’s history with Alicia Masters.

What’s going on here?

This is another anomalous issue which also can be best explained by the lack of leadership at Marvel. Len Wein, after delaying his start on the FF for several months, is now missing for two issues. The last was addressed with a reprint and this one is an odd type of fill-in issue, basically one long flashback. It’s not exactly an inventory story, since it fits into the FF’s continuity, but it doesn’t advance the story and it probably was hammered out quickly by writer/editor Marv Wolfman with a stack of back issues. (This is also Wolfman’s first work on the FF; he’ll go on to have a run of his own in a year or two). It feels a bit like Uncanny X-Men 138, a long long flashback as Cyclops says farewell after the death of Jean Grey, but that one was at least written and drawn by Chris Claremont and John Byrne.

Here, Sal Buscema jumps into deliver perfectly adequate work, befitting his status as Marvel’s ultimate journeyman, and Jack Kirby draws the cover (a pretty lack-luster one, if I’m being honest). In a side note that surely only interests me, this may be the first FF issue without an exclamation point in the title.

This comic probably had some value for new readers but it didn’t do much for me.

Anything else?

There were some fun ads, including the first for Sea-Monkeys, a stable of comics for years (iirc, they are actually brine shrimp).

Overall

A pretty disappointing two months for FF fans

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 180

20 Sunday Jul 2025

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Fantastic Four 180
“Bedlam in the Baxter Building!” (reprinting FF 101)
Published December 1976
Story: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Script: Lee
Pencils: Kirby
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: Artie Simek
Cover: Kirby and Sinnott

What’s going on here?

This issue is a reprint of Fantastic Four 101 (previously discussed here), with the only modification as far as I can tell an editor’s note claiming deadline trouble prevented Marvel from publishing a new comic. Unfortunately, the cover, by Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott, is new and appears to continue the story begun a few issues ago, so any reader who bought this issue of the stands probably felt like the victim of a bait and switch. I’m including the comic here because of the Kirby cover, and because I hate the idea of not accounting for every issue. Hopefully readers of this blog won’t also feel ripped off. The recap of issue 181 will follow shortly.

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 176

08 Sunday Jun 2025

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1976, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 176, George Perez, Impossible Man, jack Kirby, Roy Thomas, Stan Lee

Fantastic Four 176
“Improbable As It May Seem — The Impossible Man Is Back In Town!”
Published Aug. 1974
Writer: Roy Thomas
Pencils: George Perez
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: Joe Rosen
Colors: Michele Wolfman
Editor: Thomas
Cover: Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott

Synopsis

After their confrontation with Galactus, the Fantastic Four return to Earth with the Impossible Man in tow. The alien causes trouble on the streets of New York, then in the offices of Marvel Comics, where he and the FF interact with members of the staff. The team then discovers the Frightful Four have taken over the Baxter Building while the Fantastic Four was off planet, setting up a confrontation in the coming issues.

What’s going on here?

It’s hard for me to write about this issue without sounding like a grump. At this point, my thoughts on the Impossible Man are pretty well documented, so this comic was always going to be a tough sell for me. It’s obviously a light-hearted romp, and it should be read that way. The depiction of the Bullpen — which here includes Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Thomas, Perez, Archie Goodwin, Marv Wolfman, Sal Buscema, Marie Serevin, John Verpoorten and Gerry Conway — was a novelty in 1976, and for die-hard Marvel fans of the era, it must have been a thrill to see their favorite creators. The issue also continues a tradition of fourth wall-breaking stories taking place at Marvel that began with Fantastic Four 10.

And yet … reading it almost 50 years later, it falls flat. Most of the jokes are obvious and ponderous, the Impossible Man’s hijinks are predictably tedious and it all feels like an extended goof that mostly served to amuse its creators. Thomas wrote a lengthy editor’s note that explained the genesis of the issue, which was that he didn’t have a better idea. It shows.

Two art notes: Jack Kirby once again did the cover (inked by Joe Sinnott) and Michele Wolfman colored the issue, her first and only FF credit.

What I liked

This issue marks the return of George Perez, and he delivers great work, even when hampered by a inane storyline. Here’s a great action sequence:

And I loved his crowd scenes in Central Park:

Here’s his version of the Marvel offices, including a very slimming self portrait:

While most of the inside jokes were duds, this one amused me:

What I didn’t like

The story had a lot of filler, like this gag:

FWIW, hailing and riding in a taxi took the FF two full pages.

This exchange between Ben and Reed seemed off. Reed is really comparing Ben’s appearance to Joe DiMaggio’s???

This panel would make no sense unless you read Thomas’s note (it’s Marv Wolfman and Sal Buscema).

Anything else?

Uncanny X-Men Annual 7, a very silly issue featuring (guess who?) the Impossible Man, paid tribute to this comic with an extended scene in the Marvel bullpen.

Overall

If you don’t have something nice to say, better to say nothing at all.

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 167

23 Sunday Mar 2025

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1975, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 167, George Perez, jack Kirby, Roy Thomas, Stan Lee, The Hulk

Fantastic Four 167
“Titans Two!”
Published November 1975
Writer: Roy Thomas
Pencils: George Perez
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: Joe Rosen
Colors: Phil Rachelson
Editor: Thomas
Cover: Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott

Synopsis

After the Thing frees the Hulk from the military’s device, the two escape in an aircraft, heading toward St. Louis. The Hulk demands they alight at the Gateway Arch, where they are eventually attacked by the rest of the Fantastic Four. When he sees his teammates in danger, Ben sides with them agains the Hulk but suddenly begins to change into his human form, a result of exposure to the Hulk’s gamma radiation. He is easily defeated by the Hulk, who escapes.

What’s going on here?

This is a pretty unsatisfying end to a two-part story that had a lot of promise toward the end of last issue, where Ben realizes he and the Hulk are both monsters. The Thing alludes to that solidarity at a few places in the issue, but Roy Thomas doesn’t do much with it and it doesn’t take much for Ben to switch sides again. Thomas instead inserts a subplot of the Thing growing weak and dizzy in the Hulk’s presence, which eventually leads to him becoming human again. None of it makes much sense, and the two-issue arc feels very gimmicky, as it reads mostly as an excuse to shoehorn the Hulk into an FF comic (more guest stars will appear next issue, further evidence that Marvel was trying to goose the FF’s sales).

Joe Sinnott returns to ink George Perez, and it’s a big improvement over Vince Colletta, last month’s inker, although Sinnott can still overpower Perez at times (most times, really).

And speaking of over-powered, Jack Kirby’s pencils are unrecognizable on the cover under Sinnott’s inks. On closer examination I can see touches of Kirby — Reed’s legs, Sue’s posture, the faces of the spectators — but it’s certainly not obvious.

There’s also more inside-baseball in the issue, this time in the form of back-and-forth editor’s notes between Roy and Stan. I’m not sure what they are referencing — Branch Ecch was always code for DC, but who is the Torrid Titan (circa 1965)? — but this sort of thing always endeared me to Marvel when I was a young reader.

What I liked

There are some fun Perez sequences in this comic, like this one:

And this amazing page, with 13 — count ’em, 13! — panels:

Now that Sue’s powers are beefed up, she is shown using them in more interesting ways, like so (and note the footnote):

What I didn’t like

Ben changing into his human form is hard to understand since A, Ben’s powers didn’t come from gamma rays and B, he’s been exposed to the Hulk before. I don’t know if this comes up again, but it sure seems like it would be an easy way to cure Ben of his monstrous form. It’s yet another unexpected curveball thrown at Ben that doesn’t seem based in much from a story or scientific standpoint.

Anything else?

I don’t even know where to begin with this house ad:

Overall

Meh

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 154

15 Sunday Dec 2024

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1974, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 154, Marvel comics, Stan Lee

Fantastic Four 154
“The Man in the Mystery Mask!”
Published October 1974
Writers: Len Wein and Stan Lee
Pencils: Bob Brown and Dick Ayers
Inks: Frank Giacoia, Michael Esposito and Paul Reinman
Letters: Artie Simek
Colors: Glynis Wein
Editor: Roy Thomas
Cover: Gil Kane and Giacoia

Synopsis

White returning from their battle with Mahkizmo, Mr. Fantastic, the Human Torch and the Thing are attacked by a mysterious villain, leading to a lengthy flashback from an incident when the Thing and Torch were lured by the same villain into a trap, only for it to be revealed to be Mr Fantastic trying to teach them a lesson. After battling the villain in the present, he is revealed to be Nick Fury testing SHIELD’s new weaponry on the Fantastic Four.

What’s going on here

This is an odd, interesting issue. Most of the comic is a reprint of 1964’s Strange Tales 127, from a run of stories that were nominally Human Torch solo adventures but in this case also included Ben and Reed. It’s a hugely silly story by Stan Lee and very much a Silver Age framing, where a hero tricks a colleague or friend to teach them a lesson (this plot was a staple of a great many Superman and Lois Lane comics from the era). The new framing device is almost as ridiculous, with the reveal that Nick Fury attacked the team over Manhattan to test some new gadgets.

An editor’s note helpfully, and abashedly, explains that regular penciler Rick Buckler couldn’t make his deadline, so new writer Len Wein and penciler Bob Brown stepped into to save the day with the framing sequence. I would love to know whose idea it was to use Strange Tales 127 as the filler issue; I wonder if Stan suggested it.

As I’ve explained, I chose not to include the Torch stories in Strange Tales as part of this blog, mostly because doing so would slow down my advance through the main book (and with 700+ issues to blog, this is a project that is already ambitious enough). But reading this story for the first time makes me wonder if I’ve made a mistake; there’s a goofy charm to these early stories that I miss.

This is Len Wein’s first issue as the FF’s writer. The note suggests this is a regular gig but he only lasts a few issues before returning a few years later. Notably, this issue is colored by Glynis Wein, whom I believe at the time was married to Len, making this the first FF issue with a married couple in the credits.

Gil Kane again did the cover, with inks by Frank Giacoia. One of his better FF covers, I think. The cockeyed angle of the city background adds to the action.

What I liked

Dick Ayers pencils are rough but his layouts have flair, and Paul Reinman’s heavy inks add drama. This is a great panel:

I liked this sequence too:

It’s worth remembering how early in the FF’s history this takes place, coming out around the same month as FF 33. Hence Ben’s appearance wasn’t locked down across Marvel:

Stan’s script is also light and fun, and Ben’s quips are quick and clever. There’s also a nicely poignant sequence where Ben and Johnny thinks they’re about to die:

In an effort to celebrate Jack Kirby and restore him to his place as major contributor to Marvel’s success, there’s been an unfortunate backlash against Stan Lee, to the point where he’s been denigrated as a mere figurehead and flim-flam man who coasted on Jack’s labors. Issues like this, where Jack has no involvement, reveal how talented Stan was at scripting these characters. The first 102 issues of the Fantastic Four were a true partnership between two creative powerhouses. We don’t need to tear down Stan to build up Jack.

What I didn’t like

It should be churlish to point out the goofiness of the two plots in this comic, given one is a Silver Age relic and the other is reclamation job. I will instead note that once again Sue is not in this comic, and she and Medusa are only fleetingly mentioned. There is also this puzzling sequence, and I am legitimately confused by what Ben refers to as “half’a the blamed Thing”:

Anything else?

There is an interesting letter in this issue, calling out a response to another letter in FF 150, where the Dull Competition was mocked for comics that lacked drama and instead told stories about “a reporter, say, whose biggest problem is that some schnook down the hall keeps playing practical jokes on him” — a clear reference to Superman. The irony is that Strange Tales 127 is basically a story about an elaborate practical joke.

In the response in 154, presumably written by Roy Thomas, blame is laid at the feet of Steve Gerber, who would later go on to great heights at Marvel before becoming one of its biggest critics. The two letters are below and are an interesting glimpse behind the scenes at some inter- and intra comic drama:

Also, there are some cool ads in this issue (I’m pretty sure I had that Evel Knievel toy motorcycle as a kid):

Overall

A curious artifact

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 126

26 Friday Apr 2024

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1972, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 126, John Buscema, Mole Man, Roy Thomas, Stan Lee

Fantastic Four 126
“The Way It Began!”
Published June 1972
Writer: Roy Thomas
Pencils: John Buscema
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: John Costanza
Editor: Thomas
Cover: Buscema and Sinnott

Synopsis

After squabbling with the Human Torch, the Thing uses a thought projector invented by Mr. Fantastic to revisit the origins of the Fantastic Four, and ends up resolved to force the Mole Man —the first villain they fought—to give sight to his blind girlfriend, Alicia Masters.

What’s going on here?

This is an interesting issue, for a few reasons. It’s the first issue after Stan Lee’s official departure from the FF—an occasion marked both in the Bullpen Bulletins and in a separate note on the letter’s page—and Roy Thomas’s first after officially taking the helm (although he wrote FF 119). Stan and Roy use the change as an opportunity to retell the origin of the Fantastic Four, in the longest re-cap of their origin to date. For modern readers, it might seem like a waste of an issue but we’re used to the immediate availability of back issues, either through reprints or online. New Fantastic Four readers in the early 1970s had fewer options to read FF 1 (although it had been reprinted in a few annuals by this point) and after a decade of comics, it made sense to reset the origin.

It also allows John Buscema a chance to put his spin on Jack Kirby’s classic story. He’s pretty faithful to the original, although there are a few tweaks, like modernizing Sue’s haircut.

Here is Jack’s:

And here’s Big John’s version of the same scene:

Probably the biggest difference is in how Buscema draws Ben, updating his original, lumpy look to the more familiar rocky version. Again, here’s FF 1:

And FF 126:

Roy also tweaks the dialogue a bit to make Ben’s style of speech more consistent with what we’re used to, but by and large it’s pretty similar.

Along with the recap of the origin (and both the original and a subsequent battle with the Mole Man, setting the stage for Ben’s quest), the issue also strikes a lot of familiar notes that seem designed reestablish the FF’s status quo. There’s a Ben and Johnny fight, which was once almost a mandatory feature. There’s an appearance from Alicia, and a reminder she’s blind. There’s Reed and Sue wondering about their future with the team now that they have a child. In all, it reads like jumping off place for new readers, and a new writer.

A few other items of note:

* The credits now say “Stan Lee presents” and Roy is credited as both writer and editor.
* The cover now says “The World’s Greatest Comix Magazine!” I don’t know the basis for the change, and it lasted only until issue 131, but it’s a bit odd.
* I realize I never addressed the change in the logo, which happened in issue 119. Just another sign of the changin’ times. Marvel will use this logo until issue 160 and doesn’t return to the classic ’60s logo until issue 218 (although it’s used for annuals).

Here is the note introducing Roy as writer on the letter page:

What I liked

I generally liked Buscema’s recap of the origin, and particularly his take on Jack’s classic cover for FF 1. That cover has been the subject of many homages over the years (some of which I get into in my recap of that issue here) and I assume this is the first. There is still no explanation of who tied up Reed. There is also a great splash page (seen above).

What I didn’t like

While it’s an interesting issue, I’m not sure it’s a particularly good issue. Roy tries to weave the lengthy flashback into the story, but it’s not really coherent, and the thought projector as a plot device feels unnecessary and clumsy. Leaping ahead from the FF’s first battle with the Moleman to one that took places in issues 88 and 89 also feels awkward and manufactured to set up the next issue.

Also, it’s not really clear Roy has a grasp on Ben’s character, as evidenced by this sequence:

(who is Godfrey?)

Anything else?

Ads for some neat-o toys in this issue:

Overall

An issue probably of more value to readers in 1972 than today

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 125

16 Tuesday Apr 2024

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1972, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 125, John Buscema, Stan Lee

Fantastic Four 125
“The Monster’s Secret!”
Published: May 1972
Writer: Stan Lee
Pencils John Buscema
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: John Costanza
Cover: Buscema and and Sinnott

Synopsis

The rest of the Fantastic Four attempts to rescue Sue from the underwater creature before it’s revealed it was never actually a threat.

What’s going on here

This is Stan Lee’s last issue as a regular writer of the Fantastic Four and it’s an unfortunately lackluster note to end on. The story feels thin and padded with unnecessary digressions, while the central question about the creature’s intentions for with Sue doesn’t have much tension since we know from the creature’s previous appearance that it’s a harmless alien. As a result, the twist at the end—the creature returned to cure its mate of a virus acquired on earth—felt sort of predictable. The final note, with the FF urging us to respect our differences, may be heartfelt but feels hokey. It’s the sort of earnest closing message Stan used early in the FF and by now feels sort of tired.

It’s probably worth pausing a moment to appreciate Stan’s amazing run as writer of the Fantastic Four. Between issue 1 and 125, he wrote, co-wrote or scripted (by my count) 119 regular issues and six annuals. That’s an impressive run for anyone, much less someone also writing a half dozen other comics and serving as editor and pitch-man for the entire line.

Trying to apportion credit for the Fantastic Four’s greatness between Stan and Jack Kirby feels like a fool’s errand. The (deserved) push to properly recognize Jack for his work at Marvel has unfortunately created a backlash diminishing Stan’s contributions (and it doesn’t help that Stan was part of the management of a company that cheated Jack of his due). According to some revisionist histories, Stan merely rubber stamped Jack’s stories. But I think it’s inarguable that for all of Jack’s genius, there would be no Fantastic Four as he know it without Stan as well.

From my perspective, it was a true partnership, where the sum of their contributions was greater than the whole. The Fantastic Four did tail off in the years after Jack left, but it was uneven during his last years on the book as well. And in many of the comics Stan wrote on his own or with John Buscema—particularly the recently concluded Air-Walker/ Galactus saga— there’s enough of the old FF energy to indicate it wasn’t Jack alone. And Jack’s work at DC is proof that he benefitted enormously from Stan’s scripting.

Today, Stan’s legacy is so tied up in his identity as the public face of Marvel, his cameos in the movies, and the ugly fights over copyrights, it’s easy to lose sight that, at his core, he was a damn good comic creator.

What I liked

Big John turns in his usual excellent work. I particularly liked this sequence:

And wet Johnny:

What I didn’t like

As mentioned above, the comic felt padded with a lot of filler. Reed escaping his doctors took up two pages. Ben finding transportation took another two pages. The story probably could have been told in one issue without losing much story and gaining some pace.

Overall

A muted milestone

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 124

06 Saturday Apr 2024

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1972, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 124, John Buscema, Stan Lee

Fantastic Four 124
“The Return of the Monster!”
Published April 1972
Story: Stan Lee
Pencils: John Buscema
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: John Constanza
Cover: Buscema and Sinnott

Synopsis

Mr. Fantastic, exhausted from the travails of the last few issues, takes ill and is rushed to a hospital, where a monster lurks and abducts the Invisible Girl.

What’s going on here?

This is a busy, and slightly peculiar issue. It opens in the middle of the action—mise en scene, if you’re fancy—with the Fantasti-Car about to crash because Reed has passed out. Simply landing the car takes up about four pages, and much of the rest of the issue takes place in or around the hospital. The villain is of course the creature first introduced in issue 97, and while that was a fun, one-and-done story, there was nothing so compelling about the creature—really, a misunderstood alien modeled on the Creature from the Black Lagoon—that demanded it be brought back. The easiest explanation is that Stan, near the end of his active writing career, was bereft of ideas, and so reached back to an older story for one.

Still, despite feeling like a retread, there’s some interesting things going on in FF 124. Reed is virtually absent, since he’s unconscious in a hospital bed, so the other members are asked to propel the story in ways normally performed by Reed. There’s a fun sequence, for example, where Johnny plays detective and tries to identify the hostile monster using the FF’s equivalent of the Bat-Computer. It’s also a nice reminder that, after a decade of comics, the FF has it’s own rich history and rogue’s gallery.

Oddly, despite much of the comic devoted to the FF unraveling the riddle of the monster, the readers knows all along who it is from the cover and title.

What I liked

As mentioned, each of the non-Reed characters gets a a chance to shine in this issue. Sue, particularly, uses her powers in some new and interesting ways, such as repairing the crashing Fantasti-Car on the fly:

Or breaking out of her bindings:

There’s an interesting sequence where Johnny is humbled by a doctor after terrifying patients by flying around the hospital with his flame on:

It looks like Buscema is trying something new as he draws Johnny, giving him a more distinctly human appearance when he’s in his flaming form.

I also like the classic cliff-hanger ending, with Sue caught in a flooding cave:

And this Kirby-esque panel of Reed in the hospital.

What I didn’t like

When I first began this blog, I started tracking how many times Sue was taken hostage. I stopped counting after Fantastic Four 38, when the count had reached 10. It’s one of Stan’s oldest and most tiresome cliches, and unfortunately he revives it again here.

Also, I’m not a fan of plots that depend on the most unlikely of coincidences. The hospital were Reed is taken just happens to be haunted by a creature the FF once confronted on a tropical island?

Anything else?

A bunch of ads that seemed pitched at an older reader. The Vietnam-themed game seems strange, given the war was still raging in 1972.

Overall

Generally a fine issue, marred by the sexist treatment of Sue.

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 123

30 Saturday Mar 2024

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1972, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 123, galactus, John Buscema, Silver Surfer, Stan Lee

Fantastic Four 123
“This World Enslaved!”
Published March 1972
Story: Stan Lee
Pencils: John Buscema
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: Jon Costanza (credited as Jon Costa)
Cover: Sal Buscema

Synopsis

After Galactus delivers his ultimatum—either the Silver Surfer becomes his herald again or he will destroy the Earth—Mr. Fantastic counters with a threat to destroy Galactus’s spaceship, stranding him on Earth. Galactus calls his bluff and Reed returns Galactus’s ship, but when the Surfer attempts to follow him into space, Reed stops him, leading the U.S. military to intervene and almost fatally wounding Reed. While the Thing and Torch battle the army, Reed, with the help of Agatha Harkness, broadcasts a message around the world that he has has tricked Galactus, rigging his spaceship to send him to the Negative Zone, where his deal with the Surfer doesn’t apply.

What’s going on here?

This issue wraps up the latest Galactus arc in a perhaps less-than-satisfying way (more on that later). As befitting a big, climactic issue, it includes a number of guest stars, like the Surfer and Agatha Harkness, and yet it feels, given all that’s at stake, that other heroes should appear. I’m not sure where the Avengers are at this point, but the potential end of the world seems like something that would interest them.

Perhaps the most intriguing guest appearance is that of Richard Nixon, who is unnamed but obviously himself, making references to John Mitchell, Henry Kissinger and his reelection.

There’s a long history of U.S. presidents appearing in comics, and I could devote an entire blog post to tracking them down. Sometimes they are generic old white men, and sometimes they seem to resemble whomever is president at the time. Few, however, are as specific as this representation of Nixon.

(One small detail of interest: in the second panel above, there’s a typo in the printed comic, and it reads “he on the open circuit” which is corrected in the digital comic, which I used here).

There are also some creators making their first contributions to the Fantastic Four. After a few years at DC, Jon Costanza joined Marvel in late 1971, and starting with this issue, becomes a semi-regular letterer of the FF. Probably more significantly, FF 123’s cover is drawn by Sal Buscema, Big John’s younger brother. Sal began working in comics in 1968, but this is first work on the Fantastic Four. He later does a few fill-in issues and will become the regular FF penciler for a brief stretch in 1986. While I’ve never loved Sal Buscema’s style, it’s hard not to admire his productivity and longevity. And I do like his extra-shiny version of the Surfer on what’s otherwise a very busy cover.

What I liked

This entire Air Walker / Galactus / Surfer arc has a fun, throw-back feel. An appearance of Galactus makes any comic feel important, and in this issue we get more insight into his psyche. He’s not just a villain intent on destruction, but a weary agent of the universe who can’t control his own destiny.

We’re also treated to some harrowing images of what Galactus’s consumption of Earth might look like.

What I didn’t like

Like a lot of Fantastic Four epics, the climax to this story feels rushed, and this one feels particularly half-baked. Reed appears to have saved the Earth with a bit of legal trickery, based on the Surfer’s pledge to follow Galactus “in this universe,” creating a loophole so Reed can send Galactus to the Negative Zone, where he’s not bound by the agreement. Left unclear, of course, is why Galactus would feel obliged to honor a deal whose spirit is so obviously violated by Reed. Did we miss the panel where contracts were signed and notarized? Will some court enforce it? I suppose Reed (and Stan) could argue that since Galactus violated his pledge to leave the Surfer alone, then he’s just getting what he deserves, but it feels weak.

And all this leaves aside the issue of how Reed altered Galactus’s ship to enter the Negative Zone, something we previously thought could only be achieved through a portal in the Baxter Building.

The comic also digresses into an off fight between the military and the Fantastic Four. It’s distracting and while it creates the opportunity for Reed to be shot by a panicky soldier, and then saved by the Surfer, none it feels very necessary or serves to advance the story.

Anything else?

I liked this house ad: More Marvel for your Bread!

(I’d never heard of Combat Kelly and his Dirty Dozen before. Apparently it was a reboot of a 1950s war comic but it only lasted nine issues in its second incarnation). Luke Cage had a bit more success.

Overall

A bit of a let down.

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 122

24 Sunday Mar 2024

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Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 122, galactus, John Buscema, Silver Surfer, Stan Lee

Fantastic Four 122
“Galactus Unleashed!”
Published Feb. 1972
Story: Stan Lee & John Buscema
Script: Lee
Pencils: Buscema
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: Artie Simek
Cover: Buscema and John Romita Sr.

Synopsis

The Fantastic Four and the Silver Surfer battle Galactus, who demands the Surfer rejoin him as his herald or he will destroy Earth. In response, Reed travels to space to capture Galactus’s ship.

What’s going on here

This is an old-school, action-packed comic, with high stakes and lots of drama. I have some quibbles (see below) but on the whole this feels like a return to form for the Fantastic Four after an uneven period following the departure of Kirby. Galactus is a great villain, and his need for the Surfer to be his herald again gives at least a plausible reason for his to return to Earth after promising to spare it.

What I liked

After some predictable fighting sequences, the comic shifts into high gear when Reed travels into space to capture Galactus’s space ship. Bucesma gets to stretch his Kirby muscles, and the sequence has a great mix of wonder and tension.

I also liked this sequence, which is both a testament to the Thing’s power and a bit ridiculous (punching a foot?)

What I didn’t like

The Air-Walker robot, the focus of the last two issues, seems to have been dropped as a plot line. It seems like an elaborate ruse of Galactus’s to draw out the Surfer, and it’s begging for additional explanation.

Also, I recognize the FF has to try to stop Galactus, but — in my view — he should be too powerful to bother having to fight back, hence deploying the Punisher android in earlier appearances. Here, he not only scraps with the Fantastic Four but Ben knocks him off his feet. It serves to diminish what should be a character above physical confrontation.

Further, Galactus should wear long pants. At least they removed the G from his chest.

Lastly, calling the Silver Surfer “whitey” just sounds weird, especially since he’s, you know, silver.