By Roy Thomas, Len Wein, Mike Friedrich, Gerry Conway, Bill Mantlo, Jim Shooter, Archie Goodwin, Marv Wolfman, George Pérez, Sal Buscema, Ron Wilson, Joe Sinnott & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-0-7851-9192-6 (HB)
Monolithic Marvel truly began at the end of 1961 with the adventures of a small super-team who were as much squabbling family as coolly capable costumed champions. Everything the company produces now is due to the quirky quartet and the groundbreaking, inspired efforts of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Happy Anniversary, all…
With Lee & Kirby long gone but their mark very much still stamped onto every page of the still-prestigious title, this full-colour compendium – available in hardcover and digital editions – collects Fantastic Four #176-191, spanning November 1976 to February 1978.
What You Should Already Know: maverick scientist Reed Richards, his fiancé Sue Storm, their close friend Ben Grimmand Sue’s teenaged tag-along little brother Johnny miraculously survived an ill-starred private space-shot after cosmic rays penetrated their stolen ship’s inadequate shielding. As they crashed back to Earth the uncanny radiation mutated them all in unimaginable ways…
Richards’ body became astoundingly elastic, Sue gained the power to turn invisible and project forcefields whilst Johnny could turn into living flame and tragic Ben devolved into a shambling, rocky freak. They agreed to use their abilities to benefit mankind and thus was born the Fantastic Four.
Following a Preface by outgoing scribe Roy Thomas and Introduction from incoming writer/editor Len Wein a new direction begins with #176 and ‘Improbable as it May Seem…The Impossible Man is Back in Town!’ by Thomas, George Pérez & Joe Sinnott as the mighty manic shapeshifter – having just saved everybody from World-Devourer Galactus – returns to Earth with our heroes and promptly turns the city upside down in his search for amusement and entertainment…
High point of the day is his impromptu visit to the Marvel Bullpen where even more hilarity and hysteria ensue…
By the time the flustered four drag him back to the Baxter Building in #177 it’s straight into an ambush as ‘Look Out for the Frightful Four!’ finds their evil counterparts gain the upper hand. There are only three – The Wizard , Sandman and Trapster – but with the heroes shackled there’s no better time for a casting call of evil and soon a succession of potential fourths (such as latterday B-Listers Texas Twister and Captain Ultra) are filing through in search of fame and glory…
Also in the queue are a few valiant allies such as Thundra and Tigra who almost manage a last-minute rescue until an unstoppable mystery candidate crushes all opposition and hurls the Thing into the antimatter Negative Zone…
Inked by Dave Hunt, FF #178 ‘Call My Killer… The Brute!’ sees a devious, deadly monster revealed as the Reed Richards of Counter-Earth, carrying grudges and enacting his own masterplan until Impossible Man – oblivious to everything since discovering television – now responds to the horrific home invasion in typical manner. The Fantastic Four, Thundra and Tigra soon rescue Ben and drive off the bad guys but in the melee the Brute is fittingly lost in the Negative Zone.
At least, one of the Reeds is…
A joint effort by Thomas, Gerry Conway, Ron Wilson & Sinnott, FF #179 sees the good Dr. Richards ‘A Robinson Crusoe in the Negative Zone!’ and – deprived of his stretching powers (a long running plot-thread finally paying off) – struggling to survive in hostile conditions against appalling monsters…
Until ultimate predator Annihilus finds him…
Back on Earth, everything seems fine and the deadly doppelganger continues to insinuate himself into all aspects of FF life. The power loss works to his advantage and reed’s oldest friend Ben is distracted by a giant robbing robot and an increasingly flirtatious Tigra…
Fantastic Four #180 was a new Jack Kirby cover on a deadline-busting reprint (from issue #101) so only it stands between us and next episode ‘Side by Side with… Annihilus??’ – from #181 by Thomas, Wilson & Sinnott – wherein the zone-lost genius allies with the antimatter monster.
Meanwhile, Ben, Impy, Tigra and Thundra form an impromptu quartet to sort out that robot and Susan Richards – just starting to suspect something’s wrong with her man – is distracted when former governess and still-current witch Agatha Harkness flamboyantly abducts her old charge Franklin from Sue’s arms…
Fantastic Four #182 reveals the nigh-omnipotent Annihilus has a problem he can’t handle: an incredibly adaptable, constantly mutating android once banished to the Zone after failing to destroy the quirky quartet. Now its creator has regained control and ‘Enter: The Mad Thinker!’ (Bill Mantlo, with Len Wein, Jim Shooter, Archie Goodwin, Sal Buscema & Sinnott) sees Reed and Annihilus working together to stop it even as on Earth evil Reed tricks the Thing and the Torch into the Negative Zone too. Sue, meanwhile, has rushed to spooky Whisper Hill to confront Harkness and arrives just in time to see the eldritch elder and Franklin spirited away by ghostly beings…
Her return to the Baxter Building is even more traumatic as the now exposed Brute attempts to murder her, culminating in a spectacular all action conclusion from Mantlo, Sal Buscema & Sinnott as #183’s ‘Battleground: The Baxter Building!’sees all the opposing elements clash and an unexpected turn of events restore the status quo with one last-minute change of heart and tragic sacrifice…
A new era dawned as Wein took on the role of writer/editor and his artist partners George Pérez & Joe Sinnott began as they meant to go on with #184 as ‘Aftermath: The Eliminator!’ saw romantic rivals Tigra and Thundra go their own ways as the restored First Family of heroes took up the search for missing Franklin and arrive at the Whisper Hill mansion just as mystic cyborg began removing all traces of it and its former occupier…
Brutal, pointless battle proved useless but science scored again in #185 as Reed tracks the Eliminator to the Colorado Rockies and the team – with Richards using tech to pinch-hit for his lost powers – head incognito for the isolated town of New Salem. Once there they soon discover ‘Here There Be Witches!’… and they be hostile…
The next issue and ‘Enter: Salem’s Seven!’ delivers an explanation for Harkness’ actions, Franklin’s kidnapping and tantalising hints of a hidden town of mystic refugees led by deranged demagogue Nicholas Scratch, whose dark secret doesn’t stop him unleashing a septet of sorcerous sentinels on the cosmic-powered but woefully human heroes. It does, sadly, ultimately lose him the support of his peers and the battle, leaving #187 to see our heroes and the help heading home just in time for ‘Trouble Times Two!’ When “Master of Sound†Klaw and the almighty Molecule Man ambush the FF, the furious fight raises the ire of TV-addicted Impy and the resultant rumble results in the Molecule Man’s disembodied intellect possessing Reed’s weary body…
‘The Rampage of Reed Richards!’ in #188 sees the city wrecked and events of cosmic import occur, with Uatu the Watcher closely observing as the heroes triumph in the end, but only at the cost of their leader’s confidence. Weary, devoid of superpowers, Richard makes the only logical decision and calls it a day for the team…
At the time tensions were especially enhanced as the next issue was another reprint (from FF Annual #4 and again represented here only by the cover art of #189) before normal service resumes with #190 and next writer/editor Marv Wolfman collaborating with Sal Buscema & Tony DeZuñiga to reassess past glories in ‘The Way It Was’. Shellshocked Ben and girlfriend Alicia Masters review the glory days leading up to his current unemployment, before #191 closes this compilation’s story component with ‘Four No More’ wherein Wein, Pérez & Sinnott detail the decommissioning of the Baxter Building and track the fond farewells as the team go their separate ways. However, even here there’s time and space for one last hurrah as the scurrilous Plunderer tries to steal all the FF’s toys and rapidly learns to regret his impertinence…
To Be Continued…
This power-packed package also includes the letters page from FF #176, explaining how the Impossible Man’s visit to the Marvel Bullpen came about, and full biographies to satisfy the completists in attendance…
Although the “World’s Greatest Comics Magazine†never quite returned to the stratospheric heights of the Kirby era, this collection offers a tantalising taste-echo of those heady heights. These extremely capable efforts are probably most welcome to dedicated superhero fans and continuity freaks like me, but will still thrill and enthral the generous and forgiving casual browser looking for an undemanding slice of graphic narrative excitement.
© 2017 Marvel Characters, Inc. All rights reserved.