Giant-Size July: Fantastic Four Annual 19

Fantastic Four Annual #19 (1985)
"Summons From the Stars"
John Byrne- Byrne/Joe Sinnott

Karen: Last week we reviewed Avengers Annual 14, which sort of runs parallel to this annual and then meets up at the end with this issue. It's an interesting idea, although I'm not sure it's really successful, and I'll explain why towards the end of the review.

Doug: As a pledge to our readers, I'm playing this straight and not reading ahead to those comments, Karen. But know that I think we're going to share some misgivings. We'll see in a few minutes.

Karen: Our story opens with what looks like a space capsule blazing into the atmosphere from space. Byrne gives us six wordless panels, showing the spacecraft crashing into the ocean, a robot or space-suited being rising up out of the depths, and climbing onto a dock in Manhattan. The being approaches a hobo and frightens him. Next it wanders into the street and a car comes speeding towards it, only to slam into some sort of force field. A woman, who is dressed in what I assume is Byrne's idea of an 80s new wave-look, gets out of the car and runs and grabs a pay phone (remember those?) and calls the police.

Doug: I thought it was interesting how Byrne at first mislead us on the size of the humanoid creature. When he rises from the water there's a low camera angle, which gives us the sense that, "Uh oh -- this thing is as big as Terminus!" But by the time he's climbing out of the drink and then approaching the bum we see that he's just a little guy! And you know, actually Byrne didn't waste many words on the first five pages of the story! But good art can do that for a scripter. As to our Valley girl -- I didn't know anyone who dressed like that, unless she was on MTV. And since you brought it up, the best pay phone scene was in Superman the Movie (or was it Superman II?) when Clark runs to the street, only to find one of the pylon-mounted phones. Awesome.

Karen: The cops arrive on the scene loaded for bear. When they aim guns at the being, it fires energy from its head and the pavement is torn back, rolling up and knocking the cops over. Suddenly a ten foot tall green robot-like creature appears, seemingly to aid the alien. A policeman fires on it and all of a sudden we have three robots. (Funny, I realized our other FF Annual review this summer featured another multiplying character, Madrox.) One of the officers figures out the shooting is causing the replication. It all seems familiar to him, from when he was a rookie. He runs off to place a call, "An' it sure ain't to Ghostbusters!" Boy, we're really having a lot of unintended links in our posts lately!

Doug: In hindsight, the multiplying forms didn't make any sense to me, once this is all explained (wait for it, wait for it). I also thought the Ghostbusters comment was funny -- I think we ran an Open Forum ages ago where we asked our readers how they feel about comics being "dated" by then-pop culture statements. Shoot -- chime in here today if you have a feeling to express! I have a comment on the art in this sequence specifically, and that is the return of Joltin' Joe Sinnott's inks to Byrne's pencils. What an incredible performance! I don't think it's as noticeable later on throughout the story (although, as Karen will probably mention -- there are pages near the end of the story that are reruns from Avengers Annual #14; these look different because Sinnott inked them here, whereas Kyle Baker had inked them in the Avengers part of this story). There's just some real depth to the art; it's not that lean, scratchy style that Byrne had been employing in the regular FF mag at this point in time.

Karen: I was confused about that big robot -we never really deal with it again! We cut to a scene of Johnny Storm and Alicia Masters out to dinner. Or was she a Skrull? Ugh. I have to say, I absolutely hate the idea that Johnny and Alicia would be involved. It's just so ill-conceived. And speaking of ill-conceived, so is Johnny's haircut. I know, it was the eighties, but even then that looked dumb. Their meal is interrupted by a waiter, who points out the famous Fantastic Four '4' flare high in the sky. Johnny realizes it was probably fired from Avengers Mansion, where the FF has been staying since the Baxter Building was destroyed. As he flames on and flies into the night sky, he runs into Reed, Sue, and She-Hulk on one of Reed's flying gizmos. Reed tells Johnny about the police officer's call, and he has a hunch about who they might be facing. The FF lands at the standoff and Reed approaches the diminutive alien. The creature projects an image of Reed from an earlier time and then pulls off its helmet, revealing...the Infant Terrible? Yes, one of the dorkiest aliens ever, and certainly one of the more obscure FF foes. Johnny explains a bit to She-Hulk (and us) that IT is just an alien kid, albeit one with immense powers. Sue, with her even-more horrific mullet haircut, worries about IT, and wonders how they'll find out what happened, as his race has no spoken language.

Doug: You nail many of my same feelings about Byrne's handling of the FF in this era. A) When Ben returned, he should have killed Johnny. He just should have. Now I'm saying that a little tongue-in-cheek, but c'mon... Plot device? How about a little sense of reality. Is Johnny really that big of a snake that he'd do that to Ben? And what are we to make of Alicia? OK, maybe she got tired of Ben always holding back due to his feelings of inadequacy, but I also could just never take that whole storyline. To be honest, when Alicia was revealed to have been a Skrull, I thought -- "Take that, Johnny!!" B) Haircuts = awful. I think this aspect of Byrne's tenure is a misfire, as a tour through the comics of the previous ~50 years shows a marked consistency in hairstyles, with conservatism being the rule. Seriously -- should Superman have gone for a Beatles 'cut in and around 1964? I don't think so. So why is it that all of a sudden Johnny (who really should have been around 25 in these years) shows up like he's been hanging out with Danny Terrio and the Solid Gold dancers?

Karen: The relationship made both characters look horrible. And I don't care if such things happen in real life -it shouldn't happen in the FF!

Doug: What did you think of Byrne using She-Hulk as a cypher for us, the readers? I'd commented last week that I thought Roger Stern did a nice job of using the characters to tell us what was happening, background, etc. But in this issue I felt uneasy about it -- too much. It made me feel that She-Hulk was not very valuable, as she was missing so much backstory on some fundamental issues, like the Skrulls for example.

Karen: I suppose it can be a useful tool to relay the story, but to some extent it does make the reader-stand-in character look like a bit of a stooge. But I would say that She-Hulk has very little to do in this story in any case. IT starts projecting more mental images to show the FF what happened to him. We see his trippy homeworld, where everyone seems to travel in giant bubbles. A great spacefleet of Skrulls shows up, claiming they wish to establish trade with the planet. The Elan (IT's people) don't know how nasty the Skrulls are, and they use their great powers to create objects for them out of thin air. The Skrulls begin demanding weapons though, and the Elan, being peaceful, are incapable of even conceiving such things. This ticks off the Skrulls, and they bombard the planet. IT's parents send him off in a spaceship to Earth (shades of Superman).

Doug: Maybe Byrne was lobbying for the "Man of Steel" job! I applaud the art effort in this scene as well, as there is a tremendous amount of detail! I know we've complained about backgrounds (or lack thereof) in the past, but Byrne/Sinnott really pull out some stops in this section. And again (I keep getting ahead of myself), do you think this "flashback" ends up as really having been a true story?

Karen: I think the twist makes the whole first part of the book feel like a waste, rather than something clever. Reed goes into a long-winded speech to explain how, with their homeworld destroyed by Galactus, the Skrull Empire rapidly devolved into civil war, with every planetary governor trying to grab power. I'm actually thankful to see that Reed's hair looks exactly the same as it did in 1961. Of course the FF wants to help IT and his people, but how can they get to his world? All their ships were destroyed with the Baxter Building. Luckily, IT's ship can carry them, and they're off to Elan.

Doug: Reed's a blowhard, isn't he? Hey, royal blue FF suits, or this navy blue (Byrne insists they are black) version?

Karen: Royal blue for the win! So what about some of those Skrull despots? We get a look at one of them, a hugely overweight female. She's furious with her adviser, as she expected the FF to arrive and allow her the chance to be the Skrull who destroyed the Fantastic Four. Just as she's about to clobber the poor guy an alarm goes off, signaling the arrival of IT's ship. She yells at her subjects, and some assume the forms of the Elan. The trap is set. The FF and IT land and get out of the ship, with Sue telling the fake-Elan that they come in peace. But Reed, standing behind her, looks upset. Suddenly he begins shouting, urging the disguised Skrulls to attack. They blast him with a ray gun and as he passes out (or dies?), he reverts into a Skrull! What the heck? The remaining FF don't seem surprised, and they charge into battle. The Skrulls shift back into their normal forms, "just like Reed guessed!" The FF are doing well against the humanoid Skrulls, but then they come face to face with Skrulls in monstrous forms. As the battle rages, IT, completely encased in his little purple spacesuit, takes off and finds the Skrull leader. When she sees him she commands him to report. The suit pops open and we see -Reed. It turns out that little IT was actually a Skrull. Reed figured it out. He wraps the Skrull-lady up and she tells him that by failing to kill him, the universe itself is in jeopardy. What?

Doug: Another art comment -- Byrne is so adept at drawing the mouth such that his faces really seem to be uttering certain sounds. His art is quite individualized in this manner. And hey -- if Reed had been on the Minnow, they wouldn't have been on that uncharted island more than a couple of hours. At this point in the story, I was beginning to wonder if the plot was too large for the 35-or so pages that were allotted to tell it!

Karen: We get another long piece of exposition by Reed as the FF travels in a larger spacecraft. He figured out, based on IT's spaceships trajectory, that it had not come from the Elan. It was simple then to figure out that IT was in fact a Skrull. Reed then hypnotized the Skrull into taking Reed's form and you know the rest. I don't know why exactly, but this sort of annoys me. Anyway, the FF have the Skrulls on-board the ship with them, as they head for a colossal satellite power station. You might remember this from last week's review. As they fly towards the station they are blasted by energy beams, but Sue's force field protects them. They enter the station through an airlock and discover a battered Skrull. Near death, he tells them that the hyper-wave bomb will soon be detonated. Reed starts to question him, when they hear sounds of battle coming beyond a wall. She-Hulk tears open the wall and discovers the Avengers!

Doug: It takes me awhile to get my directional bearings when in a new city, but Reed can tell where a spacecraft originated. What a guy! There was one line of dialogue in the scene where the FF venture through the airlock between ships, and I want to throw this out to everyone to see what is known about Johnny's powers: Reed says, "Now, quickly everyone. Without Johnny constantly replenishing it, the flame cage holding our prisoners won't last more than an hour." What exactly would be the energy source? My gas grill may burn after I shut it off, but that's because there's grease somewhere that is burning off. How would Johnny's flame still burn if he wasn't there to be that source?

Karen: I wondered about that as well, but with all the other head-shaking stuff going on, I had to let it go! Now back in our story, the next seven pages are all identical to pages from that Avengers annual! Only the last page of this issue is different. So I'm not going to describe in detail what happened, as you just read it a week ago! Suffice to say, the bomb went off and imprisoned all Skrulls in whatever shape they were currently in. At the end -on the page of new material - the FF fly home, with more exposition from Reed explaining how every Skrull everywhere got hit by the bomb. Really? That's some range on that sucker. He says their genetic code was altered so that they can never change shape again. And that's it.

Doug: I really felt this story failed at the moment Byrne merged the two stories. As I said above, this seemed like too big a fish to fry in the pages allotted.

 

Karen: You can probably tell I was not a big fan of this issue. It just didn't do much for me, and the ending, which repeated a book I'd already read, seemed like a rip-off. Why couldn't we get the story told from the perspective of the FF in their annual, and from the Avengers in theirs? This just seems lazy. Now I'll admit some of my problem with the book is having to look at those awful hairstyles on the Storm kids. But even beyond that, this was a convoluted storyline that seemed to rely far too much on speeches and not enough on action.

Doug: Last week we'd parted ways to some extent, with me serving as an apologist for Stern's/Byrne's Avengers story. You won't get that from me here. Let me state first that I'm glad I read the Avengers half first. Karen and I had an offline conversation before we ran the Avengers post as to which annual should be read first -- we wanted to get it right. I think we did, as I'll hypothesize that if one had come to this FF Annual first the whole thing would have been senseless. The story builds out of the Avengers' battles with Nebula, and the entire movement to the power-asteroid is part of that plot. As Karen's used the word "convoluted", I'll agree with that. I'll also say that what I felt was a strong aspect of this story, Byrne's use of pictures instead of words at the beginning, devolves into endless exposition. That for me is a sure sign of a too-small page count. Lastly, I'll offer that there is a novelty to this idea -- had it worked seamlessly it would have been nice. But instead, and this was one of Karen's (and others among you in the comments last week) complaints earlier, it just smacks of requiring the consumer to buy into the crossover as a gimmick. And that's a nasty brand of capitalism.

Giant-Size July: Avengers Annual 14

Avengers Annual #14 (1985)
"Fifth Column"
Roger Stern-John Byrne/Kyle Baker

Doug: It's the home-stretch of Giant-Size July, as Karen and I finish it up with a nifty 2-parter (or are they concurrent?) featuring Marvel's premiere super-teams (admittedly, the X-Men were in a universe of their own by 1985). For those of you who already know what FF Annual #19 looks like, it was a neat idea to make it a see-through image of Avengers Annual #14. Although a spoiler is given away before we even open up the book, it's a fun idea nonetheless. And with a creative team that includes Roger Stern and John Byrne, can we lose? Let's check it out...

Doug: We open with an Avengers team comprised of the Wasp (as chairperson), Cap, Hercules, Starfox, Captain Marvel, and the Black Knight. This was the line-up that was in place when I returned to comics after a four-year hiatus from collecting. We also find only a page or so into the tale that this is a continuation of the events found in the monthly book, issues #'s 259-260. Question -- how did you feel when Annuals and/or Giant-Sizes were used in conjunction with the monthly to serialize long storylines? Anyway, a band of Skrulls is actually breaking into a prison colony -- a penal institution that has never been breached! During the operation, one of the Skrulls is offed by security, leaving only two to carry out this dirty deed. As they battle their way toward a specific cell, an explosive is affixed to the door. The poor sap who set the charge is lost in the "KROOM", and it's up to the leader to step inside and to inform one Prince Dezan that he is now liberated. The prince, wearing the Skrull version of "the man in the iron mask" is surprised, confessing that the nature of his crimes surely would have inhibited anyone from taking this chance.

Karen: I had the same thought, "Oh, it's the Man in the Iron Mask." Instantly I assumed Prince Dezan is the guy I should be rooting for. This line-up of Avengers wasn't bad, particularly with Roger Stern at the helm. I liked Stern's creation, Captain Marvel -although I wasn't all that happy with her using that name. It was also good to see the Black Knight and Hercules back in the Avengers. I'd only really seen them as Avengers in reprints so it was exciting to see them back on the team. As you mention Doug, this was the era of cross-overs, and I thought it was fairly irritating. For years the annuals suffered from this. We had 'The Evolutionary War,' 'Atlantis Attacks,' and maybe the most frustrating for me, 'Operation Galactic Storm.' The reader was forced to buy titles they really didn't care about to get the complete story. Gee, things haven't changed that much, have they?

Doug: You know, I hadn't thought about all of that cross-over business, but I think you are right! I wonder if this was the first one? Man, those became an expensive pain-in-the-butt! But hey -- I did it!

Doug: Cut to a Skrull armada, where on a command ship General Zedrao entertains the Avengers as they all view the now-imprisoned starship Sanctuary II -- formerly belonging to Nebula! We the reader are brought somewhat up to speed on past doings by some dialogue between Hercules and the General. Firelord, who had been a player in the earlier part of this, lies injured in a stasis tube -- cracks me up that instead of flaming hair, it's bubbles! Starfox is feeling his oats, and pledges to get Nebula, no matter the cost. He's given a "whoa, whoa, whoa" from the Wasp and Black Knight. But the general steps up and offers a solution -- passage to an asteroid that contains an energy grid through which Nebula might be tracked. And in yet another notch on his "hero" belt, Cap defers to Jan as chairperson, and she accepts the idea. Thoughts on that scene?

Karen: By this time the Wasp had undergone a pretty serious maturation, from air-headed hanger-on to a seasoned hero. The interaction between her and Cap was perfect, I thought. If I recall, during her leadership she often called on Cap to formulate battle plans, while she retained overall authority. Pretty smart if you ask me.

Doug: Once aboard Starfox's vessel, the Avengers are escorted to the asteroid. The Knight deciphers some of the technology, and again author Roger Stern uses dialogue to tell the reader what is going on. This form of narrative was noticeable, and effective I thought. Dane brings up the fact that Galactus had devoured the Skrulls' homeworld (Fantastic Four #257), and the Wasp gives him a "waitasecond..." about whether or not this asteroid still exists. Dane assures her that it probably does. Then we get to look in on the Skrull who is in a different ship, escorting our heroes. I tell you, these guys practically write themselves! What a curmudgeonly bunch! Stern does a nice job here. As the ships make a warp, they emerge into a startling scene: they are greeted by WWI-era biplanes and a huge zeppelin! Drawn into the giant blimp, the Avengers see that their assailants are gangsters -- ya gotta love it! And who should lead these guys, but Humphrey Bogart himself!

Karen: I think I liked this story better when it was on Star Trek as 'A Piece of the Action.'

Doug: Not being a Trekkie, I didn't catch that at all. I'm sure you did find the plot swipe annoying. See, this is why you're here -- to give these reviews a bit of pop culture depth! Me, I'm admittedly kind of shallow.

Doug: Let's take a quick break, now that we have this set up, and talk about the art. As you saw above, John Byrne is providing the pencils, with Kyle Baker the finishes. When I set about laying out the top of the post I was surprised at this, as I'd not remembered Baker's presence. But you know what? It works for me. Yes, I see a bit more Baker and a little less Byrne, but the amalgamation is pleasing in most cases, particularly facially. Byrne's storytelling is intact, but I'll go on record as saying Baker enhances Byrne's work. You?

Karen: I'd put Baker somewhere in the middle. Not the worst inking on Byrne by a long shot, but not the best either. There's something very...grainy about his work, that kind of bothers me.

Doug: I always wonder about the printing process of the time whenever you and I use words like "grainy" or "muddy". That's why I love to look at original art -- there are just no doubts about the creative process.

Doug: The Skrull disguised as Bogart takes the Avengers first through a casino and then to an office where there is apparently another Skrull the team should meet. But when Prince Dezan steps out, the Avengers' escort about drops his teeth! But Dezan calms him enough to relate his purpose and plan: Dezan had been part of a triumvirate of conspirators, left-wing radicals bent on reforming the empire in their own image. But as their traitorous notions came to the fore, Dezan was captured and imprisoned (there's more to this than meets the eye -- I'd have guessed genocide when he'd earlier described how heinous his crimes were), his mate Zabyk took off to the outer reaches to scheme, and Myrn stayed within the empire, played it straight, and became one of its leading scientists. However, after Galactus had "eaten" Throneworld, Myrn nearly went mad. At that time, sensing opportunity, Zabyk returned and took advantage of his former friend's scattered mental faculties. It was at this point that Dezan was freed from prison -- in hopes that he could head off Zabyk's plans for conquest.

Karen: It seems like the destruction of Throneworld really shouldn't have had such a devastating impact on the Skrulls. I had the impression they were a huge empire, with many worlds under their control. But here, they seem like space nomads.

Doug: But do you suppose the destruction of Throneworld became symbolic for the empire? Did it show that the "infallible Skrulls" really weren't as invincible as they had so long thought? I mean, these guys had fought the Kree and who knows who else (the Badoon? - I don't know), and then the Big G shows up and WHAMMO -- no more Throneworld. It must have seemed too easy.

Karen: You have a point there -perhaps it was so demoralizing they just fell apart. Of course -going back to Star Trek here - I had the same issue with the destruction of the Klingon moon in Star Trek 6. A vast empire shouldn't collapse based on the loss of one planet. But I suppose if it were their seat of government, or just such a huge symbolic loss, it could cause the cracks to appear.

Doug: As Myrn had detailed to Zabyk the presence of a near-functional "ultimate weapon", the Skrull escort blew his stack -- further questioning why Dezan had been freed and questioning why oh why he'd be taken anywhere near such a device. Starfox stepped up and volunteered the Avengers to break into the power asteroid and destroy the weapon; he was quickly admonished by Cap and Jan (Jan wasn't happy that he'd overstepped her command). The team does decide to attack the asteroid -- and it's pretty funny when they do! As their "host Skrulls" had been in love with gangster movies, the Avengers masquerade as Vegas toughs. They gain access, and while their papers are being checked Dane and Jan burst out of a crate -- surprise! The Avengers make short work of the guard detail, and Captain Marvel flies off to scout. Meanwhile, Zabyk has discovered the invasion and is none too happy about it. Myrn tells him not to worry -- and activates the hyper-wave bomb! All that need be done is throw a switch, located a few levels below. Myrn shows Zabyk insulate-armor, which Zabyk dons -- and then kills Myrn.

Karen: Captain Marvel shows her versatility by using her many energy forms to clear the way for the Avengers through the complex. I always thought she might be one of the most powerful Marvel characters of all, if her powers were properly harnessed. I like that crazy suit of armor Zabyk slithers into -the way he gets into it reminds me of Gleep and Gloop from the Herculoids!

Doug: And then, and then... who should arrive to assist the Assemblers but Thor himself? With a couple of Rigellians, no less! As the team heads in the direction Thor dictates (he knows where Zabyk hides, after all), Cap mentions that it's too bad Goliath had to stay behind on monitor duty. Thor agrees, and states that his tremendous height would be a boon. Obviously, there hasn't been a Goliath since the Kree/Skrull War, so the jig is up -- and Herc decks "Thor". At about this time, a squadron of Skrulls arrives to dispatch our protagonists. Game on. Of course, the Knight uses the flat of his blade -- this isn't a Conan mag, after all! And then who should burst into the room, but the Fantastic Four?!? As above, the Avengers don't believe it and a small bit of fisticuffs breaks out. But it doesn't last long, as Reed and Cap ask enough questions that only the other would know -- and both end up satisfied that they're looking at the real McCoy. By the way, this was during the period when the She-Hulk (dumbest name ever?) was filling in for the Thing.

Karen: It is a terrible name, which is too bad, because I grew to like the character. The faux-Thor has a decidedly chubby face. I guess Byrne or Baker was trying to give him more individual features, but he just looks like he's been drinking too many horns of Asgardian mead.

Doug: Zabyk appears on a viewscreen and challenges the Earthers. Dezan reveals himself, but is disguised as one of our gangsters. But as Zabyk rants, Captain Marvel enters the chamber. Zabyk doesn't see her, but Cap does. Cap orders her into the control panel, at the same instant Reed tells her to stop -- this scene is really well done, as Byrne/Baker take us through a page and a half in a split second. Monica emerges with the teams and tells that she did nothing. Zabyk, however, pushes the fateful button which initiates the launch sequence. Suddenly the entire asteroid begins to vibrate. A wave of light spreads across the known galaxies, affecting every Skrull. Zabyk is seemingly killed, and Dezan emerges seemingly unscathed -- as a truly handsome prince (well, contrary to Skrull standards anyway).

Karen: I agree, the art showing Capt. Marvel inside the machine was really well done. It got across the idea of her dealing with tremendous energy.

Doug: She-Hulk and Hercules smash out to go find Zabyk -- when they do, he's actually alive but trapped inside the armor Myrn had given him. The bomb had been created to stop the genetic deviation of Skrull DNA -- in effect, what it did was freeze every Skrull in whatever shape they were in when it went off. As Zabyk had been forced to shapeshift in order to get into the armor, it was now his prison. Dezan mused about Skrull society now that every Skrull was different; Cap gave a soliloquy on liberty and the celebration of difference. Dezan said those were nice ideals, but time would tell. A short time later, the Avengers were back on a ship heading Earthside. The team debriefed on the end of their adventure, and Monica questioned aloud why Dezan was considered so dangerous. Cap smiled, and said he wondered that himself -- so he'd had a private conversation with him. Dezan was the most dangerous Skrull of all -- his beliefs ran contrary to the very ideals of Skrull existence. Dezan, you see... wanted peace.

Karen: I could never understand why anyone thought it would be a good idea to take the one thing about the Skrulls that made them unique as aliens and get rid of it. Obviously, this got rolled back at some point. The ending also had a very Star Trek feel to it.

Doug: Did you notice that the Avengers really didn't do much in this mag? Other than Captain Marvel's sabotage of the systems in the various Skrull locales, there wasn't very much super-heroing. Yet the story was very entertaining, and as I'd said above visually pleasing. So I guess I'd say it was a bit offbeat, but well worth the read.

Karen: I have to be honest and admit that I didn't find it very engaging at all. As you say, the Avengers didn't have all that much to do. The whole 'alien race imitates human culture' thing seems like a tired cliche. I hate to be the 'bah, humbug, here, but that's the way I feel about it.

Doug: And you are certainly entitled to feel that way -- I take no issue with your point of view, as this story would seem atypical of what one might expect out of the summer annual. While I did catch the repeat of the Skrulls as gangsters from Kirby's last few issues of the Fantastic Four, I thought it was still funny -- Stern paid an able homage (or flat-out swipe, if you will). We'll see next Monday how Byrne does as his own scripter -- we'll take a look at this same story, but from the FF's perspective, in Fantastic Four Annual #19.