Fantastic Four 325 - Inferno

The Silver Surfer arrives in time for a child custody battle.

Fantastic Four #325

Story: S.F.X. Englehart
Guest pencils: Rich Buckler
Guest inks: Romeo Tanghal
Letters: Michael Heisler
Colors: George Roussos
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

(Although not part of Inferno itself or included in the collected editions this is the conclusion to the storyline in the earlier Fantastic Four issues so worth a look at.)

The Silver Surfer noticed the disruption to Mercury's orbit and has come to the Solar System where he finds the Human Torch adrift in space and takes him back to New York. There he is reunited with Mantis and learns how she lost her memories then her powers and her son. He agrees to help her recover him. The Surfer proves unable to turn off the Human Torch's flames then Kang returns accompanied by the High Cotati and a pod containing Mantis's son. The Cotati demand that Mantis cease pursuing her son who they want to be their ambassador to the universe. She refuses so the Cotati determine she must die and unleash the Priests of Pama on her. The Fantastic Four and Surfer join her in fighting back with Kang producing more advanced weaponry to restrain the Surfer. Mantis breaks through to reach the Cotati and fights with her mind, forcing them to flee with the Priests and Kang both withdrawing as well. Mantis announces the Cotati have withdrawn into the realm of pure thought and only she has the training to follow them so she says goodbye to the Surfer and abandons her body to enter the realm. An upset Surfer flies away alone.

And so we reach multiple endings. Not only is this the real ending for the Fantastic Four's Inferno saga (even though Inferno itself has ended by the time the Surfer and Torch reach Earth) but this is also the last issue with Englehart's name on it and the conclusion to his attempt to tell a saga involving Mantis. Englehart would remain on the series for another eight months using the pseudonym "John Harkness" with a bizarre story in which the Fantastic Four wind up being replaced by imposters based on the Silver Age and there were some dreams as well that reflected some of the battles with editorial. The whole thing ends with "Mr Harkness" appearing in the final two panels of issue #333 to agree with Franklin "this was all a mistake" and says "I'll try. But it might take a better man than me to straighten out this mess." With that Englehart was gone and also soon left Silver Surfer. He then wrote an open letter to fanzines about the problems he had had on all three series (West Coast Avengers being the third) at Marvel, directly blaming Tom DeFalco rather the different individual editors. In later years his website would include some details of the disputes that invariably casts a cloud when reading the issues themselves.

This story does not disguise its roots as a rewritten quick piece designed to end things with Mantis with as much dignity as possible whilst Englehart still had any control over her. It makes use of Kang's time travel abilities to go off and make a deal to work with the Cotati for his own revenge but ultimately boils down to little more than a guest star turning up for a fight. The Surfer and Mantis were intended to be reunited to carry forth into adventures in the Surfer's own series but with that avenue cut off Englehart now resorts to removing Mantis from the physical realm altogether. Despite reiterating that she has lost her powers and can only rely on her training she proves able to abandon her body completely in a rushed ending as she chases after the Cotati.

The Cotati's motivations make little sense here. They have manipulated things to arrange for a child to be born to a union between a human and Cotati because... they lost their ability to move and want "an ambulatory plant" to "be our ambassador to the universe". Why they can't just make use of another being's body if they want to walk about is utterly unexplained and they've already shown they can communicate with other beings. It's a feeble motivation for what has turned out to be such a long quest over multiple titles and it feels as though no effort is being made deliberately. The final battle resorts to Mantis still having powers from when she trained to become the Celestial Madonna that she has not demonstrated for a good while.

All in all this feels like a deliberate poor effort with a writer more concerned to write Mantis out of the physical realm than anything else and just throwing out random stuff to get to the conclusion. Combined with some terrible art - the Thing especially looks worse than ever - and the result is a whimpering end to it all.

(Oh and exactly when is Inferno set? This issue takes place in the aftermath but it's called "A Christmas Tale" and features snow. Yet other issues have referenced the summer or Halloween.)

Fantastic Four 324 - Inferno

More foes step in to complicate Mantis's quest.

Fantastic Four #324

Story: S.F.X. Englehart
Pencils: Keith Pollard
Inks: Romeo Tanghal
Letters: Joe Rosen
Colors: George Roussos
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

(There's no "Inferno continues" triangle on the cover but it's not clear why as other Inferno crossovers had it that month and there were even a few stragglers the following month. Anyway this issue is clearly set during Inferno and has been included in all collected editions that contain the crossovers.)

The Human Torch's flame is out of control and nothing will turn it off. Meanwhile Mantis has disappeared from the cell on Kang's ship. Everyone returns to New York to find the sorcerer Necrodamus has escaped from Limbo and taken Mantis to sacrifice her at a point when the planets align to secure great power. The Three and Kang find themselves having to work together with Ms Marvel coming up with a plan. Kang and the Human Torch take off for space where they manage to shift Mercury from its orbit long enough to prevent the alignment. Necrodamus fades back into Limbo. Kang abandons Johnny in space but the movement of the planets attracts the attention of the Silver Surfer.

The story credit is a reflection of the continued breakdown in relations between Steve Englehart and Marvel editorial as he felt he was now just scripting plots totally rewritten by his editors - or just supplying sound effects. Perhaps that's why this issue feels so quick and plot light. Alternatively it may have been an intentional filler interlude in the story to mark time before issue #325 came after the end of the Inferno crossover. Whatever the reason the result is an extremely poor issue. In her brief dialogue it seems as though Mantis is expressing his frustration as bemoans how she has been "Abused, humiliated wherever she turns! ... This one would fight back! ... she has come to feel, in her very bones she will never get back to the stars!" It is as if the writer or scripter feels he will never be able to complete the character's story as he wished.

This continues the practice of using assorted villains mainly associated with the Avengers. Although Necrodamus had been introduced by Englehart in his early 1970s run on Defenders the sorcerer's main appearances since had been in conflict with the Scarlet Witch. Thus it would make sense for him to have returned in West Coast Avengers but with Englehart having just left that book it was clear he was transferring his plans over even when they no longer made sense. The result is a sorcerer who's around for half an issue with a crude plan that is quickly thwarted and he fades away without ever having felt like the significant menace required at this stage of the story. N'astirh briefly appears to warn against distractions with Necrodamus pledging he will use the power to help but as scripted it seems most likely that N'astirh leaves after determining Necrodamus will be no menace to his plans.

One of the inadvertent confusions raised by this issue is that there are actually at least two dimensions in Marvel called Limbo - the magical realm from which Inferno stems and the more science fiction dimension that time travellers pass through and which is ruled over by Kang's future incarnation Immortus. This issue makes no attempt to sort out the confusion between the two even though Kang appears to pass through the latter whilst Necrodamus has been trapped in the former. Kang continues to distance himself from the Kangs appearing over in Avengers in an attempt to clear up the mess. He's also got a weapon on his time ship that makes the noise "Tardis!"

Johnny's flame going out of control is not really developed here and apart from a few comments by the Thing and Ms Marvel about keeping their distance there is just no sign of any affect the permanent flame is having on anything beyond his inability to turn it off. Meanwhile a conversation about whether Ms Marvel could revert to human form if she wished to and whether she does so is started but cuts away before a critical reply, again giving away the editorial interference.

Overall this issue is just dire. It cannot disguise the utter pointlessness of the whole interlude with Necrodamus and there's a general sense of starting but not finishing that is not confined to Mantis's/Englehart's frustrations. Perhaps the cover lacks the "Inferno continues" triangle as a contemporary attempt to discourage readers from picking it up, whether out of dissatisfaction with it or a royalty sabotaging strategy. The behind the scenes conflict is all to clear and the result is this mess.

Fantastic Four 323 - Inferno

Kang travels into the Inferno of New York as part of his plan to steal a weapon buried in California.

Fantastic Four #323

Story: Steve Englehart
Pencils: Keith Pollard
Inks: Romeo Tanghal
Letters: Ghastly J. Workman
Colors: George Roussos
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

The Fantastic Four or rather Three encounter Mantis as she searches for help to find her child which they offer once they have ascertained the situation in New York can be handled. Meanwhile Kang the Conqueror is seeking a powerful weapon created by a Celestial buried in California and plans to use Mantis's power as the Celestial Madonna to secure it. However she has lost this power and so he has to try other ways with the Three pursuing him to California and attacking as the Human Torch's power gets out of control.

Why isn't Kang a Fantastic Four villain? He made his debut in the series under the identity of the time travelling Pharaoh Rama-Tut. It was originally suggested that he was a descendent of Doctor Doom or even perhaps a future incarnation of Doom himself. Later it was revealed that he was from a parallel timeline that had been influenced by the intervention of Nathaniel Richards, Reed's father, who became an alternative candidate for the ancestor with Kang's real name revealed to be Nathaniel Richards. But instead the character got used in Avengers where he got his best known name and appearance and rarely ventured outside it. Prior to this issue his sole encounters with the Fantastic Four have been restricted to a cameo in an annual when just about every villain in the fledgling Marvel universe tried to attack Reed and Sue's wedding or a single story in the Human Torch/Thing strip in Strange Tales. Otherwise he had mainly been in Avengers but did sometimes turn up in other series. It's odd as a time travelling dictator who is the descendent of either the Four's archenemy or else of the (usual) leader's father would surely be a natural foe to turn to. But instead he has rarely come to these pages and here the attraction is not so much the team (who currently lack any of the Richards clan) but rather his pursuit of Mantis and Steve Englehart's continued attempts to tell her story.

(Later on in the mid 1990s the Fantastic Four did indeed get another foe who is a time travelling future dictator descended from the family. But I seem to be about the only reader who liked Hyperstorm. And he's also connected to another prominent Marvel family who are not known to have encountered him yet.)

As discussed previously on Fantastic Four Annual #21 (and more briefly on Silver Surfer Annual #1 and West Coast Avengers Annual #3) this was a period of prolonged behind the scenes struggle between Steve Englehart and his editors on all three titles with disagreement over the direction they should go in and the use of particular characters such as Mantis. Consequently after leaving West Coast Avengers he transferred his plans to Fantastic Four hence the use of traditional Avengers villains both last issue and this one. It would appear that Englehart had also planned a semi-crossover with Avengers as Kang is here seeking the same goal as Nebula over in the Fall of the Avengers storyline and working sneakily to avoid the Council of Cross-Time Kangs. The result of all this is that the Three are all too clearly wandering through someone's else's storyline and despite the "Inferno continues" triangle on the cover this issue is only very tangentially related to the crossover with a minor encounter with living parking meters and Kang commenting on how he can use the dimensional upheavals to slip in undetected by his counterparts being the only significant features. The Torch initially thinks his problems with controlling his flame power are down to the effects of Inferno but the problems continue even out on the west coast.

Combined with some poor art that seems to be a consequence of new inker Romeo Tanghal struggling with both the Thing and Ms Marvel the result is that this really doesn't feel like an issue of Fantastic Four or an Inferno crossover. Instead it is hard to disguise that it is supposed to be a West Coast Avengers storyline with even the California location retained. Also if editorial was closing in on Mantis then it would have helped to accelerate the telling of her story but instead things continue to drag out with Kang's intervention feeling more of a distraction than an advancement of the plot. This issue is forgettable.

Fantastic Four 335 - Acts of Vengeance

This time our heroes are up against "the most powerful villains in the universe". "You're kidding, right?" asks Sharon.

Fantastic Four #335

Writing: Walter Simonson
Penciling: Rich Buckler
Inking: Romeo Tanghal
Lettering: Bill Oakley
Colouring: George Roussos
Editing: Ralph Macchio
Editing-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

Following on from the previous issue the Five have arrived in Congress for a hearing about the proposed Super Hero Registration Act (there's several different names for the bill flying around), leading to a discussion about the rights of wrongs of requiring individuals to register their powers against the back-drop of a conflict.

If this sounds incredibly familiar it's because legislation of the same nature underpinned a later big Marvel event, Civil War. But whereas that crossover saw major actual conflict between heroes, here the debate takes place entirely within a committee room of the US Congress with only minor moments of action as yet more lame villains show up to try to attack the Fantastic Four and fail miserably. But it's also interesting to see just how the position of particular heroes changed over the years. In Civil War Reed Richards was all in favour of registration, leading to a falling out with Susan. Here, however, Reed takes a much more critical position. It's also interesting to see how during the first Bush presidency the political debate is presented in a much more nuanced way. Speakers at the committee hearing include a general supporting the military benefits of registration, government arsehole-in-chief Henry Peter Gyrich speaking in support of the public good to control power overriding the liberties of the individual and Hamilton Nathanson, a fictional spokesperson for the National Rifle Association (despite the similar name, I don't think Charlton Heston had yet become a prominent NRA figure in 1989), arguing against registration because they see it as a step towards a ban and take the same approach to powers as to guns.

Being from another country where both the structure and manner of political debate is different it's interesting to see a more nuanced take on US conservative arguments in a medium that often has little time for them. It's critical to note that "conservative" means many different things and so Gyrich's statement "I am a conservative... I believe that that the more government is kept out of the lives of the individual, the better," is one that not all conservatives would agree with, especially when it comes to law and order (for instance the UK Conservative Party's effective founder was the same man who founded the Metropolitan Police). Still the debate over public protection versus individual freedom is one that resonates across borders and the approach here shows that there aren't easy answers and even a group like the National Rifle Association can put forward points that people agree with. There's also some mockery of the processes, with the story titled "Death by Debate" and Reed pulls the trick of trying to bore the committee to death by present a huge report that they eventually decide to accept without examining it further.

The villain fest continues with some odd moments. Apocalypse flies over the capital but it proves a false alarm as he never lands and it's unclear what he's doing there, particularly as he's in a very different league from the foes who make it inside. In quick succession the likes of Ramrod, Plantman, the Quill, the Flying Tiger, the Vanisher, the Eel, Thunderball and Mad Dog attack but all are quickly felled, in some cases through their own incompetence. (Thunderball's inclusion is surprising given he's normally treated more seriously.) Eventually it's realised that a strange has been mentally controlling the villains, leading to a Congressperson to accuse Reed Richards of staging the whole affair.

It's surprising that despite being a new run by an acclaimed writer and part of a crossover whose main selling point is previously unseen fights between heroes and villains that instead we've so far had two issues of almost complete non-action and instead characterisation and debate. Yet this doesn't in anyway feel as though things are dragging, with instead a good look at a complicated issue with real world parallels. The connection to the wider crossover isn't yet clear but all in all this is one of the best issues so far.

Fantastic Four #335 has been reprinted in:

• Fantastic Four Visionaries: Walter Simonson Volume 1 (2007)
• Acts of Vengeance Crossovers Omnibus (2011)
• Fantastic Four Epic Collection: Into the Timestream (2014)

Fantastic Four 334 - Acts of Vengeance

We now come to Fantastic Four #334, which is the first issue in Walter Simonson's run as writer and the penultimate issue in Rich Buckler's second run as penciller. Starting a run with three crossover issues isn't the most encouraging of circumstances. There's also the problem that the Fantastic Four isn't in the traditional line-up - indeed it's not even a foursome. The Thing has been restored to human form whilst the second Ms Marvel (Sharon Ventura) has been mutated into a She-Thing. There was also a fake Fantastic Four at the end of Steve Englehart's run but Reed Richards suggests that it's not going to impact the team in the long-run.

Fantastic Four #334

Writing: Walter Simonson
Penciling: Rich Buckler
Inking: Romeo Tanghal
Lettering: Bill Oakley
Colouring: George Roussos
Editing: Ralph Macchio
Editing-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco

Fantastic Four is traditionally a very character-based title with a strong family feel, so it's understandable that a new writer starts off by getting a good grasp of the Five and Franklin Richards rather than plunging straight into action. The only real action sequence comes when Captain America and Thor arrive on the roof only to find the Five are out and the security systems have been changed. Otherwise this is a mostly talky issue as the family discuss everything from a prominent movie to proposed legislation in the US Congress that they've been invited to speak about and the end of the issue sees them journey to Washington to do so in later issues. The inclusion of Captain America and Thor is interesting as they, together with Mr Fantastic and the Invisible Woman, had formed four-fifths of the Avengers line-up (the fifth was Gilgamesh the Forgotten One) that Simonson assembled during his deconstruction and resurrection of the team over on that title, only to move on immediately move on. Although the crossover event makes such appearances more likely, it does hint slightly at where Simonson's early plans lie.

The cover proclaims "the deadliest villains on the universe" but Ben isn't convinced and it's easy to see why. In succession the Constrictor, the Beetle and the Shocker each tries to invade Four Freedoms Plaza only to be immediately captured by the security systems without a need for a fight. It's not yet clear why such a bunch of weak and lame villains have been sent but near the end of the story it appears several more are making their way to Washington, most by public transport, hinting at further developments. Of the lame foes, the Beetle had actually originated in the Human Torch's 1960s solo strip in Strange Tales, but had gone on to be a mainly Spider-Man villain and any case he hasn't previously fought either the rest of the Five or their security systems. The other two are unknown quantities here. Being underwhelming foes who are dealt with before they're even noticed means the issue isn't diverted by fight scenes and can instead concentrate on character building for the future.

But for the scene with Captain America and Thor, this particular issue could easily standalone without needing knowledge of the wider crossover, which must be a relief for the editors of various collected editions. It's a good start to one of the best Fantastic Four runs and also a strong issue that hooks into an event without letting it overwhelm the issue.

Fantastic Four #334 has been reprinted in:

• Fantastic Four Visionaries: Walter Simonson Volume 1 (2007)
• Acts of Vengeance Crossovers Omnibus (2011)
• Fantastic Four Epic Collection: Into the Timestream (2014)