Last Fantastic Four issues in the retrospective.
Fantastici Quattro #179 (1978)
Published by: Corno
Back to showing speech balloons on the cover again.
It’s an accurate translation of the original, but the title is much better: it translates to “The Crusader Syndrome”, an improvement over the original “The coming of the Crusader”.
Fantastic Four #164 (1975)
by Roy Thomas & George Perez
Also the Corno logo is much better because holy crap is that a busy section of the cover.
“The Crusader Syndrome” didn’t come out of nowhere though, since it’s the actual title of the story.
Which begins with the Thing testing the strength of the Invisible Girl’s force field.
Despite the fact this is just a test, it gets the Thing so mad he attacks a second time and Reeds gets angry at her for dodging instead of using another force field.
Mercifully by this time the team had stopped the CONSTANT infighting that plagued the series in the first half of the decade. And Susan is finally becoming more assertive.
I like the playfulness in the team’s antics, but the Thing is getting a bit too carried away… as is Reed, agreeing to watch his best friend spank his wife. (????)
It’s a thing for the Thing. See this infamous panel from 1980’s Marvel Two-In-One #62.
But the whole scene isn’t here just for the Thing’s fetish: it’s to establish a recent power-up received by Invisible Girl.
That just leaves us with the last member of the team, who is ready for a date.
Keep in mind that, unlike the Thing, he’s NOT dating a blind woman.
And yet he dresses like this.
Although she MIGHT be blind, because she doesn’t know he’s the Human Torch.
His date would be Frankie Raye, who makes her first appearance here!
It’s kind of hilarious that one of the things that Johnny likes about her… other than she’s hot of course… is that Frankie is not a superheroine.
She will of course become one with the name Nova, and later on even an herald of Galactus (my favorite herald in fact).
I’m very fond of Frankie because the issue that reveals her origins, gives her powers and teases her as a permanent addition to the team… Fantastic Four #238 from 1982… is one of the earliest Fantastic Four issues I had.
It was, in fact, one of the books I owned before I knew how to read (which are the ones in this retrospective) but before the book that made me a regular reader (which will be the last review in the retrospective).
I’ll probably eventually review those books after the retrospective anyway.
But back to the story, I think it’s the only place that ever spends ANY time telling us what was Frankie’s job before becoming a hero: she was a translator for the United Nations.
Then the date is interrupted by this guy, who creates quite a commotion by genenerating a sudden burst of light.
We’ll discuss later about who this guy actually IS, but he introduces himself as The Crusader with an unnecessary splash page.
And he begins his crusade by shakka-booming a building and attacking an old man.
Poor Johnny not only has to ditch his date, but this reveals to her that he’s the Human Torch.
Which results into, of course, a big dumb fight.
Which doesn’t end well for Johnny, who has to flee because he’s been blinded.
That’s a neat way to use the destructive potential of his powers against him.
That leaves The Crusader free to brutally murder his target.
Unable to land, the Human Torch sends a familiar signal to his team…
…who save him with a combination of their powers that is both awesome and ridiculous.
On the list of weird things the Fantastic Four have witnessed, even if we limit those that happened in New York City, this doesn’t even break the top 500.
And so the comic ends with Reed walking back to the Baxter Building, with the looming threat of The Crusader.
I wouldn’t learn who he was for YEARS: the Crusader is Marvel Boy, the hero from the 1950s.
Well technically that’s who we’re supposed to think he is, that’s a complicated mess… which I’ll cover in a separate review dedicated to Marvel Boy.
Historical significance: 6/10
This is significant in two ways. It’s the first appearance of Frankie of course, but the Crusader is also important: Marvel Boy’s return leads the way for Quasar to become his successor, and years later Marvel Boy himself returns on the pages of Agents of Atlas.
Personal significance: 8/10
Aside from the Doctor Doom issues by Lee&Kirby, this was probably the only good Fantastic Four story I owned.
Silver Age-ness: 3/10
Frankie doesn’t know he’s the Human Torch? Really? Even the ACTUAL Silver Age couldn’t make that idea work.
Does it stand the test of time? 8/10
It’s no masterpiece and it meanders a bit, but it’s a nice showcase of the characters.
The Perez artwork is great, and while normally I don’t like the way Roy Thomas writes dialogue I can’t find any of his annoying traits here, I have no objections to the dialogue this time.
Warlock #12 (1976)
by Jim Starlin
Because nobody demanded it, the origins of Pip the Troll.
I’m kidding, I have nothing against Pip… in this period. Starlin will make him unbearably annoying in the Infinity Watch series, but he’s fine here.
Pip is a necessary break from Warlock’s incessant philosophizing and monologuing.
Starlin writes GREAT stuff with him when the stakes are high or the’s an actual moral dilemma at play, but when Warlok is left alone with his thoughts he starts rambling.
Plus I have no idea what he’s talking about with the “for not beign the issue of woman” stuff.
That leaves Pip without the money to pay for the drinks and for his date.
Fortunately for him, she just happens to start a bar fight and he sneaks away.
His glorious victory gets the attention of a passing vehicle that just happens to belong to a woman called Heather Delight.
She doesn’t get a name in the translation.
She’s looking for a champion, and the fact that she went looking for it by waiting outside a sketchy bar proves the doesn’t have aaaaany ulterior motives.
Pip then narrates his origin story: he wasn’t even a troll, just a rich idle idiot prince.
Until he met some actual trolls…
…and when you party with trolls, you become a troll yourself.
Sounds like the perfect hero to free Heather from her prison: she’s been chained to her bed the whole time.
Meanwhile Adam Warlock is monologuing existential nonsense so much that even Silver Surver would probably tell him to knock it off.
Since this is a Pip story it’s told in a comedic way, but the subject matter is pretty heavy: Heather is a sex slave.
So after Pip recovers some wire cutters in a very heroic way, he frees Heather.
Unfortunately that gets the attention of Pro-Boscis The Procurer.
Because I guess “Space Mandarin Pimp” was already taken.
This is his only appearance, so we never find out what his deal is.
Pip doesn’t have any powers in this period, so he’s incredibly outmatched.
But he still manages to defeat Space Mandarin Pimp by causing a rockslide.
As thanks for freeing Heather, Pip gets her cruiser…
…but not Heather herself, because Eros (brother to Thanos and eventual Avenger) just happens to drop by to sweep her off her feet.
And that’s the end of it!
Historical significance: 0/10
It’s been suggested that Pip’s origin as told here is completely fabricated, but I don’t think there’s any real confirmation.
Heather has another 3 apperances in Eros stories, where curiously she has COMPLETELY different design.
But in her latest appearance, on “Thanos vs Hulk” from 2015, she’s back to her original look.
Probably because that’s the only other story written by Jim Starlin.
Maybe she’s a shapeshifter?
Personal significance: 6/10
I liked this one fine, especially the artwork. But I don’t think I ever finished reading one of Warlock’s monologues, and to this day they’re unbearable.
Silver Age-ness: 6/10
Tone down the innuendo and this is a Silver Age story. Although you’d have to tone it down A LOT.
Does it stand the test of time? 8/10
It’s a classic story about a scumbag pretending to be a hero get his comeuppance by not getting the girl. Its placement in the Warlock series is weird, but to be fair the whole series is weird and it really needed a breather after the complex storyline that preceded it.
The Warlock scenes REALLY drag the pacing down though, and I don’t think you could get over Space Mandarin Pimp without addressing even a little bit the whole sex trafficking stuff.
There was also the conclusion to the Inhumans story, but I already reviewed that last time.
Overall, I’d say I wasn’t particularly lucky in the Fantastic Four issues I had: with the exception of the Doctor Doom reprints (which, again, I read AFTER all those others I reviewed), the one I reviewed today is probably the only one that truly represents the characters.
But let’s begin a new phase of the retrospective, because ALL the remaining entries will be Spider-Man books! With a sprinkle of random back-up features, of course.
“Not being the issue of woman” is a very obscure and old-fashioned way of saying “not having been born from a woman”.
Weirdly this lady’s name appears to be “Heater” not “Heather”…Heater Delight is a Bond girl’s name if ever I’ve heard one.
You know what, I’ve never noticed it! I’ve always subconsciously corrected it to Heather. But that’s true, it’s spelled Heater.
I have fond memories of the Roy Thomas and George Perez run on the FF. They weren’t classics on par with Lee-Kirby, of course, but were definitely entertaining and you could tell from the start that George Perez was going to be a superstar.