1989: Englehart’s New But Not Too Fantastic Four Part IV:
Harkness Gathering
By Jef Willemsen (Clarmindcontrol.blogspot.com)
In the fourth and final part of this
retrospective on Steve Englehart’s much maligned Fantastic Four run, the storyline entered the homestretch as
Englehart assumed the penname of John Harkness and things went from bad to
worse.
After Jim Shooter was
booted out as Marvel’s editor in chief, his replacement Tom DeFalco adopted a
new policy for the House of Ideas: ‘give the readers the illusion of change’.
This more conservative approach to storytelling was, of course, code for “Sweet Jesus… lets just stick to what
works.” .
In the case of Fantastic Four, this editorial edict meant the forced return of Reed and Sue, who had only recently joined the Avengers (wearing their old FF costumes). Englehart dutifully did what was asked of him, but was so annoyed he took his name off the book. From # 326 on, it was ‘John Harkness’ who chronicled the team’s adventures. Harkness wasted no time in the opening pages of his first issue.
In the case of Fantastic Four, this editorial edict meant the forced return of Reed and Sue, who had only recently joined the Avengers (wearing their old FF costumes). Englehart dutifully did what was asked of him, but was so annoyed he took his name off the book. From # 326 on, it was ‘John Harkness’ who chronicled the team’s adventures. Harkness wasted no time in the opening pages of his first issue.
Reed promised Sue he
wouldn’t interfere with the new FF, but who are we kidding, really? The man
can’t help but meddle. Using the recent Inferno incident as an excuse, he flew
over to Four Freedoms Plaza to check in on Ben’s FF. Unfortunately, when he
entered the building, the defensive systems kicked in and nearly killed him
before the FF could turn them off.
Upon inspection, Reed discovered the reason for his near death experience: they had neglected his instructions and didn’t properly maintain his security systems. Surprisingly enough, Reed managed to bite his tongue, just making the proper adjustments and quickly moved his attention to other matters…
Upon inspection, Reed discovered the reason for his near death experience: they had neglected his instructions and didn’t properly maintain his security systems. Surprisingly enough, Reed managed to bite his tongue, just making the proper adjustments and quickly moved his attention to other matters…
Yes, when it comes to
returning his teammates to normal, Reed Richards doesn’t exactly have a stellar
track record. But he decided to try again, even asking Sue to come over and
bring his personal computer, the Turino XL. Using this super computer of the
1980s, Reed was able to quickly whip up an elaborate device capable of
returning Johnny’s flame to normal. But just as the procedure started… Wouldn’t
ya know it: the Frightful Four attacked.
During the fight, the
Thing was hurled into the machine just as Johnny’s transformation entered a
critical phase. As a result, it didn’t just restore the Torch to normal, Ben
was somehow turned human as well. Whoops.
In the span of one
issue, ‘John Harkness’ had undone most of Englehart’s achievements. Ben didn’t
only lose his powers, he also saw his leadership role automatically reverted
back to Reed as he and Sue rejoined to ‘help out’.
The Frightful Four used the confusion to make their escape. But the ‘new new FF’ (Reed, Sue, Johnny and Sharon the She-Thing) quickly went after them, leaving Ben behind to be comforted by his old girlfriend and Johnny’s wife Alicia.
Busting in on the bad
guys, the FF soon had their evil counterparts on the ropes but the Wizard had
held the final member of his team in reserve: Aron, the rogue Watcher. With a
mere snap of his fingers, he knocked everyone out. Ah, but how to explain Aron?
Well, fine, in a
nutshell. Aron is the nephew of ‘our’ Watcher Uatu, the one assigned to observe
the Sol- system. But while all Watchers adhere to a strict code of non-interference, young Aron felt
restricted by this and wanted to participate in events. And did he ever…
After the events of #
328 that saw the Frightful Four rebel against Aron, Ben Grimm showing up to successfully free his teammates and the inevitable defeat of the bad guys… Aron
popped up again to capture everyone so he could set his grand scheme in motion
starting in # 329. Lets have him explain this master plan but be warned: it
involves clones.
Aron’s scheme didn’t
come out of the blue. Englehart had set up his presence back in FF
Annual # 21. Ever since then, he had been busy surreptitiously collecting
the FF’s DNA so he could create replacements. He kept the original members
around in stasis while he monitored their dreams. Hey, he *IS* still a Watcher
after all…
And here’s where
things really got interesting. Steve Englehart didn’t take the editorial
meddling lying down. Instead, he concocted a wickedly clever storyline that
allowed him to have his cake and eat it too. He got to do condensed versions of
the stories he was actually planning to do, while also satirizing Marvel’s ‘no
change’ policy.
Englehart’s idea for
Aron’s clones was smart, to say the least. The ‘Faux Four’ acted like the
actual Fantastic Four would have behaved circa 1962. Reed was back to being the
dismissive, all knowing leader archetype, with Sue acting as the doting damsel
of yesteryear, joined by an even more juvenile Johnny and a downright morose and
anti-social Ben Grimm who yelled ‘bah!’ whenever he could. Added to the mix was
Sharon the She-Thing who mostly acted somewhat confused as she tried to wrap
her head around this odd situation.
To further hammer home
the point of just how backwards the 1962 FF was, Englehart actually sifted
through Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s first three issues and ‘recycled’ an astounding amount of dialogue
for his throwback team.
Marvel editorial
seemed completely oblivious to this and instead expressed considerable interest
in the clones, even to the point of planning to give them their own limited
series. Laughable, sure… but the notion the higher ups at Marvel were getting
excited over cold and sarcastic leftovers is indeed a sad statement on the
condition of the house of ideas circa 1989.
What brings the Faux
Four to Monster Island, you wonder? Well, Englehart decided to take Marvel’s
‘no change’ policy a step further: he made the clones relive the team’s
adventures from the very beginning. So, considering this was their first issue,
it only made sense to them they had to fight the Mole Man… No matter what
established continuity might dictate. This meant ‘Reed’ actually had to raise
Monster Island off the ocean floor before the team could square off against an
understandably confused Mole Man. And even during the fight, Englehart
blatantly lifted lines from Stan and Jack.
As the issues went on,
the ‘Faux Four’ systematically went out of their way to relive the original
team’s published history. Unable to find the Skrulls (their enemies in # 2)
they actually interrupted a magic show, believing the performer on stage was
the Miracle Man, their foe from # FF 3.
After a while, they strayed from the plot and developed delusions of grandeur…
demanding to be paid for their good deeds and introducing the ‘fantasti-tax’.
Meanwhile, back in
Aron’s Canadian lair, the real FF were dreaming the stories Englehart really
wanted to tell. For instance, # 330 saw the Invisible Woman dreaming of Doctor
Doom and Kristoff as they met in final battle for the throne of Latveria,
backed by teams of super villains that literally chopped each other to pieces.
This conflict soon escalated as both NATO and the Warschaupact (ahh, the 1980s)
got involved and nuclear bombs exploded left and right, destroying Earth in the
process… “But it was only a dream…”
Issue # 331 featured
Mr. Fantastic’s dream, that mostly seemed to focus on Reed’s love for his
Turino XL:
4096 colors, you say?
Ahhh, the 1980s.
Still, this seemingly
innocuous computer actually turned out to be Ultron XII (the name is an
anagram). The robotic villain’s plot turned out to be charmingly dated, as he
planned to take over all the personal computers in the world. The She-Thing put
an end to all of this by crumpling up Ultron’s robot form into a little metal ball.
Issue # 332 isn’t just
about the Human Torch’s dream, but Steve Englehart’s dream for his run on the
book as well. Johnny imagines Crystal returns to the team, as it causes the same old romantic tensions when she rejoined
back in Englehart’s early days. Over the course of several months, Crystal and
Johnny’s feelings slowly rekindle, much to the chagrin of the Invisible Woman.
Sue wants to protect her brother’s marriage and actually has a catfight with
Crystal to get her to quit.
All of this has an
unexpected effect on young Franklin, who goes into shock when he sees his
family fighting. When he comes to, Franklin reveals one heck of a stunner, by
way of a flashback to when he was temporarily transformed into an adult in FF # 245.
That’s right, the
reason Ben and Alicia broke up in the first place was a young boy’s simplistic
ideas about fixing relationships and making people love each other. Ben could
only return to human form without Alicia and Johnny was all alone, so Franklin
figured the best solution was to pair them up.
With everyone released
from their ‘love spell’, Johnny and Crystal finally got together just as Ben
and Alicia also found love again… all the while the She-Thing saw Ben slipping
away underneath her very eyes. But what could have been a monumental and long
lasting moment of change, remained but a dream… A dream set up in the earliest
issues of Englehart’s run.
This brings us to
Englehart’s final FF issue: # 333. Its 36 pages of slocky wackiness that tries
to wrap the entire ball of wax before Walt Simonson took over the tiltle. So,
let us quickly recap: just as the Avengers and Dr. Strange invade Four Freedoms
Plaza to confront the ‘Faux Four’ about their Fantasti-tax, the clones are
teleported away by Aron. Yet, the Avengers also see one of the FF’s ships leaving
the building and decide to pursue the vessel.
However, most of the
issue is used up in extended fight scenes between the Faux Four, the Fantastic
Four and the Frightful Four, with Aron the Watcher and Dragon Man thrown in for
good measure. Y’see, the events of Johnny’s dream turned out to be so intense,
the Torch subconsciously heightened his body temperature until he thawed
himself out of stasis. Yeah, that makes sense, right?
In the end, Aron tired
of all the pointless fighting, sent the Frightful Four back to jail and
returned the real FF back to their headquarters while he put the clones in
stasis so he could study their dreams, something he claimed to find infinitely
more interesting anyhow.
Meanwhile, remember
that FF airship the Avengers had been tracing? On the final page, it lands in
California and we get this send off.
“It might take a better man than me to
straighten out this mess”
And with that, Steve
Englehart left the Fantastic Four after 29 issues and 2 annuals. While his
earliest issues showed the beginnings of a remarkable, memorable run, most of
Englehart’s ideas for the book were squashed before coming fruition.
And while his initial storytelling appeared to rely heavily on the soap opera elements of Crystal breaking up Johnny and Alicia, along with Ben and Sharon’s complicated love affair, it would have resulted in a decidedly new take on Marvel’s first family. But it was only a dream…
And while his initial storytelling appeared to rely heavily on the soap opera elements of Crystal breaking up Johnny and Alicia, along with Ben and Sharon’s complicated love affair, it would have resulted in a decidedly new take on Marvel’s first family. But it was only a dream…
