Fantastic Four 235

Fantastic Four 235

Oct 1981

Four Against Ego!

by John Byrne, Jean Simek, Bob Sharen, Jim Salicrup

The Fantastic Four land on the surface of Ego and begin to explore. They discover engines that Galactus attached to Ego. The Thing, following the directions of Mister Fantastic, removes one of the power packs that gives life to one of the engines. The team then descends into Ego, looking for his brain. One by one they are forced to turn back as the pressure gets to be too much until only the Thing is left to complete the mission.

Ego is enraged and fires up the engines, planning to head straight for Earth. Ego veers off course without the power pack that the Thing removed. He accidentally heads instead into the sun where he is destroyed. The Fantastic Four barely escape with their lives and head back to Earth. 

Fantastic Four 234

Fantastic Four 234

Sep 1981

The Man with the Power!

by John Byrne, Jean Simek, Bob Sharen, Jim Salicrup

Skip Collins, an employee of Acme Aglet (a Vanderbilt company) goes to New York City on a business trip. He possesses the ability to change things, remake things, but he uses it sparingly. He watches from a distance as the Fantastic Four deal with a crisis which may be of global proportions.

He does what he can to help them without revealing who he is or what he is doing. The Thing sees him but only briefly.

The issue ends with Skip seeming to have lost his superpower as the Fantastic Four head into outer space where they encounter Ego, the Living Planet.

Fantastic Four 233

Fantastic Four 233

Aug 1981

Mission for a Dead Man!

by John Byrne, Jim Novak, Glynis Wein, Jim Salicrup

The Human Torch seeks to right a wrong by investigating a crime from years ago. He receives a letter written by David George Munson, someone he hasn’t seen since high school. Munson was recently executed after being sentenced to death for murder, a murder Munson claimed not to have committed. Munson and Johnny Storm were far from friends but Johnny feels obliged to look into the matter. 

Johnny’s investigation leads him to Hammerhead. The two fight. Hammerhead is wearing a suit that was built for him by the Tinkerer. It augments his strength. The Human Torch damages the suit but Hammerhead escapes into the night.

Johnny clears Munson’s name but his mother doesn’t really seem to care. She knew what her son was like. 

Fantastic Four 232

Fantastic Four 232

Jul 1981

Back to the Basics

by John Byrne, Jim Novak, Glynis Wein, Jim Salicrup

Diablo sends elemental creatures to kill the Fantastic Four while they are apart. An earth elemental is sent after the Invisible Girl. A water elemental is sent after The Thing. An air elemental is sent after the Human Torch. A fire elemental is sent after Mr. Fantastic.

The Four are knocked for a loop. After they switch up their adversaries with one another and Mr. Fantastic figures out how to defeat their would be assassins they finish them off in no time flat. They locate Diablo with some help from Doctor Strange and turn him over to the police. 

Fantastic Four 221

Fantastic Four 221

Aug 1980

Tower of Crystal… Dreams of Glass…

by John Byrne, Joe Sinnott, Jim Novak, Carl Gafford, Jim Salicrup

Reed, Ben, and Johnny fight with the aliens' worker robots while Sue meets with the aliens themselves. She convinces them that they should not destroy the Earth. 

Thoughts

This is the last story in Fantastic Four Visionaries: John Byrne Vol. 0. 

I guess Reed was right about the Earth being serious danger.

Fantastic Four 220

Fantastic Four 220

Jul 1980

…and the Lights Went Out All Over the World!

by John Byrne, Joe Sinnott, Jim Novak, Irving Watanabe, Bob Sharen, Jim Salicrup 

The Fantastic Four fly to the North Pole after the power goes out briefly all over the world. They find aliens building something big at the North Pole. 

Thoughts

This is part one of a two-part story. According to my research (see comics.org) this story was originally intended to be part of a promotional comic book for Coca-Cola.

John Byrne wrote and penciled this story. He managed to squeeze in a one page retelling of the team’s origin, even though this story is just 16 pages long.

Fantastic Four 218

Fantastic Four 218

May 1980

When a Spider-Man Comes Calling!

by Bill Mantlo, John Byrne, Joe Sinnott, Jim Novak, Sean Bean, Jim Salicrup

The FF (Frightful Four) arrive at the Baxter Building with the intent to kill the FF (Fantastic Four). The evil FF have already captured Spider-Man. The Trapster, disguised as Spider-Man, tricks Johnny Storm into opening a window and letting him in. The Trapster knocks Johnny out once he is inside. The Trapster next deals with the Thing.

The Trapster deactivates the buildings security system which gives his teammates (Wizard, Sandman, Electro) the opening they need to break in and join him. Electro uses his powers to knock the Invisible Woman out of the fight which just leaves Mr. Fantastic to be dealt with, or does it?

Fantastic Four 217

Fantastic Four 217

Apr 1980

Masquerade!

by Marv Wolfman, Bill Mantlo, John Byrne, Joe Sinnott, John Costanza, Bob Sharen, Mark Gruenwald

HERBIE turns on the Fantastic Four and attempts to murder them. HERBIE is being controlled by Dr. Sun at the time. HERBIE, in the end, regains control long enough to destroy himself before Dr. Sun regains control of his circuitry.

Thoughts

It’s kind of funny how quickly and how easily Dr. Sun manages to almost kill the team using HERBIE. What happened? I thought the Fantastic Four were tougher than that?!

Fantastic Four 216

Fantastic Four 216

Mar 1980

A God Walks Times Square!

by Marv Wolfman, Bill Mantlo, John Byrne, Pablo Marcos, Irving Watanabe, Michael Higgins, Carl Gafford, Mark Gruenwald 

Futurist, the being that was once the scientist known as Professor Randolph James, heads for the Baxter Building. Mister Fantastic intended to arrive there with him but Futurist sensed that Reed Richard’s, his old friend, intended to revert him back to his human form. Futurist did not approve of this course of action.

Blastaar emerges from the shadows and convinces Futurist that the Fantastic Four intend to do both of them harm. Together they make their way to the Baxter Building. They take down the team but don’t consider that young Franklin Richard’s might also be a worthy opponent. 

Fantastic Four 215

Fantastic Four 215

Feb 1980

Blastaar!

by Marv Wolfman, John Byrne, Joe Sinnott, Joe Rosen, Carl Gafford 

The Fantastic Four visit Professor Randolph James, an old friend of Reed, in his lab. Reed is helping Professor James with an experiment when something goes wrong, debris starts flying everywhere. Much of Professor James' lab gets destroyed.

The Fantastic Four returns to the Baxter Building where they discover that Blastaar has escaped from the Negative Zone. He attacks them when they show up. He disappears into the sewer after the Human Torch blasts him out of the building. 

Fantastic Four 214

Fantastic Four 214

Jan 1980

…and then there was -- One!

by Marv Wolfman, John Byrne, Joe Sinnott, John Costanza, Carl Gafford 

The Human Torch looks for a cure to save his teammates. He turns first to Tony Stark and then to Princess Adora (of Xandar). Both are too busy to provide any assistance. Johnny returns to the Baxter Building feeling pretty hopeless.

The Human Torch is drowning in self-pity when Skrull X attacks. During the fight Skrull X attempts to shoot Johnny with the same sort of ray gun that debilitated his teammates. The Human Torch overwhelms Skrull X, destroying him and in the process revealing that he wasn't a Skrull but an android created to look like a Skrull.

Fantastic Four 213

Fantastic Four 213

Dec 1979

In Final Battle!

by Marv Wolfman, John Byrne, Joe Sinnott, John Costanza, Ben Sean

Terrax attacks the Thing, Mr. Fantastic, and the Human Torch. The Thing is knocked out of the fight. HERBIE takes him back to the Baxter building and puts him in cryogenic sleep next to the Invisible Woman. The Human Torch brings an end to the fight when he coats Terrax in liquid oxygen.

Galactus and the Sphinx continue their fight in the desert of  Egypt. Galactus ultimately prevails and reduces the Sphinx back to the level of a mortal. 

Fantastic Four 212

Fantastic Four 212

Nov 1979

Battle of the Titans!

by Marv Wolfman, John Byrne, Joe Sinnott, John Costanza, Carl Gafford 

The Fantastic Four, HERBIE, Galactus, and Terrax arrive on Earth. Galactus’ new herald immediately starts to terrorize the population of New York City. Reed and Ben fight with Terrax until Galactus tells his new assistant to back off.

Sue feels the effects of the rapid aging to a greater degree than Reed or Ben and collapses. Reed does what he can for his wife and then starts to prepare to deal with Galactus. He knows that once Galactus has dealt with the Sphinx he will turn from Earth’s defender into its greatest menace. 

The Skrull who was last seen Fantastic Four 204 returns. He is a construct. He explains how he repaired himself and makes preparations to help the Skrull Empire conquer Earth. 

The Sphinx tells his origin story which goes back to biblical times. Terrax tries to take down the Sphinx on his own but when that fails he heads to the Baxter Building. The issue ends with Terrax threatening to destroy the Fantastic Four. 

Fantastic Four 211

Fantastic Four 211

Oct 1979

If this Be Terrax

by Marv Wolfman, John Byrne, Joe Sinnott, Joe Rosen, Ben Sean

Galactus transports the Fantastic Four, plus HERBIE, down to the planet Terran. Reed, Sue, and Ben look noticeably older than they did in the previous issue. They try to help some people fight off some robotic knights but they are captured. 

The Fantastic Four are taken to Tyros the Terrible, the local bigwig. He toys with them a bit and then decides to execute them, himself. They break free and humble him, as Galactus told them to do. The big planet eater transports all six of them back to his ship.

Galactus transforms Tyros the Terrible into Terrax the Tamer, changing his appearance and imbuing him with cosmic powers in the process. Terrax tries to turn his new powers on Galactus but his new boss shows Terrax that he is not to be taken lightly. Galactus’ new herald sings a different tune after the Big G takes him down a notch. 

Galactus and the Fantastic Four depart for Earth in his spheroid space ship. 

The issue ends with the Watcher observing Earth from the Moon, aware that Galactus is coming and that a battle with the Sphinx will soon occur.

Fantastic Four 210

Fantastic Four 210

Sep 1979

In Search of Galactus

by Marv Wolfman, John Byrne, Joe Sinnott, Tom Orzechowski, Ben Sean

The Fantastic Four move on from the Sargasso of Space and find Galactus, who ignores them at first. It isn’t until they break open the cages in the zoo he has amassed and free all the critters that he pays them any attention. 

Reed explains the situation but Galactus remains uninterested in helping them deal with the Sphinx. Galactus changes his mind after Reed offers to rescind the deal they made after Galactus first attempted to consume the Earth. Galactus agrees but only on condition that they fetch him Terrax, whom Galactus intends to be his next herald. 

Fantastic Four 209

Fantastic Four 209

Aug 1979

Trapped in the Sargasso of Space!

by Marv Wolfman, John Byrne, Joe Sinnott, Tom Orzechowski, Glynis Wein

Mister Fantastic builds himself a robot to help them out, HERBIE. It helps them to plot their trip to find Galactus. Queen Adora gives them Xandar's fastest spaceship. The Fantastic Four leave Xandar in search of Galactus. 

The Skrull Empress murders her husband and takes over the Skrull Empire. 

The next stop on the Fantastic Four's voyage is the Sargasso of Space where they find lots of abandoned spaceships. They investigate and find bug-like aliens. The aliens attempt to take their spaceship but the Fantastic Four prevent that from happening and then continue on their way.