1977-78: Act 4: America's turning point (1978 and economics)

Summary
The year 1978 was the economic high point in America's history (though it wasn't obvious at the time). In the FF, issue 200 (1978) is the central climax to the 28 year story. 

Issue summary

• 176-184: Reed wrestles with himself, which allows
  
• 185-6: Nicholas Scratch to attempt to take over, which leads to
• 187-8: Scratch's plan B, his attempt to possess Reed (disguised as the Molecule Man), which leads to
• 189-191: Reed finally giving up, and ending the Fantastic Four, which gives him
• 192-196: time to think, which leads to
  
• 197-200: Reed's greatest triumph... or so he thinks
  

Doom was defeated because, like Reed, he failed his son. So the great triumph will be a false dawn, and Reed's personal crisis will only get worse, until he eventually he learns to listen to his wife and put the next generation first. All of this reflects America's 1970s soul searching, its embrace of Reaganism, its feeling of being strong again, not realizing that debts were simply being passed on to the children.

The deeper battle between gentleness and violence
Al this time, beneath the surface adventures, and the everyday politics, the underlying battle for control is represented by Agatha and her own son, Nicholas Scratch. "Scratch" the surface and he's always there.

176

Issue 176: the most fun issue ever!

This is why we love the Fantastic Four: it's George Perez and Roy Thomas (with help from Jack Kirby) at their best. I won't spend much time on the heart of the story, the unforgettable Bullpen romp (often imitated, never equaled), except to note how much Marvel has grown since their last visit in FF10, and that Stan's dislike for the Impossible Man was genuine: his story was the only one that early readers didn't like, so he banned Impy from future issues, and had to be persuaded to allow him back. I'm not the only one who's glad that Stan said yes.

Realism
What sets the Fantastic Four apart from other superhero comics is realism, and this story is a prime example. The events take place in real, familiar locations (well, familiar if you live in New York), with real, familiar people (familiar if you read comics), and the kinds of events that New Yorkers and comic professionals have to deal with, mixed with "incredible exploits."

The zeitgeist
The Fantastic Four is The Great American Novel because it arises direct from the zeitgeist, the ideas that are swirling around at the time. The previous issue was based on the large scale battle (in the public mind) between God and evolution. True to the "incredible then realism" formula, this issue has a much smaller but equally timely zeitgeist.

Usually we have to infer the zeitgeist from clues in the story, but in this case Roy Thomas told us exactly how the comic came to be written: this small part of the zeitgeist, the small concern that bothered millions of Americans at the time, was the difficulty of getting across a major city town. The rest of the story was a simple matter of following the old formula. And luckily Roy got help from Jack Kirby, who has a better imagination than almost anyone.

Ben is handsome, which makes him a threat
As for the rest of the story, note Reed Richards' comment "why can't you just accept" being ugly?  He continues to (unintentionally) undermine Ben's confidence. Yet Ben is cute and desirable:For years now he's had the cute "orange teddy bear" look and (thanks to Marvel Two In One) been the friendliest guy in the Marvel Universe.

In Act 1, Ben was temporarily like a pile of mud, and that is when the "ugly" idea surfaced. But he soon changed. Ben is basically a teddy bear with muscles, and when you get to know him he's the sweetest, bravest, most loyal guy. What woman would not love that? And yes, he's made of rocks. The masculine ideal is to be like rocks, with chiseled features: think Rock Hudson, Rocky Balboa, the wrestler "The Rock," rock hard abs, being a woman's Rock of Gibraltar, et cetera, et cetera. 

Ben Grimm is the ultimate standard of beauty, as proven by the fact that a great artist falls in love with him and spends her time making statues of him. And Ben's beauty is not just skin deep: he really is the strongest guy on Earth (pretty much).

Ben Grimm is beautiful. But Reed wants to be the alpha male, so Reed (unintentionally) perpetuates the belief that Ben is ugly.

Who was in the Bullpen
Some writers and artists are named. The others are: "Len Wein is pictured running for his life, but he's not identified by name at all. I knew who he was because I had several of the Marvel calendars from this time, and the stock photo they used of him showed him wearing the same colonial-looking hat that Perez drew him wearing. I also think Marv Wolfman was unidentified, but uttered the single word, 'Michelle?', which was his wife's name. [...] Perez nailed the looks/personalities of many of the staffers -- guys like Kirby, Romita, and the Rascally one himself. Of course, what I found out later was that the Bullpen didn't really exist, at least not as the idea was sold by Stan the Man. It would have been highly unlikely to have found this many creators in the offices at one time." - Doug

Other points to note

• Impy's comic
  Stan says Imply will not get his own comic. But as soon as continuity ended (in the early 1990s) he got two issues of his own title.
• The precise date, and feminism
  This is one of only two stories that can be fixed to a precise date and place, the other being FF133, which began at New Year 1973 in Times Square. Note the female aspect: FF 133 was when Sue was away and Crystal had just left, and the team was at its most unhappy. But here is when Sue has just saved the world (with Impy) and Thundra and Tigra are around: and this issue is the most fun.
  
  
• Realism
  The cab driver says he hasn't seen any superheroes in 17 years (i.e. from 1959, comfortably before the FF began in 1961), and the events of this issue take place on July 26th 1976, there even of the terrible Tangshan Earthquake in China. Both are reminders that the superhero power are not significant compared to the real world. See the page on realism for details.
  
• Ben's frustration and anger
  On the surface this is a playful romp. But
  
• Financial difficulties
  In FF161 we were reminded of the FF's constant financial problems Here Sue implies that paying for a damaged car would be difficult. For more on their long term financial problems, see the commentary to FF 279, about how Reed managed to buy the Baxter Building. For Reed's early skill at making money (before being a superhero became a constant drain on resources) see the notes to FF 3.
  
• The location of the Baxter Building
  This issue gives more circumstantial evidence for the location of the Baxter Building, I later years it would be placed at several locations (in other comics), and in the Franklinverse period it's placed on 42nd Street and Madison. At this point its address has not been been stated, but I argue that it is the Western Electric building in the financial district (see the notes to issue 3 for details). This issue give circumstantial support for that:
• They travel south from the Central Park Lake, because the Marvel offices are on the way. So this allows either the Western Electric or Franklinverse addresses.
  
• The Baxter Building is not within walking distance of the Marvel offices. We know this because they worry about transport at the end, even though they have stretching (remember how Reed could walk over tower blocks in FF 164), flame, and forcefields. Heck, the Franklinverse address is not even far to walk: less than a mile.
• Sue implies that they very seldom see the Marvel people, despite reporting their adventures. This again suggests they are some distance away, and not less than a mile. This all rules out the Franklinverse address, leaving the Western Electric address as the most likely.
  

177

Issue 177: the one enemy they can never defeat

It's hard to assess this issue objectively because I love it so much. I read it as a kid. I love the art (Perez is my all time favorite FF artist), I love the story, I love the humor, I just smile at every page. But OK, its significance to the story? Obviously its pointing out that Reed, for all his brains and heroism, has become a liability. yes, sure, this is an alternate Reed, but the problem only arose because of "our" Reed. The fake Reed can only cause problems as long as he is mistaken for our Reed:

• He came here on Reed's ship - Reed didn't notice (see FF178)
  
• Our Reed can't stretch. Why? probably for the same reason Ben had trouble changing: stress. Why does he have so much stress? Because he tries to do too much and won't let the others help. It's his own fault.
• Sue can't tell the difference (FF179). Why? because our Reed has been so cold and distant.
• Note the parallel with FF51, where the fake Ben got in because Reed wouldn't listen to the real Ben.
  

The cover calls Reed "the one super foe we can never defeat." Obviously they can defeat the other Reed, so he must refer to our Reed, Our Reed cannot be defeated because he's on our side, but sometimes acts like the only team he supports is himself.

No respect

This is the issue where the Frightful Four become joke characters. In his previous appearance, Peter Petruski lost all credibility. The fact that the Wizard still has to rely on him shows how bad his leadership skills are.

The only reason the Sandman stays with the Wizard is that his mind is on other things: he is considering following Medusa and switching sides. But that's another story, covered in Ben's own title, Marvel Two In One.

"My killer, myself"
So just as Reed is defeated by himself, so is the Wizard: his inability to work with others is his downfall.

178

Issue 178: where is the real power?

• Note the who's who of major American political figures, two of whom will go on to become president
  
  

FF178-181 The Kirby Triptych

Kirby recently began drawing some FF covers (he refused to do the inner art unless every detail was scripted: he was tired of giving new ideas for nothing so others could get rich). As if to celebrate this, we have a Kirby style Triptych of splash pages. (FF181 would have been 180, but for deadline reasons 180 was a reprint, reminding us of happier times at the very end of act 3 just before the disasters of act 4 begin.)

This is the only time splash pages have formed a triptych, and reflects the importance of these events in the 28 year story. These events are turning points in Ben and Reed's lives:

1. Part 1: Ben has just realized that he has no life as Ben Grimm and will always be The Thing. He is lost in his mental negative zone. This also reflects acts 1 and 2, where Ben was the tragic, lost figure, and the killer of his self esteem was Reed Richards.
2. Part 2: Reed has realized he is no longer fantastic, and is in the final decline before he ends the team. This also reflects acts 3 and 4, where Reed is lost in his mental negative zone.
3. Part 3: Reed must face up to the greatest danger and then triumphs. This also reflects act 5 where he finds himself, his real power, not in his intelligence or his stretching, but in his heroic willingness to do the right thing, regardless of the personal cost.

179

Issue 179: karma for Reed

Wouldn't this frame make a great Roy Lichtenstein print?

Why didn't Sue notice earlier?

In this issue, Reed is thrown into the Negative Zone and replaced by an evil doppelganger. The others immediately suspect, but have been trained to never doubt Reed. He made them feel like children while only he understands the big picture. He always had secrets and could get angry when questioned (e.g. in FF51 when Sue discovers his experiments). In addition, his extreme stress over the last few years makes him cold and distant anyway. Now that Reed is replaced, the team suppress their doubts, just as Reed always trained them to do.

Note the symbolism of the Negative Zone: Reed is negative to the others, and he often finds himself trapped there.

Meanwhile, Ben is chased by two women, while believing that being The Thing makes him unattractive. And he cannot make a decision, despite being a tough guy. As long as Reed is around, Ben cannot be a man. Ben is a jock and Reed is a nerd. If one controls the other then the other cannot be himself. This conflict will finally resolve in Act 5.

The importance of real time to characterization

In this issue we are reminded how Reed's character is defined by his service in World War II. Reed was naturally an introvert, but the draft forced him into combat and made him a man's man.

180

(Issue 180: a reprint)

"Triple D" is the Dreaded Deadline Doom, when a book is not finished by the time it has to go to the printer. George Perez puts twice as much effort into his work as any other artist, and is given the hardest jobs (team books), and at this point he's doing several team books. No wonder he sometimes gets behind! But I'd rather have one Perez issue every third issue and a fill-in artist in between, than every issue by any other artist. He's worth it.

181

Issue 181: Sue understand Franklin's power

• Agatha
  We again see that Agatha is a danger to Franklin. But Reed can't or won't see it.
• Nicholas (nick) Scratch
  "Old Scratch, like Old Nick, is a nickname for the devil. In the last century it was widely used in the eastern United States, especially in New England, as is evident from the Devil's name for himself in the Stephen Vincent Benét short story 'The Devil and Daniel Webster.'" (source)
• Ben is not ugly
  We also see clearly that Ben is attractive to women: Thundra (not bad looking herself) wants him as her mate. Like Reed and Franklin, Ben can't see this truth, and won't until he comes to like his skin in act 5.
• Johnny's power
  Johnny confirms what we suspect: he can now fly for hours without his flame running out. He probably always could, but unconsciously did not believe it.
• Frankie
  It is confirmed that Frankie is traumatized by fire: we won't know the reason until much later, in Byrne's run on the book. This is part of the Horton family sub plot that lasts almost the full 28 years. It's nice to see these smaller stories bubble along, and see how they act as parallels and catalysts for the main story.
• Roy Thomas
  This is Roy Thomas's last issue. Roy was Stan Lee's first assistant writer, the man who carried the writing torch when Lee and Kirby left. He left to concentrate on other titles, including Star Wars. Thomas fought hard to persuade Marvel Star Wars, which at the time was expected to be a minor movie and a financial risk. Instead it saved Marvel Comics financially. (The 1970s were a time when fewer newsstands were taking comics, because other magazines took up the same space yet had higher cover prices so brought in more profit. This was also why Marvel experimented with "Giant Size" comics, higher priced black and white magazines, Treasury Editions, etc.)
  

182

Issue 182: Reed's autism - the evidence

This issue gives perhaps more evidence that Reed may be autistic. Maybe it's time to summarize the case:

1. Reed is highly intelligent, but only when he focuses on a narrow area. In other areas he seems less intelligent than his peers (see later examples)
2. In FF182 we see that he has difficulty with neuro-typical emotional responses. The parallel world Reed provides a useful experimental control for comparison with "our" Reed. As a parallel world Reed, we should assume he's the same in every way unless stated. Notice what happens here: Sue tells him that Franklin has been kidnapped, and this Reed struggles to find the right thing to say. This is classic autistic behavior. Note that a small delay is normal: we should expect a second or so of shock. After that, any fake actor would know what to say. It's not difficult to come up with a look of shock. But for this fake Reed it's very difficult. He stands here struggling to think of the appropriate response. The Real Reed of course has had years of experience in Franklin getting hurt, so he would know what to say. This is why it's so difficult to diagnose adults with autism: adults learn the right thing to say, even if they find it difficult. But this adult does not have a son, so he never learned, so it's really hard for him to fake the emotion.
3. Reed is obsessively narrowly focused. He will happily spend days in his lab and even forget to eat. This goes beyond a normal obsession or interest.
4. Reed lacks social awareness. He does not see how his put downs affect the others emotionally. He genuinely cares for Ben, and cannot see how his criticisms (especially in acts 1 and 2) have driven Ben to depression. He loves Sue, and cannot see how his actions almost led to divorce. he cares for Johnny, but cannot see how Johnny feels so trapped.
5. Reed prefers solitude, and if he has to deal with others he wants to make all the decisions: his world seems to be filled with himself. (The word "autism" comes from the same root as "automatic" and comes from the prefix "auto" meaning "alone".)
   
6. He avoids eye contact. We often see him, as in the sequence above, looking way from the person he's talking to. FF51 is another classic example, when Sue stumbles on his secret work and he says "how did you find out?" without looking at her. In FF271 it's a big deal that he can't remember his mother's eyes. Possibly she was he only person he would look in the eye. Of course, adults eventually learn what's appropriate, so he will look into eyes when he remembers to, but it doesn't come naturally.
7. He gets angry and frustrated or depressed when things don't go his way. FF9 is a good example of this. This leads to his need to be in control. In FF184 he's depressed that he cannot stretch, even though as Sue points out that is not his main power so rationally it doesn't matter.
   
8. His speech patterns show he isn't really aware of how he comes across; he's very verbose even though others ask him not to be.
9. He takes things very literally. This is most clearly seen in John Byrne's run where Reed is at his most socially withdrawn.
10. He is more paranoid than the others, seeing danger everywhere. Johnny has more fun, Ben is more relaxed about beating foes, and Sue likes to sometimes leave a danger alone (e.g. the first time they saw the creature from the black lagoon) but Reed is constantly on edge.
    
11. He doesn't like to change routine, though his lifestyle forces him to. Franklin would interfere with his routine some he likes to send the boy away to Agatha Harkness, and won't change that routine even when it's obvious that Agatha's house is not safe. Reed is also the only one who has never deliberately changed his uniform. Sue has tried skirts, Ben occasionally has an all over suit and even a helmet, and Johnny tried a red suit for a while, but Reed is happy with the same uniform every single time.
12. he seems to hate social complexity: how else do we explain why he did so well in FF181 in the negative zone? He was superb! Such a simple situation, just Reed on a rock against Annihilus. No powers, no other people, no stress. This shows that losing his powers is not the cause of his stress: it's the fact that losing his powers makes his life complicated that he can't cope with.
    
13. And so on and so on. None of this is proof of course, but the circumstantial evidence is very high.
    

183

Issue 183: Sue as leader

FF183 shows what Sue is like as a leader: pretty good really. It features the android from FF71. The whole issue mirrors FF71, when Sue stood alone, and shows how she's progressed since then. FF71, you will recall, was the moment when Reed decided to do the right thing and put Franklin first, but in FF72 at the first sign of trouble he couldn't go through with it. Now, and in FF184, we see what Sue should have done in FF71-72: she should have taken control. But she could not: she did not have the experience to control Reed. Remember that at the time he was a 42 year old WWII veteran and international hero, and she was a 28 year who hated conflict and had idolized him since childhood.  But this is two and a half years later (their time) and so much has happened. She has seen Reed's decline, and the separation and her time in Pennsylvania has made her grow. In this issue the men are away (until the end) so Sue leads an all female team and does pretty well.

What could Sue have done?

Could Sue have defeated the android without the boys? Probably yes, because of Thundra. When Reed appeared Thundra had just been swatted away, but she has fierce pride and would have come straight back. They could keep him at bay, but would Sue recognize the cosmic control rod? If Reed has let her take part in the previous Negative Zone adventures then yes: because Johnny did. Once she knew of it Sue would not have forgotten it, because of its role in her son's birth and in his near death in FF41. So yes, the boys were not needed. In fact, if Sue had started experimenting with her force field earlier then she could have used it to grab the control rod from a distance (using the pincers she creates in FF222). Sue feels she has to experiment with her powers in secret, presumably because Reed did not see the need for it.

In short, if Reed had not been the leader of the FF, Sue could have defeated the android within a few seconds of seeing him. "What's that? The cosmic control rod? Pop. Gone. Android falls. The end."

A reminder of Reed's finest hour

Being in the negative zone gives Reed a boost of confidence. He's far away from reminders of his failures, and we see him at his very best: a true hero, and even more heroic because he doesn't have any machines or super powers to help him. But back in his normal surroundings he is reminded of his problems and falls into depression again (next issue).

Parallels between FF71 and FF183 include...

• The android (tossed into the negative zone in FF71, returns here).
  
• The cover

• The splash page: dominated by Sue.
• The premise: the men are defeated, and Sue shows what she can do. But this time she has other female help
• Sue is thrown out of the Baxter Building. In FF71 it's the android who's thrown out.
  
• Sue is then exhausted, but carries on. But in FF71 she can't because when the danger is over Reed gives her a sleeping tonic. Compare this to FF184: after this battle is over it's Reed who collapses from exhaustion!
  
• The Brute uses the building's machines against Sue. In FF71 Sue uses Reed's machine against the android.
• The bad guy ends up in the negative zone. But in FF71 he was forced there, while in FF183 he is inspired to go there. Inspiration works better than force.
  

Criticisms (source)

• The android:
  "Recall that the first time the FF encountered this android, it was so powerful that they could not stop it - they could only throw it into the Negative Zone. Now that it's returned, in possession of the Cosmic Control Rod, the FF defeat it in a few panels. That's the definition of Diminishing Threat Syndrome. Unless you want to argue that Tigra somehow tipped the scales." In this case, Annihilus removed most of the android's weaponry, that's why it was less effective. Its new power is based on the cosmic control rod, but the android was pulled to the Baxter Building by the Thinker, who unaware of the rod. The Thinker is not present, so instead of sending the command "use the cosmic control rod" the thinker is sending commands like "use your weapons" and of course the android fails.
• Becoming good at the end?
  Wasn't it a bit too convenient that the evil wore off? No. The giant was based on the thinker's android, which was tuned to find our Reed Richards. So when it swapped the Brute with a Reed Richards it chose a version very slightly closer to ours: a good version. This is
  

Other points to note:

• Sue's strength:
  Now that Sue is less dependent on Reed she is free to continue to develop her powers. In this issue she uses her force field in two novel ways: to deflect lasers to destroy their source, and then for Tigra to jump on: this is only a small step to Sue "flying" in FF232.
• Literature:
  This one really does "have it all"- Sue and Reed at their best, character development, fantastic characters, a much bigger story, amazing locations, it has everything!

184

Issue 184: Sue has to take control

Back in this world, reminded of all his failings, Reed is weak and Sue is strong. So Reed can easily be led by a strong woman. But after FF200 Reed will regain his confidence, and when things still go wrong he will move to a state of self denial. Sue will then need an extra layer of strength, to lead Reed when he does not want to be led.

Other points to note

• Fainting
  It is ironic that critics sometimes accuse Sue of fainting. Reed faints more often than she does, as in this case, or in FF124, or in FF148.
• Empathy
  Notice that Sue is empathetic and builds up Reed, whereas Reed always lacked the empathy to build others, preferring to either command or criticize.
• Ahead of the Hollywood zeitgeist
  "'An Eliminator never fails!!' [implies] that there are more of these guys out there. [...] This guy predated Robocop/Terminator/most other pop culture cyborgian creations by several years--Marvel should be celebrating that!
  James Robinson--are you listening?!?" (source)
  

185

Issue 185: Reed is coming apart at the seams.

Note the similarity between FF185 and FF232. Also compare the happy scene in FF201. Artists know that looking down on somebody shows them feeling small and vulnerable, whereas looking up at the same scene makes them look confident and powerful.

The period from FF158 to FF200 is the false climax, leading to the false dawn. It parallels and foreshadows the true climax between 201 and 303:

• Both begin at a similar, hopeful time: 149-157 and 195-200 both see the team reunited after separation, then they invade Latveria and leave Doom defeated (although in 157 Doom is physically free, he says he has never known a blacker hour.).
• Both then see Reed making bad decisions (selling out to the IT corporation; the Negative Zone trips), and feeling under great stress, that reflects in his health.
• Both periods involve Franklin being abducted because Reed foolishly entrusted him to Agatha Harkness, or left him alone.
• Both periods have Reed acting as a villain (as the Molecule Man, or saving Galactus)
• Both end with Reed leaving the team. then a new happier beginning.
• It seems as if the team will end after FF200, but it cannot, because Reed did not get the message: he did not put Franklin first. So for the second time he has to go through the same learning process, but far worse: Franklin will be abducted three times, Reed will be a worse villain, and Reed will sink far lower until he has no choice, and he finally does the right thing.

Keeping Franklin safe
Agatha, like Reed, means well, but thinks she has to work alone. Like Reed, she repeatedly promises what she cannot deliver: safety for Franklin. Franklin is wiser. He knows that he should be: with his parents. The combination of his father's brain focused on his needs, plus his mother's ability to hide and protect him, plus his own awesome powers, are all he needs. But Reed cannot see it, and Sue will not give sufficient weight to her intuition.

186

Issue 186: a warning: Agatha's family background

This is the issue where we learn of Agatha's family background, and it contains disturbing parallels to Reed's behavior. This is a warning of what can happen if you don't put your family first:

Trusting Agatha has placed Franklin in danger
Reed's decision to entrust Franklin to a witch has caused far more problems than it ever solved. This is just one more example.

A warning
Note the parallels between Agatha and Nicholas and Reed:

• Agatha left and neglected her son, thus putting the world in danger. Reed does the same by leaving his son whenever he can.
• The most immediate danger is to Agatha herself, just as Reed is the one who suffers the most from his choices.
• Scratch thinks he can rule by his superior abilities, not by consent. He thinks he does what is best for his people. But the people's understanding and cooperation is stronger than his conflict.
• Reed can't see any way out, just as Nicholas is trapped. But Reed has very capable friends, if he'll just stop trying to control them. Here it's Sue who has an idea and saves them. Later, Sue has to protect Reed. Sue i capable! Reed does not have to waste his time and effort controlling everything, he can allow some slack and spend time with Franklin.
  

In short, and the family will continue to suffer until Reed puts his family (especially Franklin) first.

Criticism:

• If Salem's Seven could only battle real powers, how did they fight Reed before they knew he had fake arms? The most likely answer is that because magic is based on calling on a higher power. E.g. Dr Strange's "by the hoary hosts of hoggoth" means calling on the powers of Hoggoth. In other words, magic is a contract between a junior and senior partner. In this case the contract would have been something like "we call on the power of X so that we can defeat the powers of the Fantastic Four." When the junior partner (the supplicant) realizes they have broken the contract they have to stop, or risk the wrath of the higher power.

Other points to note

• Kurt Busiek
  The letters page includes a young Kurt Busiek defending Sue against critics who say she should be more violent. See Sue's own page for details.
• Casablanca
  The Impossible Man is watching the very end of the movie Casablanca
  

187

Issue 187: Reed does not learn: Scratch is triumphant.

Reed is a broken man, but does not learn wisdom
As noted in the commentary to FF185, these stories foreshadow the end of Act 4, when Reed finally learns wisdom. In this issue his spirit is broken, but he still does not see clearly. He is simply depressed. He does not see his proper place in the team (as an equal to the others, not as greater or less), and he does not see the importance of his son. Sue understands both, but will not say "Reed, my intuition is better than yours." Reed will have to learn that the hard way.

The secret of their superpowers
One of the 28 year subplots concerns the origin of the team's powers. In this issue we gain a significant clue, though it won't be obvious until FF319 at the end of Act 5. In hindsight the clues are all there:

1. A common cause for superpowers:
   The Fantastic Four are the first but not the only super powered beings. Occam's razor suggests that, with so many super-types, there must be a common underlying cause.
2. Triggered by mankind entering space:
   The Fantastic Four were the first of many new super super powered beings. What was different about the team? They represents mankind's first step into space. This has massive significance fir the human species.
3. The cosmic cube:
   Other Marvel comics introduce the cosmic cube: a reward offered by advanced aliens when lesser beings become sufficiently advanced. FF319 summarizes everything, if readers have not read those other stories.
   
4. The Molecule Man is the clearest example of superpowers:
   Of all the super beings spawned by Earth, the Molecule Man has the greatest power: almost a general purpose "do anything" power. He is the only one that provoked a warning from the Watcher, and then the Watcher took him away again. So if we are to understand superpowers, we should focus on the purest example: the Molecule man. Note that in FF188 the Watcher again appears. Most people assume this is because the Fantastic Four break up, and this is certainly of interest to him, but he spends most of his time watching Reed and the Molecule Man as they share bodies. As we saw when the Molecule Man appeared, and as was clear in FF319, the Molecule Man has tremendous significance to the higher powers.
5. The power can be trapped in a wand or other object:
   In FF187 (and other comics) we see that the Molecule Man's powers can be trapped into an object like a wand, and can be transferred instantly to another host. In hindsight we can see that this is an imperfect version of a cosmic cube: great power comes from outside, and fills the available host. But sometimes the host is not advanced enough to accept the full power in the form of a perfect cube. Then a lesser amount is transferred, depending on the host in question. E.g. Reed stretches his mind, so gains the power to stretch; Johnny is hot-headed and a fan of the original Human Torch so gains the power to flame on, etc.

This exact source of their superpowers is not essential to the story, so it is not emphasized, but for curious readers the answers are all there.

The big secret

1. He changed
   The Molecule Man here is very different from the Molecule Man in FF20. Later we see that the Molecule Man has reformed just as the Watcher would have wanted (in Secret Wars and elsewhere) - as if he was always under the Watcher's care and never left.
   
2. The wand
   What's with the wand? Why would the original explosion give him a wand that he needed? And why were the FF not bothered when the wand just fell into a chimney?
   
3. The Impossible Man
   How was the Impossible Man defeated so easily? His whole body is designed to survive unexpected attacks. Sure, the Molecule Man has vast power, but he has also had trouble with unstable molecules (that's how he is defeated this time), and the Impossible Man is basically made of unstable molecules.
4. The Watcher
   Why was the Watcher present in all this? Is the temporary break up of the FF really that important on a cosmic scale? Granted, he would be interested in the Molecule Man, but this time he only seems interested in the FF.
5. The Watcher's job
   The Watcher was in charge of looking after the Molecule Man. How could he Watcher allow him to escape, and then not recapture him?
6. His son???
   In fact, according to Marvel Two In One. this is not even the Molecule Man, but his son. His son??? A being never heard from again.
   

Wait a minute, where have we seen those cloaks and sinister killers before... just last issue!

And where have we seen a wand that can make stone buildings walk, send force blasts, possess people, and more?

All the problems disappear if the Molecule man's "son" was one of the people of New Salem, still loyal to Scratch, using his Satan Staff to try to free him. It's the Overmind saga all over again, pretend to be someone else as a way to get into Reed's head. And through him, to open the hell gate (Negative Zone), control Franklin (a beyond Omega mutant who specializes in dimensional travel and cosmic control)... no wonder the Watcher is interested. In FF 188 the Watcher does not weeping because the Fantastic Four are splitting up, he weeps because he knows what could happen to Franklin, and the world.

Note that one hundred issues later a witch hunter called Elspeth Cromwell (no doubt with links to New Salem) is finally able to deliver Reed and Sue to Mephisto, during a merging with Limbo, which leads to the destruction of their home and final tearing open of the hell gate across the sky... It's all linked.

I can't help pointing out that we have a guy with a lightning scar on his forehead (though he is temporarily bad, he is a good guy in the end), a bad guy with snake like eyes and no nose, a battle involving wands that cause various magical effects, a bad guy who cannot die because his soul is stored in a physical object... where have we seen that before? Or rather, where did we see it years later? I wonder what comics J.K.Rowling read as a child?

188

Issue 188: it's all about control

• A pawn of the Brute: Reed had no powers, so the Brute could imitate him, but having powers is no guarantee that he cannot be copied. There are plenty of other doppelgangers, it's a running motif in the 28 year story. The real problem was that that the others were emotionally powerless to act, because Reed had undermined their confidence.
• A pawn of the Molecule Man: This would have happened even if he could stretch. The real problem is that he picked up the wand before checking with Sue. The first thing you do after a battle is de-brief, especially if you missed half of it (as Reed did). It never crossed Reed's mind that Sue might have useful information.
• Between those two stories, his inability to stretch saved them: Salem's Seven could only act against natural powers, not artificial ones.

So the lack of powers was barely a handicap at all. The real cause of his problems was in not treating his family as equals. Reed wants control. In this issue the Molecule Man, a vastly more powerful being, controls Reed, and Reed cannot stand it. After this he would rather leave the team.

In Act 5 Reed will finally learn to treat others as equals, but he still has a long way to go.

With great power comes... great powerlessness

1. Reed: one of the most brilliant minds in the galaxy (see FF7 where a more advanced planet needed his help, and how the mighty Skrull empire fears him. (Then why don't they simply shoot him? Because that reveals their weakness. Advanced civilizations are information based: they rely on shared belief. Admitting they fear one man would undermine their credibility and cause defeated races to rise up. As with Dr Doom, all the stylized comic book battles are designed purely to humiliate him, not to kill him until after he is humiliated.) So Reed is one of the most powerful beings, yet he feels useless, incompetent, filled with self doubt. Why? Because he cannot cope with the fact that, in some vital areas, Sue is smarter than him, and so is his young son. Power brings pride.
2. The Molecule Man: one of the most powerful beings in the galaxy (as noted on his first appearance) and he talks himself up in this issue, probably because he shared the boxers brain and is influenced by Klaw. But we saw at the beginning (his origin) and at the end (FF319) that really he is plagued with self doubt. He simply is not smart enough to make use of his power or so solve his personal problems with it. Note the change between this and Englehart's run sharing Reed's brain probably sowed the seeds of admitting his weakness, just as Reed has to.
3. The Impossible Man: almost impossible to defeat - here they caught him by surprise but it only lasted a few hours at most, and that is the only time. yet he has the mind of a child and all he wants is friends - see the discussion by see issue 11. He is lost and confused, and used humor because it's the only tool in his mental arsenal.
4. The Watcher: long ago his race, almost omnipotent, realized that interfering does not make things any better. HE can do anything, yet can only watch, with a tear in his eye, knowing that he could instantly fix things, yet in the long term it would make no difference.
   

189

(Issue 189: a reprint)

See note by FF180. Soon after this Jim Shooter became Editor-In-Chief and began a policy of having spare issues in the drawer, so they would never again have reprint issues when the deadline was missed.

190

Issue 190: Ben's turning point - his identity as an individual

The end of the FF
Ben explains that this is the end of the FF, because Reed is no longer the head. it is no longer the "Mr Fantastic" Four. The team will get back together in FF201, but under different rules: Sue had reformed the team so that Reed, while nominally in charge, really had no more power than anyone else. This had been the de facto position since FF159, but now it was official.

FF1-141 and 141-190
This issue runs through the history of the FF from Ben's perspective. He only covers events up to FF141 (i.e. 50 issue earlier). Until that point he was struggling against Reed, but at that point he let go. Since then he has been looking for his role and here he decides to stop thinking about the past (symbolized by destroying his diary). He will try to just accept his individual life, a regular guy with friends. But this won't work: like Reed after FF200, he has not fixed the underlying problems.

The Turning point: FF190 and Marvel Two In One 50
The importance of FF190 is that Ben no longer looks backwards. This is symbolized by destroying his diary, and is reflected in Ben's own book, Marvel Two In One. As often happens, a topic that is subtly implied in the main FF title is made more explicit in MTIO. (MTIO is not the FF, so is not necessarily canon, but does expand on FF themes.)

Here are the main eras in Ben's life:

• The angry era (FF1-141)
  Ben's mental battle against Reed ended when Reed's life fell apart (FF126-140).
  
• The road trip era (FF142-200; MTIO 1-50):
  We see Ben on a kind of road trip FF142 and again in FF191-200. here, Ben is directionless. This in reflected in MTIO 1-50, a road-trip type book where Ben would wander from place to place, meeting new people. Ben is looking for himself. Finally in FF50 he thinks he finds himself (he goes back in time) and fixes the problem (he thinks).
  
• The poker era (FF201-250; MTIO 51-100):
  Ben now accepts his role as a strong guy with interesting friends. He begins regular poker nights with other superheroes. he tells himself he is happy and at peace, but he hasn't solved the underlying problems. This era ends in MTIO 100 where he revisits his success from MTIO 50, and finds it turned into a disaster. This corresponds to FF251-255 where Ben lets Reed take him on one last road trip, and its the biggest disaster of his life: while in the Negative Zone (how apt!) Alicia is attacked, beaten, only escape her intended death by a miracle, and is severely traumatized. Ben does not how to react for ten issues or so (FF257-264) then just has to get away.
  
• The Battleworld era (FF257-295; The Thing 1-37):
  We'll get to Ben's internal battles later. These are represented by The Thing issues 1-37 where he battles various issues in his psychology.
  

191

Issue 191: the FF resign

After 12 years (their time) at the head, Reed hasn't trained his team to lead. he hasn't put in place any arrangements for the future. When he goes they can't carry on without him. Contrast this with act 5: the team then will have more experience of solo work, and each member will have resolved their personal struggles: then when Reed and Sue leave, the Fantastic Four goes on!

But what about Dr Doom?
"But surely the long term, big story Fantastic Four is the story of Reed versus Dr Doom? How can Reed give up? Isn't the world now in danger?" This is the most crushing defeat of all. Doom's number one goal was to prove himself superior to Reed Richards. Reed has given up. Doom has won. If the world is in danger he will of course help other superheroes, working in an advisory capacity back at base. Ironically he will probably be more effective that way, as he's a much better scientist than team leader. But Doom has won.

"A legend died this day."
Reed is convinced that this is permanent. After three years of struggle and decline (act four so far), Reed has thrown in the towel and admitted defeat. He sells his equipment, certain that they will never need it again. Reed's personal crisis was so great that the man who created the team was finally the man to destroy it.

• Foreshadowing
  When Ben leaves the building a reporter asks about rumors that he demanded to be the leader. This foreshadows act 5.
• Franklin
  Franklin seems happy: maybe he'll get more time with his Dad!
• Sue has grown
  Ben hopes that Sue can persuade Reed to come back. Ben can see how she's changed since her time in Pennsylvania.
• When is Franklin safe?
  Sue says she knows Franklin will be safe in Agatha's care, despite all the times when she has failed to protect the child. But Sue trusts her intuition on this (see FF191). Looking back, Franklin was only in danger when the marriage was strained, and now the marriage has hope.
• Johnny is no longer held back
  Now with Reed no longer dominating them Johnny gets more creative, e.g. spitting flame: something he would have helped many times in the past, but he seems to lack creativity when he has to spend his life following orders. He is also more creative next issue, creating flame objects and duplicates of himself.
• The development of technology, and Reed
  This issue shows major tech sharing with SHIELD. Reed is no fool: any agreement would be two way. So from this point any tech Reed uses can be assumed to include SHIELD tech if needed. This reinforces the theme of the story: Reed no longer sees himself as special; he no longer wants his technology that has failed him. His dream of being the one man who solves everything is dead. He will now cooperate with others.
• The 35th floor
  This appears to be the only view of the large mid section below the top five floors: broken plaster and wooden boards suggest this is not one of the high tech top five storeys.
  
  
• Real time:
  O'Hoolihan says he's been the doorman for 16 years, and "during that time" learned a lot about the FF. The cover is copyright 1977, meaning O'Hoolihan began in 1961. It cannot be coincidence.
  
  
  

The year without the Fantastic Four

From FF188 to 200 is one year (our time) with no Fantastic Four. Just attempts at solo careers. it was a learning experience. They were practicing life without Reed. They were growing up, ready for the second half of act 4.

The zeitgeist
The year without the FF represents a year when America felt it had lost direction. It was the end of 1977 and most of 1978: Jimmy Carter's presidency was not a confident one, and had crisis after crisis. (Personally I am a fan of Carter, with his values, his environmentalism and his peace talks. But I am not American: this is the Great American Novel and reflects the perception inside the country.)

The story moves forward: Len Wein continues Jack Kirby's dream.

192

Issue 192: Reaping the whirlwind

The title of this issue, "He Who Soweth the Wind" refers to Reed, not Johnny. Johnny driving a racing car into a whirlwind is a visual metaphor for the dangers that lie ahead.

"Sow the wind" comes from the saying "sow the wind and reap the whirlwind." It means "do something bad and get something much worse as a result." It does not apply to Johnny: he didn't "sow the wind," he didn't do anything bad. But Reed is also on the story, and Reed did something very bad: he gave up his fight with Doctor Doom. In this story he continues to sow the wind (by working on a mysterious assignment without finding out who is pulling the strings. Reed will soon reap the whirlwind.

"For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up."

Hosea chapter 8 is where the prophet Hosea condemns Israel for rejecting what it is given and instead worshiping false gods. As a result, says Hosea, Israel will find itself enslaved by an enemy nation. This applies to Reed: he stops fighting Dr Doom and instead focuses on his own comfort. No prizes for guessing what happens next: Doom will takeover Reed's life and then threaten the whole world.

A Reed in the Bible
Note the second part of the verse: "it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up. The imagery is of the threshing floor, the place where grass is hit against the stone (threshed) to release the buds of wheat for making bread. The threshing floor is a favorite image in Old Testament prophecy, as it reminds the reader that life is hard, so don't give up: it's worth it. Israel is like wheat, being hit against stone in order to create something better. The Bible talks about separating the good wheat from the bad chaff. 

Note the word "stalk" - the image is of the stalk being blown away in the wind. A wind in a threshing floor is annoying, it blows all the wheat around. A whirlwind in a threshing floor is a catastrophe! All your food blows away and you starve! A stalk and a reed are similar: a reed is a kind of stalk. The Bible has similar warnings about reeds being blown over. Most famously Matthew 11:7, where Jesus says that John the Baptist is strong, not like a reed: "And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see ? A reed shaken with the wind?" A reed has three other uses in the Bible: as a small weapon for enforcing the will of a master on a servant, as a pen for writing (dipped in ink) or as a measuring tool (e.g. the temple is measured with a reed in Revelation). All four uses of reed apply to Reed Richards:

1. He rules others
2. He uses communication devices
3. he uses scientific measuring instruments
4. And here he is a reed blowing in the wind, allowing circumstances and mysterious employers to control his life
   

Hosea 8:7 applies to the next 8 issues: Reed has acted like a reed in the wind, letting others blow him around, and this will lead to a whirlwind of danger and almost cost the team their lives.

More titles from the Bible
These three issues (192--194) are about Johnny and Ben having to make fundamental life choices: they are independent for the first time since 1961 (for Johnny this is the first time ever). The engage in great issues of identity and soul searching, so these issues have Biblical titles:

192: "He who soweth the Wind" (Hosea 8:7)
193: "Day of the death demon" - demons are of course Biblical, and "the day of the Lord" or "the day the Lords hath chosen" or "the great and terrible day of the Lord" are well known phrases from the Bible,
194: "vengeance is mine" is from Deuteronomy 32:35 "It is mine to avenge, I will repay", as quoted by Paul in Romans 12:19, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord"

The issues before and after this are not about soul searching, so do not have Biblical titles.

• Realism
  Johnny says he has to wear his FF logo, as the race could not raise funding without it. Though we see the race from Johnny's point of view, as secondary to his worries about his family, in the media you can be sure they're advertising this wall to wall as a major event: "The first time Johnny has raced in 12 years! Exclusively on [race brand]!" etc.
• Gwen Stacy
  Johnny fears snapping Becky's spine if he catches her too sharply. This is probably a reference to the death of Gwen Stacy, Spider-Man's friend.
• Cynthia
  Observant readers will recognize "Cynthian associates" as named after Doom's mother, Cynthia. Even for Doom, it's all about family.
  
  The name Cynthian refers to the moon: it comes from the mountain where Diana, goddess of the moon, was born. The Fantastic Four is metaphorically about reaching for the moon: see the 1960s space race, the current story arc where Reed will go back to space, the final scenes in "The Last Fantastic Four Story", the Inhumans' new home, etc. The moon also represents the night time, of interest to occultists like Cynthia and her son Victor.
  

FF192 and Johnny's timeline

• He shows off abilities - flame double, fire hoops, fusing sand to glass, etc. he hasn't shown this range of abilities in a short time since act 2. it shows his confidence is coming back.
• He's a young man leaving home at last: this has never happened before. never in his life has he been independent of his sister, able to do things his way.
• Compare the similar race track adventure in FF264{??), where he's less confident, and easily defeated by a second rate enemy. By FF264 the confidence has gone.

• FF192
  He's so happy that Reed is over his depression , and that Sue has reformed the team that he thinks everything will be different now: the best of both worlds for the others.
• FF annual 12
  Why is he so happy that the team is back together again? Because he cares about his family. He no longer feels trapped because Sue has assured them this time it's different: they are together because they are a family, and not because Reed has some need to prove himself. So there's no need to feel trapped: this is the best of both worlds! What can possibly go wrong?
• FF204
  He enrolls in college again, hoping to pick up his life from before it went wrong. But he realizes he's not a hit with girls, and he's still under Reed's thumb.
  
• FF214
  College goes wrong, he feels powerless to help the others, feels utterly useless and despairs.
• FF219
  He begins to resign himself to being a child forever
• FF231
  The whole team feels hopeless..
• FF232
  They make one last effort, make a new start
• FF233
  Johnny is at his best, he's part of the team but he can be independent and mature, right?
• FF244
  Life seems to be going right at last - with Frankie! The key figure at Johnny's three key moments: when he was at his most mature and stable and planned to leave the team, when he felt frustrated in FF204, and when his world fell apart on FF244.
• FF257
  Frankie leaves - this is his lowest point ever.
  
  Then Alicia steps in and changes everything. He is no longer lonely. From now on he reacts differently.
• FF285
  He accepts the heavy cost of that responsibility
• FF300
  He is no longer immature around women
• FF307
  Crystal comes back
• The next generation:
  He marries Crystal and takes his place at the head of the FF

193

Issue 193: the Space Shuttle: Reed is vindicated

Ben can no longer blame Reed
Ben is finally independent. He can no longer blame Reed for his actions. And what does he do? He repeats the mistake of the very first issue, the one he always blamed Reed for. He knew there was danger, but his stubborn pride meant he went ahead anyway. the same thing happened again, but this time he cannot blame Reed. 

But it gets worse. Ben has always blamed Reed for ruining his life, but Reed was only trying to do the right thing. Here Ben does something even worse to his best friend. Darkoth is being kept alive by Diablo. If Reed could see Darkoth maybe he could be saved. But Diablo has promised that if Darkoth reveals his true name he will die. Ben piles on the emotional pressure so that Darkoth (Desmond) has to admit his identity, and so he dies. In all of this Ben is innocent, he only did what he thought was right, but he destroyed his best friend.

Ben has done what Reed did. it's a powerful moment. The tragedy is that Ben does not consciously see it. But unconsciously it must be working on him. Ben will spend one hundred more issues trying to blame Reed, but really he is running from himself. It will climax in FF296, and after that Ben realizes he has no excuses and he collapses emotionally, seeing no other alternative except.. but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Reed's development
This is all part of the build up to FF200: all the loose ends in their lives are tied up and the events of issue 1 come full circle. Next Reed will pilot a ship just on his own, become the lone hero, the "Mister Fantastic" he always wanted to be. And will getting what he thinks he wants solve his problems? We shall see. The Great American Novel is about people becoming the greatest people in the world, but the real story is the inner person.

The Great American Novel and the space shuttle
The Fantastic Four mirrors the cold war, and in particularly American optimism and the space race, so we can't miss the space shuttle!

FF1, written in April 1961, showed America's race with Russia to put the first man in space. Now it is 1978 and time for the first space shuttle. The first official shuttle trip was in April 1981, but the shuttle had been under development since Nixon gave it the go head in 1969. The first working space plane was the X-24B in August 1973. By 1978 space shuttle development would have been at an advanced testing stage as we see here. This early test version needed a much larger booster rocket than the final build, and it still had plenty of bugs: it finally blew up, foreshadowing the Challenger disaster eight years later. But this was a top secret early test, so never made it to TV. This was still the cold war, and the shuttle was partly for military use, so the secrecy was as we would expect.

If it's a test flight, as stated in FF192, why does it collect solar energy? Space flight is so expensive that even a test flight is used for other purposes. The concern with solar energy reflects America's energy crisis of the 1970s.

Does the FF have more advanced technology than the space shuttle?
This is a period when we are reminded that Mr Fantastic is one of the smartest people in the world, but still within the normal range for human intelligence. See the notes to FF annual 15 for further proof. The space shuttle here is at the level of real world technology, just as the ship in 1961 was the same level as NASA had at the time. See the page on realism in FF1 for details.

The more advanced technology in the Baxter Building all derives from alien machinery, mainly that left behind on UFOs. See the page on super technology for details. Usually Reed will only have one working copy of an invention because he uses something scavenged from an alien ship without being able to duplicate it. Very occasionally Reed manages to replicate alien tech, such as with unstable molecules, but these have the tendency to reproduce anyway - see FF annual 17. Reed is probably just culturing the existing stock, still a breakthrough, but still relying on science that no human understands.

Ronald Reagan and Star Wars
Note that the shuttle is disabled by an energy beam from earth. This was the principle behind Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative, or "Star Wars" - to shoot down enemy missiles before they could arrive. It never really worked against small fast moving missiles, but would have been effective against a larger and more easily trackable space shuttle.

Jimmy Carter and nuclear disarmament
Note the symbolism of the abandoned A bomb test: this is 1978, the era of the SALT talks (Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty). Things have changed since 1961 when nuclear tests were high on the agenda.

Ben's confidence gets a boost
In FF170 Ben despaired because he was too old to be a test pilot, yet didn't know any other career. The space shuttle comes to his rescue: his age is far less important than his experience in space, coupled with his body's ability to resist damage. Ben finally has a real career! Unfortunately he attracts enemies, so cannot keep the job..

Realism
Sue's movie offer is another realistic touch: right at this moment the FF are very famous for splitting up, so naturally a film producer will use that fame. In the same way. Elvis and the Beatles also made movies. But this does not mean that the movies are any good or that Sue has a career in Hollywood.

Doom's personal growth
Here Doom admits he needs Reed to find something that he, Doom, could not find. Doom is growing as an individual. Doom's inner battle will climax in issue 199, leading to the historic events of issue 200. Like Reed, Doom will then retreat to make sense of it all, and continue his personal growth

194

Issue 194: a tortured soul

Through Desmond Pitt we see the story of loyalty and courage, and where out values lie. Pitt infiltrated Doom's ranks as a spy, but could not even tell his own side because Doom's spies are everywhere. So he was condemned as a traitor. He was then the subject of experimental surgery, and forced to serve his new master in exchange for life giving drugs. Pitt had the choice: his life or honor. He finally chose honor, but this issue shows the pain of that choice.

• Diablo's potion turned him into a gas.
  That may sound crazy (and may in fact be a lie from Diablo), but makes sense when we consider how his potions are all variants on unstable molecules. Unstable molecules work my maintaining a desired state even when pushed beyond normal limits. To maintain a body even as a gas is the most extreme possible use. It was a desperate measure and it took him many months to re-form. See super science for more about how unstable molecules work.
• Darkoth's ability to walk through walls
  This is another result of unstable molecules: they simply reduce mass or adapt their chemical bonds until they don't interfere with other matter. Again, see super science for details. We see this feature again in FF197: Reed uses the characteristics of his unstable molecule uniform to let his hands slip through solid matter. (The pain is excruciating and it helps that he can naturally weaken the links between his molecules by force of will).
  
• Once again, death is permanent.
  As with Franklin Storm and the scientist in FF51, when Desmond died it was forever. (He apparently returned much later in the Franklinverse period, in the Excalibur and Thor comics, but by that time the comics featured different characters and death was not permanent, so nobody cared.)
  

195

Issue 195: Hotel California (perhaps the best Sue issue ever)

The main story here is the retrievers: Namor does not want to live in Atlantis. He doesn't fit there, he is half human and wants to be in Sue's world. But Atlantis sends robots to take him back. These robots cannot think for themselves: disable the leader and the rest just stop dead. So Sue can easily defeat them. But eventually he leaves anyway. It is a poignant moment. He can check out of Atlantis any time he wants, but he can never leave.

Sue is in the same position: she never wanted to be a superhero, and here she finally has the life she wants. But inside she knows that really she can never leave. In the next issue, like Namor, she will decide to return. Family comes first. This is symbolised by the "4" pendant around her neck, and how she wears her costume invisibly, just in case. Sue's heart is still with her family, just as Namor stands staring at the fish in the tank. For anyone who feels torn between duty and desire it is a powerful story.

Namor and Sue both meet up in California, home of dreams that somehow never become real. This reflects the zeitgeist of America here at the start of 1978: the American Dream did not feel like it was working, but you can't leave. (For whether the dream was really working see the notes to FF 200). That line is the classic ending to the Eagles' mega hit of the time, "Hotel California".

The Album was released in late 1976, but was a slow burn: it only spent a week at number 1, but ended up selling 16 million copies in the US. It gripped the zeitgeist of the late 1970s: Contrast the Beach Boys' "California Girls" released in 1965, both mega hits about the promise of California, but the zeitgeist had reversed.

The lyrics and the comic

The lyrics of Hotel California are a good fit to the comic. The song tells of traveling to California and staying in a hotel, living the American dream, but it isn't right any more.

The best Sue issue ever

In this issue we really get to know Sue as an individual. We see her depth, her strength, her humor, her deep empathy, her wisdom, her loyalty and her spunk. It is true that John Byrne spent more time on Sue, but Byrne's Sue was always under stress, either in her Stepford Wives mode or later when everything went wrong. Here is the only issue where we see her on her own terms, living the life she always wanted to leave. This is the real Sue.

The scene where she pulls a face at the Impossible Man is probably my favorite Sue scene ever. It combines passion, reserve, humor, independence, long-suffering, action, a woman who never wanted to be a super hero and is grateful that it's over. It's just everything that makes Sue wonderful as a person, and not just as a woman with great intuition and force fields.

Namor

Another reason why this issue is a historic landmark is the relationship with Namor. He we see it in all its depth and beauty. 

Note the revelation: Namor says he loved Sue for "many years" before Reed claimed her. For what this implies see the notes to FF 291.

• "Bob Mackey" is Bob Mackie, fashion designer for the stars. The "Sid" who doesn't give the correct lines is probably Sid Caesar. He was famous for ad-libbing his comedy routines, and in 1977, the year before this issue, during a stage production of 'Last of the Red Hot Lovers' he blacked out and forgot his lines.
  

196

Issue 196: Sue wants to reform the FF

Sue wants to reform the FF. Does this mean "reform" as in "get together again" or "reform" as in "change the rules?" It must be both, because:

• She does not want to return to chasing super-villains. In the previous issue Sue said "thankfully those days are over."
• None of them want Reed as the permanent head: he drove them crazy!
• Reed has made clear that he cannot lead them anyway, as long as he has no powers.
• She says she can persuade Reed, so she acknowledges that sometimes she can lead him.
  

So Sue must be planning the team under a slightly different arrangement. When the team does get back together we see this: after FF200 they are more equal. FF204-214 is an unplanned visit off world, and they begin by discussing things as a team around a table. It is not just Reed dictating the rules: Sue overrules Reed and says that Johnny does not have to come. When they get back, after FF214, we often see Reed smoking his pipe and reading his paper, or walking down town to the library. Sue is forcing a different, gentler pace on the team. However, this will not address the fundamental problem of Reed ignoring Franklin, so by FF231 Sue is in despair and makes a desperate personal decision: we'll discuss that when we come to it.

Their biggest fears
Although Reed needs a lot of persuasion to imagine hurting his family, the attack on the others seems to reveal their genuine fears:

• Ben fears being not loved by Alicia. This emotional dependence creates a log jam of low self esteem that Alicia will finally break through a dramatic move toward the end of act 4.
• Johnny doubts himself generally. This is not explored in any detail, but reflects his frustration throughout act 4.
  
• Sue fears neglecting Franklin. The Invincible Man first tried to attack her through a memory of her father (seen in the comic and also on the cover), but Sue is too well balanced for that to work. Whereas the others' lives are full of angst, Sue is calm inside, except where her son is concerned. Her only fear is the very real problem that Franklin doesn't get enough attention.
  

• This issue is a parallel to FF9. As in FF9, Within just three pages there are references to numerous Hollywood stars:
  
• Clint Eastwood
  
• Bette Davis
• Farrah Fawcett
• Willie Bendix
• John Wayne
• "Lets Make A Deal" (the TV show stopped airing in 1977, and this is 1978, so Ben speculates about a show called "Let's Make Another Deal"
• "TV Guide" magazine
• Angie Dickinson (or possibly Sandra Dickinson, but the joke works best if it's Angie: she was more famous earlier on and the speaker is old)
  
• Mark Hamill
• Dinah (or Roberta?) Shore
• Ali MacGraw (presumably the "Miss McGraw" referred to - it is sometimes misspelled McGraw)
  
• David Cassidy
  

• Sue seems hesitant to fly out to New York to see Reed. At first glance this might make her see weak. But remember Marvel Time: only one year before that (her time) Sue left Reed for Namor. So her sensitivity over appearing jealous is well founded. It's a fragile subject.
  

Other points to note

• Kirby
  Ben in this issue with his cigar looks just like Jack Kirby.
  
• Happiness at last
  The team seems happy at last! At least at the start. The Hollywood sequence is filed with jokes and Ben seems more relaxed this issue (before the bad dreams): he repeatedly wisecracks in a good natured way. This new happy team arrangement could really work! 
• Shakespeare
  Note the Shakespearean format: the first half is all witty banter and plans, and the second half is conflict.
• Bel loves Alicia
  Ben tells Alicia "you're the only one in the whole world I ever loved." This confirms what their actions have always stated. FF193-194 and Moench's run (FF219 and 222-231) makes it very clear that Alicia loves Ben. He was the only one she ever loved: her father kept her in the house until she met Ben at age 19. This makes the tragedy of their eventual separation all the more harsh, and also reassures us that eventually they will get together again.
• Sue's skill
  No longer dominated by Reed, Sue continues to find new uses for her power: e.g. expanding a wafer thin field to open her shackles. She then create a force field key (She does this again in FF224).
• Sue was always tough
  Sue also kicks an enemy in the face: John Byrne did not make her more aggressive, she was always like that when she needed to be, especially before the marriage.
  
• Technology
  Doom has access to the Psycho-man uniform, advanced technology from another dimension. This is how all higher technology is obtained.
  
• Hauptman
  Hauptman and his brother are a little subplot all of their own. Here the remaining brother is starting to show doubts. Finally he rebels against his master and pays the price, in FF157. It's easy to condemn someone like that from the comfort of an armchair, but he was raised to believe that what he does is good. Presumably like his brother he was raised in Nazi Germany, and just kept working for people he was raised to believe were right. He finally works out the truth for himself and give his life for his principles. How many people could do that?
• Real time
  FF189 is the last time he wore his suit. Reed refers to this as "after so long a time".
• Realism and science
  Reed and the other scientists have been working on this device for a long time. This supports the view that when Reed creates a device quickly he is mostly re-purposing existing tech.
  
  

197

Issue 197: the bigger story becomes clearer

As we approach FF200, Reed recovers from his gloom and we begin to see the bigger story more clearly: 

• First, Reed is fundamentally a great hero despite his flaws, and his goal is to end the menace of Dr Doom forever.
  

• Next, this is the issue where we finally learn the details of what happened to cause their powers back in FF1. But the full story won't be revealed until the very end, in FF319.

• Also this issue, Doom conforms what astute readers have already noticed: with so many uses for her powers, Sue is underrated. This is a huge statement when coming from Doom: everyone else is considered pathetic and weak, but Sue's powers are "underrated." Doom, the outsider, can see this, but her own husband cannot.
  
• Fathers and sons: the big story crystallizes around fathers and sons. Reed's problems crystallize over his inability to connect with his son, and similarly Doom creates a son but ends up fighting him, This foreshadows the final end in FF annual 20.
  
• Finally we see for the first time that Doom is not evil deep down inside. It's only his suspicion and hatred that makes him that way. The 28 year Fantastic Four story is not just the story of Reed putting his family first and finding peace, it's the story of Doom gradually putting his family (his people) first and thus finding peace. With Doom it will take a little longer, but the signs are all there that he gradually mellows: see his own page for details.
• At the end of the last page this arc is described as "the greatest FF saga of all" - see the notes to FF 200 for why this is probably true.
• The 100 issue cycle
  For how themes develop over 100 issue cycles, see the notes to FF 297.

All powers are psychological

Reed's stretching problem was a result of his losing confidence: see the discussion by FF130. On the surface the return of Reed's power in F197 is due to physical means, but it could equally be seen as psychological: the opening pages of FF197 show that Reed believed he could regain his power if only he had the right equipment, but was only frustrated because of the cost. Now that he had the means he was obviously optimistic at last: he saw hope! Any person who suffers from long term depression will know that the worst part is feeling hopeless. Having genuine hope affects the whole body, making the person feel stronger, more alert, less tired. Reed says putting on his old costume makes him feel enervated in a way he didn't expect; he feels excited in anticipation. We can speculate that even if the ship was a placebo, Reed would still regain his powers if he believed the cure was genuine. Note the parallels with the others' power:

• Ben's inability to change was always assumed to be physical, but in FF245 is revealed to be psychological.
• Sue's forcefield powers only appeared when Reed unleashed the powers that were aways there (perhaps Sue never created a barrier in FF1 because barriers were against her nurturing nature).
• Lastly, Johnny could initially be stopped by a simple bucket of water, but as he gained experience he finally realized (in act 5) he could even burn underwater. All the powers are psychological as much as physical.

Criticisms

• "A bit of continuity that never seems to get straightened out is whether or not Doom is a benevolent ruler. In the FF Annual #2 in which Doom's origin is revealed, it is firmly established that his people are grateful to him for keeping the peace in Latveria. But even Stan Lee would contradict himself later on in issues 84-87 where Doom can clearly be seen ordering his own robot creations to attack Latverian cities. This is clearly not someone that would be loved by his people." (source) This illustrates why this is a 28 year story and not just a comic: Doom's character evolves. Like many revolutionaries, at first he has an unselfish motive (1964, when he gains control of Latveria), then he becomes drunk with power (the 1969 visit), then he becomes careless and sloppy (early 1970s), tries to rebuild (late 1970s) and is eventually noble (early 1980s).

Cultural references

• Higher culture
  Whereas the previous issue referred to movie and TV stars, Doom and Reed in this issue refer to William Congreve ("Music hath charms...") and Edmond Hoyle (author of the rules of card games).Reed and Doom are artistically above the others, and Alicia is above them all.
  
• The Appassionata
  
  To fully appreciate this story you need to listen to the music that Doom is playing: the "Appassionata" sonata (Piano Sonata 23) by Beethoven. As the title suggests, it's a passionate piece. Here's the YouTube link: http://youtu.be/4C3TIr2bBo0?t=22s
  "One of his greatest and most technically challenging piano sonatas, the Appassionata was considered by Beethoven to be his most tempestuous piano sonata until the twenty-ninth piano sonata (known as the Hammerklavier), being described as a "'brilliantly executed display of emotion and music'. [...] An average performance of the entire Appassionata sonata lasts about twenty-three minutes." (Wikipedia)
  Apart from indicating Doom's excellent taste in music, and an indication of how long the machine takes to work (about 23 minutes), this indicates that Doom's gloves are extraordinarily dextrous: playing this piece requires extremely rapid finger movements.
• Alicia
  The importance of art in this arc draws our attention to the importance of Alicia: the only one who can really defeat Doom (see next issue).
  

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

  

198

Issue 198: relying on others

This story is about relying on others. It starts by Reed realizing that he owes his rescue to his enemy. He then relies on the underground freedom fighters. Then Doom intends to continue ruling through his son. The message is clear: relying on others is just part of life. It's not something to be avoided or regretted, it's just normal and healthy. Contrast this with Reed Richards, who likes to always be in charge, and always sends his son away rather than nurture his powers. Reed wants to be "Mister Fantastic," Mister "I must be in charge," Mister "I will save you and save everyone all on my own." But Reed cannot reach his goals until he learns to rely on others: to treat the others as equals who sometimes have better ideas than he does, and to accept that perhaps making his son his top priority will be very good for the team.

The zeitgeist

• This story is about regime change by force. Years later, Mark Waid wrote a similar story called "authoritative action" but this was after America entered Iraq. The early Fantastic Four was more in touch with the zeitgeist: it was years ahead of the curve, a time when Reagan was in the ascendant and most people thought this kind of thing was a good idea. Reagan became president after Jimmy Carter failed to rescue the Iranian hostages and Reagan said "I would not have failed." In FF annual 14 we will see that forcing democracy on a country with no experience of it does not always end well, especially when the new ruler(s) get the taste for power and high taxes.

Other points to note

• I love Pollard's art on this - so many unforgettable scenes. Reed swinging from a mountain, hiking into a village, collapsing exhausted into pond... a very physical issue, very fresh.
  

• Ionic lasers...

Why are ionic lasers more expensive than regular lasers? Because they are more compact and powerful. An ion laser is a gas laser which uses an ionized gas. "Ion lasers produce a large number of high-power lasing wavelengths...  Ion lasers are compact for the amount of laser power they generate relative to other types of visible lasers. ... Argon-ion lasers produce the highest visible power levels" (lexellaser.com)

199

Issue 199: Doom's soul

The Fantastic Four transcends comics. Nowhere is this more obvious than in issue 199. On the surface it's a superb kid's comic: exciting, colorful, memorable, full of amazing characters, danger, romance, and more. But look closer. The issue deals with themes worthy of Shakespeare.

The timeless themes
This issue deals with the most timeless themes of all. This is the climax of seventeen years of stories building up to this point.

• Self deception
• long hidden secrets, depths and contradictions now laid bare
  
• the quest for power
  
• Man's goal of perfection versus his weakness
• Self image versus reality
• Immortality through children
• Fathers versus sons
• Psychology: existential horror at facing the truth
• How death leads to life (though the son loses, by act 5 he will win as Doom slowly accepts the inevitable)

This issue, along with the climax in 200, sums up the story of the previous 200 issues. Doom versus his son is like Reed versus his son. Doom's ego is a more extreme form of Reed's ego. His goals are Reed's goals, but without the moderating force of family. it all comes together in this story.

Possibly the greatest page in the history of comics
Normally I avoid showing whole pages, out of respect for copyright: I want people to go out and buy the originals. But this page is so important it has to be shown in its entirely. It is the second to last page of FF199 (and the final page is unforgettable too). Read the page, then we'll dissect why it matters.

• Frame 1 sees this imperfect son in the form of a snake. This reflects the garden of Eden imagery, the fact of human imperfection, and the temptation to be like the gods. Religious imagery will be at the core of issue 200.
  
• Frame 2 has the son embrace the father. Doom never embraces anybody, He never lets himself get that close. For this the son will die.
  
• Frame 3 holds the face up for inspection. Every frame of this page is perfect. It is all about this imperfect face. Yet as readers who know and love the Thing, we can see what Doom cannot: this young man with his passion and handsome features is perfect: a slight flaw is what makes a work of art interesting, complete, perfect, and not merely boring.
  
• Frame 4 has the two in classic wrestling poses: this is a timeless conflict. Both are in identical poses, for they are the same man wrestling himself. Doom of course is on top. Doom must always be on top! yet Doom is not in contact with the ground. he is supported by his son. The framing of this image is symbolic. And note the color scheme. As noted in the discussions of issue 1 and act 1, colors matter. Green and purple represent villainy, and orange represents permanence, strength. Even though the son will lose, in death he will win because his influence will change Doom forever. By act 5 Doom will begin to accept the principles personified in his son, though his ego will not let him admit it.
  
• Frame 5 contrasts Doom's hidden face (representing his shame and secrets) with his son's earlier openness. His son is not ashamed of his imperfections, but Doom is. Doom's life is summarized in one sentence: "I am Doom! That is enough!" he cannot face reality. Yet the irony is the words are true, if only Doom will stop fighting: he does not need to prove anything; being Doom would be enough, if only he would recognize that he needs others. he has enough talent to justify himself in any situation, he does not need to prove himself.By trying to prove he can do it all alone he only proves that he cannot. By saying he is enough he makes himself not enough.
  
• In frame 6 Doom can hear no more. His body is charged with rage, literally charged with energy, he has lost control, he must kill the thing that represents himself as he cannot face himself.Doom pushes his son down, whereas his son pushes Doom's face upwards. The green of villainy defeats the orange of the earth (see the discussions of color symbolism in the commentaries to issue 1 and act 1)
  

Note how the frames grow ever smaller, reflecting the constricting world view. The page began with Doom still hoping to redeem himself, and ended with self destruction/ Doom, who's ambition and self image encompasses the whole world, is in reality the smallest shrunken soul.

• "To be or not to be" - where Hamlet debates whether to run from the unfolding tragedy or to embrace it and become part of it.
• "Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?" - where Juliet pines for her lover.
• Life is "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing" - where Macbeth decides that life is meaningless and he will embark on a kiling spree.

1. It is fake. People don't really stand alone and declare their thoughts out loud like this.
2. It is dull. Nothing happens except speech: it breaks the "show, don't tell" rule of exciting drama,

Doom's soliloquy solves both problems:

1. He is talking to himself in a natural way: as the world's most monstrous ego, he has created a perfect clone of himself, and refers to the clone as himself: talking to it is the most natural thing in the world.
2. The conflict is shown dramatically, not just described.
   

Like all great soliloquies, the true power is in revealing inner conflicts: the contrast between the outward certainty and the inner turmoil. Doom portrays himself as the greatest of all. Yet inside he hates himself. Doom wants perfection because he cannot abide his own faults. He wants power because he was unable to save his mother, and in every great effort since then he has failed. He hides behind a mask because he cannot face himself. He blames his enemies and their powers. So he creates a perfect clone, with a perfect face, and all the powers of his enemies, to redeem himself. And again he fails!

The greatest soliloquy of all
The word soliloquy (as ion solo-loquacious) is where a person talks to him or herself. FF199-200 has the greatest soliloquy of all because the greatest lone ego of all talks top himself in every possible way.

• His faces and debates with his ideal self image, his perfect clone.
• He faces the man he might have been: Reed Richards.
  
• He faces the rightful version of himself: Zorba, the true king; and the people of Latveria whom he claims to represent. (Note that, like Doom, Zorba also has a scar, and a face partly covered in weaponry. Zorba has not yet been corrupted by power but is on his way.)
• At the end he faces his physical image, and it dries him mad. (Only the blind girl can see the truth.)
  

Tragic conflict
Drama is conflict, and the greatest drama is tragedy: literary tragedy is where a great hero is brought low by his own flaws. Despite how others see him, Doom only wants perfection. His ideals are, to that extent, noble, and his power to make it happen is unsurpassed. To that extent Doom is the greatest hero. We must remember that the comics generally show his enemies' point of view. yet Doom only does what every nation does, including our own: he seeks power to further his ends, and will use force if needed, even if sometimes innocents suffer. Of course, like any nation, he considers that resisting his will makes somebody guilty by definition: whatever laws he defines are right, and the greatest of all crimes is to be a traitor to his cause.

Why does this lead to tragedy? Because Doom's method - the use of absolute force - is his weakness. It is tragedy at the highest level because he combines the greatest forces in the world: political, scientific and magical, in ways that demand absolute perfection, yet he is not perfect. Doom cannot face reality, that no human is perfect, and weakness will always be there. So my using maximum power, by pushing his life to breaking point, he ensures maximum failure.

So the one who should be the greatest hero, the one who combines all possible strengths to create a perfect world, becomes the greatest villain.

Fathers versus sons
This apparent ending foreshadows the real end: the only way to neutralize Doom is against his son. It also parallels Reed's fighting against his own son's best interest: Doom cannot win if he opposes his son, and neither can Reed. Reed opposes his son in the sense that Franklin wants to be with him, but Reed always pushes him away. Although Doom's son is fully grown this is due to accelerated aging: Franklin slows his aging, and Doom's son has accelerated aging (and accelerated learning), but both are just children really.

This victory will prove to be temporary. Reed's failure in battle (in the long term: they keep coming back) reflects his failure in the home.

And that is just one page...
A hundred pages could be written on this single issue. But time is precious. I hope I've shown enough to whet your appetite, and who once again why the Fantastic Four in the early years was The Great American Novel.

Alicia

Who really defeated Dr Doom?
In issue 200 Reed and Doom were evenly matched, but Doom was defeated because the sight of his face reflected a million times drove him mad. But the mirrors were not a mind control device: they simply reinforced what was already in Doom's head. And whatever was in his head was so bad that seeing himself destroyed his mind.

So the thing that destroyed Doom was his inability to face reality. But he always had that, and never went mad before. Doom's enemies were always quick to point out his faults, but he never believed them. What changed? Was it his clone's argument in this issue? Did his clone's argument get through to him? Perhaps, but would that be enough? Doom had infinite arrogance? Why would he let anybody, even his clone, criticize him? The only ideas that Doom accepts completely are his own. The only way to defeat Doom is to get inside his head, and how do you do that?

Alicia as therapist
Only one person ever got close to Doom: Alicia. The only thing Doom cared about apart from himself (and his mother) was art, so only Alicia, the artist, had any chance. She spent time gaining his trust, and she was genuine: this was not some act. She had no intention of harming him in any way and she genuinely wept at the idea that Doom might lie. Alicia was the only person who Doom could never see as a threat, and whose work he could respect. So Alicia got inside his head. They chatted. Doom liked her. She was able to ask him questions, to demand information from him, and Doom told her!

Now look at her expertise as a therapist. First, she makes him to say that he does not lie. Then she makes him tel her his plans: which involves lying! He is not stepping aside at all, and his people are not his prime concern. He says he does not lie, then he lies! Te contraduiction is in his mind! And this is not some battle where he can quicjly forget the doublethink. Alicia has him relaxed and open. Doom's brilliant mind must now dwell on the contradiction. Alicia has chipped away at his mental armor. Later, Doom's clone is able to drive a wedge into the crack and begin to split it open.

Other points to note

• Realism
  Dictators often give the impression of democracy by allowing the transfer of power to a puppet
• Parallels with Ben
  Doom is usually seen as Reed's enemy, because Doom fixates on Reed and the parallels are all on the surface. But on a deeper level Doom is a mirror for Ben:
  
  1. the self hatred
  2. Both consider themselves scarred by Reed
  3. Both hide in a kind of armored skin (Ben could change if his was not unconsciously afraid of what might happen).
  4. Ben humiliated Doom far more than Reed ever did: Ben crushed Doom's hands and made him flee like a coward in FF40, and humiliated Doom again when Doom had the power cosmic. This is far more humiliating to Doom because Doom considers Ben so far beneath him.
• Immortality
  "Only when I have relinquished my power can Doom be supreme" - this is true immortality, through one's children. Reed will have to learn that before act 5.
• The 100 issue cycle
  This arc began in FF191 when Reed got his job. Then the team thought Reed was killed on the explosion and reentry, then found him miraculously alive. This foreshadows the events of FF291. 100 issues before FF191, in FF91: it seemed that Ben was the one lost forever in space. Each time ended up as a huge triumph: saving multiple worlds (FF91 and FF291) or here, defeating Doom.
• Kristof
  The son possesses Doom's knowledge: this foreshadows Kristoff.
• Doom's honor
  The son is not evil, and says that Doom was like that, before the accident. This suggests that there is some truth in what Doom says, that when Reed humiliated him (by pointing out his error when he was emotionally vulnerable, trying to save his mother, the only person he loved). Reed inadvertently helped to push Doom over the edge.
• The name Zorba
  Zorba means "live each day" and is best known from the novel about a n intellectual who wanted adventure. The perfect name for the man who thinks he can defeat Doom.

200

Issue 200:

"The greatest FF saga of all"

"Possibly the greatest story in the Marvel Age of Comics"

(See the FF199 final page and FF200 splash page)

This is called the greatest story in the Marvel Age. Greater than the Galactus trilogy? Galactus was unforgettable, yes. But FF200 has more significance to the bigger story and to character development. This is the climax to the whole 28 year story (and Marvel's first ever double sized regular issue), Reed finally gets what he wants, and Doom must face the truth.

As far as Reed is concerned he has finally completed his mission. Doom is at last defeated! But he is defeated by force. This is the stage in the classic five act structure when it seems the bad guy is defeated and they can all go home. But as with all classic five act plays, it's about to get far worse.

Religious symbolism
These two issues deal with honesty, the desire to be perfect, self sacrifice and what makes a good nation. So it is no surprise that the pages are filled with religious symbolism.

Doom sent his perfect son to be his representative: his son gained power on a cross (a Greek style diagonal cross: the comics code would certainly not allow a Roman upright cross), and the Fantastic Four are sacrificed on something reminiscent of an ornate crucifix, with the four evangelists as orbs at each corner.  Doom's innocent son then sacrifices his life in a battle with evil. Doom will later be resurrected (see annual 15) and save his people, and slowly change his ways: e.g. by act 5 he no longer wants to rule the world.

Doom as Nebuchadnezzar
The idea of a messiah over an earthly kingdom comes from the book of Daniel, and this story has many other allusions to that book. Like king Nebuchadnezzar, Doom sets up a statue (and also dreams of a statue) representing his rulership over the world. Like Nebuchadnezzar, Doom tries to kill the righteous in a fiery furnace. Like Nebuchadnezzar, Doom ends up going mad and his great statue crumbles.

None of this symbolism was deliberate of course, but these images - cross shapes, statues of power, death by burning, going mad as punishment, are part of the cultural heritage we trace to the Bible.

Doom knows it's over
There is something odd about this cover, Kirby's last work. From a distance Doom's face looks uninterested, like his mind is elsewhere. This is symbolic cover. Inside we see Doom at his most ferocious and passionate, but the cover reflects what is really going on: the self doubt, and deep down, the realization that he has already lost. His son in issue 199 revealed his fundamental weakness, why Doom can never win: he cannot face himself. He is afraid of failure, afraid of himself. Look at that face. Doom is a man of depth and intelligence. Deep down, at a level he can never admit, he knows that even if he defeats Reed, he has lost. Note the parallel with the other greatest story, the Galactus saga: Galactus lost the moment the surfer turned against him. At that point he lost the will to fight, and the rest was fate.

The final image:

This image recalls Doom's horror years ago at seeing his perfect features with a scar. Then it recalls the previous issue, FF199, where years of planning led to a perfect face - and Doom watched in horror as it became cracked stone, like Doom's great enemy The Thing. The Thing, who Doom sees as an ignorant oaf, yet Doom's failures show him to be the same. This is Doom's tragedy. He wants to be perfect, immortal, invulnerable like stone, but even stone will crack. He cannot face himself.

These panels also reflect Reed, who sees Doom as himself in a mirror (see FF197). Note the significance of clay: clay is malleable, like Reed's body. In losing his stretching power, found himself humbled, defeated and broken (e.g. by the Molecule Man and the Brute, which led to his resignation). It made him less than clay, less than his stretching power. Reed's self image crumbles throughout act 4. Doom is a tragic figure: his downfall came from his greatest weakness, his vanity.Reed's downfall, though not as dramatic as Doom's, comes in the same way.

The end of the 1970s, the end of the Fantastic Four

When looking back at over fifty years of the Fantastic Four, issue 200 stands out as the clear and obvious end of the Fantastic Four. It was not the ed opf publication, or the end of the story, but it was the end of the spirit of the 1960s that they embodied.

The end was announced in FF189 and declared on the cover of FF191, and again in FF annual 12. Then all the loose ends were tied up: the Soviets were symbolically defeated in FF197, Doom is dramatically defeated in FF200, and the Mole Man became a friend in FF annual 13. In case it wasn't clear, In FF201 Reed says he saw no need for the Fantastic Four, and in annual 13 he shows no interest in fighting, preferring to leave it to the police. it's over. Done. Why? Because their job was done, the Russians and old world monarchies were no longer a threat, and there were plenty of other superheroes to take up the slack.

This reflected the zeitgeist in America. The free and easy ideas of the 1960s and 1970s were being rejected. This was a major sea change in attitudes. Matthew Rozsa sums up the zeitgeist of each year in his blog, by choosing a defining meme for each year:

• 1970: President Richard Nixon decides to extend bombing outside of Vietnam, to Cambodia. The younger generation revolts.
• 1971: John Lennon sings "Imagine" - the most idealistic of songs
• 1972: Al Pacino in 'The Godfather” - the rise of popular cynicism
• 1973: Watergate: cynicism is confirmed
• 1974: President Ford seems to offer fresh hope, saying "our long national nightmare is over". Then he pardons Nixon. The cynics have won. This is the end of idealism.
• 1975: America lost the Vietnam war.
• 1976: Howard Beale, in the movie "Network", sums up American attitudes: "Mad as hell" at the betrayals, the recession, violence, and everything was wrong.
• 1977: Star Wars: people wanted escapism
• 1978: The new Pope John Paul II began a new more popular era for religion
  
• 1979: President Jimmy Carter's last year was remembered as a malaise, a "Crisis of Confidence"
  
• 1980: Ronald Reagan promises a new start: no more hippy values, time to go back to tradition.
  

The Great American Novel: the death of elitism

Doom wants to rule the world, and Reed says people should work together (implying equality).
This is a clash of world views, the oldest one in history: inequality versus equality.

• Doom claims to be superior, and claims to always tell the truth yet he can only maintain power by lying.
• Doom claims to have the best nation, yet he can only keep people there by force.
  
• Reed is the smartest man on earth, yet is socially inept: and social skill is probably the most important kind.
• Reed can achieve great scientific marvels, yet the evidence shows that humble Sue is more effective in the long run. It can even be argued that in this, Reed's greatest triumph, Alicia is more effective at ending the threat of Doom
  

The importance of FF200 to readers
FF200 was not just another double sized issue: this was the first double sized issue the monthly FF had ever seen. This was a VERY big deal, as these letters testify: the overwhelming response filled two months' letters pages.

As we shall see in issue 201, this really was the end as far as Reed Richards was concerned.

With Doom gone the story was over. There are plenty of other heroes to look after the remaining villains, so the team could disband.

Or so Reed thought...

Other points to note:

• Reed' doesn't get it
  This issue contains possible evidence for Reed's autism, in not appreciating Doom's motivation. At the very least, it shows Doom's depth. It is easy to pretend that Doom as a two dimensional villain who simply wishes power for its own sake, or who just wants revenge. No, such a shallow motivation is an insult. Doom simply wants what anyone wants: what he sees as justice. Reed's remark about working with others to help mankind was especially naive: from Doom's point of view everything he does is to help mankind: Doom sees himself as a superior ruler, able to bring the order and plenty that mankind needs. There is some logic to this, as we shall see in later issues when Zorba gains power.
  
• Reed's diplomacy (or lack of it)
  Further evidence of Reed's autism is the flashback: when Reed told Doom about the error in his calculation he was incredibly insensitive. Doom was trying to rescue his dead mother. He was breaking all the rules in the most dangerous way possible, all to save his mother. Imagine how Doom was feeling! Doom was not good at handling emotion at the best of times, and here he was on a knife edge, emotionally laid bare and vulnerable. All he asked of others was privacy. And Reed just burst in and said "you got the sums wrong." Does Reed have no appreciation for feelings? Yes, Reed was right, but being right is not enough: you have to think of the other persons feelings. Knowing what Reed did about Doom, there is absolutely no way Doom could have accepted Reed's advice. So why bother? Instead, Reed could have said something diplomatic, like "somebody may have tampered with your sums", and give Doom a way to save face. Literally: because Doom, unable to "save face", literally lost his face.
  
• Great writing
  The passage on revenge is another example of this being The Great American Novel. What might appears to be a childish revenge story is in fact a discussion of justice and what is best for humanity. The fact that we can sympathize with Doom and share his frustration, even at the same time that we side with Reed, is a testament to the quality of the writing.
• The Great American Novel, again
  Doom reflects the power of the state. he is a warning of what American or any nation can become. His use of high tech non-lethal weaponry against his citizens reminds us of modern devices used to control protesters: water cannon, tear gas, tasers, SWAT teams, modern police using semi automatic weapons and military vehicles, etc.
• The "17th anniversary classic"
  The cover highlights the 17th anniversary. This may seem a unusual number, but 16 to 18 years features strongly in FF history.
  
  • This was 17 years from the creation of the FF in 1961....
  • ...which was 16 years since World War II
  • ...and also 16 years since Johnny Storm was born (which was also a dramatic year for Sue Storm, see the notes to FF 292 for why). 1945 was thus the defining year in their earlier lives.
  • Reed and Ben would have been just 18 when they entered the war, so their lives divide neatly into 3 parts of roughly 17 years each
  • In most jurisdictions a person is legally an adult at 18: the Fantastic Four itself is about to grow up.
  • Reed's main patents expire after 19 years (see the notes to FF 222). The money from patents tails off in their last couple of years, so 17 years is when money begins to be short.
  • In another 18 years, in 1996, all story continuity will be gone and Marvel will file for bankruptcy.
  • Another 18 years later, in 2014, Marvel will announce the cancellation of the the Fantastic Four: for the first time since 1961 there will be no Fantastic Four monthly (at least for a while).
    
• Who leads the team
  In this issue Reed talks as if Ben is challenging his leadership. Ben is not yet ready, but will be in another 100 issues.
  
• The crystal device
  The mind control device appears to be a refinement of the purple crystal device developed in FF141. It will be further refined and eventually succeed (possibly as a "what if" story) in the Emperor Doom novel in 1987.
  
  The Solatron's need for intense wavelengths is a clue to its operation. It apparently needs very specific wavelengths that are hard to produce on Earth. The sun broadcasts on wavelengths unattainable here, so a sufficiently intense collection of solar rays would include the ones needed. Why such a precise wavelength? Probably due to a very precise chemical reaction that cannot be achieved in other way. Chemical reactions are the result of moving electrons. Some electron movements need a very precise quantum of energy: that is, a very precise wavelength of light.
  
  
• The last Kirby art for Marvel
  This was a fitting end for the Lee-Kirby FF. This cover was "the last time Kirby would draw the FF for Marvel (although he would draw story-boards for a cartoon after this, and some of those boards would be taken and turned into a comic a few years later). [a reader responds] Roy Thomas offered the FF to Kirby a number of times, but Kirby only wanted to work from a full script. Roy even wanted to list his name first as plotter/artist, but to no avail." (source)  Kirby had been badly burnt by having all his ideas taken and receiving no pay. E.g he created Galactus, the Silver Surfer, the Inhumans, the Black Panther, etc., and arguably almost the whole Marvel universe, but was only ever paid the rate due to an artist, he was never paid for the ideas. So he refused to give any more ideas until he was paid for his previous ones, and he never was. Who can blame him? 
• The first ever double sized regular issue
  Marvel had tried plenty of outsize annuals and one-offs, but this was the first time they had a double sized regular monthly comic. Marv Wolfman had to fight for the idea for months. His bosses feared it would lose readers from the lower priced regular issues. But instead it sold well, and that opened the floodgates: from then on, double sized anniversaries were the norm. 
• I am a Keith Pollard fan.
  

  Pollard in the 1970s

  Pollard didn't get any warning that this would be a double sized issue, nor did he get any extra time. But in my opinion he really hit it out of the park, producing superb art. My opinion of Pollard only increased when I learned why he left comics in 1994: "I was pretty much not happy with comic books in general by that point [the early 1990s]. I didn't like the direction they were headed in. The little boring stories they were telling just weren't interesting to me. [...] The morals of comics have changed so much. I have kids now and I don't want my kids reading a lot of the current stuff. This material is a far cry from where I came from with Spider-Man." (From "Comics Creators on Fantastic Four".) Pollard creates great comic book art. He's not Kirby or Perez, but it's good solid stuff, a joy to read. He likes positive stories, big stories that mean something. I am completely on his side. (he left comics to move into computing, but planned to return to art when he retired: you can commission new Pollard art now.

  Pollard today

  
  
  
  

A13

Annual 13: tying up loose ends: the end of the Mole Man saga

The threat of Doom is "finally" over, and it's also time to wrap up the story of the very first enemy, the Mole Man. Reed seems annoyed that he has to still be a super hero. Can't people see that he has proved himself? he has finished with the super hero business.

Of the original four major foes, Namor is already a friend and that just leaves the Skrulls. Note that Namor and the Mole Man are no longer enemies. Although the Mole Man will come back a few times, it will be for perfectly reasonable causes. By act 5 he will end up as a friend, more or less. Sue's method, to make friends and thin of the family, works. Reed's method, conflict, does not work. Doom is still an enemy, so his defeat cannot last.

The Mole Man in context
For how the Mole Man's ten appearances reflect racism and the underground in America, see the notes to issue 1.

Alicia
Once again we see that Alicia is the only one who can permanently change and enemy, by getting past his defenses. She did it with the silver surfer, and with Doom, now she does it with the Mole Man. Later she will solve all the team's problems by being the catalyst for Johnny and Ben's emotional growth.

Why is Johnny acting like a kid?
Before this, Johnny had long ago given up annoying Ben. But Johnny is so relieved that the family is still together that he's regressing to childhood. He tried being single, but misses the family. Many a young man has left home, acted mature, but come back because playing the kid is more fun.

Other points to note

• 13 -> 12
  Why is annual 13 placed chronologically before annual 12? See the notes by annual 12. 
• Alienation
  The team is still not popular with a lot of people. This reminds us of the very early days, reinforcing these issues as a major wrapping up. Reed is the cause as usual: his refusal to help the authorities will win him no friends.

This annual is a very big deal
Just as 200 completes Doom's story, Annual 13, published at the same time, completes the Mole Man's story, as these letters to FF202 attest.

However, these triumphs over Doom and over the Mole Man are a false dawn. In the five act play the apparent triumph in act 4 is just the calm before the storm really begins.

Next: all Reed's achievements turn to dust