1974: Act 4: the battle of the sexes (women's lib)

Summary
With America's male rulers failing so badly, the mid 1970s saw women's liberation reach the mainstream. The FF reflects this: story after story about the role of men and women and families.

• FF150-154: Reed and Sue are back together. But the sexes are still at war.
• FF155-157: The the midpoint story of the whole 28 year epic, with all major themes and motifs.
• FF158-159: Sue effectively takes over.
• FF160-163: Reed fails, and causes a war of the worlds.
• FF164-165: Ben and Johnny have had enough of Reed.
• FF166-171: Ben rejects his humanity.
• Annual 11, FF172: America's bicentennial
  
• FF172-175: Ben failed his test. Sue succeeds and saves the world again.

150

Issue 150: what Franklin can do

This is the clearest example yet of what Franklin can do: the combined might of the Avengers (including Thor) and the Inhumans (including Black Bolt - see FF annual 12 for the extent of his power) and the Fantastic Four, including the witch Agatha Harkness, cannot stop this threat,. but Franklin can stop it in his sleep. But still Reed will not pay him any attention. He gives him the occasional hug (Reed is not a monster) and then packs him away to Agatha, the one who gave Franklin up to Annihilus, in the house that last time they passed it was just a smoking crater. Sue is giving Reed another chance, but Reed has not changes.

As for Crystal, did she really want to get married? She was having second thoughts but she had promised, and she always does her duty. For the tragic details see Crystal's own page.

GS "Giant Size Fantastic Four": just a comic? At the same time as FF151-154, Marvel published "Giant Sized Fantastic Four" issues 1 to 4. They were designed as stand alone stories, so are not closely tied to the main continuity. Or are they? When I frst made this web site I ignored these issues for that reason, but one day I should examine them in depth. Here is just an overview. Points to note: Hulk v Thing: Issue 1 nicely illustrates Ben's strength in comparison with the Hulk. Yes, Ben's body can defeat the Hulk's body: this time it's the Hulk body making excuses. The art is great. American history: Issue 2 is a natural sibling to FF Annual 11: Ben's comment in FF Annual 11 links the two, and between them they serve as a guide through America's past. The final battle of issue 2 can be seen as a comment on Marvel Time: if a character cannot change then his existence is meaningless and he eventually longs for death This might be a good point to show a picture from the 1976 Marvel calender. The horsemen Issue 3 has the Biblical theme of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, and the art by Buscema and Sinnott is lovely. But there isn't much tension (the bad guys are easily defeated). A single issue is not enough to make us care about the new characters. Madrox: Issue 4 introduces Madrox the Multiple Man, a character later taken up by the X-Men comics. It was written by Len Wein, who left the regular book after 157 (to focus on Giant Size X-men 1 among other things). The Madrox story was actually originally going to be part of Wein’s run, but when he left it went into the Giant-Size run instead. "My original name for the character was Jamie ZERROX (Zerrox, the Multiple Man. Get it? Boy, was I clever in those days. :-) ) When I passed the name by then Editor-in-Chief Roy Thomas, he looked at me like I had three heads. 'You’re kidding, right?' he said. 'Who’s gonna pay off the huge lawsuit, you?' 'But it’s not even spelled the same,' I said. 'Not happening,' said Roy. So I came up with a bunch of alternative until I came up with Madrox, that sounded like an action word, and thus it has been ever since." (- Len Wein, via Brian Cronin's Legends series) More to follow... one day.

151

Issue 151: no longer bickering children. Adults, friends.

After the immature outburst of FF145, and seeing the woman he loves marry, Johnny wants to stop acting like a child. He's 24 years old: no longer a youth.

The zeitgeist: feminism

Too simplistic?

"Conflict bad, equality good" may seem obvious but the message still isn't getting through. We still have conflict and inequality so obviously it still needs saying. Most people still embrace inequality based on accident of birth: e.g. "it is right that I have move money and more choices than you, because I am born American and you are born Somalian. yet it sucks and in an ideal world it would be different but we can't do anything about it, and opening borders would be disastrous." This is the same hand wringing once used for racism, sexism and other forms of prejudice. This comic makes the men and woman not just support inequality but embrace and celebrate it, showing how wrong it really is. Similarly for conflict. The fact that many people prefer comics with more fighting (rather than solving problems through dialog) shows that deep down we enjoy conflict really.  Mahkizmo is us.

Sue and Feminism

Sue is spending time away from Reed, getting to know how she feels. Yes, she has come back, but it will be on her own terms now. The time away has been vital. In the past she was dependent on Reed and didn't know why better. Now she is learning independence. This is not the kind of comic book where the past is forgotten. The past has consequences and the problems have not been resolved. This sequence from Giant Size FF 3, set after 150, makes it explicit that Sue is still with her friends' ranch in Pennsylvania, where she will stay for a few weeks until she feels ready to share a house with Reed again.

The zeitgeist: nuclear power

• FF52 famously introduced the negative zone and dimensional travel.
• FF151-152 features cross dimensional travel, using an image of Reed navigating the Negative Zone, taken from FF51.
• FF251-256 feature a new "improved" portal and journey through the Negative Zone.
• FF351 is a study by Kubik, the expert on higher dimensions (see the backup story to FF annuals 22 and 23). FF352 is the famous time jumping story, followed directly by FF353-4, the story of the Time Variance Authority and colliding dimensions.
• FF451 (volume 3,22) is about a "chaos storm" of colliding dimensions (see FF453 /3:24 for more). It is the issue where we discover that Valeria's DNA has the same Negative Zone markers as Franklin (as well as the same DNA Sue, as far as can be told), thus proving she is Sue's daughter. Franklinverse dimension-jumping chaos later follows a different dimension where Valeria is unborn, and then Doom has to use his sorcery to ensure she is born. For details see the discussion of Valeria  and of time travel in the notes to FF272.

152

Issue 152: Reed tries to be softer, more gentle.

This issue continues the battle of the sexes: a war between a planet of men and a planet of women (see comments on the previous issue). In this issue Reed tries to be more tender. Note the contrast: Reed is not a machismo, he doesn't think men are superior to women, oh no sir. Not Reed. But next issue he tells her to stay behind while the others go off fighting. he tries it again in FF158 and that is the last straw: FF159 changes everything.

Let's hope Reed's new approach lasts.

Why such a short review?
There isn't much to say because this is almost a fill in issue: according to an apology at the end of this issue, and the letters page of FF156, this issue almost didn't appear. It was completed a mere three weeks before it appeared on newsstands. The last image of The Thing is unforgettable for its awfulness. It holds the record for the worst drawing of the Thing ever. It was clearly drawn in seconds then rushed off before the ink was even dry.

In interviews on the now defunct "FantasticFourHeadquarters" site the creative team expressed embarrassment about this arc. But the glory of the Fantastic Four is precisely its rushed nature: when in doubt they just grab some obvious cliche and barely change it. But a cliche is a cliche precisely because it reflects the zeitgeist. Extreme feminism was a real concern for many at the time. These cliche are s window into the America of 1974.

• The letters page to this issue is historic: a large proportion of fans asked for Sue to leave or at least divorce Reed. They agreed with Medusa that Reed's zapping of his son should be seen in isolation and therefore was justified.
  
• Due to the rush Reed has a hand at the end of his leg on the splash page. This is part of a pattern: click for details.
• This kind of rush was common before Jim Shooter took over in 1978. Shooter abolished the role of combined writer-editor, thus ensuring that at least somebody else is breathing down a writer's neck and isn;t too likely to accept excuses. He also insisted that there were inventory issues ready to replace any late comics so there would never be any more reprint or rushed comics.
• Reed's headphones:
  
  Like many programmers, Reed wears headphones to remove distractions (often there is no music, but wearing headphones when programming discourages other from chatting to you unless it's important). Note that Reed is so focused on his project and unaware of others' needs that he lets Ben carry a weight for almost an hour, even though it isn't needed. This also shows Ben's underlying caring nature, that he would take that kind of treatment from Reed. And note of course that Rich Buckler at this early stage routinely copied from Kirby. All artists were encouraged to do this but he took it more literally than most. Note also that "time" looks very much like the Time magazine logo, then a very important upmarket magazine.
  

153

Issue 153: being ultra male

If Marvel had explained everything they would be accused of being too wordy. Now they are accused of not explaining it! Yet they gave enough information to work it out. Let's look at what we know:

1. The basic problem is a probability crisis. The future male and female words are at extremes of probability. This cannot continue: the time stream has a natural idea of balance: wanting to merge them back.
2. A temporal field attracted Thundra to he Baxter Building - perhaps linked to the use of the time machine Reed seems hesitant to use the time machine - he only uses it when he absolutely has to, despite its ability to go almost anywhere. it probably causes all kinds of problems with the time stream.
3. Thundra's idea to beat the strongest male was probably a guess: it was the only thing she could think to do to give her reality a higher probability of existing.
   
4. The fact that a time machine can exist at all indicates connections between normally unconnected realities. 
5. Normally the time machine just jump to a reality, but in this case it stands outside and sees all connected realities pass by. This suggests that similarities are what connect the realities.
6. Since realities are connected by similarity, and some realities are too improbably to exist, it is reasonable to suggest that they might link again.
7. Mahkizmo is somehow endangering all realities. This is the key.
   

Now look at what we know about Mahkizmo and his friends:

1. The future men are not very bright, but very violent, yet use highly advanced machines: the ones they use must be stolen.
2. In particular they have what looks like the Skrull arena and mind sapping ray
3. Consider what links all those powers: the original skrull arena also had a gravitational device.
4. They also have a time slowing device
5. Mahkizmo is a nuclear man, yet does not create explosions in the way Blastaar does. Reed calls the final explosion nuclear yet it caused no conventional damage: it simply kills Mahkizmo and merges realities.
6. He somehow uses force (hitting people) to weaken people, but not in the usual way.
   
7. At the end, merging realities affects the people's thinking. Also, Thundra's different thinking dragged her to a different world.
   

Now recall what we know about different dimensions from theoretical physics

1. Time and dimensions are warped by extreme gravity and at nuclear scales.
2. At the nuclear scale, the quantum scale, observing a scene changes it
3. Occam's razor says always reduce the number of elements: if one element can explain two things use it. It is all linked by some common technology.
   

OK, so here is a scenario suggested by the comics. Before the end:

1. Nuclear technology exists that links time and space and the human mind
2. The Mahkizmo's men stole it and use it recklessly.
   
3. Mahkizmo, the most extreme, is the most reckless; he has somehow incorporated it into his body. The extreme males have no idea what they are doing and take many risks. We can easily imagine a thousand or a million of the wild men dying before one of them gets lucky and becomes Mahkizmo.
4. So they are basically playing with time and space and dimensions while the forces of nature try to correct themselves. This probably causes the two least stable (most extreme) dimensions to try to recombine.
5. My guess is that when Mahkizmo hits somebody he causes trauma to every molecule of their body: moving them all in sightly different directions dimensionally, just enough to render them unconscious.

At the end:

1. At the end, Mahkizmo is ready to apply the same force to the entire world. This requires a moment of great instability as he prepares.
2. Look closely at the moment when he is defeated: it appears that Thundra, the ultimate woman, had merge her hand inside the unstable ultimate man. This combines the mental focus of the two unstable realities that were previously trying to merge. She then orders Ben to hit him: this creates a shake up far greater than Mahkizmo had planned.
   
3. The effect is perhaps similar to aligning iron to the Earth's magnetic pole then hitting it hard, creating a weak magnet because a few particles then settle back into alignment with the field rather than at random as before. With Mahkizmo instead of charged particles we have all possible positions of a quantum field of particles. Hitting him at his most disordered and neutral state forces this field to collapse into its most ordered state. This kills Mahkizmo, who's extreme improbability can no longer exists. Like a magnet, the now ordered probability influences connected probabilities and orders them as well: people become less extreme, like the poles of a magnet combining and becoming neutral. OK, it's a tortured analogy but it's the only way I can visualize it.
   

Put simply...
Think of all realities as a big box of sand. Mahkizmo has technology (that he does not understand) that shakes this box up by hitting it. He can make it all shake in one direction or another. But if it is merely shaken at random then it all settles neatly at the bottom of the box in an ordered form.

It is a beautifully elegant story, presenting the most complex idea in the biggest, simplest way. Here are men playing with toys and taking risks, shaking things up just to see what happens. They are the ultimate irresponsible males.

Other criticisms (mostly from FF1by1.com)

• Medusa
  "Where did Medusa come from? how did she get there?" The last page of the previous issue shows that she used Reed's cross time device.
• The Domina-ray
  "What is a Domina-Ray and why is it needed?" It comes in very handy when you live in a planet full of testosterone filled madmen: the ruler need a way to calm them down. This sounds like a variation on various devices used by Maximus and Doom: since the technology is discovered in our time it is probably commonplace in Makhizmo's future.
• Why did Thundra come back to Earth?
  She was sent here before: her scientists did something to her to make her come here, so when the dimensions were shaken up that was her natural destination.
  

• Sexual imagery
  Mahkizmo is a serial rapist (when he isn't being a mass murderer, though he no doubt combines both hobbies). Look closely at the picture when he is defeated: Thundra seems to have inserted her hand into his temporarily vulnerable form. Now he is on the receiving end and cannot cope.
  
• Tony Isabella and the most rushed story
  This, the climax to the multi world story, is perhaps the most rushed of the rushed issues (not including next issue's reprint story, obviously (see notes to FF252 and FF254). Back Issue magazine 74 wrote:
  "FF153 was running very late when Tony Isabella was given the job of finishing the multi issue by Gerry Conway and Rich Buckler. The issue identified Isabella as the scripter which implied he only wrote captions dialog and sound effects for the existing art."
  Karl Disley writes:
  "Not true. 153 was running very late so the afternoon he [Isabella] received the assignment to write the issue he co-plotted the issue with Buckler. There was no existing plot for how Conway had intend for the story to end and no art had been drawn for that concluded issue. For the next three days it went as follows: Buckler would bring in pages and Isabella would script them overnight to be sent out for lettering the next morning. Joe Rosen would letter them and send them directly to Joe Sinnott for inking. There was no tine for any substantial changes to any stage of the process as the printers beckoned. The entire issue was completed in four or five days as opposed to the normal 11. Isabella's credit for FF153 is properly co-plot and script.
  This climax issue is early Rich Buckler trying to go all super Kirby with Kirby monsters, Kirby dots, Kirby bad guys and so on: it doesn't have Kirby's style but has its own sincere energy. Buckler really comes into his own in later issues - FF158 for example.
• Fan trivia
  The letter about time travel was written by Peter B Gillis. Four years later (in 1978) he was writing professionally for Marvel, including the Dr Doom title "Super Villain Team Up." ""The revival and annual publication of SVTU was part of the legal maneuvering on Marvel's part to keep DC from trademarking the term 'Super Villain' as in 'Secret Society of'. For that, annual publication was enough, and by the second year, the legal tussle was resolved." (Back Issue 66)
  
• Zardoz
  Those Machus men look familiar. Remember the cult "so bad it's good" classic movie Zardoz. Starring Sean Connery, it came out in 1974, just before this issue was prepared. It had a similar plot: a post apocalyptic future full of violent men (the Brutals) in conflict with powerful women (Eternals). Jack Kirby was famous for recycling movie ideas in his later FF issues, and Gerry Conway (or Tony Isabella) seems to have done the same.

154

Issue 154 (mainly a reprint)

At this stage the comics were running very late, almost missing deadlines. So this one used a reprint and just a dded a few pages of quick padding at each end. it's not really part of the big 27 year story.
This is the first ever FF reprint, and it allowed the next story some breathing space: FF155 could not be rushed, it's too important.

Issue 155-157: the biggest FF story ever

Here we take a well deserved break from all the angst, to remember that the Fantastic Four can be a whole lot of fun. Don't worry, the stress returns with a vengeance in FF158. This still pushes the big story forwards, but mainly through secondary characters:

• The Silver Surfer deepens as an individual (Shalla Bal appeared in the surfer's own comic, but this is the first time we see her in the FF)
• We are introduced to Mephisto, who will play an important role toward the end of act 4.
• Doom recovers from his low point in FF242-43: his power comes from his relationship with his people (just as Reed needs his family to function). This story is based on the streets of Latveria and Doom has more dignity. His focus on art is another indicator: in FF243 he just used it as a way to make fun of Reed, but here he loves it for its own sake.

The Surfer's secret is finally revealed

This topic is so big, so deep, that it has its own page.

The message: layers of meaning

The Fantastic Four stands out from other comics because of its multiple layers. That is the theme of this half way point.

• On the surface it's just super heroes hitting each other. Most stories last one or two issues.
• Look deeper and it's about family: relationships and trials may last several months or even years.
• Look deeper still and it's a 28 year story with a beginning, middle and end.

Layers feature strongly in this story

1. The surface appearance, where Doom finds his beloved Shalla Bal
   
2. Doom's deeper layer, here it's all a trick
3. Mephisto is the deepest layer of all. Each layer is unaware of the one beneath it: Doom would never accept the possibility that someone else controls him.
4. The question then is what lies behind Mephisto? Well, Franklin may unconsciously influence everything. We see in FF277 (and again in annual 20) that the only being Mephisto fears is Franklin. And that layer is so deep that even Franklin doesn't recognize it.

Themes
This is a milestone issue, so it's worth pointing out the major themes again (usually I avoid spelling them out but they are always there):

• Reluctant heroes:
  Sue is not even there: she had to be replaced. Johnny, though here, wears a different uniform to show he is not comfortable with the set up (he returns to the team's uniform when Sue becomes dominant in FF159), The Surfer is trapped in situation he never wanted, without a home (see the last page in particular).
• Self confidence:
  the whole story is a riot of self belief: these four friends can overcome anything that's thrown at them! In particular, Ben is intelligent (fighter pilot) and can show it when not overshadowed by Reed. Doom cannot imagine that to be the case.
• Equality:
  the most powerful ruler, Doom, can be beaten, and in fact he's just a puppet of a higher power. meanwhile the weakest person present, Shall Bal, is potentially the strongest: the Surfer will do anything for her.
• The American Dream:
  four Americans bringing justice to a tyrant's country. Also a lowly peasant can find she is really a princess. Yes, its; fairy tale stuff folks.

Foreshadowing
This is a milestone story and foreshadows the very end:

• This, the biggest story, is effectively the half way point in the 28 year story (the actual half way point is 162, but who's counting?).
• Compare annual 20, and note the levels of control: surfer < Doom < Mephisto < Franklin
• These multiple layers of control foreshadow the Franklinverse: the dreams within dreams spelled out in FF330-332, which in turn foreshadows the many years to follow.
• Note the length of the "Reed losing power" sub plot: from issues 157 to 200 (or 140 to 200 if we include Annihilus' actions that he said would cause a delayed reaction). This is perhaps the longest subplot that did not begin in Act 2 or before, and does not have gaps (e.g. the Frankie subplot)
  
  

Criticisms

• Why does Doom use over-elaborate traps? Why not just kill them? See notes by FF17: Doom's goal is to prove his superiority, not kill them, though he might kill them in the process.

• The 100 issue cycle
  Doom attempts to control the Power Cosmic three times, each 100 issues apart. Each builds on the previous ones.
  

1. In FF57-58 he diverts the Surfer's own energy
2. In FF157 he attempts to duplicate it for a machine
3. In FF258 he attempts to duplicate it for a person

• Zugzwang
  The title to part two is "Zugzwang" Roy says "look it up." It's "a situation in which a player is limited to moves that cost pieces or have a damaging positional effect." (source)
• Realism: what it would really be like
  "I love how the thugs call Ben 'fatso' before he turns around and they see who he is. Back in the day, the Thing always seemed of average height, say 6', but he was incredibly wide and massive. He didn't have the usual proportions of a super-hero. I like that." (source)
• Importance
  This is the biggest Fantastic Four story of all, split over three issues bigger than the triple sized 236 and 296. Issue 600 is technically larger but it comes from a time of decompressed stories where much less happens on each page.
  
• Why combine the reviews?
  156, called "middle game" is the only issue where a title admits that it is not complete. For that reason, these three issues are treated as a single unit in this review. I am not a fan of stories where you only get a chapter: I want high value for for my hard earned money. But this case, like FF212-213, is a rare exception: the quality of the story and art mean I will happily pay three times for the one story
• Humor
  "Did you notice Johnny saying they would take down the Doombots in 'one swell foop' rather than 'one fell swoop'?! I'm just wondering if that was a mistake, or if Thomas/Wein were trying to make a comment on Johnny? He never did finish college...." (source) Or this could be his sense of humor, perhaps a phrase current in the early 1970s.
• Realism: the role of priceless art
  How the battle suddenly ends: "in came Shalla Bal (or should I say Helena, who she claimed to be -- used by Doom as a doppelganger to get the Surfer under his control), and her cries against wrecking Castle Doom were immediately heeded. What's that, you say? Some girl stopped Marvel's flagship super-team from pounding Marvel's greatest menace, just like that? Yep. And on account of saving the cultural history of the nation of Latveria, stored in Castle Doom. Although I had a big case of "what the?!?" as this unfolded, I was taken back to some curriculum work I'd done for a film entitled The Rape of Europa. That documentary is about the Nazis' heist of priceless works of art during WWII, and their careless regard for timeless, priceless treasures including works dating to the Renaissance. So with that in mind, I thought her pleas were appropriate." (source)
  
• Priceless art, again
  This also reminds us of the ending to FF87: once before, Doom lets the heroes leave after the castle art is threatened. 
• Doom's limits
  Doom is petty, trying to prove himself: then in an act of sour grapes he says he does not want the surfer's power. Probably in reality he cannot get it: the surfer will not let himself lose his power, so this time Doom must analyze it to duplicate it instead.
• Literary references
  
  • Doom refers to the the image of a boot tamping endlessly on a face - a phrase from the novel 1984.
  • Ben refers to the rhyme "London Bridge is Falling Down"
  • "Laughter in hell for about the space of half an hour" is a reference to the book of Revelation, where at one point there is silence in heaven for half an hour

• Doom's character development
  For an overview of Doom's development in his twenty appearances see his own page.

  

158

Issue 158: Sue wants to be a detective

• It fits her powers perfectly. Far better than being a super hero.
• Her father went to jail, unjustly, and died because he was impersonated. She will have a natural interest in the legal system and in uncovering truth.
• Time and again she has seen the team waste time or do the wrong thing because Reed didn't consider all the possibilities (e.g. FF220-223): Sue knows the value of standing back and looking for overlooked clues.
• It would allow her to mix with society friends (see FF1): gathering information from those with connections.
• She is later shown making invisible keys (e.g. in FF196 and FF224).
• She is naturally reserved, preferring to stand back and watch.
• Her life with Reed has shown that people have hidden weaknesses and are not always as they seem.
• She is good at seeing the big picture and has superb intuition.
• Her life has told her to keep secrets: not to just say what you think. As a teenager she had to raise her brother, so had to be responsible. She did not want to talk about her father in jail. She dido not feel able to challenge Reed intellectually. So she naturally keeps secrets and sees the bigger picture.
• Her greatest triumphs have been when investigating in secret when told to stay home: rescuing the Latverian village (F87) and the next issue (FF159) for example.
  

• The classics
  The bottomless fountain leads to "caverns measureless to man" - a quote from the poem Kubla Khan
• The underground river
  For the psychological symbolism of the underground river, see the notes to FF314: this is is where Sue is about to finally assert herself and take over (see next issue).
  
• Scientology: copied from Marvel comics?
  Scientology was growing in the 1970s, so it might be worth looking closer at the name Xemu. Xemu was an alternative spelling of Xenu, the slirn being made famous by scientology. According to Operation Clambake (a message board for ex-scientologists), "Xemnu the Hulk", later called "Xemnu the Titan", first appeared in Journey into Mystery #62 & 66 (Nov. 1960 & March 1961). In 1967 Marvel Super-Heroes reprinted Journey into Mystery # 62. Soon after, in December 1967, L. Ron Hubbard wrote his first he Xenu story. L.R. Hubbard contributed to Amazing Stories and Astounding. In fact, Dianetics first turns up in Astounding 195 # 4. The Xemu in FF158 is not the same as Xemnu the Titan, but all three versions of Xemu seem to be alien overlords with an interest in populating others' worlds. Whether there are other coincidences is left as an exercise for the reader.
• Sue's costume
  The letters page discussed possible new costumes: a couple of years later (in annual 12) Sue herself wonders. This reflected the changing status of women in America: a woman can now wear whatever she wants, but does she really want to? And what message will that send?
  
  
  
  
• Twinkies
  This had the first of the classic Hostess Twinkies ads: there would be 74 of these beauties, the last one published in FF241
  
  

159

Issue 159: the turning point: Sue takes over

The previous issue told us: this is a turning point

• This issue is almost exactly half way through the 321 issue great story, and close to half way to FF307 where Sue finally wins.
• It is intended as a major turning point: at the end Medusa leaves, Johnny gets his blue costume back, and Sue and Reed vow to start again to try to make things right this time.
• This is the issue where Sue, having endured the last straw of being treated as weak in the previous issue, saves the day in her most spectacular way because the others (including the patriarchal king Black Bolt) fail so miserably.
• This is the issue where Sue gets a major power-up thanks to the thunder horn while Reed is confused and helpless (note the phallic symbolism).
• This is the issue where Sue finally takes charge, but in her own, almost invisible way. From this point Sue is the stronger character. But as usual she leads through humility, through service, through making the others feel stronger. But watch closely in the following issues: it's Sue in control. When Reed wants t hide it's Sue who brings him his uniform and tells him to wear it. When Reed gives up and shuts the tam down it's Sue who plans to reform it. When Reed defeats Doom and says they don't need the team now it's Sue who tells him he must carry on. After that she has him more where she wants him, wearing normal clothes and spending time with his son (Doug Moench's run) but it wont be enough. So it will be Sue who tries her final gambit in FF232, Sue who drives the team forwards when Reed disappears and is sent to trial. Sue who finally makes Reed put Franklin first in FF307. Beginning this issue Sue is the Queen on the chess board, the most powerful player on the board, while Reed is the chess king, merely a weak figurehead.
  
• Last issue, when facing his manliest enemy, his great rial, he begins to feel weak, begins to lose his stretching ability. He feels emasculated. It will be downhill from here.
  
• Reed spends the next year (his time, three years our time) in decline, losing all confidence, then has a brief false dawn, a year trying to hold it together then a year being suicidal until finally he admits defeat and Sue wins, And he did it all to himself by his stubbornness: never once was Sue anything but loving and supportive.
  
• The turning point is her Pennsylvania retreat. The time at Carol's ranch gave her time on her own for the first time in her life, without Johnny or the team to worry about.
  
• Most fans see her becoming Malice in the final days of act 4 as the major change, but that was a mere footnote, as far as her developing personality is concerned. It was just a symptom of the utter chaos and evil at the end. But this, FF159, is where the new Sue appears. 
• Sue will still let Reed make decisions, because Sue is not out to defeat anybody. She has always recognized his intelligence, and (as she points out next issue) that his patents finance the team. But from now on, she can make him do what she wants if she decides to.
  
• But will she be up to the job? She has never led before. She won't have the confidence to really take charge until the final year (John Byrne's run on the title)? Until then, whenever Reed makes a bad decision, Sue may be culpable due to not pushing harder.

The Valentines issue

The marriage: its three parts
The Richards' marriage can be divided into three parts:

1. 1965-1971: Reed leads
2. 1971-1975: (FF106-159) the separate (149-159 they renegotiate the marriage)
   
3. 1975-1989: Sue leads. Though Reed is still technically in charge, he is emotionally vulnerable and orbits around Sue

Criticisms

• "I like how Ben said to Reed he felt Sue should've been with them. Reed's reasons for leaving her behind just don't wash. Another reason I never liked the guy! I agree, our heroes are taken down a little too easily. [Doug gives an explanation:] it obviously saved the FF from making any mistakes that might cost the lives of the royal family or any other innocent Inhumans." (source)
  
• Xemu had put his captives in a flame-proof, draft-proof, and Thing-proof stone chamber. Ben's best shot only served to crack the walls and the floor. But when a bit of moisture started to ooze up, that's all that was necessary for Triton to burst up through the floor and rescue the FF. What is happening? This is easily explained: think of how some plastic is easy to tear in one direction and almost impossible in another. Or how magnets push one way and not another. Obviously the cell was reinforced, and to be sure of restraining the Thing you'd need all possible molecular strength aligned in one direction, not the other.

Cold War zeitgeist

• The bad guy "expected that the Hidden Land would be laid waste and the Chinese would assume a plot by either the Americans or the Russians had been put in motion. Ah -- these were Cold War times, no?" (source)

That cover!
This classic cover was used on a lot of merchandising (and homages by later comics). "OK, how many of you had this cover on some of your Mead school products? Folders, notebook paper? I did not, but boy, I sure looked longingly at that stuff at the store!" (source)

160

Issue 160: the Valentines issue part 2;  Reed incorporates the business

Part two of the 27 story begins here. This issue is a landmark for two reasons: the family and the team. Major decades long themes begin here: Sue as the dominant member of the team, the team as a legal corporation, and hints of Johnny and Alicia. it is superb story telling that on Valentines day, when their relationship has just been saved, what does Reed do? Business. Not only that, but he choose this day to be a complete idiot, opposing Sue's wishes in a major area, driving away Johnny, putting the whole family at risk. On Valentines day just after they narrowly avoided divorce? Couldn't you have waited just one day? Oh you old Romantic, Reed.

The battle of the sexes continues

In this issue, Reed shows he hasn't learned to put his family first, though he thinks he is doing just that. He ignores Sue's advice, and thereby helps to causes a war on multiple worlds. Ben continues to neglect Alicia, and Johnny faces up to what he has lost by not being mature enough for Crystal. We see the first foreshadowing of Johnny-Alicia rebound relationship. 

Reed's need to make the team a corporation is probably an unconscious reaction to his new junior place. In reality Sue is the dominant one now and Reed wants to feel he's still in charge.

Reed has always had problems with finances: unlike Tony Stark (Iron Man) Reed is not a natural businessman. We saw this in FF9, and we see it again now: the others can see that he's making a big mistake but he ignored them. His pride will be his downfall.

Bob Ingersol explains why the FF had to incorporate in The Comic Buyer's Guide 519 (October 1983). The key points are as follows:

• Although the FF makes a lot of money from Reed's patents, it also has enormous costs, mainly from:

1. building and running exotic property and machinery,
2. taxes on their income
3. property damage and related lawsuits.

• Incorporating the team saves money by:

1. Paying zero tax (as a non-profit organization). The team was always non-profit (see Amazing Spider-man 1, where Spider-man tried to join and found he would not become rich), but it needs to be incorporated to get the tax breaks.
   
2. Keeping private wealth safe. Previously the team was a legal partnership, so each person was partly responsible for costs, and risked bankruptcy. But an incorporated business means only the business is liable: the employees' private wealth is safe.
3. Limiting how much is paid in lawsuits. A good accountant can make it seem that the business has no money at all at any time, and can then hire good lawyers to handle any problems.Although superheroes can invoke the "Doctrine of Emergency" (you are generally not liable for costs if you are saving somebody's life) this only applies the first couple of time. If a battle happens regularly it is no longer classed as an emergency and you are legally liable for any costs.

• The owner can then sell the business, as Reed does in this issue - but then he loses control, with disastrous results!

Did Reed make the right decision?

Financially the team needed drastic action. But Sue and Ben and Johnny all opposed Reed's solution. As scientists the others are not his equal, but in terms of common sense Sue and Ben Reed beat, and Johnny brings a valuable extra perspective. And the other were proven right: losing control of the team plunged three worlds into war. Losing control was the one line they must never cross.

Financially, the team did have other options. They could have downsized, taken a smaller headquarters, hired a consultant on commission only, or called in a favor from Tony Stark or T'Challa: both of them are businessmen who completely understand. Reed could even have asked Charles Xavier: in FF161 we see Reed using Xavier's technology. Xavier seems to have run his business OK, and he has even greater challenges than Reed as everybody hates mutants and he needs to do it in secret. So Reed did have other options. He did not have to sell the team. The others told him to reconsider and Reed should have listened to their counsel.

In short, Reed overstretched. he blew it, and caused World War Three (again: see FF103 where he creates a "cause world war" button and leaves it just lying around).

The Zeitgeist, and IT

Real time dates

This issue focuses on real time change. It begins with the exact date of the event, the only time this happens: it takes place on February 14th 1974. Later we are reminded that FF1 was in the year 1961. because you can place events at actual dates it is technically a real time story. However, although: Reed and Sue have been married for ten years, they are only aware of seven: time for them is slowing down every year. But time cannot slow forever. The difference between real time and experienced time will stretch and stretch until eventually it breaks. 

Stretching time is a sign of Franklin's influence. Chronologically he is now 7 years old, but he's afraid to grow up, and is biologically three years old, at least in this reality: in other realities he grows at the normal rate (see annuals 23 and 1998). By the end of this act, Act 4, the stretching will reach its limit: FF291 will place Nick Fury's teenage years in their proper place, the 1930s. True, Nick uses an anti-aging potion, but he fought with Ben Grimm in WWII, and this was the closest that the comic could come to hinting that yes, the original dates were still fixed, even at the end of the 28 year story. It was still possible to ignore the discrepancy, but only just. In 291, Byrne says that Sue met Reed when Reed was at college and Sue was just twelve years old. Being just twelve allows her to say she was not born in 1936, whereas we know that Reed and Ben fought in WWII. Conveniently, neither Reed nor Ben are present in the 1936 story. A couple of years later these rationalizations no longer work (Ben and Reed would need to be sixty years old), time will break completely, and the real world will be replaced completely by the Franklinverse.

• The doppelgangers motif is very common throughout the FF, allowing characters to see themselves in new ways.

161

Issue 161: Reed over stretches in every way: for the first time he feels fear.

This is Reed's wake up call: the moment when Reed should have seen what was happening. Never before and never again would so much go wrong at one time, and he will never again admit his fear and weakness. From now on it will be bottled up

Reed and Johnny find themselves in this arc, but this is the issue where Reed must face himself - and loses. The remainder of Act 4 shows the resulting despair, but this is the issue where readers can see it, and Reed cannot.

All because Reed over stretched himself, trying to do it all himself. He finally realizes that he is acting out of fear, and putting the others in danger. He knows it in his head, but he won't change his behavior. He still think everything must depend on him, and that he must lie to the others because they cannot handle the truth.

All the world wars

The title "all the world wars" can refer to war with his family: for the first and only time the team is split into three factions that fight each other. Not because they are mind controlled or tricked, but directly because of Reed's poor judgment. This is the point where Reed finally and completely fails as a leader. In future issues he pulls back from the brink, but eventually abandons the team. he then seems to get his strength back, but not because of any change in attitude. The false dawn of FF200 fails because the change does not come from inside.

"All the world wars at once" can also refer to Reed's battle with his health: he loses. Or his battle with financial creditors (which led to selling the team) - he loses. Or , for the first time, he is fighting against scientists who are just as moral, just as clever, and just as important as he is. He has no experience to cope with this. Whatever it is that Reed wants, he loses.

For the first time, the hero acts our of fear

For "perhaps the first time in his life" Reed feels fear. He says he is losing his ability due to aging. Time is passing (14 years real time, 11 years as experienced) and Reed can only conceive of it getting worse. This is a scientist and he fears the future! He says he must have courage to tell Sue, then does not tell her. He does not have courage, even though he admits that not telling them will put their lives at risk. We have never seen inside his head like this before.

Note that this issue is Reed's visibly lowest point: this is where readers can see everything fail at once. But because Reed cannot see, he is too stubborn, his emotional lowest point will not come until later in act 4.

What readers can see, but Reed cannot:

The title alludes to "all the last wars at once" by George Alec Effinger. Effinger was a rising science fiction star in 1975, and was experimenting with writing comic books (though not this one). An Amazon review of "all the last wars at once" summarizes it as "warring humanity subdivides into all the possible categories until only individuality is left." The significance of FF161 is not that words are at war but that the family is at war.

This story of Reed's failing health and financial problems survival through luck mirrors Effinger's life. From Wikipedia: "Throughout his life, Effinger suffered from health problems. These resulted in enormous medical bills which he was unable to pay, resulting in a declaration of bankruptcy. Because Louisiana's system of law descends from the Napoleonic Code rather than English Common Law, the possibility existed that copyrights to Effinger's works and characters might revert to his creditors, in this case the hospital. However, no representative of the hospital showed up at the bankruptcy hearing, and Effinger regained the rights to all his intellectual property."

• Johnny takes responsibility and focuses on Crystal: he accepts that he blew it with Crystal. So decides to move on. Eben though he is fated to never have success with any other girl, or be with another girl for as long.
• Johnny cracks more jokes. E.g. about Ben and a compass, or egg beaters and let's get cracking. This probably reflects a change in his confidence and thought processes.
• Contrast this Johnny with the later fundamentally light hearted, womanizing, Johnny: these are completely different characters.
  
• Johnny works alone: this foreshadows the next generation.

• Ben didn't vote for Ford, and has strong feelings against Rockefeller, even though "Rocky" (Gerald Ford's vice president) was a moderate republican and would today be to the left of Barack Obama.
• The other Ben is patriotic, but doesn't like what he's supporting. See reference to Vietnam in next issue.
• The family is divided in senseless wars. Compare Vietnam and the divided generations in shaper of worlds story: these generation based conflicts were not confined to the 1950s.

• It's not about dinosaurs. The cover is symbolic, as in issue 1: in fact, Ben could, and does, fell the animal with a single punch. The significance of the cover, and the story, is not the dinosaur, but the fact that Reed cannot or will not help.
• References to "Bigville" or "Cosmopolis" and "back on Earth 1 - oops wrong comic mag" references to DC's fake realism contrasted with Marvel's real world. Note that by Franklinverse realism is abandoned (FF322 is the first story with no plausible deniability)
• Realism: Johnny flaming on creates a pot hole in the road. This also indicates he's preoccupied: normally he's more careful.
• Real world history: "what's left of the wilds of long island" Wikipedia notes that "Owing to economic growth and the suburbanization after World War II, Nassau [part of long island] was the fastest growing county in the United States from the 1950s to the 1970s."
• The ice age is destroying cities in the north, just as global warming destroys cities on the coast
• Lockjaw gnaws on robots for a long time. He lacks dexterous fingers, but dogs experience much of the world through taste, spell and texture. He is both converting energy and learning.
• When the dinosaur is first seen, Ben refers to a giant monkey on the side of the building: this foreshadows events ten issues later in FF171.
• When Sue says "Thing - look out" this is not a sign of weakness (Sue never worries about herself). As Ben notes, it's a sign of sweetness, "always worried about somebody else."
• Ben is reminded of his love for Sue. This helps explain why he delays marrying Alicia (who, remember, first entered the story because she looks like Sue).
• The letters page hints at the return of jack Kirby. See the 1968 page for how he was treated and why it could not bring Marvel back to the classic 1960s era.
• The stories create themselves. The letters page acknowledges that the stories create themselves:  a reader interprets the hidden meaning of F 157, and asks: "am I just reading meanings that aren't there into "mere" comic books again?" The response: "You know us, [name]! If you say it's there, then it's there!"
• This is (as far as I recall) the first time that Sue is referred to as "sweet Suzie."
  
  

162

Issue 162: the shape of things to come

As the title "the shape of things to come" (an H. G. Wells title) suggests, this foreshadows the future in many ways:

• The Torch as army leader foreshadows his longer, more varied experience in the Negative Zone in Hickman's run. That in turn foreshadows Johnny's role as leader of the team in the next generation.
• A Torch dies and comes back, is saved in order to serve an evil lord of an alien dimension (page 23 and next issue). This again foreshadows Hickman's run.
• A different dimension's FF, and each one of course sees themselves as the original. Note page 15: they can combine strength, suggesting that physical bodies can slip between one reality and another. Also note page 16, the other reality is described as only a heartbeat away. This is crucial to the later Franklinverse, where different teams slip between realities and do not notice.
• This is a confusing plot that openly states it's confusing: foreshadowing the entire Franklinverse era, which, like this, is dominated by friends attacking each other. The 1990s is dominated by troubles, and the 200s brings Civil War and general darkness.
• The other Reed finally realizes that his well meaning efforts are part of the problem, foreshadowing FF295.
• Crazy time slippage (our Earth attacks Earth-A using menaces from the time machine) again foreshadows the Franklinverse era.
• Parallels between Reed and Doom: if Reed is disfigured, then like Doom he spends his time on killer robots and also robots that look like himself (see FF118).
• The nexus equidistant between realities foreshadows the nexus of realities that can be accessed through the Swamp Thing's swamp. That nexus plays a major role in creating the "Heroes Reborn" universe. Next issue we see that this particular nexus is guarded by a Johnny Storm who has forgotten his old identity, just as our nexus of realities is guarded by a Ted Sallis who has forgotten his old identity.

This arc, foreshadowing the biggest story, the Franklinverse and next generation, beyond, is appropriately placed half way through the original 231 issue novel.

Hockey and the cold war
The FF is the story of the cold war, so in the early 1970s it had to include hockey! Note the recent events (from ProIceHockey.about.com):

• 1972: The World Hockey Association begins play, outbidding NHL teams for several star players. The Summit Series pits the best Canadian professionals against the best from the Soviet Union for the first time.
• 1974: The USSR wins the first World Junior Hockey Championship.
• 1975: Soviet club teams play in North America for the first time when Central Red Army and Soviet Wings play a series of exhibition games against NHL teams.

The 3D scopitron

The comics zeitgeist: 

Why is this story so complex?

"You know what Roy's up to here? It took me three issues to figure it out. This is his version of 'Crisis on...' Think about it -- multiple Earths, all similar. Heroes on all three (well, Johnny had to be transplanted). Universal menace in Arkon stealing energy. And some serious dimension-hopping to solve it. I suppose when I look at it through that lens, and accepting it as being part of DC's heritage of such tales, this is not quite as bad." (source)"

"From 1963 to 1985 the term 'crisis' was used to describe the annual events in which the Justice League of America of Earth-One and the Justice Society of America of Earth-Two met and worked together, usually in an incident involving one or more of the parallel worlds of the DC Multiverse. This usage culminated in 1985's year-long Crisis on Infinite Earths, in which the Multiverse was eliminated." (Wikipedia)

The historical zeitgeist: 

• 1970s fear of ice age (opposite of current fear of global warming)
• 1970s fear of evil corporations buying your soul
• 1970s: atomic power now linked to war, not the space age (p.27).

The story is ahead of its time: notice the blow back from high tech drone strikes (p.26) "andrones" designed by "good guys" but they cause the people with different colored skin to hate you.

Other points to note

• Complexity
  This relies on a story from 4 years before. At this stage all of history matters and all history builds and moves on.
• Gaard
  Gaard is clearly influenced by Kirby's Silver Surfer and Black Racer.
  
• violence
  Reed threatens violence against an unarmed man (p15). Next issue Sue decides she had better take over sometimes.
• deVoor
  devoor is not just  aplay on the word "devour", it's German for "from vors" a place name maning "pre" or "before" (as in the English "be-fore") - i.e. he comes from before, a hint of dimensional travel. Devore is a variant of deVere, the mysterious scientist at Project Pegasus in act 5. The deVere family came to Britain with William the Conqueror in 1066. They were noted for their zeal in conquering, and were rewarded with land taken from the Britons.
  
• Maturity
  Johnny is not a shallow youth any more: he's mature enough to lead the 5D world's armies
  

Religion and armies in the sky

The Fantastic Four is full of religious parallels (e.g. for the Bible). The appearance of armies in the sky is a feature of religious history through history. E.g. regarding the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70:

"Chariots and troops of soldiers in their armor were seen running about among the clouds, and surrounding of cities." (Josephus, Jewish Wars, VI-V-3).

"In the sky appeared a vision of armies in conflict, of glittering armor. A sudden lightning flash from the clouds lit up the Temple. The doors of the holy place abruptly opened, a superhuman voice was heard to declare that the gods were leaving it, and in the same instant came the rushing tumult of their departure. Few people placed a sinister interpretation upon this. The majority were convinced that the ancient scriptures of their priests alluded to the present as the very time when the Orient would triumph and from Judaea would go forth men destined to rule the world." (Tacitus, Histories, Book 5, v. 13).

Flatland

This issue has been criticized because of the reliance of people seeing things that just appear in the sky. Remember that the technology comes from the fifth dimension. We tend to overlook the higher dimensional significance because obviously a three dimensional being (such as Johnny when visiting) only recognizes a three dimensional subset. But higher dimensions exhibit exactly this weird behavior when they interact with lower dimensions. To understand our interaction with higher dimensions, think of how lower dimensions (two dimensional surfaces or one dimensional lines) interact with our three dimensions. For more details see Flatland.

Imagine a human hand passing through the surface of water: if your experience was two dimensional, if you could experience only the surface of the water, you would experience the hand as a series of changing shapes (cross sections of the fingers) that would appear from nowhere and then merge.

163

Issue 163: Johnny grows up

This issue works on so many levels: it's considered one of goofiest covers ever, yet features a tragedy. As so often we learn about a character (the frustrations of Johnny Storm) by seeing a more extreme version in a parallel universe. Some claim that this was weakened because we did not really know the other Johnny Storm. But many clues to his identity were given in the run up to the story:

• In FF118 we see Reed, Sue and Ben (who flies and stretches) but there is no mention of Johnny. Readers are left to speculate.
• Ben says he needs the surfer. Gaard says he can skim the light waves - see FF50, this is why Johnny was chosen to visit the home of Galactus. This reminds us that Johnny is highly skilled (remember all his early practicing?) yet always has to do what others say.
• Gaard gives Ben him back his bomb: unconsciously he must want Ben to succeed. (DeVoor thinks the explanation is that Arkon likes to see people play and fail, Arkon is described as an excellent strategist: would he really risk his world in this way? More likely he lied to DeVoor to reassure him.)
• Gaard says "I should have expected no less" - he knows Ben's reputation for bravery.
• Ben recognizes his voice.
• Gaard feels he has battled Ben before.

Johnny character development

At this point in the story Johnny wants to leave. He has grown up, he wants to make his own decisions. But his experience with the other Reed makes him realize that Reed is not the enemy: Reed is just as much trapped as Johnny is. The other Reed naturally shares Johnny's views deep down, he wants action, not words, but delayed his decision for too long. After seeing this, Johnny decides not to quit, for now. Johnny has grown up: he sees things from Reed's point of view.

The zeitgeist
This is the first issue with a direct reference to Vietnam. veterans returning from Vietnam to be forgotten (or not returning at all) was a major theme at the time.

DeVoor
Note how Reed becomes emotional here instead of staying in control. DeVoor is a a more extreme version of Reed's self doubts:

• A failure in business, on the verge of suicide (compare FF251). 
• A failure at science - all his breakthroughs were from others (compare FF1 and Reed's reliance on alien tech). 
• Pure luck gave him great power. 
• His studies of subspace endangered multiple worlds. (Reed discovered Annihilus through his Negative Zone experiments. True, Reed was just trying to save his son, but the radiation poisoning was due to Reed's decision in FF1.  Also, Arkon was just trying to save his own world. Reed accuses deVoor of selling out for 30 pieces of silver. Yet it was Reed who sold the FF to deVoor, for money, against the advice of his more level headed wife and friends.

Part two: Ben and Johnny want out

164

Issue 164: Frankie and Johnny (by Perez!)

This is a true classic, the first George Perez issue, part of a superb two parter: bright, upbeat, light and airy art with great coloring.

This story is an anchor point to the world of the FF: extensive indoor establishing shots, extensive outdoor establishing shots, links to decades past (the crusader) and decades future (Frankie, and Reed's inner struggle). It starts with a strong Jack Kirby cover and ends with a dramatic final image. Between these we have fun, romance, danger and trials, it's the Fantastic Four at their best.

Their happiest point
This is around the half way point of the novel, with the team back together, most having overcome their relationship problems, and even Ben is at his most relaxed. This is the beginning of the false dawn that climaxes in Doom's "final" defeat. We have never seen the team so happy together, but why?

• Reed has always (mistakenly) seen Sue as the weak link. Now she seems powerful to him.
• Reed theorized that aging would cause further weakening, so he is very relieved that Sue got a power boost to more than compensate. Plus Johnny is younger, and Ben would happily change back, so the problem is not such a problem.
• Franklin is there, and this is the first time the team has been able to relax since Sue and Reed got back together.
  
• Simple literary contrast: we need this light hearted moments to appreciate the darker times.

The title: the crusader syndrome
The crusader is a mirror of Reed. Reed is on a crusade to fix everything, through the best of intentions. As with Reed, it is emotional isolation from others that causes the problems. The crusader was isolated on another planet, blinded by light. Note the symbolism: detached Reed is so blinded by his clear righteous view of some things (technology, dangers) that he does not see the bigger picture (Family: Sue and Franklin are the real solution to his problems).

Johnny's turning point continues
Johnny's turning point was FF161, and in 164 he realizes he can't hide his feelings. At the end he has to get away to think, and to see what he can still do. (164-165 was originally planned as a single story for for giant size FF 6.) At the start of the story, Sue and Ben go along with the buffoonery, happy that Reed is happy. But Johnny comments. Why? because Johnny the outsider: in 1960s Reed focused more on the bigger threats; Johnny is naturally a rebel, and will end up leading the team.

Johnny's transition is symbolized by his new outfit and new girlfriend, Frankie Raye.

Frankie's fear of flame highlights that Johnny still cannot exist independently from his flame: that is, independently from his role in the team. This is despite his several attempts to leave, most recently in FF160. His early independence, chronicled in Strange Tales, ended when Sue married and they all took up residence in the Baxter Building. In a new city he lost touch with his childhood friends and he was too busy to make new friends, so lost his independence. Frankie will continue to make Johnny face himself and his role when she returns in FF240.

Frankie and Johnny
"Frankie and Johnny" (sometimes spelled "Frankie and Johnnie"; also known as "Frankie and Albert" or just "Frankie") is a traditional American popular song. It tells the story of a woman, Frankie, who finds that her man Johnny was "making love to" another woman and shoots him dead. Frankie is then arrested; in some versions of the song she is also executed." - Wikipedia

The name "Frankie and Johnny" foreshadows Frankie's role in the wider story. Frankie felt betrayed by Johnny's superhero life: he loved it more than her. Morally she ends up worse than him, becomes the herald of Galactus, the world destroyer.

The Frankie and Johnny story also plays on on the subconscious level. While Frankie believes she opposes super powers she is actually a superhero herself. And while Johnny believes he is faithful to Frankie, in his heart he loves Crystal, a fellow super being. Finally, Frankie believes she is sacrificing herself for a pure and unselfish principle, but in fact she loves Galactus.

The song (at least in the famous Elvis Presley version) claims to have no moral, except that "there ain't no good in men" - a moral undercut by being sung by the ultimate heart-throb, Elvis. The "ain't no good in men" theme also runs through the FF version: Frankie's problems are caused by her father, Johnny cannot stop himself flaming on, Galactus destroys planets, and Frankie must pay the price. But as in the song, this is undercut by Frankie being clearly the one to make the choices at every stage (except as a child), and the male figures were either trying to do good or were simply innocent forces of nature. Frankie's final role as guide to Galactus is a nod to her namesake, Franklin, who guides Galactus. (Galactus's later heralds appear after FF321 and so can be considered "what ifs").

This story is a many layered thing, and underlines the theme of this year (FF 164-175): what is a hero?

The zeitgeist:

• What is a hero?
  The theme of "what is hero" continues for the 12 month run up to America's bicentennial celebrations in July 1976. This was at a time of national soul searching, after Vietnam, Watergate, and the oil crisis. never did America ask the question more pointedly, what is a hero?
• Book titles
  Most of the stories in this period, written by Roy Thomas, a former English teacher, have titles based on popular culture, usually from the 1960s. "The Crusader Syndrome" probably refers to "the Paradise Syndrome" and "The Immunity Syndrome," two episodes of the original Star Trek. One is about Captain Kirk being declared a God, and the other is an energy draining space organism. Both apply to this issue..]
• Bankers
  The Crusader fights against banks. This reflects the mood that grew in the 1960s and finally exploded a generation later, in 2008 with the Occupy movement
  

• Fashion
  This issue has perhaps the most visible example of a dated panel in all comics: Johnny's unforgettable outfit for his date!
  
  

1. The Crusader's energy supposedly comes from the sun, as with Iron Man. but obviously solar energy would not provide enough energy, but it is needed to unlock cosmic power (the sun provides full spectrum energy unlike most earthly sources). The clue is that Crusader gained his power on the outer planets where the sun is far weaker: plainly it is a catalyst and not the source of energy itself.
2. Johnny's flame runs out soon after being dazzled. Yet he is a being used to nova flame, and can fly across the ocean when flying to Crystal. Similarly, Sue create a long distance force field but cannot normally do this (see link) Possibly due to Thunder horn, but also saved part of village in Kirby's time. In highly unusual circumstances super heroes can draw on massively greater power. Clearly there is a strong psychological element to the powers. The crusader's mental health issues are a nudge to make us consider this path.

• A link to the past
  Frank(ie) Ray was the pen name of veteran artist Frank Giacoia, e.g. when inking the Human Torch in Strange Tales 129 and elsewhere.
  
  As with the Horton family (of which Frankie is part), this is a link to the previous era of comics.
  
• First Kirby!
  This is the first Kirby cover since he returned to Marvel after five years at DC, where he created the New Gods and other Fourth World stories.
  
• First Perez!
  This is the first George Perez issue - my all time favorite artist. At first he was introduced in the letters page as Rich Buckler's long time friend, but he soon became the fans favorite due to the love and detail he applied to every page, especially on the team titles that other artists found exhausting. George is da man! Also known as being one of the nicest guys in comics.
  
• FF3
  Johnny is temporarily dazzled (possibly by the return of Kirby!): this reverses what he did to the Miracle Man in issues 3 and 139.
• FF19
  Blocking the energy source: this solution was used against the super-skrull, another off-worlder.
• Giant Size FF 6
  FF164 and 165 were originally scheduled as Giant Size FF issue 6 but that book was canceled. (See the letters page to 165. Just as FF158 and 159 were originally to be Giant Size issue 5 but Rich Buckler was unable to meet the deadline so GSFF5 became a reprint issue.)

165

Issue 165: "For once I don't have all the answers"

Ben's confidence begins to return
The story ends with Reed admitting "for once I don't have all the answers" and Ben says he will will mark it on his calendar. This issue marks the end to Reed's dominance of Ben. Although Reed showed his weaker side when he lost Sue, he never admitted ignorance in humility until now. Ben's confidence now starts to come back: he gets angry with the bank manager, as in the old days. We see more of this new confidence in the next two issues. 

But Reed still keeps secrets (his losing power). This is one of his weaknesses. His humbling will not be complete until act 5.

Reed and the title: the light of other worlds
Reed's mind is elsewhere, seeing a bigger picture that others do not see (his intelligence, plus his secret loss of power). Ironically he cannot see that the light of his life, Sue, is where he needs to be, back on this world, if he wants to succeed.

Once again the Crusader is a mirror for Reed. We also see another mirror, Dr Grayson. Grayson, like Reed, built a rocket ship that endangered innocents. His ship probably using alien technology, like Reed: a gravity engine is highly advanced, and the 1950s was a time of many abandoned flying saucers.

Johnny's development continues
Sue stops herself telling Johny what to do: "he's a man now." Contrast this with the different, parallel reality team in Waid's run, where Sue has to tell the different Johnny what to do because he's so immature.

The zeitgeist

• Note the reference to anti-cigarette commercials. At this point in the 1970s the danger from cigarettes is becoming apparent.  The FF is ahead of the game as usual: the ads sis not make use of comics until later (the famous Superman anti tobacco ads).
• Comet Kahoutek is referenced: it was first sighted 1973, and was much hyped by the media. The closest approach was New Year 1974. This story was dated December 1975 and the Crusader refers to the comet as "more than a year ago". This could be a late real time reference, but Marvel Boy was confused, so could be wrong.
• Reed uses Marvel's 1975 calendar.
• The last panel: "we know so little about solar energy" - solar energy was a hot topic in the 1970s.
• This is one of a series of story titles based on cultural references. "The Light of Other Worlds" is based on "the Light of Other Days," a poem by Sir Thomas Moore, about the sadness at the loss of the past. It refers here to the tragedy of Marvel Boy.
  

Other points to note

• "What's that up there? It ain't a pigeon or a plane" - a reference to Superman
• The Crusader looks 20, but is well over 30: he blames it on gravitational space travel. Compare Franklin's time dilation: another kid with mental health issues.

166

Issue 166: Johnny wants to leave; Sue improves her powers; Ben accepts himself

Johny would like to quit. He is the only one of the team one who enjoys being a super hero, but it's killing his love life. He needs someone to love who is as powerful and dedicated as he is. He needs Crystal.

In this issue we see Sue using her power in novel ways, such as to lower Ben from a great height. Carol Strickland famously criticized Sue for not using her force fields to fly, and in his first solo issue John Byrne had her suddenly think of the idea. However, she was clearly thinking of field based transport here.

Reed's parachute probably gave her the idea for this, just five issues later:

In the next issue we see her using it as a platform for walking on water, and she says that she was practicing in secret. Then in 171 she uses her power in more complex ways (attacking two missiles at once). Two issue later (the cover to FF173: Jack Kirby always has the best ideas) we can see that flight is an obvious use of her power.

However, Sue has trouble extending a large force field to any great distance, as we see in FF200.

Her powers will increase in FF214 when the Skrull aging ray is reversed (see FF215) and then force field flight will be possible. She doesn't have a reason to do it until FF232 though.

Other points to note

• Art
  Compare the same penciler under two opposite inkers: Joe Sinnott (FF164-165) and Vince Colletta (FF166). Sinnott's looks is synonymous with the FF, a much admired pro. In contrast, Colletta is widely reviled for his practice of erasing pencil art to make his job easier (though in this case he has retained most of Perez' trademark detail, but in a hurried form). Hence the famous quote from the legendary Gil Kane: Colletta was his "second favorite inker" - and his first favorite? "anybody else." But in Colletta's defense, the page rate back then was terrible, and senior editors loved him because he would always say "yes" and deliver the job on time, no matter how crazy the deadline. Colletta was the go-to guy in any crisis, so was always had work. He was capable of very beautiful art, but always gave the minimum necessary effort. He saw how Kirby and other artists gave more than they needed and how they ended up angry and struggling. Colletta understood the industry, gave it what it wanted, and was rewarded fairly.
• Cultural references
  This is one of a series of story titles based on cultural references. "If It's Tuesday it Must be The Hulk" is based on "If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium," a comedy known for its guest stars and famous sites. This F issue features the Hulk on a national monument.
• Ben accepts himself
  Ben is finally sick of wanting to be like other people. Note the reference to Elton John's most personal album, where the songs reflect the challenges of being gay in a world made for straight people. For more about Ben and queer culture, see the page on the Great American Novel. For more about Ben's sexuality see the notes to FF65-66.
  

167

Issue 167: Ben gains in confidence

Seeing the Hulk, and how Reed has no sympathy, Ben finally makes the decision to leave. His respect for Reed took a dive when Sue left, and took another dive when Reed zapped Franklin, but Reed's attitude to the Hulk is the last straw.

Note that Sue had to practice her skills in secret. Reed never encouraged her to use her power in new ways. 

Ben's changing is related to confidence.
Could gamma rays change Ben back to human? It seems impossible to imagine that Reed had overlooked this. Gamma rays are the obvious first solution to try, given the similarity between Ben and the Hulk. In the very early days, the Hulk would use a gamma ray machine to change in both directions. Also, when Ben changes back in FF275, Ben asks if gamma rays can change him back again, and Reed indicates not. (It is possible that Galactus arranged it that way, but that possibility was not tested, and it is not even certain that Galactus did change Ben back.) Perhaps the gamma rays helped, but there is already a well established reason for Ben changing (though it will not be explicitly stated until FF245): Ben's ability to change depends on his confidence. (So does the Hulk: he changes when passionate about something: Ben and the Hulk have basically identical powers, but they appear different because of their different personalities.) The most obvious feature in this story Ben's confidence. He's been supremely confident for some time, and not surprisingly he changes. But that change knocks his confidence, so he is not able to change back at will.

For why he changes back, see FF175.

168

Issue 168: America comes of age

Johnny, once a child, grows up and leaves

Finally Johnny sees clearly. The "we need you" excuse will always be true. it is not enough to keep a man from leaving his parents. If he had accepted this two years earlier then he could be with Crystal, and Crystal would still be helping the team, and the team would be even stronger.

Ben, the ordinary American adult, faces reality

For all these years Ben has wanted to be human. Finally he gets his wish. And he begins to realize that his real problems are inside. The problem with being a "thing" was not his skin, it was that he lost his identity as a football hero and test pilot. The name "thing" is all about identity.

Ben thought that becoming human would solve his problems, as if he could return to where he left off in 1961. But now it hits him: he's spent his adult life being a superhero. He doesn't have a career any more. Alicia would have to support him with her earnings.  Ben is an old fashioned guy, and this is not an easy concept to accept.

More zeitgeist

• Luke Cage reflects the 1970s trend for strong black characters in movies and on TV. He must have struck a chord: the Hollywood actor Nicholas Cage took his name from the character. Note that racial equality is sometimes skin deep: Power Man is welcomed into the team, but he is not equal with the others, and will soon be gone.

Other points to note

• Alicia's career
  People want Alicia's autograph, not Ben's.  Johnny has a similar experience in FF302:
  
• Self made?
  Ben is not the only one with identity issues. Alicia is a successful artist, but is she really self made? Critics would say that she gains publicity that other artists would kill for, simply because she's part of the Fantastic Four family.But unlike Ben, Alicia accepts her position.
  
• Cultural references
  This is one of a series of story titles based on cultural references. "Where have all the powers gone" refers to the anti war song popular in the 1960s, "where have all the flowers gone?" It suggests deep permanent sadness, not simply a temporary loss. 
• The Baxter Building
  The splash page confirms the height of the Baxter Building (40 floors, contrasting with the Franklinverse's 35 floors). This illustrates how the Franklinverse is only vaguely aware of the real FF. Page one stated the building's height very clearly, "once and for all", and modern readers are completely unaware. For details see the notes to FF 148.
• The window with curtains
  This is the first time we've seen a regular window and curtains since act two. Presumably Reed is making an effort for Sue, who wants him to focus more on the family.
  

169

Issue 169: Ben still feels trapped

• Ben has no career. No future.
• He no longer has any claim to fame: if he married Alicia then she would have to support him, a nobody.
• He's easy to replace on the team: the Thing was nothing special (see FF171). For why he (wrongly) believes he was not Hulk class, see his own page.
• At the end it appears that Reed has got one of the other Things from another dimension: Ben is not special or needed in any way (or so it seems).
• Next issue we see that the other Thing is just a suit that Reed made. But is this much better? It makes Ben dependent on Reed's again.

1. He thinks The Thing he is ugly, but he isn't.
2. Reed destroyed his confidence
3. He resents Reed and can't see past that.
4. he's become psychologically dependent on Alicia, it's unhealthy, he cant stand that, but can't see a way out
   

1. Reed is no longer the alpha male in the group (Reed betrays weakness throughout act 5, and finally leaves)
2. Alicia leaves him, forcing him to face his problems alone
3. Ben explores his psychological issues (on Battle World), and finally stops blaming Reed
4. Sharon (Ms Marvel) lets him see himself as other see him, and he can experience real love, free of of all his psychological baggage

Other points to note:

• This is one of a series of story titles based on cultural references. "Five Characters In Search of a Madman"  is based on the play "Six Characters in Search of an Author." It's an absurdist play, again reflecting the loss and questioning that characterized the 1970s. The original play was written in the 1920s but revived in the 1960s and three times in the 1970s (twice on radio, once as a movie in 1976). A Twilight Zone episode broadcast in late 1961, when the Fantastic Four first began, was called "Five Characters in Search of an Exit." The title is appropriate for how Ben feels trapped.
• For parallels with FF69, see comments by FF172: "the 100 issue cycle".
  

170

Issue 170: Alicia's strength; Ben's great test

• This is just a beautiful issue. I love the camera angles, the Perez - Sinnott art, and the bright but not overwhelming coloring: you can almost feel the wind in your hair and the sense of vertigo. Exciting stuff!
• This is one of a series of story titles based on cultural references. FF171 "A Sky-Full of Fear" is based on the 1968 movie " A Sky Full of Stars For a Roof": the first spaghetti western to become a black comedy. It begins with a massacre but in the end nobody gets what they want. It reflects how in that issue Ben hopes to have the life he wants, being able to change back and forth as he wishes, and then marry Alicia. But fate will never allow it.

A11

Annual 11: America's bicentennial: the past

This is the Great American Novel, and annual 11, dated June 1976, celebrates America's bicentennial. It features Captain America and WWII, and can be considered a two parter with Giant Size FF2, which deals with George Washington and the founding of America. (Ben notes the link, which is confirmed in a footnote: that was the last time they saw the Watcher, and these are the only times apart from FF19 that they've traveled in time.)

A good starting point for new readers

This special edition is "rife with American patriotism during the Second World War.  I'd comment that Roy Thomas, through all of his footnotes, has really woven a true jumping-on story. A new reader would feel very comfortable with this magazine in hand, as Thomas links this story to recent and "ancient" FF history, as well as describing each team member's powers and showing us his/her personality. I was just really struck by how accessible the first several pages of this story are. Roy Thomas is insistent throughout this story that it is indeed 1976 (any doubters, shame on you -- the splash page reference to Chico and the Man should have been enough proof)." (source)

The story begins with a question - why are we still obsessing over a past military victory? The story ends with a hint that glorifying war maybe isn't so good: Ben rides a missile, repeating the famous image from the movie Dr Strangelove.

Other points to note

• Hidden depths
  Ben may not appear as angry as in FF171, but he's trying to be good. Notice the start, where he's frustrated with Reed, and how he gets too violent with the prisoners. He's angry inside, he's giving Reed's costume a chance, but his deeper feelings will come out at the start of FF171.
• Trivia
  This 1976 annual, dated June 1976, becomes the first non-reprint annual of the post Kirby era. By coincidence there are four "missing" specials (annuals 7-10) and four "extra" specials (Giant Size 1-4).
• Real time
  Ben and Reed are established as being around 52 years old (though time started to slow down for them in 1968, so they have probably only aged to their late 40s. They have lived through one quarter of America's 200 years, and seen great changes. "While in Europe during WWII, Reed comments to Ben that they enlisted just shortly after 1942. So let's say they were 20 when they enlisted in 1944 or so. They would have been born in 1924, which by 1976 would have made them 52?" (source)
• Reed's emotional distance
  The story refers to their financial problems which were the basis of the problems in FF161. It also refers to Sue and Reed's continuing marital problems: though Reed is a little humbler than before he is still distant from Sue, hence it will take her a while (after FF 178) to realize that Reed is later replaced by a double.
• Super tech
  With the time machine we see another example of Reed's method of invention: take an existing highly advanced technology and adapt or improve it. For example, the cross-dimensional TV screen is apparently a 3D scopitron from the fifth dimension: see the notes to FF162.
• Little details do matter
  The use of vibranium in guidance systems was mentioned when it first appeared, in FF53, as the footnotes indicate. Roy Thomas was famous for remembering details like this, as well as for his interest in golden age characters like the Invaders.
  
• Non-violence
  Sue does not embrace violence as a solution: she considers Namor's reliance on raw might to be "a pity."
• Other comics
  In the first part of this bicentennial double, the George Washington story in Giant Size FF 2, the Watcher explicitly broke his vow of non-interference. This time he does not even speak: Reed infers that something has happened. In the Marvel Universe, Marvel itself gets its information from the Fantastic Four plus what they can pick up in newspapers. So the stories in other comics are largely guesswork. Reed's comment here was presumably the source for the story in Captain Marvel 39. This story continues in the first annual for Marvel Two In One (The Thing's own title where he teams up with other heroes.)
• The floor
  When Ben stamped on the floor in this annual it broke. (This was a floor designed to withstand live ammunition explosions! See Ben's own page for how strong he can be when angry.) Reed mentioned that he had recently reinforced the floor. No doubt he reinforced it even further when it was repaired: in FF184 Ben stamps again, but that time it merely shakes the entire building. It's this kind of detail that makes the team seem to occupy physical space, in a physical world with a building that ages with time, one we can almost touch: it makes them real.

171

Issue 171: my all-time favorite FF story

This is the image that made me want to buy every issue of the FF. It's so real, and you can see the passage of time: a huge, forward moving story, and with beautiful George Perez art. Plus it's such a great story! King Kong and so much more!

Note that Ben's insecurity runs deep. Once a person lacks self esteem it takes a lot to persuade them that yes, they do have self worth.

Frankie Rae appears again. Johnny tells her he's considering leaving the FF (unspoken implication is that he resents Reed's control of his life, and his immaturity that lost Crystal). This is part of a years long story. In this issue she starts to remember strange things that have happened before, a thread that's picked up again in FF232

The zeitgeist

Ben always represented blue collar America, and this issue shows his frustration that his physical strength no longer puts him at the top of the pile. The 1970s was an era where manual labor began to take a hit. Of course, Ben is not uneducated: he is also a test pilot. (*The "working class" are often highly skilled, and there is a strong thread of intellectualism, especially among the political left. Whereas right wing workers embrace the label "red neck", socialist workers take pride in discussing philosophy and enjoying the arts.) But Ben identifies with his street kid roots, not with Reed's family wealth.

For another example of changing blue collar attitudes (and the white collar comparison) see the discussion of racism by FF126.

Ben's inner feelings

This period, from FF167 to 175, is central to Ben's story. This is the only time he was able to return to being Ben Grimm (apart from very brief periods).

Is Ben ungrateful?
Ben finally has the time to think about it, and realizes this isn't what he wanted. He knows he's ungrateful, and Reed only wants the best. But Ben just wants to be his own man: no longer dependent on Reed, and no longer owing him anything. he just wants to be free. And deep down he knows it isn't even Reed's fault. Ben has to work this out on his own. No man wants to feel dependent or beholden against his will to another man, especially the man who caused his problems. And after his years of mental pain, with the fate of the world often on his shoulders, the pressure is almost more than Ben can bare.

When asked if Ben was being ungrateful, Roy Thomas replied "try living in his shows (or overgrown feet) for a few years and see what it does to you." (In Back Issue 74)

The cultural zeitgeist: the 1976 King Kong movie

• "Roy Thomas has mentioned in interviews that his FF runs were subject to meddling by Marvel higher-ups; I suggest that the "King Kong" sequences were demanded of Roy in order to cash in on the 1976 remake." (source)
• The other King Kong themed issue was FF69. It covered Ben's inner conflict that would return exactly 100 issue slater in FF169. This arc focuses on "this man this monster" Ben Grimm and his attempts, like King Kong, search to fit into the world (see commentary on FF172). The "golden gorilla" is a mirror for the "orange teddy bear" Ben: seen as a monster when he is not; turned into a monster by his best friend (as explained next issue)
• This is one of a series of story titles based on cultural references. "Death is a Golden Gorilla" is based on "Death is a Woman," (In America, "Love is a Woman"), a stylish 1966 British mystery thriller. The fun of chasing a golden gorilla marks a change of pace from the sadness of the previous issues.

• The apron: Some people think this shows Sue as low status. Actually it shows the opposite:
  
• Apron strings "indicate complete control or dominance: a grown man still tied to his mother's apron strings." (- thefreedictionary.com) Reed is acting like a child, playing with his toys and whining that he wants "just ten seconds" more.
• Making dinner shows her wisdom: lunch is when people get together to talk. Reeds great weakness is that he does not listen to others.  Sue knows that five minutes listening to others will teach him more than he could learn from the microscope.
  
• The image shows how Reed is missing the big picture: he's studying tiny things in a microscope while a giant gorilla is right behind him!
  
• Reed is a complete, balanced person. Earlier she was shown defeating explosive missiles. Later she is shown chastising Reed for him suggesting she needs rescuing. Sue, unlike Reed, is a rounded individual. To say she must only defeat missiles is just as bad as saying she should only cook food.

Fantastic Four 171 changed my life. I must have been around 13 years old (I read it in 1981, in a reprint). People say that the golden age of science fiction is whatever you read at age 13, because it seems the best thing ever. And for me it was FF171. This is the issue where Ben wears a Thing suit, and he talks about the past, and how life has changed. It is very obvious that the experience has changed him as a person: he started as angry (back in issue 1) then progressed to sort of accepting his problems, but now he had got to a point where he could not accept it any more, he wanted to move on. He seemed so real! I was hooked! He seemed like a real person, with a real past! In the same issue we see Sue at her greatest: confident, beautiful, developing her powers on her own, looking so strong and so mature. At around this time (in another issue) we see Johnny and Ben as adults, talking about old times. It was really powerful to me, how this was a grand, epic, long term story.

Living in Britain made a big difference. The FF had been reprinted from the start (in 1972). Our comics are weekly, so we had almost caught up with America in 1981. I bought most of the comics at jumble sales (rummage sales). Then Marvel UK began a series of pocket books that reprinted the classic Lee-Kirby issues again, beginning at the wedding of Sue and Reed. So I was reading the mid 1960s stories and the late 1970s stories side by side. I could see the big events, how they grew older, the marriage, how themes emerged and developed over decades.

I should also mention that the first American comics I ever read, as a young child, included a reprint of FF issue 7, the Planet X story. It was in a big hard cover book of some of the best Marvel stories ever written, and it affected me deeply. So at the age of 13, when my ideas of what a comic SHOULD be were being formed, I could very clearly see how time passed over the years, and how it changed the team. And it changed them for the better: FF 171 was drawn by George Perez (except for pages 1-3 and those were good too). It was beautiful. Everything was moving forwards, getting better. These four people felt like real people, in the real world (but as exciting as the real world could possibly be). I loved it!

At that point, reading FF 171, I decided that I had to have every single issue of the Fantastic Four. I was a fan for life. I never cared for Spider-man - the early Ditko stories made sense, but after that he never grew up,so he was not like a real person to me. The same goes for other Marvel comics. They never grew up or learned, so they were not real. Why should I care for the current stories if the previous stories made no difference to anything?

So I subscribed to the new FF comics. John Byrne had just started. I wanted to see what happened next!!!! I so looked forward to my first new FF comic (it was FF 151). Was Ben cured forever? (He should have been!) Did Johnny finally marry Crystal? I wanted to see Franklin as a teenager, exploring his powers and having teenage fun! I wanted to see Sue expand her role as a mother figure for the whole Marvel Universe, as the sensible balance to all the worried and stressed female characters who were trapped as sex objects (I was very religious as a child - I still am - so Sue's confidence and style and wisdom and love impressed me deeply). I could see how much the team had progressed from the 1960s to the 1970s, so expected a similar progression to the 1980s. I imagined Reed as the head of a global organization, I wondered how the Inhumans might become a secret part of all world governments... I expected to be surprised and pleased. Naively I thought the improvement from Kirby to Perez would result in even better art (at the time I did not appreciate Kirby's art as much as I do now).

So when I read Byrne's stuff I felt cheated. Not only were the stories small (my first stories were the negative zone stories that had no obvious connection to anything) but it was not the same family, to me.

Reed became weedier and introverted.

Sue was very different - to me she seemed weaker, less self assured.

Johnny looked younger, and didn't have the inner depths - it's hard to explain, but I always saw him like me, as a frustrated observer of life: e.g. seeing Crustal leave him, seeing his family die, being trapped in the child role of the group, and not being able to do anything about it. This produced a depth of character and a personality style that just seemed to be entirely missing in Byrne's run.

As for Ben, he seemed to once again accept his life, and didn't do much of anything.

When Johnny got together with Alicia (and let's not talk about that!) Ben's reaction was not Ben, it was how JOHNNY would have reacted: he exploded, then meekly accepted it. This was Johnny's classic style, with Crystal, the aging ray, etc. The Ben I knew would have been the opposite: he would have had the maturity to not react strongly at first, but it would have led to powerful determination and real decisions. Instead we got him moping around feeling sorry for himself. All of this was such a reversal of characters, they had forgotten everything that made them who they were. These were different characters, younger characters, with completely different personalities, stuck in a twisted imitation of the past (the flying bathtub and skinnier bodies , etc., were clearly meant to be like the early stories, but they were NOTHING LIKE the early stories).

And yet Byrne put so much into each issue that they were still good comics. They were enjoyable to read. And if I was not so concerned with them as real people then I am sure I would have embraced the new team, because they were well written. But they were not the big, grand, deep team I was addicted to. They were something temporary. They were more like the X-Men, a team I had never cared for (whenever I read the X-Men I just want to tell them to "grow up!")

I did not want to abandon the FF. I did not want to accept, as some do, that they really ended back in the 1970s. So I tried to reinterpret the stories in a way that would fit with what went before. And that is how I came up with my theory that issues 1 to 322 form a single complete story, and they only acted out of character in Byrne's run because they were in crisis and would not admit it to themselves.

And that is how I started to see the FF as a single gigantic story. Thanks for asking!

172

Issue 172: cover dated July 1976
America's bicentennial, the hopes and dreams

This issue is a whirlwind of ideas: so many colors that they easily blur into a nondescript gray. I will try to point out the main themes and why this issue is so important.

The date

The Fantastic Four is the Great American Novel, and 1976 was America's bicentennial. July 1776 was the declaration of independence, and July 1976 was the 200 year anniversary, a time to look backward on the past and reflect on the future. The Fantastic Four released two issues to represent July: annual 11 was released in the summer, but ass an annual it was not strongly tied to a particular month. FF172 was actually cover dated July 1976. Annual 111 (and its companion, Ben's title, Marvel Two In One) covered the historical events of those 200 years, and FFD172 covers the ideals of the founding fathers: how do you create an ideal society?

The New World

America is often called the New World, so this issue is about the founding of an actual new world: a newly discovered planet, hidden from the old world until now. Of course, like America when Columbus arrived, it already has inhabitants! But in order to pack the story into just a few pages, these existing inhabitants are metaphors for the founding fathers, the common people, and the concepts of good and evil.

Did not intend to set out and find a new world, just as Columbus did not (he thought he was going to India). Columbus never realised he had found a new world, just as most readers never realise the depth in FF172. Tricked onto the ship, just as Columbus;' men were tricked (he famously told them it would be a short journey and that he could see land when he could not).

The golden age and great fear

Fear of the future is a recurring theme in this issue: the golden gorilla repeatedly refers to the coming of Galactus as "the great fear". Galactus is a cosmic test of whether people are strong enough to face the future (See FF262). He is Franklin's herald, representing Franklin's own loneliness and fear of the future. For why Galactus appears right now (his appearances follow a pattern), see the discussion by FF74.

Fear versus the golden age is the overriding theme of America's bicentennial: in 1976 America was aware of decline. The space race was over, the nation had just endured Vietnam and a disgraced president, and was aware of sexism and environmental damage. It looked back to a golden age (that Ronald Reagen would soon believe he was recovering). The golden gorilla can represent a more primitive golden age somewhere out there, the great fear can represent awareness of all America;'s weakness and troubles, and the greatest question of all: was this still "the home of the brave"?

"Cry the beloved country"

The cover title, "Cry the bedeviled planet", is based on "Cry the Beloved Country", the classic novel by Alan Paton. It is set in South Africa, as it lost its way and declined toward apartheid. It is set around the story of a man searching for his son and seeing the moral confusion around him. Its message is summed up by this passage:

"Cry, the beloved country, for the unborn child that is the inheritor of our fear. Let him not love the earth too deeply. Let him not laugh too gladly when the water runs through his fingers, nor stand too silent when the setting sun makes red the veld with fire. Let him not be too moved when the birds of his land are singing, nor give too much of his heart to a mountain or a valley. For fear will rob him of all if he gives too much."

It sums up the feelings in America in 1976: they thought they were a great nation, but now they wonder if sexism and racism and corruption mean their future is bleak? "Cry the bedeviled planet" refers directly to counter earth, an alternative version of our own planet, but of course refers really to our own world in 1976.

This is one of a series of story titles based on cultural references. "Death is a Golden Gorilla" is based on "Death is a Woman," (In America, "Love is a Woman"), a stylish 1966 British mystery thriller. The fun of chasing a golden gorilla marks a change of pace from the sadness of the previous issues.

Adam Warlock

This issue reveals what happened to "Him", the being created by scientists to be the perfect man (FF67). He was the next stage of mankind's evolution. This great experiment can be seen as a metaphor for America, a country designed to exalt the common man and show what nations can achieve.

We learn in this issue that "Him" became Adam Warlock, a messiah over his own world, created this time not by a team of scientists but he High Evolutionary. Warlock was Jim Starlin's masterpiece (literally: a "master piece" is the piece of work a craftsman produces, usually after finishing his apprenticeship, to prove he is now a master of his art form). Warlock's messiah role allowed Starlin to explore philosophical and religious issues with the creation of a new world. Those issues are quickly summarised here in FF172. Warlock was published in his own title, beginning in April 1972, just as Stan Lee was finishing his Fantastic Four run, with his story of the confused Galactus (before his final story about being misunderstood): see commentary to FF122-3.

Adam Warlock's title continued on and off until April 1976. That is, his title covers the time between the mind expanding creative era of Lee and Kirby and the "quo vadis?" (where now?) uncertain era of 1976. The FF title followed Reed's decline, while the Adam Warlock title continued the ascent into infinite possibilities. Now in FF172 the idealism and fear concepts reunite again.

This issue is full of Christian allusions: the high evolutionary as the creator, his perfect world as Eden, the man beast bringing original sin, and so on. In 1976 the big question was, will America remain religious or become a secular society? This is symbolised in the Great American Novel as a battle between evolution and the old god who was here at the Big Bang. See more details see the commentary to FF175.

With such great questions at stake, this issue has the motif of the body as a mere shell. It does not matter if the body is ugly or weak, or even if it dies in the service of a higher cause (the family or nation): the spirit is what matters.

Ben is reliant on his exoskeleton, and is in the middle of questioning who is the real Ben Grimm: the Thing, or the man? He then battles an empty shell: the destroyer, merely a casing animated with a tiny spark of Galactus' own life force. Note the names: "The Thing" (an indeterminate name, a man dominated by the question of who he is), versus "The Destroyer" - a metaphor for mankind facing the empty void and deciding who he must be. The emptiness is emphasised by Galactus' great loneliness.

In this issue Ben is tested by the herald of Galactus, just as Reed was tested by the earlier herald in FF72, exactly one hundred issues earlier (see commentary). In both cases Reed and Ben do what they think is right, but they fail to be true to their destiny, and fail the test. There are several indications that he failed. Here are just two:

On the flight there he feels heavy, unable to move, just as on the original flight in FF1. Reed is impatient: he tells Ben he can find the extra strength, but Ben fails to do so. This illustrates both of their weaknesses: Reed's feeling that others do not try like he does, and Ben's self doubt.
In fighting The Destroyer he unconsciously holds back, because he wrongly thinks the machine is alive (see "I didn't mean to kill the guy"). See "how strong is the Thing" for how this fear causes Ben to routinely act as well below his potential. Ben lacked the insight to understand that the shell did not matter, only the spirit mattered. That is the story of Ben's life.

In the next issue Ben is judged and the sentence carried our: he must return to his endless struggle until he is again ready to know himself. (We do not see the result of the sentence until FF275, just before he again crashes to earth)

Will they listen? Will they see?

The great test is summed up by the golden gorilla: will the people listen? Will they see? Sue always sees clearly. But will Reed? Will Ben? Will America?

The 100 issue cycle

This anniversary issue is also an internal anniversary. Ben and Reed's previous tests were in FF69 and FF72. They fail those tests. Their new tests are now, in FF169 and 172. Again they fail. In FF269 and FF272 they are again tested: Ben is finding himself on Battleworld (while in 269 Reed is facing a Galactus-like shell who looks like The Destroyer (FF269-270), before reconnecting with his parents (FF271-272), the first step in seeing himself as others see him, and thence reconnecting with his family.

100 issues later they have resolved their problems, and the comic then follows a dream team who endlessly repeat variations on the the old stories: in FF369-372 it is Reed, not Ben, who is away finding himself, and it is Sue and Ben who face questions of split identity: Sue merges with Malice, and Ben now in human form) is tormented by seeing his rocky form in the mirror. For another example of Franklin's curse, to endlessly repeat the past, see how Franklin's herald, Galactus, punishes the Sphinx in FF213. For the general theme of not facing the unknown see the page on Franklin.

• Johnny still wants out
• Ben still isn't happy,
• Reed's method is to want to control everything. He still hasn't learned humility: note his impatience with Ben in ther star ship, and the comment just before that from Johnny.
• Sue's method is to listen and see the other person's point of view. Sue is right more often than Reed. Reed is smarter around narrow technical issues, but Sue is more likely to see the bigger picture.

173

Issue 173: Reed will not confide in Sue

Reed won't tell Sue about his loss of stretching power, even though he might endanger the team.  he's also defeatist: saying there is nothing they can do. And once again he's ordering Sue to stay behind. It's like FF127 and FF159 again, but Sue is learning to adapt: instead of arguing she does what he says but in a way that she ends up saving the day. Sue wins despite Reed's narrow mind: the idea that she must stay behind "just in case" is weak.

Other points to note

• It's ironic: Reed's great mind cannot stretch around the idea that Sue might be as clever and useful as he is, but in a different way.
• Reed's rigidity in his body reflects the rigidity in his mind.
• Two of the worlds parallel FF90-93: Torgo was in the Skrull arena. and we have another world that's themed (this time, to fairy tales)
• Note the courage and love of the High Evolutionary. He cares so much for his planet that he will do anything to defend it. Contrast this with the next Galactus story in FF212-213: a similar battle of giants, but the Sphinx has purely selfish motives.
• This is one of a series of story titles based on cultural references. "Cry the Bedeviled Planet" is based on "Cry the Beloved Country," an influential 1948 novel that became  movie in 1951. It tells of a native priest who searches for his wayward son and helps rebuild his village but loses his child. The title refers to the journey to the forgotten land, and foreshadows the eventual death of the other Reed.
• Notice the cover where Sue uses her force field for transport. Kirby saw it was an obvious use for her abilities. This was five years before Byrne had the same idea (probably prompted by a letter from fan Carol Strickland). A this point Kirby made it a policy not to contribute new ideas (since putting in so much unpaid plotting and new character work in the 1960s, and receiving nothing in return). But Kirby could not help being years ahead of everyone else.
  

174

Issue 174: Different kinds of nation

175

Issue 175: like Androcles and the lion

Reed is completely clueless: his told Sue to stay behind while the men do the fighting. And all their fighting is useless.

Meanwhile, Sue accidentally finds the Impossible Man, who defeats Galactus. it may not even be an accident - Sue, like the reader, may have wondered about the mystery third planet, and her famous intuition may have guided her hands when she went there. But even if it was an accident, why did Impy decide to help her? He had no interest in helping anybody before. But go back to issue 11: while the boys (as usual) wanted to use violence, Sue had compassion, and he noticed. It was the same with Gorr, and Dragon Man, and Namor, and Triton: Sue's method is compassion and it makes her a thousand times more useful than the boys.

Sue showed compassion to Impy, and Impy would have remembered. She when she asked him to help, he said "why not?" It's like the famous story of the lion with the thorn in his paw. In the legend Androcles showed the lion kindness by removing the thorn. Years later, the lion later remembers and saves Androcles' life. Would Impy have helped Sue if she had not shown him compassion? Everything we know about him comes from issue 11, and says no. Sue did this, and it wasn't even acknowledged.

Sue's gentle approach saved the whole universe from Galactus. She saved countless billion (probably trillion) lives. Nothing Reed ever does will be as significant as what Sue just did (in fact, he will later save Galactus and be put on trial for it). In the battle of the sexes. Sue has won. And nobody even notices: she's invisible as usual.

Ben's changing relates to confidence.
Why did Ben change? The obvious answer is because Galactus zapped him. Then why was the effect delayed? Galactus would know that Ben's ability to change depends on his unconscious confidence. All Galactus had to do was make Ben a little more aware of his fears, then Ben would change back when he approached Earth and Alicia.

Why is Ben stronger than before? It appears that every major change increases his strength (e.g. in FF214 after the Skrull aging ray, and his power increase from the five ton level in the early days, which coincided with several changes). If each change is triggered by an unconscious need to be stronger it makes sense that he would unconsciously allow himself a little extra strength each time. Note that after spending time with the Hulk, Ben feels the need to be physically larger as well. Strength of course refers to his minimum strength, not his maximum strength, which (as with the Hulk) is vastly higher.

The zeitgeist: God versus evolution
Before I get any emails, yes I know that plenty of religious folk see no problem with evolution. I count myself among them, but that is a whole other topic. However, according to the spirit of the age, God and evolution are opposites. The battle has been raging ever since the rise of Christian fundamentalism in the 1920s, but in the mid 1970s it was chosen as a political wedge issue, along with abortion, to mobilize the Bible belt to vote Republican. It led to Republicans dominating American politics for 30 years (and Clinton, the sole Democrat president in that period, had to be further to the right than many previous Republicans). This a major theme in American history, and the Fantastic Four represents it right at the start.

This illustrates the power of comics in showing the the zeitgeist, and therefore why only a comic can be The Great American Novel. Other novels can bore their readers with tedious debates over theology, but only a comic can show God versus Evolution battling each other on the cover! Galactus is of course the Marvel metaphor for the God of the Old Testament (the greatest of all, his word is truth, he judges the Earth, he is prepared to wipe out the world), with the Silver Surfer as the metaphor for Christ (he sacrifices himself for mankind and preaches). Galactus is not actually God (see the Watcher's quote in FF72), but serves as a metaphor (see for example Anatomy of a Classic: 'Fantastic Four' #50).

God versus evolution: who wins?
The battle is a masterstroke. Who will win? Does God defeat evolution? Does evolution defeat God? Both positions carry risks, but the comic answers it perfectly.

It may appear that evolution wins: the facts and the smart minds and the rebels are on his side. But in the wider history Galactus always comes back. Galactus is the unquestioned power while the High Evolutionary is merely a footnote (and the loneliest of all: see the comment near the end of FF annual 23). Also, Galactus is only defeated by a vacuous world: a people who welcome him, but they have no variety, no depth. The symbolism is obvious: God will only die when his supporters become mindless shallow fanatics. But in FF262 we see that the deeper, most powerful, most thoughtful people see that Galactus is essential to the universe.

Realism and the Impossible Man

A lot of readers hate The Impossible Man: "How do you ruin a Galactus story? The easiest way is to have the Impossible Man figure into the plot." (source) Why do they hate him? They don't say, but I presume that people find him hard to take seriously. Yet he's among the most realistic of all the aliens in comics, for these reasons

Instant evolution:
Practically all aliens in comics have technology that's more advanced than humans, yet it looks similar to our own: e.g. just bigger space ships. This is not realistic. Given the age of the universe any more advanced race will be at the very least  a few thousand years ahead of us. As is likely to be millions of years more advanced. Imagine how much our technology could advance in just the next few thousand years.

1. Step 1: all-purpose tools. Not just computers but machines of all kinds.
2. Step 2: adapt our biology. Why carry it when it can be part of us?
3. Step 3: make it faster, easier... eventually we just adapt, like instant evolution

A sense of humor:
Most aliens in comics are very serious. But why would they be? They've solved all their problems, so they'll just want to have fun! And they won't be smart because there will be no evolutionary pressure to be smart. All we know is that if they come to Earth then they must be interested in Earth. And their humor is likely to be very anarchic: why have rules of decorum if you can do anything?

Planetary indigestion
Why does Galactus want living worlds? Well, what does life have that non-life does not? Complexity. Just compare organic molecules to non-organic ones: what strikes you is their vastly more complex structure. The same goes with intelligence: a bigger brain is more complex. but it isn't just random complexity: you get that just from chaos. What life has is order: in other words it has information. Galactus feeds on the information in life. This is why he's a test: if you can't avoid getting eaten then your information was a lot less valuable than you thought.

How is the planet Poppup different? It's completely networked, to such an infinite degree that the same information is everywhere, If you pick one molecule and compare it to another then you get no more information: it was all there in the first one. To do this it must be fabulously efficient. A Poppup molecule might be a billion time more complex than a human molecule, but if every molecule is more or less the same then the total amount of information is vastly less.

Incidentally, a Poppuppian can be seen as a super advanced skrull: a shape changer to the 'n'th degree. Reed mentioned in FF annual 17 that each skrull atom is like our own DNA. That then goes for each Poppuppian atom, but even more so: every atom is the same model, a general purpose changing machine that self organizes with atoms around it

So imagine Galactus getting ready to eat a planet. I don't know how he eats information, but it's a form of data processing. If we compare it to every other kind of computer we can infer that he has programs that expect different kinds of information, in vast quantities. but the actual information he gets is vastly less. The programs will spew out garbage, or even crash. If the output of these programs is his life then he will die.

Creation myths and indigestion
The idea of a god eating the wrong thing and getting indigestion sounds like something straight from a genuine creation myth. For example, the Greek Titan Kronos swallowed all of his sons to prevent them taking his power, but his wife Rheia tricked him into swallowing a stone in stead of Zeus. Hence Zeus survived and became father to the gods.

Other points to note

• Contrast FF 175 (a  quarter century anniversary) with FF 200. In both, members of the team regain their powers while in a space ship. But Ben knows that super powers separate him from his fellow man, and does not want the powers. In contrast, Reed feels useless without power: Reed is elitist, Ben is not. Ben is right: as this issue confirms, real power lies in friendship (e.g. with the Impossible Man) not in focusing on one's personal strength.
  

Next: a false dawn