Fantastic Four 198
“Invasion!”
Published June 1978
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Pencils: Keith Pollard
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: Rick Parker
Colors: Janice Cohen
Editor: Wolfman
Cover: John Buscema and Sinnott

Synopsis

Now in possession of his powers again, Mr. Fantastic flies to Latveria to free the rest of the team from Dr. Doom, who is planning to transfer all of their powers to his son. Reed battles Doom’s robots and is subdued, but he is rescued by the Latvian resistance, led by Zorba. Reed and Zorba’s men storm the castle, but are defeated and Reed is captured.

What’s going on here?

The Doom / Zorba story continues to plod along. This is a pretty lackluster comic and it’s clear this five-part arc could have been told in four or even three issues. This installment feels full of padding as Reed battles robots and Doom’s henchmen, but ultimately ends up captured. The only real development of note is the introduction of the unfortunately named Zorba, the leader of the Latverian freedom fighters. (It’s hard not to picture Anthony Quinn as Zorba the Greek whenever I read that name). This Zorba has a cool, Kirby-esque device on his face and seems to fulfill every stereotype of the noble rebel.

Zorba will reappear in a few more issues over the years and becomes a more complex figure when written by John Byrne.

The art team of Keith Pollard and Joe Sinnott deliver solid, if unspectacular work. The rather confusing cover is by John Buscema and Sinnott.

What I liked

There were a few fun elements in this comic. Throughout, writer Marv Wolfman gives Doom’s soldiers bits of personality, such as this one discussing his daughter:

My sense is these vignettes are intended to illustrate their humanity, in order to highlight Doom’s cruelty when he later reveals he had these men killed. I also liked the appearance of the drone. Technology that seems wildly futuristic in 1978 is now commonplace.

And I liked Reed using his stretching powers to disguise his facial features, something he will do more frequently in years to come:

What I didn’t like

Overall, Wolfman’s writing feels lazy and cliché-laden. It’s not enough to have a mountain, it was to be an “unscalable mountain,” only for it to be scaled in the next panel.

Wolfman doesn’t really have a handle on Doom, who he writes as a thuggish tyrant, rather than an aloof monarch. Here, Doom mocks the people of Latveria, which feels very different from the protective, paternalistic view of his people that we’ve seen elsewhere:

And here, he takes of his mask in front of the Fantastic Four, which would seem a sharp departure from how he has viewed his disfigurement in the past (and which sort of defeats the purpose of the mask):

There are other, smaller mistakes throughout. It appears Wolfman doesn’t know the definition of “laconic:”

And here, Reed pilots a pogo plane that normally can fit four members of the FF plus guests, but now is a two-seater:

None of these little errors are that consequential (and I’m sure any Marvel fan could explain them away to earn a No-Prize) but cumulatively they’re distracting and make the story less engaging.

Anything else?

Guys, did you know the Bad News Bears are going to Japan?

Overall

Not much to recommend in this one