Thumbing through a pile of back issues, I decided to give these three Fantastic Four Annuals a re-read for possibly the first time in 35+ years, and it wasn’t entirely unpleasant.
First up, FF Annual #13, on sale in July 1978 (so spoilers for FF #200 that came out a month later in August 1978; yeah the Fantastic Four get back together as a team), written by Bill Mantlo and drawn by Sal Buscema (inked by Joe Sinnott).
The Mole Man is up to no good, stealing statues, and kidnapping all the ugly and blind folk from the streets of New York. So it’s a no-brainer that Alicia Masters is on his hit-list (being both a sculptress and blind - duh!), which means the newly reunited Fantastic Four get involved in his dastardly plot to give all those ugly and blind people a place to call home beneath the Earth’s surface. No matter that they’ll all be dimly lit; they’ll no longer be ostracised from an uncaring society and will have all these beautiful statues to look at. Can anyone else see (no pun intended) a problem with that?
Anyway, the Fantastic Four bust up on the Mole Man and his Moloids until Alica breaks up the fighting by pointing out that the Mole Man’s intentions were good (though probably misguided), and that many of those he kidnapped are more than happy to shuffle around in the near dark, bumping into statues and being reminded of their lack of good looks. So as a parting gift she sculpts a statue of the Mole Man in all his glory, he’s happy, and the Fantastic Four depart - along with a few of the kidnapped citizens that required some medical attention from falling over all those stolen statues just lying around. I made that last part up.
Despite being dumb, this was an enjoyable read. I especially liked how Mantlo portrayed the Fantastic Four’s interactions with other New Yorker’s while wandering around the city, and Sal Buscema, as far as I’m concerned, was THE Marvel Bronze Age artist. Reading this issue was like sliding my feet into an old pair of slippers - so comfortable.
Annual #14, on sale in October 1979, written by Marv Wolfman and drawn by George Perez (inked by Pablo Marcos) was a perfect example of why you should never judge a book by its’ cover. Behind a rather dull Franklin Richards cover was an unexpected delight; not so much a Fantastic Four story, but a spotlight issue for Agatha Harkness. Who totally kicks ass.
The Fantastic Four (with Franklin) accompany Agatha on her yearly sojourn back to New Salem, so she can lead the New Salemnites (?) in their annual ritual to cleanse their magics. Obviously, Salem’s Seven and Nicholas Scratch get involved and it all goes to hell; but the Fantastic Four are almost incidental in their own book, as it is Agatha who takes the lead in sorting the whole mess out (with a little help from Franklin and his not so dormant cosmic powers).
This issue was thoroughly entertaining, helped not-just-a-little by Perez’ dynamic pencils. Though I’ve never been a fan of Pablo Marcos’ inks, they were tolerable here.
Well worth reading.
Which is not something I can say for Annual #15, on sale in July 1980, written by Doug Moench and drawn by George Perez (inked by Chic Stone), which was was quite frankly a bit of a mess.
I’m not even sure I can summarise the plot for this one; it involves Reed inventing some kind of teleporting machine by accident, some invading Skulls, and Captain Mar-Vell. And some time travel hilarity. Or not.
I never really enjoyed Moench’s time on Fantastic Four, and this issue pretty much cemented my feelings on that. However, there was a really nice back-up story (written by Moench and drawn by Tom Sutton) that shows Zorba failing to maintain his newly liberated Latveria, and the ultimate resurrection of Dr Doom. A lot of nice ideas here about newly democratised people not really feeling the love for their new status quo.
Unemployment, higher taxes, and lots of picketing; yeah, that’ll get you down. What you really need is a megalomaniacal terrorist in charge. Sorted.
I'm going to have to look these up on my FF DVD of the first 500 issues I remember #200 with Dr. Doom and the Kirby cover. The other one by Perez and the Mole Man one stand out too. I have an annuals section in the DVD so I'm going to have to check them out. Back then the Annuals were special and remind me of the days when comics were economically practical to buy. Today to spend three or four dollars on a comic is ridiculous. I rather get a paperback of old 70's material than any of the new comics that don't even come close to the characters I grew up with.
ReplyDeleteToo true R. Lloyd. I've realised that I have 1000's of old comics that I haven't re-read in over three decades and that there's gold in those longboxes if I go looking for it. Much better than spending money on mostly dissapointing new comics.
ReplyDeleteI agree 100% with you about the Moench/Perez annual. I have a general problem with FF stories that focus on generic skrulls. Yes, this one features the "Prime 10" of the skrull world. But once you introduce Super-Skrull (one of my all-time favorite villains) all the other skrulls look like chopped liver.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great site! I just discovered it today!
ReplyDeleteSomehow, I've never read any of these. I'll have to give them a look. Like you, I didn't care for Moench's FF run, but I may check that one out just for the Perez art.
ReplyDeleteI’ve now read all three of these, and I thought thery were all enjoyable. I guess I had a higher opinion of #15 than you did (though I agree that Moench’s run wasn’t very impressive overall) though I did think it a bit much that Reed was worried about being able to defeat 10 measly skrulls. The Fantastic Four and Captain Marvel against 10 skrulls, none of whom is the Super-Skrull seems like a major mismatch. That fight should be over in ten seconds. I’m not sure what being a “Prime 10” means. They just seemed to be ordinary skrulls with fancy guns. The ending was also a bit confusing, with all that time travel nonsense. Anyway, I still thought it a decent read, and the art was good, which I’m sure helped my overall opinion.
ReplyDelete#13 was also good, though I’m not a fan of the Mole Man. This one had an interesting conclusion. I also enjoyed #15, as I have a fondness for Agatha Harkness, the Salem Seven, and magic in general, even though I’m a man of science.
Vampires is not at all like in the movies or books. Sure, I understand. You are young you have the whole world open to you. You can be anything that you choose if you apply yourself and try hard to work toward that goal. But being a Vampire is not what it seems like. It’s a life full of good, and amazing things. We are as human as you are.. It’s not what you are that counts, But how you choose to be. Do you want a life full of interesting things? Do you want to have power and influence over others? To be charming and desirable? To have wealth, health, and longevity, I can help you solve any problem you are having
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contact the Vampires Lord on his Email: Richvampirekindom@gmail.com
Vampires is not at all like in the movies or books. Sure, I understand. You are young you have the whole world open to you. You can be anything that you choose if you apply yourself and try hard to work toward that goal. But being a Vampire is not what it seems like. It’s a life full of good, and amazing things. We are as human as you are.. It’s not what you are that counts, But how you choose to be. Do you want a life full of interesting things? Do you want to have power and influence over others? To be charming and desirable? To have wealth, health, and longevity, I can help you solve any problem you are having
ReplyDelete(1) If you want your ex back.
(2) If you want to stop having bad dreams.
(3) You want to be promoted in your office.
(4) You want women/men to run after you.
(5) If you want a child.
(6) You want to be rich.
(7) You want to tie your husband/wife to be yours forever.
(8) If you need financial assistance.
(9) If you want to stop your divorce.
(10 If you want to divorce your husband.
(11) If you want your wishes to be granted.
contact the Vampires Lord on his Email: Richvampirekindom@gmail.com
Terence - this is off-topic, but I noticed that you were looking for info on Alan Austin a while back over on the London Comic Shop blog. Sadly Alan passed away in 2017, but friends have got together to publish Alan's book of his memories of being a Comic Dealer in the 1970s and 1980s.
ReplyDeleteMore info over at http://superstuff73.blogspot.com/2021/06/announcing-publication-of-alan-austins.html or you can order direct on Amazon.
It's a great read. We're trying to get the message out to people who knew Alan.
Cheers - and apologies for hijacking this thread!