Power Pack vol3 #3 (2005)
by Marc Sumerak & Gurihiru
The Power Pack is a team of superhero children, so making them the stars of an “all ages” book makes sense. This is technically not the same continuity of the Marvel Age Fantastic Four, but it’s not like anyone cared about THAT incarnation.
Don’t bother learning their codenames or their powers, as one of their gimmicks is that they keep switching them every once in a while.
Alex is the older boy (blond), Jack is the younger boy (brown), Julie is the older girl (red in this series, typically blonde) and Katie is the youngest girl, and the youngest member overall.
Personality-wise Alex is the reasonable one and Jack is the impulsive one, something immediately clear by their strategies.
Jack shrinks down and blows up the Doombot from the inside, until all the kids are called by their parents.
The Power Pack are among the few characters who I think suffer the most from the sliding timeline, because it means that in the mainstream universe they couldn’t stay kids forever.
Typically I don’t care all that much about series starring kids, but the Power Pack should be protected at all costs.
The setup is that while on vacation, the Power family ends up near Doctor Doom’s summer home.
I liked the original series, but Jack was the only member of the team I didn’t find interesting. He’s a bit funnier here.
Jack really wants to check the castle…
…which of course he does. I don’t think it’s because he’s like ten years old… what superhero WOULDN’T check the castle!?
I like this version of Jack.
Obviously he runs into the Doombots guarding the place, and eventually he’s captured by Doctor Doom.
He’s not alone, as Doom has recently captured the Human Torch.
You know, we’ve never been told the Human Torch was Jack’s favorite… but I imagined that would be the case.
Noticing Jack’s absence, the rest of the Power Pack follows him… and it seems Alex really knows his brother.
Jack is alright, but can you tell Katie has always been my favorite?
The Power Pack aren’t exactly harmless, but they’re REALLY over their heads here.
Luckily for them, the Fantastic Four are here.
Mister Fantastic frees Jack…
…and Doctor Doom flees.
Not really sure why… something to do with whatever his Doombots were doing in the nearby town I would imagine, because this time the heroes were the ones to break the law by sneaking into his summer home!
And so we end with both teams enjoying their vacation together.
I can’t hate on a story featuring the cutest scene in the history of comics.
Fantastic Four & Power Pack #2 (2007)
by Fred Van Lente & Gurihiru
The Power Pack was successful enough in the previous series to get a full team-up book with the Fantastic Four.
In the first issue, Franklin Richards became friends with Jack. And at the end of the story, both kids ran away from home (Franklin because he wants to be more than the son of heroes, and Jack because he’s Jack).
The Power parents are oblivious as always.
The Fantastic parents are a bit more on the case.
Don’t be silly, Susan. He didn’t say “radioactive”.
We then move to Doom’s private studio, which honestly has rarely looked this cool.
Just how paranoid is Doctor Doom? Enough to monitor EVERYTHING surrounding the Baxter Building.
So he makes sure Reed won’t find Franklin.
One of the lesser-used stock Doctor Doom scenes are those where he records everything he says and does for posterity, and it’s always hilarious.
The mainstream Franklin Richards has gone through many codenames… Avatar, Ego-Spawn, Tattletale, Psi-Lord, Powerhouse… but none of them has sucked as much as “Smarty-Pants”.
It never ceases to amaze me that Jack SOMEHOW never turned into a supervillain.
The Power Pack manages to find the missing kids earlier than the Fantastic Four.
The story then turns into a fight with Kraven, of all people.
Legit question: is anyone’s favorite Power Pack someone other than Katie?
If yes, what’s wrong with you?
Once the older siblings are busy arguing with secret identity drama, Doom’s tech recovers the younger kids.
Fantastic Four & Power Pack #3 (2007)
by Fred Van Lente & Gurihiru
I’m sure Doctor Doom has suffered more humiliating defeats, but none come to mind.
The Power Pack follows the hostages to Latveria, where Doom has dropped Jack and Katie since they’re not his target.
Remember that this is another continuity, so this Doom hasn’t tried to sacrifice this Franklin to Mephisto or to trap him in hell.
Still… he probably would have taken the chocolate anyway.
Yeah I’m sure Doom can be trusted on this one.
The Power Pack are not big fans.
Alex, I thought you were the smart one! Why WOULDN’T the castle have a moat?
In fact, Julie might be the super-genius in this version.
Also Katie has a pen-pal in Latveria, BY SHEER COINCIDENCE.
I swear Jack is going to get lost in some weird conspiracy sites once he’s a teenager.
I realize I’m not supposed to overanalyze a story that doesn’t take itself seriously, but I find it more than a little hard to believe the correspondence between Latverian and American citizens wouldn’t be censored.
Also not particularly believable: the kid’s mother being so cooperative despite being Doom’s personal biographer.
I would pay for this guided tour. With money.
Meanwhile, Doom is either trying to convince Franklin he’s smarter than his father or to give him diabetes by feeding him nothing but chocolate for days.
But also he’s basically trying to turn him into Kristoff 2.0
The Power Pack manages to find Doom and attack him… with little success.
But he’s eventually defeated in a rather embarrassing manner.
So everything is wrapped up nicely…
OR IS IT?
Fantastic Four & Power Pack #4 (2007)
by Fred Van Lente & Gurihiru
I’ve often commented on covers that are too crowded, but it’s never been THIS literal!
Doom is still in stasis, something that makes Mister Fantastic think it’s been way too easy.
Never thought we’d ever get the chance to see Doctor Doom in school, but here we go.
Doom’s utter disdain for regular people has been a constant throughout his career.
This is a weird plan, considering that as far as I know Franklin doesn’t have powers in this reality.
This was worth it just for Doom being able to terrorize bullies.
Nobody notices Franklin is acting a liiiiiiitle out of character? Really?
Only Doctor Doom could turn H.E.R.B.I.E. into a terrifying monstrosity!
Come on Reed, you didn’t even search Doom’s armor??? I’m starting to believe he’s onto something claiming he’s smarter than you!
Doom is surprisingly cruel considering the target audience, doing this just make Franklin’s parents hate him.
It’s also incredible that he manages to avoid screaming out he’s Doom.
And he STILL can’t help himself talk in the third person!!!
This turns into, of course, a big dumb battle.
Thankfully Jack manages to scramble the mind transfer.
This awakens the real Doctor Doom, but this time the Power Pack is led by Smarty-Pants himself.
So he instructs them to dump Doom into the Negative Zone.
Was that kind of dumb? Yes. But I can’t honestly hate this series.
And so we end the story with Franklin becoming a member of the Power Pack.
Does any of this show up in regular continuity?
Not yet. But I guess it’s only a matter of time before Doom switches minds with Franklin or Valeria, right? He’s already switched minds with everyone else at least once!
Silver Age-ness: 4/10
There’s the inexplicable attack on the town near the castle, plus the incredible coincidence of the pen-pal.
Does it stand the test of time? 10/10
Not a masterpiece by any means, but harmless fluff that can be done at any time. The first story is nothing special, but the miniseries does manage to slip some characterization for everyone. It even manages to sneak in some horror, as Doom is genuinely scary in Franklin’s body.
The artwork isn’t my style, but who else could deliver this jewel?
Plans Doctor Doom has to destroy the Fantastic Four: 130