SECRET DEFENDERS versus FANTASTIC FOUR

Suddenly... The Secret Defenders (Marvel)
Where: Fantastic Four #374 When: March 1993
Why: Tom DeFalco How: Paul Ryan

The Story So Far...
When Johnny Storm was caught alone in a surprise ambush by Paibok the Power Skrull, Lyja, and Devos The Destroyer -- he unleashed the full force of his nova blast in a last ditch effort to survive!

The desperate tactic left nearby Empire State University in scorched ruins, earning the ire of a public who believes Human Torch's flaming assault was a reckless act of endangerment.

With the rest of the Fantastic Four preoccupied -- and mercenaries taking to the streets to hunt The Torch down -- his old friend Spider-Man seeks the aide of Doctor Strange to assemble a familiar team to bring him in peacefully. With a simple astral projection the erstwhile New Fantastic Four are reunited!

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Hulk 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Mr. Fantastic 6 (Genius)
Speed: Spider-Man 4 (???)
Stamina: Wolverine 6 (Generator)
Agility: Mr. Fantastic 6 (Rubber)
Fighting: Wolverine 6 (Warrior)
Energy: Human Torch 7 (Cosmic Power)
Total: Spider-Man 29 (Metahuman)

The Secret Defenders are: Spider-Man, Hulk, Wolverine, Ghost Rider, with Doctor Strange.

The concept of the original "non-team" was taken to its ultimate conclusion when Doctor Strange began recruiting disparate heroes for missions as the Secret Defenders. Spider-Man seeks his assistance to re-assemble a quartet once gathered to operate as the avenging "New Fantastic Four".

The Fantastic Four are: Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and Thing, with Ms. Marvel.

The long running relationship between Spider-Man and the classic FF has seen him play friend and "frenemy" to the Human Torch. We saw them fight side-by-side in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #4, Spider-Man Family #3, and Amazing Spider-Man #600, but rivalry got the better of them in Fantastic Four #543!

The FF also has a legendary history with the Hulk, starting with their first face-off in Fantastic Four #12! Much of the rivalry boils down to testing Hulk's strength against the Thing, who's also developed tensions with Wolverine.

Today's issue is where the true bad blood developed between them, but Thing & Wolverine also shared an earlier exchange in Contest of Champions #3, and extended their battles with an all-out war in Wolverine #22!

The overlapping dynamics between all the players on both teams are almost as intriguing as the general parallels between two versions of the FF.

Hulk and Thing are obvious strongmen, but this is a time when Bruce Banner's brilliant mind controls Hulk. His genius rivals Mister Fantastic within his field, while Spider-Man's webs and Ghost Rider's chains loosely approximate his elasticated reach. Ghost Rider's hellfire draws obvious parallel to Human Torch, but as we saw in Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance #6, its properties are very different.

Spider-Man and Ghost Rider can also roughly approximate the defensive projections of Invisible Woman, but it may be Wolverine who best inverts her role, providing penetrating blades in place of invisible force fields. He can also sniff out any invisibility with his keen senses.

In Wolverine #22 she stopped him cold by blocking his airways, but the same trick didn't work in the alternate reality rematch of What If? Wolverine: Enemy of the State. Sue Storm is on the edge of her Malice personality at this time, so the gloves certainly could come off. We saw her cause a lot of problem for the X-Men as one of Ahab's Hounds in X-Men Annual #14. She was pushed to lethal extremes when defending her family in Fantastic Four (Vol.3) #2, too.

Doctor Strange is here as an astral projection as in Strange Tales #111 and Marvel Adventures #14, but has no magical foe to interact with. That makes Ms. Marvel a bit of an x-factor, adding a second heavyweight to the FF.

Sharon Ventura is a former stuntwoman and Thing's ex-girlfriend who received super-human strength enhancements during her career with Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation. She later mutated into the erstwhile "She-Thing", but was cured of her rocky affliction in Fantastic Four #350. She left the group after they encountered Justice Peace in Fanatstic Four #354, but returned as a mole indebted to Doctor Doom for her cure.

Ms. Marvel is double tough, but will that be enough to tip the scales in favour of the classic Fantastic Four? It's about time we just dived in to find out!

The Tape: Secret Defenders Ranking: Spider-Man (#2)

What Went Down...
Pursued by Skrull adversaries and angry bounty hunters: Johnny Storm has had little time to refresh himself. The scent of the chase betrays him as the keen senses of Wolverine detect the young hero hidden within a decrepit building.

The Secret Defenders don't quite share Spider-Man's understanding. Hulk gives the young hero an ultimatum: walk out with them - or be carried out!

Incensed, but knowing he's clearly outgunned, the Human Torch sends a flare out the window to draw the rest of the searching Fantastic Four to his location. He then bursts into flames, leaping into the air to avoid the lashing chain of Ghost Rider, and stray webs slung by Spider-Man!

The evasive maneuvers give Human Torch a chance to return fire. Shocked that his old friend Spider-Man would betray him, he hurls his flame in the web-slinger's direction. Spidey leaps clear and pleads his case for wanting to help.

Hulk is much less concerned, slamming his hands together to send a shockwave that smothers Johnny's flame and knocks him clean out of the air!

The green goliath looms over a smoldering Johnny Storm, wanting to avoid more mindless fisticuffs. The decision is taken out of his hands as a rocky finger taps his shoulder -- followed with the fist of The Thing against his jade jaw!

The Fantastic Four file into the urban space ready to defend their comrade!

Spider-Man again hopes to talk it out, but Wolverine insists the time for diplomacy has passed. His hostility is met with the pliable, bending body of Mister Fantastic, who stretches around him and vows that Johnny will surrender himself peacefully to the appropriate authorities.

Ghost Rider sees Invisible Woman raising her hands and attempts to intervene, but his shuriken flinging chain hits only the force field she was conjuring up.

Her invisible bubbles also form around Wolverine's clawed fists, defending the malleable body of her husband from any unlikely punctures. The married couple share terse gratitude, their own turmoil simmering behind their teamwork.

Leaping to defend his sister: Human Torch ignites again -- and bathes Ghost Rider in an unrelenting stream of flame!

The mortal burning proves ineffective against one who is already engulfed with the unearthly inferno of hellfire. Ghost Rider explains his non-lethal attack as he stares coldly with the permanent grin of his exposed skull.

Meanwhile, Spider-Man does his best to keep one step ahead of the super-strong fists of Ms. Marvel. She swings wildly, smashing through a support pillar as Spidey pinballs from surface to surface -- and catches her with webs!

Thing ducks a wild left from Hulk, and questions how the former rampaging brute could be anything but understanding of Johnny's current predicament.

Hulk retorts that it's his extensive experiences with collateral damage that drives him to prevent anyone else from repeating his unthinking past!

The Thing connects with a right hand deep in the mid-section, but his low stance leaves him vulnerable to an overhead hammer fist! Hulk's powerful blow knocks Thing clean through the floor and sends him plummeting down multiple levels!

Hulk then sets his sights on Mister Fantastic, who's proven capable of stretching around Wolverine's probing adamantium claws. Hulk's massive hand grips Mister Fantastic by the vest and whips him off like a loose sheet from a bed!

The X-Man is quickly besieged by Invisible Woman, who smashes him with an invisible force field that sends him hurtling backwards through the air. It provokes a rapid response as he rushes back with claws at the ready to test the impenetrability of her famous defenses.

Adamantium barely connects with invisible projection as Thing returns to the battle and grabs Wolverine from behind! He uses his incredible strength to powerslam Wolverine into the ground with a single hand. The mutant reacts!

Animal instinct takes over as Wolverine savagely slashes his adamantium claws towards his attacker! The unrestrained assault sickeningly carves through Thing's rocky face. It's like nothing the travelled hero has ever experienced!

The Thing howls in agony -- clutching at his wounded cheek as his body lurches in shock. The chilling scene snaps Wolverine back to his senses. He searches for reason, knowing he's gone too far. Thing responds with an uncaring fist!

The power of Thing's furious blow sends Wolverine smashing through untold walls as his airborne body careens into another neighbouring building.

Invisible Woman, Ms. Marvel, and Mister Fantastic rush to their teammate's side. Reed ensnares Hulk with his elastic body while desperately declaring Thing needs immediate medical attention.

Only Human Torch continues fighting --  caught in Ghost Rider's otherworldly chain!

The Spirit of Vengeance blames the young hero for the burning of Empire State University -- and the subsequent grim fate that has now befallen The Thing.

The chain squeezes The Torch's throat until his flame subsides. Ghost Rider swats him to the ground with the backhand of his fist, and prepares to unleash the torment of Johnny's own sins with the dreaded penance stare.

Suddenly a blast of energy forces the demonic hero away from his target!

Lyja The Lazerfist arrives just in time to defend her ex-husband -- even though she was one of the Skrulls who started his troubles!

She joins the Fantastic Four as they huddle together, standing back to five other backs, with the Secret Defenders closing in to surround them.

It seems battle is about to begin anew when a blinding light suddenly engulfs the Fantastic Four and their allies!

In the blink of an eye the sextet vanishes! Wolverine's sense of smell confirms they haven't been made invisible by Susan Storm. The sudden disappearance leaves Doctor Strange to contemplate their uncertain fate. An end, of sorts.

The Hammer...
Another famous fight goes on the record! It's reputation is largely built on the face-off between the "New Fantastic Four" and their classic counterparts, and the far reaching consequence of Wolverine's savage lapse of care.

His slash will scar Thing for the next few years, but I wonder how many readers know that the fight actually ended with an inconclusive result. Thing is injured, but still standing at the ready with his team, when the issue comes to an end.

If that wasn't tenacious enough: The next issue reveals the Fantastic Four were transported to the moon base of Uatu, The Watcher. There, Thing almost immediately engages in yet another brawl -- taking a face full of metal fist before he clobbers a rampaging alien robot! That's before he even finds the protective metal helmet he'll be wearing for the next year or so!

Fantastic Four #375 is also where we first witness the gruesome disfigurement of his face. The wound is significant, exposing fleshy tissue along his brow and cheek. It isn't stomach churning on the page, but the reality would seem much more shocking. His helmet was unpopular, but at least protects him.

On the one hand, it's an interesting milestone for the characters involved. On the other, it's surprising that such a consequential event would come from an otherwise typical case of superheroes fighting over a misunderstanding.

The reader certainly knows Johnny Storm hasn't gone rogue. Unlike the catalytic event of Civil War; the Empire State University compound wasn't destroyed by negligence. Johnny wrestled with his actions, fighting as long as he could to give students and faculty a chance to clear the area, before he went nova.

Human Torch's predicament came about as a result of long running plotlines involving Lyja and Paibok. FF #374 is the third issue to deal with the fallout, which highlights a general crisis of conscience that won't plague Wolverine.

I have to think Wolverine expressed a sense of responsibility, if not guilt, at some point in his solo series, or another X-title. I just don't remember it happening. I think it might've been absorbed into more general struggles with his animalistic urges and rage, which became a central plot years later.

The most significant follow-up I can recall is Fantastic Four #395: a 1995 issue that promises "payback" and an epic rematch on the cover, but actually delivers a team-up with Ant-Man, and a burying of the hatchet for Thing and Wolverine.

My best guess is that it remained a one-sided issue because of editorial lines at the time. It seems like an idea initiated by the Fantastic Four office with the intent to tell Fantastic Four stories. The X-offices might've given their blessing, but probably had their hands full with other on-going storylines at the time.

1993 was a pretty big year for Wolverine and the X-Men.

The animated series was on a fast track to becoming a global multimedia phenomenon, and in comics you had long and winding storylines happening every month in Wolverine, X-Men, and Uncanny X-Men. Half a year after this, Fatal Attractions begins, and Wolverine has his own wounds to heal when Magneto strips the adamantium from his skeleton in X-Men #25.

It might've been interesting if Thing got his rematch while Wolverine had bone claws, but the brutality of hero-on-hero violence has already been a little weird.

Keep in mind: this is all happening a decade before Marvel heroes were routinely maiming and killing each other. Breaking Wolverine's claws was a moment reserved instead for an uber-nineties arch-nemesis: the metallic Cyber.

Of course, lets not overlook the 90s saturation of the assembly we have before us. The entire concept of the "New Fantastic Four" feels very much of that time, frivolously throwing together popular characters with almost no natural ties.

I'm actually a fan of the restraint they showed by only featuring this quarter a total of four issues, including this one. That always managed to keep the legend of the "New Fantastic Four" special. Going to that well too many times could've been a little tacky. As it stands, their reunion in Fantastic Four #374 would feel completely perfunctory if it wasn't for the on-going story of Thing's injury.

Sue Storm's extensively derided swimsuit costume also glows with the ills of the era, far more offensively than Mister Fantastic's dubious fishing vest.

There's something to be said for the logic of the outfit being rooted in the encroaching persona of Malice, but I was never the biggest fan of frequenting that idea, either. Not to be confused with the other Malice persona that turns Polaris into a screaming she-devil. We get it, guys... Menstruation!

It doesn't look like this issue is currently available in any collected formats, but you can find the first team-up of Spider-Man, Hulk, Wolverine, and Ghost Rider in the Epic Collection: Fantastic Four - The New Fantastic Four. Use the Amazon link provided for all your shopping and you'll not only get yourself a great deal -- but also support the site at no extra cost!

Secret Wars on Infinite Earths has featured well over 600 fights and ranked more than 950 characters! If you like what its all about and want to make it a little easier to keep the fight going you can get involved with Patreon. The lowest tier unlocks extra updates, poll options, and my eternal gratitude!

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Winners: Inconclusive (Draw)
#2 (--) Spider-Man
#4 (--) Wolverine
#6 (--) Hulk
#10 (--) Mister Fantastic
#12 (--) Thing
#13 (--) Human Torch
#14 (--) Invisible Woman
#151 (+16) Ms. Marvel (Sharon Ventura)
#399 (+2) Ghost Rider (Dan Ketch)
#161 (+5) Lyja [+1 assist]

JUSTICE PEACE versus FANTASTIC FOUR
The Cross-Time Express! (Marvel)
Where: Fantastic Four #354 When: July 1991
Why: Walter Simonson How: Walter Simonson

The Story So Far...
Few men have experienced the ebb and flow of time as much as Reed Richards and Victor Von Doom. Their many strange adventures have taken them through time and space, but even as their latest confrontation results in a battle between minutes, their actions are observed and recorded by those policing the timestream.

For their many indescretions, Doom and Richards garner the attentions of the Time Variance Authority: An intergalactic organization dedicated to monitoring and policing the multi-verse and it's many refractions as a result of time travel and manipulation. Though immensly powerful, the bureaucratic organization is anything but thorough, further emphasising the severity of Richards' actions.

The TVA send Justice Peace, a mercenary member of the TVA Police Department with full powers to detain and destroy time criminals. Though Doom escapes his clutches, Justice Peace is able to detain the Fantastic Four to be tried by Mr. Mobius, a member of the TVA bureaucracy intent on eliminating the FF's reality. The race is on to escape the TVA's clutches and protect existence, but with Justice Peace on their tail, can even the world's greatest heroes succeed?...

Tale of the Tape...
Strength: Thing 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Mr. Fantastic 6 (Genius)
Speed: Human Torch 3 (Athlete)
Stamina: Thing 5 (Marathon)
Agility: Mr. Fantastic 6 (Rubber)
Fighting Ability: Invisible Woman 4 (Trained)
Energy Power: Human Torch 7 (Cosmic)


- Justice Peace is a member of the Time Variance Authority Police Department. The law enforcement branch for the bureaucratic TVA grants Justice Peace powers to hunt and destroy those that would commit infractions against timelaw.
Justice Peace carries with him an extensive arsenal housed largely in a single projectile weapon. The weapon is capable of adapting it's ammunition to a range of practical uses, the most prominent being lethal energy blasts.

- The Fantastic Four are: Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, the Human Torch, and Thing.

The original Fantastic Four were exposed to cosmic rays when Reed Richards led the team in a race to beat the Russians to space. Without sufficient preperation time, the shuttle lacked the shielding needed to filter the cosmic radiation, resulting in unique transformations in each member.

The team's adventures take them through time and space, where they regularly do combat with entities and individuals capable of cosmic manipulation. Their amassed allies and enemies exist throughout different galaxies and dimensions.

The team's line-up is typified by Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and Thing, but has been expanded to include the likes of; Crystal, Sub-Mariner, She-Hulk, Medusa, Black Panther, and Storm; among others.

The Math: Fantastic Four Ranking: Mr. Fantastic (#8)

What Went Down...
Mobius M. Mobius, a bureaucrat with the TVA, focuses his attention on seeing the arrest of Thing (and Human Torch) after an outburst that reduced the TVA Halls of Chronometry to rubble. Autonomous agent of the TVAPD, Justice Peace, leaves the pursuit to clone soldiers, recognising the greater threat of an unaccounted for Reed Richards, and his wife Susan Storm; better known as Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman, respectively.

JP's suspicions prove valid when, in the destroyed Hall, he is able to discover an invisible forcefield obscuring Sue and Reed Richards as the latter hacks into the hi-tech TVA computer network in an effort to build a makeshift virus!

Justice Peace gives it both barrels, prompting Invisible Woman to refocus her energies into defense, rather than concealment. Mr. Fantastic begs his wife for precious seconds as he races to produce a solution while she suffers the physical strain of maintaining her field under such intense pressure.

Results come in the nick of time as Richards' virus distrupts the linear flow of time within the TVA establishment, resulting in bubbling pockets of reality! The bubbles prove distraction enough to allow the Fantastic twosome to make an escape for the exit: The Cross-Time Central Railroad!

The Torch and Thing converge with the rest of the team, having escaped their own perils with the aid of the viral time bubbles. Richards is able to barter for the group a driver willing to take he and his team back to their appropriate timeline and reality.

Just as escape seems all but assured, Justice Peace arrives at the station with a small army of clone soldiers! The TVAPD soldiers make pursuit as the train bursts from the station into the cold vaccum of space.

The Human Torch steps up to scorch the team's pursuers, but not wanting to harm them, Invisible Woman instead uses a barrage of invisible forcefields to stem their flow. The attack successfully knocks back the clone soldiers, but Justice Peace proves a more compelling adversary.

JP returns fire, buying him the time to attach himself to the Cross-Time Express. The Human Torch proves impossible to pacify when he leaps out of the train, launching himself onto the train with a spray of warning shots from his flaming fist. Justice Peace indulges the compromise of the Torch's attack, using his hi-tech gun to fire back a smothering foam that douses the youngster's flame!

Thing leaps to his teammate's aid, scoring an impressive blow on an unsuspecting Justice Peace! The punch, however, fails to sufficiently flaw the TVA lawman, who again retaliates with the use of his oh-so versatile gun, which easily sabotages the coach roof beneath the burly Thing's footing, in substitute for any futile assault on the rocky hero's own hide.

With Thing momentarily demolished it looks like all hope is loss for the FF, until Justice Peace again finds himself airborne as a result of a surprise assault...

Like a stellar apparition, Susan Richards appears from nothingness to form atop the raging express. She tosses Justice Peace around like a ragdoll, disarming him with a barrage of spherical invisible forcefields.

The lawman's assessment of the woman proves correct as she dangles his helpless form over the edge of the train, where the gulf of nothingness threatens to destroy him forever. Mr. Fantastic lets loose warnings of mercy, for the protective older sister of the Human Torch is blissfully unaware that the express is now under threat of a wave created by Reed Richards' virus!

With Justice Peace captive, the Fantastic Four learn that Mr. Fantastic's ploy to overwrite their reality with a new one devoid of reference to their presence means TVA jurisdiction must adjust accordingly. No loner intent on hunting the Fantastic Four, the lawman opts to return to his own timeline, just as the team manage to outrun the threat of the wave by extreme combustion courtesy of the Human Torch. With that, the FF return similarly to their own time - victorious!

The Hammer...
Well, after defeating and capturing Justice Peace, and clearing their names with a little quantum editing, I think it's pretty safe to say this is another victory for the Fantastic Four!
[NOTE: Thing and Human Torch only get the assist for their contributions, although, we might revisit their solo adventures in a future timeline. Train conductor Casey also gets the assist.]

You might also describe it as a minor victory for the Infinite Wars after a busy weak of other distractions and complacency! After all those team entries, it might have been a fool's errand to get involved with a timetravel caper... Still, I chose this entry because it lept out at me as not only an interesting review, but a great opportunity to talk a little bit about recent developments for the fantastic foursome in Secret Invasion.

Unless you're so deep under cover you don't even know you're a Skrull -- you'll no doubt have heard that among the many characters revealed to be impostors, the most prominent was probably Invisible Woman!

The pages of Secret Invasion #1 saw the phony Susan Richards reveal herself in a staggering plot that involved the cosmic implosion of the Baxter Building headquarters of the Fantastic Four! The multi-pronged assault also came with the reveal of Hank Pym as a Skrull, who in turn turned a weapon on Mr. Fantastic that reduced the bitter enemy of the Skrull to a formless tangle of rubbery-humanity!

It's impossible to deny that the implications of this series are going to be incredibly fun to watch, but there are still a lot of questions looming over the event. Implications of duty are a big part of a book like this, and while many readers deserve credit for predicting an invasion off the back of multiple Skrull-related events over the past few years, the exact history remains murky.

Exactly how and when characters were replaced is going to be a major point of intrigue for this paranoia fuelled series. Though not always the most reliable source in the woods, writer Brian Bendis has promised clarification for issues such as these, as well as much more, in future issues of the series. Not to be a cynic, but I think it's safe to assume some answers are likely to be found in the inevitable slew of tie-ins, including the three-issue, Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four!

Bendis is notorious for being lazy with his history and external references, so it will be interesting to see how he manages a series so intrinsically dependent on the baggage of details. The when and where are sure to become a hot talking point amongst the fanbase, even moreso now that we know the identities of more impostor heroes, including largely inconspicuous contributors like Jarvis!
A looming concern will be the relationship between Secret Invasion and recent series such as Civil War, which went to dramatic lengths to shake up the fabric of the Marvel Universe with seemingly lasting results. Malformed series; like One More Day; have already seen the systematic dismantling of repercussons for Spider-man that were widely critiqued by fans who were subdued by promise of dedication to moves such as the reveal of Peter Parker's identity.

Something that really attracted me to the opportunity to talk about the FF here was the involvement of Reed and Sue Richards during Civil War.
At the time, series-writer Mark Millar came under heavy criticism for mischaracterizing, among others, Reed Richards, who became a staunch supporter of the pro-registration side of the event. Personally I didn't have quabbles quite to the same extent, and with much of what's done being done, I tend to think the greater concern would be widespread opportunity for cop-outs and sloppy revisionist retcons.

To Marvel's credit, they've put their best foot forward in promising integrity where the actions of the Civil War heroes are concerned. Spokespeople for the company have given strong indications that characters like Iron Man are fairly safe, despite their radical involvement in the universe-changing events. Bendis describes the Civil War more as a matter of convenience for the invading Skrull, rather than a symptom of their sinister designs. That said, the two events are sure to have a lot of overlap as we learn more about the secret past of recent history.

Bendis also describes the series as something foreshadowed in much of his early writing on New Avengers, as well as other avenues, perhaps even the already mentioned slew of titles featuring Skrull-related events, such as; Young Avengers, Runaways, Annihilation, Marvel Team-Up, and other.

Keen observers have already noted that a somewhat suspicious Jarvis returned to service after a 'holiday' in the pages of New Avengers, a series that also featured a slew of cagey and vague influences that harken back to long forgotten conspiracy plotlines from Ultimate Spider-man. Of course, on that side of things, Bendis also looks to finally make good with events in Ultimate Origin, but I digress.

Having just been bitten by a radioactive retcon [Brand New Day], concerns of continuity are fresh in mind. I don't really think there's any cause for concern just yet, but I'm very weary of the prospect of revisions that drift back several decades, if for no other reason than the necessity to retag previous entries!

But seriously, I want to take a little bit of comfort in recent history.
I agree with, and expect Marvel to live up to, the theory that it would be weak to try to completely recast the defining storytelling of Civil War. That said, I think there are plenty of very welcome gaps that help contain Secret Invasion to that recent history.

During and after the event, Reed and Sue Richards confronted marital issues as a result of their eventual split over the Superhero Registration Act. It's here that we see perhaps the most obvious opportunity for the Invisible Woman to have been replaced, during a period where Black Panther and Storm become involved in the team, and adventures for all six members included division, space, and yes, even the presence of super-powered Skrulls!

Plenty of opportunities no doubt arose for a switch, and a moment of separation perhaps even on Reed and Sue's interplanetary second honeymoon could be the perfect transition free from contradiction or confuddlement. Because, yes. With continuity, mystery, and Bendis, one has come to expect disappointment and disaster. The fact that this is a universe event only encourages further reticence...

So, how does Secret Invasion relate to Fantastic Four #354?
Well, I guess if worse comes to worse, someone can eventually get around to another TVA time virus... And if you want more on the 1990 time travelling antics of Reed Richards and Dr. Doom, you don't want to miss Bully's brilliant recap of Fantastic Four #351, and for completions sake, you might like to check out our brief look at relating events from Fantastic Four #350. Mmm, fun!

The Fight: 3.5 The Issue: 4.5

It's worth mentioning that Justice Peace bares a none-too-subtle resemblance to popular law enforcement zealot, Judge Dread! To the best of my knowledge these issues haven't yet been collected, but you'll find work just as good in the Infinite Wars Amazonian Gift Shoppe! By using purchase links provided you help fund future entries in the Infinite Wars, and saved a buck on purchases you were probably already going to make. Online retaliers; got a way for Infinite Wars readers to order their weekly books through you? Get in touch about sponsorship!

THING versus DR DOOM
The More Things Change...! (Marvel comics)
Where: Fantastic Four #350 When: March 1991
Why: Walter Simonson How: Walter Simonson

The story so far...
Wearing a powersuit of Reed Richards' design, Ben Grimm attempts to maintain his position on the Fantastic Four while easing the psychological burden felt by Sharon Ventura; ex-girlfriend and former Ms. Marvel, who would suffer the same fate as Grimm to become a She-Thing!

Feeling the same social anxiety and personal discontent that Grimm himself experienced through his earliest days, the despondent Ms. Marvel is ripe for seduction at the hands of the nefarious Dr. Victor Von Doom -- recently returned Latverian monarch, and arch-nemesis of the original quartet that make up the Fantastic Four!

Travelling to Castle Doomstadt, Ms. Marvel willingly submits herself to Doom's experiments that promise to reverse the effects of her radioactive exposure, and restore her to her former humanity. Meanwhile, the reverse is true for the original Thing, who sacrifices his acquisition of humanity, and soon learns of Sharon Ventura's predicament in the clutches of Doom: cured, or killed?...

Previous Form:
Thing (#9): A top ten worthy string of team successes against; the Frightful Four, Sinister Twelve, Iconoclast, Paibok, and Ahab.
Dr. Doom (#57): A previous victory over the Thing and Yancy Street Gang.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Thing 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Dr. Doom 6 (Genius)
Speed: Draw 2 (Average)
Stamina: Dr. Doom 6 (Generator)
Agility: Draw 2 (Average)
Fighting Ability: Thing 3 (Street Wise)
Energy Powers: Dr. Doom 5 (Lasers)


- Ace test-pilot Ben Grimm joined a trio of friends on a space race to beat the Russians into outerspace. The wreckless launch would change he and his colleagues forevermore as insufficient shielding would leave the quartet vulnerable to strange, unknown cosmic rays! Rays that would transform them into the Fantastic Four!

- As the Thing, Grimm has a rocky exterior that is both super-durable, and maneuvered by exponentially increased muscle capacity. Along with super-strength, Thing can also survive in harsh environments relatively unscathed.

- Victor Von Doom was the college rival of Reed Richards, noted as a genius in his own right, despite a legendary arrogance. It was this stubborn insistance that would lead Doom to conduct rushed experiments that merged the sciences with the occult, and ultimately would result in an explosion that would scar him.

- Travelling across the Himalayan mountains of Tibet, Doom would don a metal suit of armor crafted by monks, and adopt this visage as his own as the newly christened, Dr. Doom! His armor would be upgraded to include cutting edge technologies of his own invention, and supply him with the power necessary to overthrow his native Latveria, and become the world-threatening menace faced by the Fantastic Four!

The Math: Dr. Doom The Pick: Dr. Doom

What went down...
The Fantastic Four heed the warning of a messenger Doombot, and make the trek to the tiny European nation of Latveria. At Castle Doomstadt the FF quickly do away with a small army of Doombots, before each member endures a familiar series of tailored obstacles, each designed to push their unique abilities to the very limits.

Doom, with plans of revenge, does not anticipate the renewed strength of a once again transformed Thing. Grimm easily belts away falling chunks of concrete, before pounding through the stone walls of the castle to stumble upon the sleeping, and apparently cured body of Sharon Ventura!

As the burly Thing attempts to free Ms. Marvel from her bonds, a massive burst of energy explodes to knock him to the ground -- the assault of Dr. Doom!
The Thing charges at the team's old enemy, who notes the change in Grimm, once again knocking him back with a charge of an alleged 500,000 volts!

Blurring the lines of thirty years of storyline, the good Doctor swears revenge for one of his earliest defeats at the hands of the Fantastic Four, waged within the Baxter Building headquarters they once inhabited.
With a blast from his pistol-shaped anti-matter extrapolator, Doom manages to put the fear of God in Ben Grimm. Recognising the threat of this strange weapon, the muscle-bound Thing hurls a piece of rubble from the broken wall, strategically striking the weapon in Doom's hand.

With his calcified hide atingle, Thing marches at Doom with a menacing intent.
Though unintimidated, the brilliant Doom calls upon one of the many other weapons contained within the walking arsenal that is his armor.

A high powered laser beam proves Doom's weapon of choice, but it's effects err on the side of the bizarre, rather than offensive! Right before Doom's eyes, the Thing begins to metamorphasize into an even rockier, far more gruesome incarnation of his Thing-self!

Marching through Doom's futile attack, the Thing clutches the Latverian monarch's gauntlets and slams him against one of the cold Doomstadt walls.
Lording his increased strength over the FF's oldest enemy, Thing press against Doom's resisting efforts, clamping down with his monstrous mits.

With Doom on the verge of being crushed, it is the intervention of a now conscious Sharon Ventura that rescues the villain from crippling injury!

With the aid of the thermo-lance, Doom has sufficient time to recharge his own armor's weaponry and unleash an additional surge of voltage. The blast fries the further mutated Thing with energy sufficient to kill him!

Doom declares his lethal victory as a stoic Mr. Fantastic enters, having achieved the unlikely task of escaping Doom's clausterphobic entrapments.

Doom offers Richards the lives of his wife and brother-in-law in exchange for a duel through time that will allow the villain opportunity to display his brutal brilliance to one of the few minds capable of appreciating it. Richards accepts, no doubt aware of the possibility to undo the tragedy that had transpired.

The hammer...
Well, an appropriate if unceremonious end to our month of DOOM with a win to the Doc, and a rushed late entry. If you felt something was notoriously familiar about the tape, which I generally try to reinvent for repeat contestants, it's because it was taken from the previous encounter between these two [Fantastic Four #361].

To expand upon our use as a friendly fanbase resource, I might try to tailor more universal descriptions for the tape that can be reused, because yes. After what I would dare to call a pretty stellar run of on-going posting, I've hit a roadblock. I've hit a pain barrier. I've hit a soul sapping obstacle of magnitudes not seen since Daredevil: Ninja.

Not sapping enough that we can't finish on a high note, however!
First thing's first, if you're dying to know how things conclude, then you should head on over to check out Bully's treat-of-a post featuring the hijinks of Fantastic Four #351! Be forewarned, anyone with a pacemaker or occupation that required 20/20 vision might not want to proceed. Serious risk of heart failure, schizoid embolism, or going cross-eyed lies ahead!

As we conclude our chronicles of DOOM, I can't help but draw a drastically different discussion topic from FF #350. Bully ponders the time-space repercussions of events from #351, while another of our blogging contemporaries, Dave Campbell, falls just left of my point while he notes the off-page retcons of reality.

Simonson makes a bold statement by suggesting previous encounters with Doom were with robotic drones. He does so presumably in an effort to push an agenda of characterization that returns Doom to his more specific -- less zany -- villainous roots. Less intentional is the perpetuation of a new rivalry byproxy.

We see today a very careful and intelligent approach to storytelling, but pushing out of the eighties a decided shift was made gearing the process toward pencillers. This meant visual details gained greater importance over conceptual and character driven dynamics, better typified by the work of later industry superstars than perhaps Simonson, who clearly has a high-concept story here.

It's perhaps true of Marvel's earliest origins with the use of the 'Stan Lee method of writing' that involved glorified notations that were spun-out into full twenty-two page issues, later lettered with dialogue by Lee. It's this importance given to the artist from the company's neo-origins that perhaps make it predestined to steer the fate of the entire medium, which already has a predisposition to the visual.

New "artists" like Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane, and the other Image founders become increasingly involved in the evolution of a product, proposing new values on the finished project. This invariably pushes the classic characters in new ways, forging relationships built on the subconcious visual values of characters.

Top 25 Nemesis':
#1 Black Adam (Captain Marvel)
#2 Dr. Doom (Mr. Fantastic)
#3 Bullseye (Daredevil)
#4 Deathstroke (Teen Titans)
#5 Sinestro (Green Lantern)
#6 Bizarro (Superman)
#7 Destroyer (Thor)
#8 Noob Saibot (Scorpion)
#9 Akuma (Ryu)
#10 Crimson Dynamo (Iron Man)
#11 Zoom (Flash)
#12 Cheetah (Wonder Woman)
#13 Ultron (The Avengers)
#14 Despero (JLA)
#15 Captain Cold (Flash)
#16 Venom (Spider-man)
#17 Wingless Wizard (Mr. Fantastic)
#18 Baron Zemo (Captain America)
#19 Sagat (Ryu)
#20 Darkseid (Earth)
#21 Abomination (Hulk)
#22 Thanos (Life)
#23 Dr. Octopus (Spider-man)
#24 Vulture (Spider-man)
#25 Green Goblin (Spider-man)Dr. Doom, in my assessment, should classically be considered arch-nemesis of Reed Richards, but the popularity and visual quality of a character like Thing directs a new rivalry. A far purer example of this subconscious agenda is Magneto's evolution to become considered a bitter rival of Wolverine, as much as he opposes his original foe, Professor Xavier.

We see that particular shift eventuate a few years after this issue in 1993, with the visual spectacular of X-Men #25: the issue that strips Wolverine of his adamantium. It's with this example that we best illustrate the value of the visual at it's height, presenting a four-colour extravaganza of high-action splash pages, and the battle between a fan-favourite character with far more dynamic visuals than the typically restrictive, or ill-defined, Professor Xavier.

Again, it's not necessarily at it's strongest with Simonson's work, which immediately follows up with an issue-long confrontation between Richards and Doom, the classic archetypal foes. Even so, it is food for thought for the underlying subconscious that inevitably shaped a decade of comics, still very close to the essential basics of big battles, and long-running feuds.

These feuds ultimately take more bitter and varied approaches (such as Kingpin/Daredevil) as the written aspect regains it's importance in the recession of comics culture. We begin rebuilding the conceptual, and restore the importance of motivation and characterization in conflicts between characters.

Alas, we still have a ways to go to solidifying the guarantee of these rivalries.
The loss of the historical Doom/Richards rivalry is easily one of the most specific flaws in the feature film adaptation of the Fantastic Four. Stripping their rivalry to something far more immediate, along with much of the bitter history that makes Doom one of the most influential villains in comics, saw a very flat and unmotivated movie unfold.

Further extending the weakness of the Doom character is the tangiential litmus test of associated rivalries. Scenes featuring Thing and Invisible Woman stress the relationship of the nemesis far better than Richards' feeble, failing interactions. Of course, that dominoes into a whole range of issues, which also sees the empowering of Susan Storm and Jessica Alba's importance at the cost of reducing "Mr. Fantastic" to the proverbial damsel in distress. A talk for another time!

The Fight: 3.5 The Issue: 5

[This issue has not yet been collected, but you can check out a bunch of Simonson's lead-up work with the Fantastic Four while you wait, in the first volume of Visionaries! Cha-Ching!]

FANTASTIC FOUR/X-MEN/X-FACTOR/NEW MUTANTS versus AHAB & THE HOUNDS
Days of Future Present Part 4: You Must Remember This (Marvel comics)
Where: X-Men Annual #14 When: 1990
Why: Chris Claremont How: Art Adams

The story so far...
For humanity there exists a dark potential future.
A time where mutants have been hunted to near extinction, and humanity lives enslaved by the robotic Sentinel armies that police the streets so vigilantly.

Franklin Richards and Rachel Summers, refugees from this dark time, escape back to seek protection in a more placid time where their parents stood triumphant and hopeful against these evils. Unfortunately for them, their time travelling escape is not the only shift made from this future.

Dr. Roderick Campbell, the man-Sentinel known as Ahab, follows the two mutant rebels back through the timestream, hoping to use the environment to manipulate a final showdown with his longtime targets. Unfortunately for him, the mutants are far from extinct in this time, and despite his advanced technology and many powers, he may find himself overwhelmed...

Previous Form:
X-Men [#1]: The X-Men have defeated the future's super-Sentinel, Nimrod; among others.
Fantastic Four [#2]: Killed in a future where Death's Head II became AIM super-weapon, Charnal.
Invisible Woman (#12): Prominent victories over Iconoclast, Frightful Four and others.
Cyclops (#45): Invaluable in the X-Men's defeat of Xorn, and Executioner.
Ahab: Making his debut in the Infinite Wars.

Tale of the tape...
Strength: Ms. Marvel 6 (Invincible)
Intelligence: Mr. Fantastic 6 (Genius)
Speed: Cannonball 5 (Super Speed)
Stamina: Ahab 6 (Generator)
Agility: Warlock 6 (Rubber)
Fighting Ability: Cable 4 (Trained Fighter)
Energy Powers: Human Torch 7 (Solar Power)


Okay, so if you're a regular reader you might be scratching your head, trying to figure out what Ahab has to do with Marvel Ultimate Alliance. Rightly so, too, since this is a late post for Monday's on-going celebration of the villains from the video game.

Well, we're closing evil clone month off with a positively epic entry! Pictured to the right, an assembly of the Fantastic Four and X-Teams of the time -- but wait! Can you spy two notable exceptions?

Yes, in his timespanning mission to capture and destroy Franklin Richards and Rachel Summers, Ahab has transformed one of each of their parents into dark versions of themselves -- turning them into sadistic, sinister versions of themselves.

The missing parents in question are of course Invisible Woman and Cyclops, and they're going to be front and centre amongst the nameless Hounds, representing Ahab with mad respect, yo. Days of Future Past style, can you dig?

It might not surprise you to know I'm thinking about folding this section up to include only the statistical information, because I think we're reaching a point where I'm just killing time in this section. There are sixteen heroes assembled in the attack on Ahab, and while that doesn't sound like a lot, and scenarios or predictions are only going to be more boring than they usually say.

Suffice to say, there's a tremendous advantage in the number of heroes, and I'm going to probably just go along with that.
Ahab; a super baddy cyborg from a future where mutants are on the brink of extinction and Sentinels patrol the streets, is a tough customer, but come on.
You've got all kinds of Mr. Fantastic, Beast, Forge combinations there, and the Human Torch, and She-Thing, and all kinds of muscle power there...

The Math: FF/X-Men (Total) Ahab & Hounds (Average)
The Pick: Fantastic Four/X-Factor/X-Men/New Mutants

What went down...
The massive collective of heroes sound Ahab's mutant detecting alarms as they burst into his hi-tech stronghold. Distracted from his torture of the former-mutant hunting hound, Rachel Summers, Ahab turns to face many would-be rebels already deceased in a future where he probably killed many of them.

Reed Richards recognises the green garbed humans by Ahab's side as the twisted forms of Scott Summers and Susan Richars -- Cyclops and Invisible Woman, respectively. Boastful of his powers, Ahab sets his Hounds on the invaders.

The armoured Cyclops is the first to do damage, unleashing his optic blasts with enough force to shake even the She-Thing, Ms. Marvel!

Mr. Fantastic steps up to use his elastine body to absorb the brunt of the plasma blasts, while Jean Grey does her best to telekinetically stem the flow of Invisible Woman's malicious invisible forcefields.

The move frees Ms. Marvel up to do more damage where she's better applied, against the nameless bruisers of Ahab's sinister collective of Hounds. The young mutant Cannonball struggles with the moral fact that many of the Hounds were innocent mutants before they met the control of Ahab's machinery.

Meanwhile, Jean Grey suffers moral conflicts of her own, struggling to battle Invisible Woman without inflicting any mortal injury on her during this murderous state. Recognising the issue, Mr. Fantastic taps Banshee to disarm his wife with the non-lethal means of his sonic scream.

Busy grappling with Grey, Invisible Woman is easily blindsided.
Meanwhile, Cable comes up with a plan to use Warlock's tech receptors to absorb the power from Cyclop's power blasts.

Warlock neutralizes X-Factor's jaded leader, while the battle rages onward around him. Cable and Ben Grimm do their best to use non-lethal weaponry to subdue the Hounds, while Gambit, Ms. Marvel and Boomer opt for more physical methods.

Cable, having subdued the Hounds in immediate opposition, sees a path to make a frontal assault on their half-Sentinel leader, Ahab!

Cable lunges at the suspiciously similar looking Ahab, finding himself a little out of his own cybernetic depth. Clutching at Ahab's harpoon staff in the defensive position, Cable soon discovers it is directly connected to Ahab's own power.
With his hands burning, Cable finds himself unable to let go of the weapon, forced to stare into the face of the enemy. Ahab taunts him, asking the mutant whether he sees someone he knows, before swatting him away with the staff.

Storm, suffering the youthful affects of a previous encounter with The Nanny, finds her way to the imprisoned adult Franklin Richards. She does her best to summon Franklin's senses before Ahab can act, but it turns out his trump card affects more than the pod-bound son of Mr. Fantastic.

With the push of a button, Ahab levels the playing field of both his enemies and allies. An energy field attacks the heroes and Hounds alike, attacking their living tissue to the point of incapacitation. Only the mega-powered Franklin Richards is left standing, glowing with incredible mutant energies.

Ethereal, Franklin destroys Ahab's machines of harm with but a gesture.
Unsure and intimidated by the threat he's faced with, Ahab summons his Hounds to heel, including Rachel Summers. Courageously Summers defies her former master, prompting him to toss his harpoon spear for her defiance.

Franklin and Jean Grey intervene, stopping the spear in mid-air with their respective powers. The pressure situation proves more than the adult Richards is able to deal with, impeding his ability to exert his fantastic powers over the mechanical weapon. Likewise, Jean Grey struggles to maintain her telekinetic hold over it.

As Ahab's weapon propels itself gradually closer, Jean Grey unleashes all of her energy, diving between her daughter from the future and the weapon in a last ditch effort. Exhausted in her daughter's arms, Grey is successful.

Seemingly out of tricks, Ahab finds himself surrounded as Reed Richards declares his imminent defeat. The cyborg from the future taunts Richards with the promise that regardless of his fate in the past, Ahab has the last laugh in battle with the heroes. With that he teleports away, leaving the gift of his mark on their loved ones; Cyclops and Invisible Woman.

The hammer...
Woof, well, after all of that, your winners, the Fantastic Four, X-Men, X-Factor and New Mutants. Since everyone is seen to be active in at least panel dressing, I think I'm forced to hand the win to everyone, regardless of the weight of individuals like Franklin Richards. Rachel Summers proved uninvolved in this fight, but for provoking Ahab to seperate from his harpoon, an assist stat.

So, with the pleasantries out of the way, we can finally wrap this one up.
Y'know, it actually turned out to be a lot more straight forward than I felt like it was going to be. I guess part of the issue was that it probably wasn't until the advent of the Fox/Saban cartoon series that I really became a fan of X-Men.

I could be wrong, but this might just about be the first X-Men comic I ever owned, and even then it was probably more because of the story running through from the Fantastic Four annual. Even so, I have to admit to fond memories of this particular issue. Crammed full of characters and action, it actually ranked considerably higher with me at the time than the more subdued FF instalment.

It introduced me to characters like Cable, who was appearing with the New Mutants, a book I was even less interested in than the more recognisable X-books. I mean, I had a passing interest in Wolverine, and Cyclops, and Colossus, and some of those characters, but the New Mutants were barely on the radar!

I couldn't say why that really was. Long before the internet blogosphere, I was pretty removed from the reading public, so I certainly didn't indulge in the Liefeld sensation, or the general X-boom. I can't say if it was all the tail-eating future stories, or the boring similarity amongst the costumes, but something just turned me away from that X-corner of the Marvel universe.

Of course, it's not like there weren't convolusions across the board at the time.
Ben Grimm was finally cured of his rocky predicament, metaphorically passing the curse to Sharon Ventura, who was mutated in much the same way, becoming the affectionately referred to -- She-Thing.
If you've been reading the Infinite Wars recently, you'll know Sharon Ventura eventually showed up, in her human form, to woe the emotionally conflicted Grimm who had again become the Thing [Fantastic Four #367]. If you stay tuned, we'll be filling in some more of those gaps in the coming month.

Fortunately, the combined brilliance of Forge, Beast and Reed Richards, all exibit expertise in fields of mechanics and genetics, are able to use intelligence from the wreckage of Ahab's abandoned facility to return their loved ones back to normal.

The story of Ahab, however, would never enjoy that kind of satisfaction. There are many fabled tales of editorial changes made throughout Chris Claremont's legendary affiliation with the X-Men, and the Ahab character is one of the many.

The reference to seeing someone he recognises during Cable's attack on Ahab alludes to the conceptual conclusion that Ahab was in fact the unfortunate progression undertaken by Cable. The trademark skunk streak, scarred eye, and expanded cybernetics were all indicative of a corruption at some point in the mysterious Cable's future.

Cable would undergo many permeatations, absorbing new pieces of his history and future to eventually become one of the many maligned creations of the X-Universe. His close association with Rob Liefeld and subsequent pad/weapon/pocket heavy design also made for a shakey relationship between fan and character coming out of the declining nineties.

I don't know if you could rightly call this comic fantastic.
It's got that event-heavy action packed quality of the time, with an execution typical of Claremont, occasionally creeping into the embarassingly explanatory.

At the same time Art Adams' artwork is thoroughly effective, and really sticks out in my mind for a lot of reasons. Quiet moments have an odd energy about them, but likewise carry a consistent emotional weight that's prevelant even in the action scenes. His style is beautifully complimented by a slew of inkers, and colours by Brad Vancata which somehow seem to exceed what was typical of the era.

I find myself searching for a reason to call this one of the most enjoyable comics you could ever read, but it's just so hard. Maybe I'm tainted by vague, fond memories from 1990, I do not know. I think what ultimately shines through here is everything positive about this kind of nineties comic book, still sporting the musk of the less spiteful decade of the eighties.

There's playful mystery to the characters, dynamic action sequences, and a pretty clear line between the heroes and the villains. It's not about the internal conflict, even though two heroes are turned to fight against their fellows. It's just about an evil killer cyborg from the future, and a massive collection of heroes culminating their efforts in one big battle.

I'm going to borrow from Bully's criteria, and just call this comic fun!

The Fight: 4.5 The Issue: 6
[Days of Future Present ran in the 1990 annuals of the titles starring the four respective teams involved. The story played off of the previous decade's famous X-story, Days of Future Past, detailing a dystopian future where mutants are hunted to the brink of extinction. The Claremont/Byrne story from 1981 remains one of the most popular alternate universe tales, heavily influencing the grim future depicted in the recently returned NBC series, Heroes.]