Comics Reviews

Top 60 Fantastic Four Stories: 44-41

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Today, we look at your picks for #44-41 of the greatest Fantastic Four stories ever told!

As always, you voted, I counted the votes and now we count them down, four at a time. If I don’t add a date for the series, it means it is the original volume of whatever series I’m talking about.

44. Fantastic Four: The End #1-6 “The End”

The great Alan Davis (joined by inker Mark Farmer and colorist John Kalisz) told the story of the Fantastic Four in the future, torn apart by the apparent deaths of Franklin and Valeria in a battle against Doctor Doom when they were teenagers…

Reed dedicates his life to making Earth essentially a Utopia, on the cusp of being a great entry into intergalactic diplomacy. Along those terms, Human Torch has become a longtime member of the Avengers and he and the other heroes have helped ease the Earth into the intergalactic alliances. Thing, meanwhile, has married and is living with his wife (Alicia, naturally) and their children on Mars with the Inhumans. Sue has become an academic, furiously studying….something.


In the end, the Skrulls, Shi’ar and Kree team up to attack Earth, and the Fantastic Four and the Avengers fight off the invasion while Sue returns with a shocking piece of information that might actually save Valeria and Franklin!

It’s all gorgeous art matched with a strong story. Davis is a master at alternate reality stories where he can play with a massive cast of characters, like JLA: The Nail.

RELATED: Top 60 Fantastic Four Stories: 48-45

42. Fantastic Four #242 “Childhood’s End”

In this Sue Richards spotlight by John Byrne, Sue is being interviewed by basically Barbara Walters and Byrne allows Sue to get some great zinger at the Walters character, who is question Sue about all the sorts of gossipy stuff that you would expect an interviewer to bring up (like the whole Namor deal) and she returns home to see that she is the last member of the Fantastic Four standing, as they’re being torn apart by an unbelievably powerful mystery man.

Byrne clearly wanted to ratchet Sue’s powers up a bit more, so the issue is filled with Byrne showing off her skills before she realizes that the man is Franklin, her son! Franklin’s powers have suddenly transformed himself to a grown man and the Fantastic Four talk him through going back to normal, while in the process he “fixes” the Thing (who had been transformed into a pre-rocky version of himself) and the issue ends with a twist when someone wonders why Franklin didn’t make Thing human and we learn that the Thing, at his heart, doesn’t WANT to go back to normal, because he feels that Alicia loves him only as the Thing. That is why no “cures” have ever worked. Interesting take by Byrne.

42. Fantastic Four #112 “Battle of the Behemoths”

One of the fascinating things about the Fantastic Four during the Stan Lee era that was highlighted once Jack Kirby left the series is the sense of movement from one story to another. We all know how the famous stretch of stories from the introduction of the Inhumans to the Galactus Trilogy ended one story in the middle of one issue and started a new story later in the same issue. This would get weird things like resolving the Galactus Trilogy and then going to Johnny starting college and meeting Wyatt Wingfoot all in the same issue.

Anyhow, in Fantastic Four #110 (by Lee, John Buscema and Joe Sinnott), Reed finds a way to turn the Thing back to his human form, but in the process, the Thing loses control of his mind and he is now pretty much evil. #111 sees Reed and Johnny trying to get the Thing under control but they fail miserably, the Thing is just too strong (and since he can turn back to human now, he can hide very easily by just turning to his human form). The Fantastic Four turn to the only person that they think can take the Thing down in his crazed state – the Hulk!

This leads to the outstanding all-fight issue between the Thing and the Hulk in the following issue.

This was a Thing/Hulk fight that we’ve never seen it before, with the Thing being the aggressor and the Hulk almost playing defense. Reed is trying to think of a way to heal Ben’s mind and Johnny is getting antsy, because he fears that the Hulk will kill Thing. However, Alicia Masters got involved in the fight and seeing Alicia in danger breaks the Thing out his madness…just in time for the Hulk to punch him while his head was turned and seemingly….KILLING HIM?!!?

Don’t worry, the next issue started a whole other new story!

RELATED: Top 60 Fantastic Four Stories: 52-49

41. Fantastic Four #313-319 “Search for the Beyonders”

This storyline (by Steve Englehart, Keith Pollard and Joe Sinnott, with a fill-in inking bit by Romeo Tanghal along the way) came out during a fascinating period in the life of the Fantastic Four. Reed and Sue had taken a break from the team to concentrate on Franklin and the Thing has become the leader of the team, alongside Human Torch and a returning Crystal, as well as a new member, Ben’s love interest, Ms. Marvel (Sharon Ventura). Right before this story arc, Sharon was mutated into a female version of the Thing, while the Thing was mutated into a more monstrous version of himself.

So this story opens up with the team trying to find the Mole Man so that A. they could help him (as he had gone missing and had done Thing a kindness recently) and B. he could maybe help de-mutate Ben and Sharon. The team finds themselves traveling through many portals that are somehow connected to the Beyonder and take them on various fights before they agree to aide Doctor Doom on a trip to hunt down the Beyonder.

During this time, Ben and Sharon officially became a couple while Johnny and Crystal almost get back together despite Johnny now being married to Alicia Masters (who turned out to be a Skrull), but Crystal eventually left to go back to her estranged husband, Quicksilver.

So the other three members go with Doom to find the Beyonder…

In the end, Steve Englehart did a whole new approach to the story of Secret Wars and Secret Wars II in a story literally promoted as Secret Wars III at the time! He re-wrote the origins of both the Beyonder and the Molecule Man and sort of wrote them both out, as well.

KEEP READING: Top 60 Fantastic Four Stories: 56-53

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