Fantastic Four 242-246
I read these issues at the airport today, which isn’t really relevant to anything. But it was absolutely gripping, even with the mass of humanity milling around me. This is how you do a Galactus story. Its similarities to Lee/Kirby’s original plot are unmistakable - one of Galactus’ heralds shows up, an odd phenomena appears across the sky, Galactus shows up, herald fights Galactus, Galactus is thwarted an instant before consuming Earth, heroes fight Galactus, Galactus is convinced to leave.
Yet the differences make all the difference. Terrax’s initial fight again the FF is an amazing opening card. Byrne does wonders with his layouts, smashing Thing through multiple floors of the Baxter Building:
Not to be outdone, Ben Grimm comes back on the next page and punches Terrax across multiple buildings, as Byrne switches from the vertical to the horizontal, across two pages’ worth of distance:
The devastation across the city is clearly conveyed, as the FF and Avengers labor to save civilians and quell general panic, before Galactus restores everything and strips Terrax of his cosmic powers. And then the main event: Galactus versus everyone. The power disparity is neatly addressed, and the fight is beautifully choreographed. The heroes’ win feels fairly earned, and climaxes in a breathtaking splash page as thrilling as the end of a Rocky fight.
The humanity of saving Galactus and Frankie’s offer follow, and her transformation into Nova is glorious. Her rejection of Johnny both before and after her humanity is burned away rings true - she makes her choice, is confident in it, and does not turn back.
Everything is incredibly satisfying and expertly executed. The more I think about it, the more inclined I am to upgrade the grade. It started out as pretty good, and I happy with it at Really Good now. (The two issues that follow are Nice.)
Other things of note:
I’ve never seen this angle of Thor flying. It’s a nice change.
Heh. This opening line to issue 144 goes on the list of best lines.
Johnny’s attitude towards women hasn’t changed in two hundred issues:
Hence my vicious glee in seeing his pain after Frankie ditches him:
Ben’s psyche is distilled into a single panel:
Finally, I like the dynamism of Sue’s dodge, and how it flows into the next panel:
Regret buying? No
Would buy again? Yes
Would read again? Yes
Rating: Really Good (242-244); Nice (245-246)
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