macmcentire

Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Fantastic Four vol. 4 #15 has supervillain battles and multiverse strangeness. Yep, it’s Marvel.

The Fantastic Four’s year-long trip through the multiverse in search of a cure to the molecular disease they’ve afflicted have led them to an alternate universe under control of Dr. Doom, Kang, and Annihilus – with prophetic warnings that the three of them might somehow become one person, Doom the Annihilating Conqueror. We begin with Johnny having a dream (memory?) of the FF visiting prehistoric times. Then he wakes in time for the team to meet their alternate counterparts, including the alternate universe Johnny, whom we’ve come to know as Old John Storm. This conflict is happening across the multiverse (including the concurrent FF series), as is the Fantastic Four’s molecular disease.

What happens next is confusing. The alternate Reed, named Stevenson Storm, has a device that can help Johnny turn off his flames following his injuries in the past few issues. The two Fantastic Fours hook themselves up to the device to provide their energy to Johnny, and this also returns their powers to our Four. Then Ant-Man jumps out of nowhere, growing from ant-sized to normal, and swatting the device away. He says he had to do this at the exact moment the heroes got their powers back. This is an alternate universe version of Ant-Man who reluctantly took a job working for Dr. Doom. The alternate Fantastic Four are frozen in time thanks to some Kang technology. Reed says they’d need a temporal anomaly, and Ant-Man says he knows of one.

Cut to Marvel Girl, a.k.a. Jean Grey, being held captive by Doom’s forces. Remember that this is the time-displaced teenage Jean. She tries escaping, but Doom burns up his henchmen with a flamethrower (!) and takes control of Jean himself. The Fantastic Four burst onto the scene, and reveal to Doom they’re from another world. Turns out Kang has stolen Annihilus’ power, not Doom. Doom also wants Jean’s time-displacedness to stop Kang.

The henchmen attack again. While the other Four fight them off, Doom escapes with Jean to his time platform. Reed gets to work analyzing where (and when!) they’ve gone. It works, and the heroes are there to meet Doom when he arrives, back out in the city with the other Four still frozen in time. There’s a fight, and Ant-Man is killed (!). Jean has one of those anti-mutant power-dampening collars on her. Reed removes it, and she frees the other Four, who join the fight.

Kang arrives, and he battles Dr. Doom. He uses his time powers to anticipate every move Doom makes. Doom looks like he’s defeated, but then he reveals that when he went back in time, he rigged the siphon device with a time limit. The time runs out, and Kang’s newfound power now transfer to Doom, finally transforming him into the long-prophesized Doom the Annihilating Conqueror!

To be continued!

Unstable molecule: In the alternate timeline, the other Reed is Stevenson Storm, and he says Richards is his wife’s maiden name.

Fade out: During the fight, Sue defeats all the henchmen by using tiny force fields to make each other their weapons backfire.

Clobberin’ time: The alternate Thing, who looks like he’s burning like volcanic rock, teams up with our Thing to fight Dr. Doom.

Flame on: Despite being healed, Johnny still spends this whole issue with one arm in a sling.

Fantastic fifth wheel: When Ant-Man shows up, there’s some concern that he’s the one from the FF series having multiverse-traveled here, but it’s revealed that he’s a whole other Ant-Man.

Trivia time: The letters page has this photo of Ramones drummer Marky Ramone touring the Marvel offices and holding a copy of Fantastic Four.

Fantastic or frightful? Again, you can tell this was written by one person working off someone else’s notes. We’re building up to the big finale, but it’s mired in all this time travel/multiverse stuff. I liked the twist of Reed using Doom’s own time platform to outsmart him, but that’s about it.

Next: The children’s crusade.

* * * *

Want more? My ongoing series THE SUBTERKNIGHTS is back on the Kindle store! A man searches for his missing sister in a futuristic city filled with far-out tech, strange creatures, and secret magic. Only $0.99 or free with KU!

Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Continuing the experimental dual run of Fantastic Four and FF concurrently. As events build toward the conclusion of both series, our heroes get one last moment to catch their breath.

We begin with everyone still assembled in the Watcher’s home on the moon, where Alex Power apologies to the rest of the Future Foundation about making a side deal with Dr. Doom. Everyone forgives and hugs him, while Ant-Man, in narration, muses about rallying the team to take down Doom once and for all. In Latveria, Ravonna convinces Doom that Ant-Man and the kids survived getting sucked through a portal, and that Ant-Man wants revenge for the death of his daughter. She tells Doom that it’s time for him to become the Annihilating Conqueror.

Doom further meets with Immortus, who says he’s been seeing anomalies in the timestream. Annihilus, who’s been acting all animalistic during this time, speaks up and says the heroes are hiding in Doom’s “blind spot.”

There’s a lot of business as Ant-Man lays out his plan to stop Dr. Doom. They have the alien posing as Caesar with them, but then he introduces a similar alien who has been posing as Sun Tzu all this time. Bentley-23 will break into the Mad Thinker’s lab and steal all the robot recreations of Marvel heroes. She-Hulk will steal the Gideon Trust’s knockoff version of the Awesome Android. The other kids rewire a Kree sentry found on the moon so it’ll fight alongside them. Medusa time-travels back in time to 1942 to recruit the wizard Dakor, and Dragon Man will build more of Darla’s Thing suits that can be operated by remote control. There’s an ethical debate about whether to create an entire army of clones of Dragon Man, and the kids vote against it. All this happens in a series of short panels.

The plan is set for first thing in the morning. The Watcher allows everyone use of the hot spring inside his house (!). Scott questions the Watcher’s morality, saying that the Watcher has broken his vow of interference in times of great crisis, but the Watcher could do so much more to help others. All the women enjoy the hot spring, with Darla admitting she’s nervous about the battle to come. Bentley wants to peep on the girls. When Dragon Man tries to stop him, he’s the one who crashes through the fence and gets accused of peeping.

Later, Scott and Darla have a heart-to-heart talk. He admits that when in jail, he once unintentionally killed a fellow prisoner who attacked him. He fears that part of himself will come out again during the conflict against Doom. Medusa gives her son Ahura a new uniform with the symbol of House Boltagon on it, asking him to fight alongside her, not as her son but as a prince of the Inhuman royal family.

In Latveria, members of the Council of Dooms – versions of Doom from other timelines – fear they cease to exist if this world’s Doom fails. Doom secures a new cosmic control rod for Annihilus, and he further muses that there is only one Negative Zone throughout the multiverse, connecting all other universes. Doom gives Annihilus the rod, and then Doom uses his cosmic syphon device (referenced in the concurrent Fantastic Four issue) to steal Annihilus’ power.

Cut to the moon, where Scott gives one final speech to the Foundation kids before teleporting to Earth. He says the plan is to take apart Dr. Doom piece by piece, stripping him of his escape routes, then his defenses, then his hostages, this his science, magic, and armor, until it comes to down to man-to-man. “That is when the fight truly begins,” he says.

To be continued!

Unstable molecule/fade out: The Watcher says his house’s hot spring was originally a honeymoon suite made for Reed and Sue. It also included a science lab for Reed.

Fantastic fifth wheel: Ant-Man lays out his plan while ant-sized, speaking to everyone through a little speaker that amplifies his voice. I guess this was just make things more visually interesting.

No, this version of the Awesome Android is not Andy from She-Hulk’s solo series. This is a new Awesome Android that has no Marvel Wiki entry.

When Darla expresses fears about the upcoming battle, She-Hulk says she too gets scared before a fight, fearful that her friends might be hurt. She and Medusa tell Darla she’s got the strength she needs.

Foundational: Artie and Leech’s miniaturized pet tiger makes a comeback, with them offering to include it in the upcoming battle. They’ve named the tiger “Cargo Manshark” for some reason.

Onome is the one who argues against cloning Dragon Man, making several points to convince the others.

Trivia time: Dakor the magician has been around for a long time, first appearing in Mystic Comics #1 way back in 1940. His comeback was short-lived because after this he appeared once again in Uncanny Avengers and then it was back to obscurity.

This is the first appearance of the alien posing as Sun Tzu. He won’t appear again after this story arc concludes. The Marvel Wiki confirms that he and Caesar are members of the same alien species, the Cotta. How many other famous historic figures are secretly these aliens?

Fantastic or frightful? There’s always some good drama to be had in a “the night before the battle” chapter, when characters tend to open up and reveal what’s really going on with them. Therefore, this is a great issue, but it’s nonetheless dependent on what’s to come.

Next: She’s a marvel!

* * * *

Want more? My ongoing series THE SUBTERKNIGHTS is back on the Kindle store! A man searches for his missing sister in a futuristic city filled with far-out tech, strange creatures, and secret magic. Only $0.99 or free with KU!

Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. In vol. 4 issue #14, we’ve got an alternate dimension, space battles, and life or death struggles for our heroes. You know, the usual.

Hit the brakes… again! One month after writer Matt Fraction abruptly left Fantastic Four to work on the Inhumanity crossover, this issue’s letters page reveals that superstar artist Mark Bagley is also leaving abruptly to work on the Cataclysm crossover. It makes you wonder if there’s more to the story. Anyway, artist Raffaele Ienco takes over for Bagley. At this time, he was best known for Image Comics’ Epic Kill.

Recap: Reed has taken the family on a year-long expedition through time and space, which was a front for him seeking a cure for a molecular disease of some sort that’s slowly killing him and his teammates. He’s recently come clean about his plan, just as his family’s powers start going haywire. Also, a version of Johnny from the future, who we’re calling Old John Storm, has joined them. This is of note because that same character has shown up in the concurrent FF series, where our heroes have disappeared without a trace.

Aboard the FF’s time ship, Reed has outfitted everyone with containment suits to keep their condition in check until he can find out the cause of this disease. Old John says he knows how to fix this, but he can’t say why because of time travel paradoxes and whatnot. Franklin points out that Old John previously said they were all doomed, and Sue points out that there’s no evidence to support that he really is future Johnny. Old John admits that he’s from another Fantastic Four in another timeline, and further admits that he’s one of the ones who’s caused the disease to happen. (!) For the cure, he says the team must go back to his homeworld. Except that his home is protected by Dr. Doom, Kang the Conqueror, and Annihilus.

Ben shows up, saying they’ll need a good pilot to reach the homeworld. He’s reverted back to human form and he’s looking in bad shape, but he doesn’t want to lie in bed. Reed uses Old John’s tech to follow the interdimensional trail back to the homeworld. Space appears to be empty, but Old John insists that the planet is hidden by a “chrono-dimensional shield.” They’ve not just gone to another universe, but back in time before the worst has happened. That’s why he ran to find the Fantastic Four, so things won’t end the same way.

The Four’s ship flies through a gap in the shield, putting them over the planet. They’re immediately attacked by defensive spacecraft. The heroes fly past the enemy ships and into an electromagnetic barrage. The ship shorts out, and the heroes can’t use their powers, so they flee to the escape pods. Old John flies out of the ship as it explodes.

Down on the surface, we see this world’s Dr. Doom having defeated the alternate Fantastic Four from the previous issue, horribly scarring Johnny. Old John survives the explosion, and flies toward Doom’s location. Doom deduces he’s come from the future. Doom sends Annihilus after Old John. Kang questions Doom’s choices, saying he and Doom need to work together.

Rewind to a flashback, when Sue pulled out a small device just before the ship exploded. Flashback again to before the FF left on this expedition, where Medusa gave Sue this device in case of emergency. It’s a dog whistle, and Sue uses it to summon Lockjaw, the Inhumans’ giant teleporting dog. Lockjaw brings them all to the planet’s surface. But it’s not in time for Johnny, who teleports down with a piece of shrapnel in his collarbone.

Johnny flames on to melt away the metal, but it doesn’t heal his wound. But now he can’t flame off and he’s bleeding. Reed suggests using his uniform as thread for stitches and Sue to create a force field needle. She’s concerned about losing control of her powers again, and she tells Franklin and Valeria to go back home with Lockjaw. She assures them that Ant-Man and the rest of the Future Foundation gang will take care of them. The kids teleport away, and Sue commences with the invisible force field surgery. Cut to later, when Sue succeeded in saving Johnny, and the four heroes fall asleep right there in the ruined city. Then they’re approached by the alternate Fantastic Four from this universe.

At Dr. Doom’s HQ, Kang gives a big speech about how the Negative Zone could connect all realities and dimensions, spreading across them. He proposes mastering the Negative Zone just as he has mastered time. Doom attacks Kang, only to reveal Kang as a hologram. Kang further says he will use Doom’s cosmic power siphon, which Doom had nearby, to steal the power of Annihilus. Doom finds Kang but not in time. Kang has already stolen Annihilus’ power, naming himself Kang the Annihilating Conqueror!

To be continued!

Unstable molecule: Reed of course makes a point of stating that the team’s new containment suits are made of unstable molecules, because of course he does.

Fade out: Because of the still-unnamed molecular disease that’s affecting the team, Sue turns invisible while she sleeps.

Clobberin’ time: Ben often fills in the pilot/astronaut role for this team, but in this issue he boasts about being the “best rocket jockey” in the entire universe. We can assume he is exaggerating.

Flame on: When Johnny is injured and cannot flame off, he bleeds not regular blood but “hyper-oxygenated hemoglobin” which looks like little flames spurting out of him. Weird.

Four and a half/Our gal Val: Reed encourages Franklin and Valeria to tell everyone at the Future Foundation about all their adventures across space and time. Could this be setting up a future plot point?

SUE-per spy: The 2019 Invisible Woman miniseries revealed Sue had a double life as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent all along. Could this be where she learned these expert surgery skills of hers?

Trivia time: Yes, the cosmic siphon device is the same one from way back in issue #57, the classic tale of Dr. Doom stealing the Silver Surfer’s power. This issue suggests that he always keeps it nearby, which I find hilarious.

Fantastic or frightful? I was enjoying this dual series experiment when it started, yet I felt some frustration at waiting for the main plot to get going. Now that it has kicked off, I’m frustrated because it’s the usual confusing Marvel alternate universe/multiverse stuff. I’ve had a hard time writing these recaps because it’s both hard to follow and kind of uninteresting.

Next: Man with the plan.

* * * *

Want more? My ongoing series THE SUBTERKNIGHTS is back on the Kindle store! A man searches for his missing sister in a futuristic city filled with far-out tech, strange creatures, and secret magic. Only $0.99 or free with KU!

Reading the Fantastic Four comics from the start. Has it really been a whole month since I last did one of these? Sorry about that. Here’s FF vol. 2 #13.

Here’s the recap again. The Fantastic Four went on a journey throughout time and space, leaving behind a replacement Fantastic Four – Ant-Man, Medusa, She-Hulk, and newcomer Darla Deering – to run the Future Foundation in their place. They disappeared, leaving the new team on their own. An older Johnny Storm, now known as Old John Storm, arrived from the future with a tale of an all-powerful Dr. Doom, called the Conquering Doom, who killed the Fantastic Four in the distant future. But then, present-day Dr. Doom has made a deal with Alex Power to spy on the new FF, holding Alex’s parents hostage.

After seemingly disappearing in a portal in an attempt to rescue the Fantastic Four, everyone appears in a sort of strange purple world. Ant-Man is gigantic while everyone else is ant-sized. He traps Alex and Maximus in jars, having figures out their plot from previous issues. He says this place is somewhere Dr. doom cannot track them. We cut to Latveria, to show that’s true, as Kid Immortus tells Doom he doesn’t know where the heroes have gone. Doom has Ravona locked up to give Kid Immortus more motivation

.

Back in the purple world, Ant-Man and the alien Julius Caesar explain that they’ve shrunken down onto the surface of the Impossible Man’s purple underpants (!). After joking about that for a bit, Impossible Man teleports everyone to the blue area of the moon, just outside the Watcher’s house.

The Watcher threatens to throw everyone out of his home, but Ant-Man threatens him with what appears to be the Ultimate Nullifier. He surrenders, as does Ulana, his female… companion? Partner? Girlfriend, even? But then he convinces everyone to let him go on “parole,” and the kids are let loose to explore the breathable air in the Blue Area. Ant-Man and Alex Power have a talk. Ant-Man says he understands that Alex was under duress, but he nonetheless disappointed the younger kids who look up to him. “Rather like being a parent,” he says.  

Cut to (the surface of) the moon, where the Future Foundation kids run into the Red Ghost and his Super-Apes, along with a second Red Ghost and Super-Apes from a different timeline, also here. (This is very confusing.) There’s some joking around for a bit, and then they all fight. The Watcher and Ulana, meanwhile, have their own heart-to-heart chat, about how the cosmos is in danger, and only the heroes of Earth can affect the outcome. The Watcher questions about what must done, whether the Watcher Council approves of it or not.

Alone, Ant-Man ponders his own words to Alex, saying he’s come to the think of himself as a father figure to the FF kids as well. He says he’s been letting his anger at Dr. Doom get to him. With that in mind, he sends a message to the others, saying it’s time to take down Dr. Doom, once and for all.

To be continued!

Fantastic fifth wheel: When Ant-Man is remembering the good old days, there are what appears to be globes with images floating around him. I thought they were comic panels, but then he holds one.

Darla knows Ant-Man well enough to call him by his full name, Scott Edward Harris Lang.

Medusa uses her hair to keep everyone from being separated while in the purple space.

Foundational: When exploring the abandoned Kree city in the Blue Area of the Moon, the Moloid kids find a machine that produces nothing but bananas. This is what attracts the Super-Apes to their locations. Okay…

Adoplh Impossible shows his genius by quoting directly from the dictionary he’d memorized. (Not that I’d know anything about reading a dictionary.) He and Luna are seen holding hands again.

Trivia time: This is the first appearance of Ulana the Watcher. She’ll be around for a bit, and she’ll later return in Exiles and Mighty Avengers.

Fantastic or frightful? You can tell this is someone else working off of writer Matt Fraction’s notes, because this issue feels half-finished. The Red Ghost business is confusing, as is the business with the Watcher and the Ultimate Nullifier. The good stuff is the character moments with Alex and Ant-Man.

Next: The old whistle test.

* * * *

Want more? My ongoing series THE SUBTERKNIGHTS is back on the Kindle store! A man searches for his missing sister in a futuristic city filled with far-out tech, strange creatures, and secret magic. Only $0.99 or free with KU!