Rounding up the last miscellaneous stories of the decade.
Marvel Comics Presents vol3 #2 (2019)
by Mark Waid & Djibril Morissette-Phan
cover by Art Adams
The cover might make you think that this is a team-up between Wolverine, Mr. Fantastic and Gorilla-Man… but they’re actually in three completely unrelated stories.
This actually a sort of What If, because the premise is that the first Fantastic Four story really did take place in 1961.
Some Russian saboteurs (this is more Cold War than the story actually published during the Cold War!) steal parts of the prototype, so Reed and Ben Grimm decide to catch them.
Reed captures the saboteur, thanks to an invention he developed to amuse Johnny, and this makes him realize that staying locked up in his lab is not a great idea.
And in the end it turns out that the saboteur was actually working for Doctor Doom.
A small step into the origin of the Fantastic Four of this reality…
…which doesn’t go anywhere: this is the last time we see this reality.
Doom significance: 0/10
Completely wasted appearance.
Silver Age-ness: 0/10
Not even a superpower in sight.
Does it stand the test of time? 8/10
There have been SO many attempts to explore the concept of the Fantastic Four stories happening in real time, some of which have been neat. This is a good start: solid characterization, great artwork, incredible attention to detail… but it’s harmed by being a 10 page story with no follow-up.
Fantastic Four: 4 Yancy Street (2019)
written by Gerry Duggan
pencils by Greg Smallwood, Mark Bagley, Luciano Vecchio, Pere Pérez
cover by Greg Smallwood
One guess on what this book is about.
Easily the best part of the book are the pages where the Thing reflects on his past, because they’re colored to feel like they’re printed on older paper.
Nice touch.
One of the reasons for this special is that, at this time in Fantastic Four history, the team IS living in Yancy Street (in a house way bigger on the inside than on the outside), and the Yancy Street Gang is not happy about that.
The reason for Doom’s involvement is that this is an appearance of the Terrible Trio, the awful supervillains he created waaaaaay back in Fantastic Four #23.
They still suck.
Thankfully the story is not about them; it’s about how the Fantastic Four living among regular people is affecting the neighborhood.
We end the story with the Thing receiving a gift from the kind old lady that he befriended.
Never trust innocent grandmas…
…when they are Doombots.
Doom significance: 0/10
Until the return of the GrandmaBot.
Silver Age-ness: 3/10
The Terrible Trio gives trouble to the Thing for more than a single panel.
Does it stand the test of time? 10/10
A neat little Fantastic Four story that really understands the characters. Doctor Doom building a robot posing as a kind Yancy Street resident just to spy on the Thing is perfectly in-character, and while you could argue that using the robot to throw a pie invalidates its usefulness and is something that Doom would never do… why do you hate fun?
Crazy tech
Doctor Doom employs pie-throwing GrandmaBots. What a monster.
Season’s Beating (2019)
by Jason Latour & Mario Del Pennino
cover by Marcos Martin
This is an anthology book with Christmas stories. It has the Stan Lee banner because this was published after his death, so like many other books it’s dedicated to him.
But given the cover, it gives the impression that Deadpool is throwing a party for Stan’s death.
Which to be fair IS something Deadpool might actually do.
Doctor Doom is no fan of Christmas, possible from that one time he fought Santa.
So Squirrel Girl takes it upon herself to make Doom appreciate Christmas.
Well she IS Doom’s sixth greatest enemy.
Given this story, I’m pretty sure the fifth is Santa.
Only Squirrel Girl can make this work. And I say this as a guy who really doesn’t care about Chrismas.
What to you give to the man who hates everything?
Aw, nuts. Now I want one too.
Doom significance: 0/10
If that nutcracker doesn’t show up in a future Doom story, what are we even doing?
Silver Age-ness: 8/10
BEHOLD DOOM’S TITANIC MONOLOGUES!!!
Does it stand the test of time? 9/10
While the artwork does its job, I’m not the biggest fan. Other than that, it’s perfectly fine for what it wants to be… a little spoof with a touch of heart.
It was a Doombot all along
Once again a strong possibility. If you hate fun.
I put the Christmas story at the end (despite technically being published first) because the last Doctor Doom storyline of the 2010s will be a rematch with Squirrel Girl.
After that, the retrospective will take a different form for the 2020s.