Reprints Fantastic Four #204-214
Written by Marv Wolfman.
Penciled by Keith Pollard, Sal Buscema, John Byrne and Diverse Hands.
Inked by Joe Sinnott and Diverse Hands.
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| Variant cover. |
Summary:
The Fantastic Four are in the Baxter Building, relaxing after a recent battle, but Reed Richards is worried because he has discovered someone is siphoning power from the FF's computer into space.
Suddenly, a woman beams into the building, followed by a skrull! This skrull calls himself Skrull X. He has super powers and is a handful for the FF. Reed zaps him with a stasis ray, ending the fight.
They learn that the woman is Queen Adora of the planet Xandar. She fled her homeworld when it was attacked by the skrulls. Adora came to Earth seeking the aid of the Fantastic Four. Without assistance, Xandar and its people will be destroyed by the Skrulls. The team meets and decides to help free Xandar.
But Johnny Storm, the Human Torch declines. He says he needs to return to college and take a leave of absence from the FF. Coincidentally, Johnny receives a recruitment letter from Security University, a college designed to provide privacy for the "wealthy and famous." But strange things are happening at the university. We learn that, behind the scenes, Security U. is run by the Fantastic Four's old foe, the Monocle. He's working with a mysterious criminal organization called the Enclave and Security is a front that will help them take revenge on the Torch and his teammates.
Peter Parker shows up on campus, doing undercover reporting for the Daily Globe. Parker observes Security's students, including Johnny, attack a military base. He goes into action as Spider-Man and is attacked by the Torch. If Spider-Man wants to bring the Monocle to justice, he'll have to free the Human Torch from hypnosis, or go through him.
Meanwhile, in outer space, the Fantastic Four arrive on Xandar and find it under attack by the skrulls. The FF join the battle, they seem to be gaining the upper hand, when they're zapped by the skrull's stun ray. They are captured and skrull emperor Dorrek says they will be tried for treason against the Skrull Empire.
During the trial, Reed tries to reason with the judge and is gunned down. Ben and Sue get the same treatment. But they're not dead and they escape from their jail cell and escape to Xandar. Dorrek lets them escape, saying the FF will be dead in a few days. They were shot with a ray that will make them die of old age. Plus, their ship is set to explode.
When it explodes, they are rescued by the Champions of Xandar, led by Nova. They are traveling with the Sphinx (who previously battled the FF), who suddenly disappears.
Sphinx reaches the computers of Xandar, which make him a virtual god. The universe will not be safe until the Sphinx is defeated. Sphinx is angry at Earth for the way its people treated him, so he vows to destroy the planet.
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| The Sphinx attains near godhood. |
So Reed gets an idea. He will recruit Galactus, devourer of worlds, to stop the Sphinx. Galactus agrees, but only if the FF can find a new herald for him.
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| The FF try to get Galactus' attention; Nice artwork from John Byrne & Joe Sinnott. |
The heroes find Tyros the Terrible and bring him before Galactus. The Big G turns Tyros into Terrax The Tamer. As Galactus' herald, Terrax has the power to fly through space and create earthquakes with his cosmic battleaxe. Galactus follows through on his agreement and goes to Egypt to battle the Sphinx.
Can Galactus save Earth from the Sphinx? If so, will Galactus then devour Earth? Will the Fantastic Four die of old age?
Review:
This is a very good, epic-length story that could have been an all-time great saga, if not for...well, see below. But it still contains a good story and even better art.
Story:
Marv Wolfman wrote every issue reprinted here, and it's good from cover-to-cover. You're never in doubt that the FF will survive the aging ray, but it's always entertaining. The battle between Galactus and Sphinx is the high point of this book.
The Human Torch/Spider-Man vs. Monocle portion has nothing to do with the main storyline, other than serving as an excuse for the Torch to be absent, but it's a fun side story. Spidey and the Torch were always a good duo. It feels more like a Marvel Team-Up story than an FF tale, but that's okay.
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| The FF challenge Tyros the Terrible. |
The Sphinx's flashback was good, and his battle with Galactus was a good fight, even if it was one-sided. The Fantastic Four interacted nicely with Nova and the Champions of Xandar. That makes sense, since Wolfman was writing both series at the time.
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| Sphinx looks back on life & origin. |
Speaking of Galactus, it seems like every Fantastic Four scribe took a shot a writing a story that featured "The Big G", as the Torch calls him. Wolfman does a good job with Galactus, reminding us that he's not a "villain", but an entity that is above simple good and evil. Terrax/Tyros is a Wolfman creation and he went on to menace the FF for years after this story.
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| Galactus gets a new herald, transforming Tyros into Terrax. |
Wolfman found a clever way to introduce Herbie the robot. For those too young to recall, Herbie took the Torch's place in the FF when the Fantastic Four cartoon aired in 1978-79. Another company owned the rights to the Human Torch, which is why Herbie was created. In the panel below, Wolfman provides a sly explanation for why Johnny Storm didn't appear in the cartoon:
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| Reed creates Herbie. |
But In Search Of Galactus has some problems.
First off, I've never been crazy about the skrulls as primary villains. The skrulls rarely use their shape-shifting powers here, which makes them just generic aliens with guns.
Skrull X is the only skrull who uses shape-shifting abilities. He has other powers and even mimics the Human Torch's power. He tells Johnny, "like the Super-Skrull, I have been given the ability to dulplicate the powers of the Fantastic Four." So why didn't Wolfman just bring back Super-Skrull? Skrull X has an unimaginative name and he just feels like a "poor man's Super-Skrull."
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| Skrull X attacks the Torch. |
The Skrull-Xandar conflict is dominant for the first 160 pages of the book. Then Wolfman drops it in favor of the Galactus/Terrax/Sphinx story. We get a few token mentions about Xandar after that, but we never learn how/if they survive the Skrull's attack.
And there's a bit of a continuity error. At the end of one issue, Sphinx disappears from his ship. But when the story resumes, Sphinx is still present.
It's still a good story, but it could have been even better if Wolfman had tied up some of the plots and subplots.
Art:
The art here is excellent, with one exception. The portion reprinted from Fantastic Four #208 is credited to "D.Hands", meaning "diverse hands" served as inkers.
Other than that, we get gorgeous pencils from Keith Pollard, Sal Buscema and John Byrne, all inked by Joe Sinnott. Here's a great two-page spread from Byrne and Sinnott:
How does it look?:
Here's a scan from Fantastic Four #205:
And here's how it looks in the book:
Fantastic Four: In Search Of Galactus is a fun romp through space with art from some of the Bronze Age's finest pencilers and inkers. It's recommended, but the unfinished plot threads keep me from giving it my highest rating.
J.A. Morris' rating:
3 and a half Sals.
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