Fantastic Four #540 - Review & *spoilers*

**CyberCoyote** · 10-04-2006, 07:59 AM

I'll not go into a page by page breakdown, but the issue basically goes like this.

*SPOILERS*

Reed is transporting Wildstreak into the negative zone. I thought there was a big transport portal used in Frontline, but here we have capsules that are used which don't have any guard rails around them but apparently explode if metal (or metal clad cape killer agents) touches them. Reed claims he needs to calibrate each transport to counter the super powers of the person inside. An easier method would have been to take off her exo-skeleton which Wildstreak uses just to walk. The poor girl is a cripple.

Reed is a bit more human here than in CW proper, he's forcing himself to stay focused on numbers and calculations instead of allowing any empathy for the people he's sending to the prison. It seems he's having some internal struggles with the whole process.

Cape Killer touches transport, transport breaks, Wildstreak runs. With the help of the Invisible Woman she escapes (as seen in the previews). Reed knows Sue did it, they argue. This is the real arguement they'd have, not the sweet letter and night of lovemaking in CW4. In the letter she says argueing would be pointless, but here they do argue and Sue 'leaves'. Guess she came back and left again? She does bring up the Nazi word (a customer of mine mentioned that three members of the Nazi party were voted into the government in Germany. Is this true? Yikes!)

Reed's excuse to Sue is that he's trying to protect his family from being ruined, their well being pulled out from under them by the government. Sue basically says he's not the man she married because HER Reed Richards wasn't ever afraid of anything.

Enter Ben. Ben claims that he's a Patriot and won't fight his own country (you know, like last year or any other time he went against the military/government?) so he's going to France since staying makes it look like he supports the Act. He's a multi-billionaire. If he really didn't LIKE it he should use his money and influence to contest it. But oh well, running away seems to work better with Millar's story.

Then we get a replay of Stark and Tony's visit to see the Negative Zone. I didn't read the ASM version, this one doesn't show the prison, but we do get Reed's Uncle story again (which only seems to affect him now, not all the other times he went against the government and status quo), and Peter says his Uncle sounded like a great man that he'd really like to meet. He leaves Reed with, 'but you LOVED him.' as a very well struck knife in the heart. Of course Stark used listening devices to spy on the entire private conversation. Not sure if that was depicted in Spider-Man or not.

Aside from the glaring errors concerning Wildstreak (who made her debut in FF Annual #26 helping Ben and Psi-Lord against Dreadface and the artist was..well. Like a BAD version of Rob Leifeld. If you can possible imagine that) the issue did a lot to save face for Reed. He has doubts, Sue leaves in a huff. As he's trying to bury himself deep in the numbers and calculations again to shut down his soul he begins going over the monetary damages to their HQ that Sue left behind in their arguement. All I could think of was a Visa Card commercial, "Water Damage to Multiple floors:$789,000. Only one more issue until Dwayne McDuffie begins writing this series: Priceless."

**SUPERECWFAN1** · 10-04-2006, 08:22 AM

Cleary Reed should have b-tch slapped Sue for her insolence. Doesn't she see her man and Tony are the new Germany ?

I'll come back when McDuffie comes on the title hopefully and this CW stuff is forgotten. Did they really wanna make me hate Reed Richards and Tony Stark ? Or not view them as good guys anymore ?

**Magneto Rocks** · 10-04-2006, 08:23 AM

Oh for....

JMS, I lova ya for the book co-ordination but STOP REPEATING SEQUENCES!

**Miss Kitty Fantastico** · 10-04-2006, 08:40 AM

I really liked the first half of this issue, but someone had tampered with my copy - the second half had been replaced by bits of FF#539 and ASM#535...

Anyway. I liked the portrayal of Reed, and especially Sue. Not as much as Sue in CW#4, because that was Awesome!Sue, and this was a less dignified, less intellectual Sue, but at least it didn't just degenerate into a bitch session where neither her nor Reed actually said anything of worth. Their arguments weren't surprising, but they were entertaining, and made sense.

Then Thing showed up, and we got the same spiel he did last issue, which didn't make sense then either. Seriously, leaving the country? What the heck is that supposed to achieve? I mean, okay, I'd probably do it, but I'm just me - I don't go around calling myself a hero. Rosa Parks didn't become a household name by going to a country where it was okay to sit at the front of the bus...

(And that editorial comment about the Seine? First, no it isn't really pronounced 'sane,' although fair enough, Ben Grimm probably would say it that way, and secondly, who the heck needed that explained to them anyway? I really dislike pointless intrusions like that. I paid my money for the story, editorial staff - leave me the hell alone while I read it.)

And then the Reed's uncle story, which again made no sense the first time around, so why is it worth repeating? Besides so that the FF fans can join ASM fans in scratching their heads and wondering WTF Reed's talking about, of course. I know Reed's a scientist, not a motivational speaker, but Geez, get a grip dude. That whole speech was basically, "My uncle was a great man, a hero even, and if he were alive today, he'd oppose registration. But... uh, there were some people who didn't like what he had to say. And they might still be around. So, um, let's not be heroes." That'd be low coming from Edmund Blackadder - and Reed Richards is saying this?

Of course, there was one point to that scene - to have Tony revealed to be not going to the little dictator's room, but instead listening in, because we need to be reminded once more that Tony Stark is shady. Whoever's writing the Iron Man title at the moment must be thirty seconds from grabbing a high-powered rifle and heading for the nearest clocktower...

(If only they'd saved the scene by having Tony think "Reed, you imbecile," as he listened...)

So, yeah. Half a good issue. And it was a good half, worth the cover price of the comic, but there've been three issues of Civil War FF so far, and so far that half-an-issue is all that's really been worth reading. Compared to some of the other tie-ins, which have been entertaining, distinctive - in the case of Thunderbolts, got me to stick with the title beyond CW even though I had no real interest in it prior to reading the tie-ins - Fantastic Four is looking a bit weak to me.

**CyberCoyote** · 10-04-2006, 08:46 AM

Originally Posted by Miss Kitty Fantastico

(And that editorial comment about the Seine? First, no it isn't really pronounced 'sane,' although fair enough, Ben Grimm probably would say it that way, and secondly, who the heck needed that explained to them anyway? I really dislike pointless intrusions like that. I paid my money for the story, editorial staff - leave me the hell alone while I read it.)

This little thing KILLED me. We haven't had editors notes for ages, and they are a great thing when they do something other than point out a joke. Why can we get this but not a little 'Wildstreak's body has developed a dependancy for her exo-skeleton and removing it can be fatal' or 'these events take place before the scene between Reed and Sue in CW4' Little blurbs like that can make SUCH a difference and qwell so many outbursts from fans, but instead we get a joke explained by the lone editors note in ages :(

**Michael P** · 10-04-2006, 08:54 AM

Originally Posted by CyberCoyote

(a customer of mine mentioned that three members of the Nazi party were voted into the government in Germany. Is this true? Yikes!)

Yup, the Nazis were voted into power. Hitler himself was appointed Chancellor once the party took total control, but the actual assumption of power was legal.

From Wikipedia:

Free elections in 1932 under Germany's Weimar Republic made the NSDAP the largest parliamentary fraction; no similar party in any country at that time had achieved comparable electoral success. Adolf Hitler's 30 January 1933 appointment to the chancellorship and his subsequent consolidation of dictatorial power, marked the beginning of Nazi Germany. During its first year in power, the NSDAP announced the beginning of the Tausendjähriges Reich ("Thousand Years' Empire") or Drittes Reich ("Third Reich", a putative successor to the Holy Roman Empire and the German Empire). The Nazi regime lasted until 1945, during which time Hitler and his party led Germany into World War II. At the end of that war, the party was declared a criminal organisation by the victorious Allied Powers and was effectively destroyed. Since 1945, Nazism has been outlawed as a political ideology in Germany, as are forms of iconography and propaganda from the Nazi era. Still, remnants and revivalists, known as "Neo-Nazis," continue to operate in Germany and abroad.

**CyberCoyote** · 10-04-2006, 08:58 AM

Originally Posted by Michael Pullmann

Yup, the Nazis were voted into power. Hitler himself was appointed Chancellor once the party took total control, but the actual assumption of power was legal.

From Wikipedia:

Actually he was talking about just a little while ago. I knew the pro-Nazi types werestill out there, but I thought that even MENTIONING Nazi in Germany was a good way to get dragged into a dark alley where you probably won't come back from. Heck, I thought entertainment media that showed or mentioned the Nazi's wasn't even allowed into Germany (but I'm pretty easy to convince of things, so it very well may not be true.)

To tie this into the book: If those limits are in place then would these issues be edited before being distributed in Germany?

Okay: found the story: They are pro-Nazi
http://www.thetrumpet.com/index.php?page=article&id=111

**MatthewC** · 10-04-2006, 09:10 AM

Originally Posted by CyberCoyote

Aside from the glaring errors concerning Wildstreak (who made her debut in FF Annual #26 helping Ben and Psi-Lord against Dreadface and the artist was..well. Like a BAD version of Rob Leifeld. If you can possible imagine that) the issue did a lot to save face for Reed. He has doubts, Sue leaves in a huff. As he's trying to bury himself deep in the numbers and calculations again to shut down his soul he begins going over the monetary damages to their HQ that Sue left behind in their arguement. All I could think of was a Visa Card commercial, "Water Damage to Multiple floors:$789,000. Only one more issue until Dwayne McDuffie begins writing this series: Priceless."

I keep reading how this issue makes Reed look better, and I don't understand how it does that.

Isn't the man that understands what he's doing is wrong and does it anyway worse than the man who doesn't realize what he's doing is wrong? It sounds like Reed has a lot of doubts, but then shrugs them off and refuses to actually change his behavior in any way.

**CyberCoyote** · 10-04-2006, 09:15 AM

Originally Posted by MatthewC

I keep reading how this issue makes Reed look better, and I don't understand how it does that.

Isn't the man that understands what he's doing is wrong and does it anyway worse than the man who doesn't realize what he's doing is wrong? It sounds like Reed has a lot of doubts, but then shrugs them off and refuses to actually change his behavior in any way.

Yep, he's still a ditz. No arguement there, but at least theres a hint that it's bothering him. In CW it's as if he doesn't give a poop about anyone and is as dead set as Tony to do absolutely anything it takes to force others to sign. Honestly I expect him to turn against Tony by the end now, I didn't have a glint of hope for that before.

**Miss Kitty Fantastico** · 10-04-2006, 09:25 AM

Originally Posted by MatthewC

I keep reading how this issue makes Reed look better, and I don't understand how it does that.

Isn't the man that understands what he's doing is wrong and does it anyway worse than the man who doesn't realize what he's doing is wrong?

I don't think Reed believes what he's doing is wrong. But he's in a situation where both options entail hardship and suffering - Reed is in a position of having to choose the lesser of two evils. Even though he's chosen the one he regards as lesser - and therefore 'right' under the circumstances - the lesser evil is still an evil, and it should still be difficult for him to go through with it.

It's like fighting a war. Sometimes you have to fight, and kill the other guy, but even when it's necessary, it shouldn't be easy. That's the position Reed's in, and that's why I think his doubts are a positive for his portrayal in Civil War - regardless of whether they're a prelude to him switching sides, or simply something he will live with as he sticks with the side he's chosen.

**CyberCoyote** · 10-04-2006, 09:32 AM

Originally Posted by Miss Kitty Fantastico

I don't think Reed believes what he's doing is wrong. But he's in a situation where both options entail hardship and suffering - Reed is in a position of having to choose the lesser of two evils. <snip excellent analysis> it shouldn't be easy. That's the position Reed's in, and that's why I think his doubts are a positive for his portrayal in Civil War - regardless of whether they're a prelude to him switching sides, or simply something he will live with as he sticks with the side he's chosen.

Well, thinking ahead wouldn't one assume that there will be some sort of (un)happy medium met at the end of Civil War? If anyone could come up with a 'plan C' I'd hope it might be someone like Reed. The totalitarian rule of Stark can't possibly be the end, nor will the MU revert directly back to what it was before all..this.

So far it's all been about choosing sides, not alternatives. I'd hope that this internal struggle that Reed is having would help him perhaps devise an alternative to both possibilities, something that would assuage the fears and ideoligies of most of the players involved.

**FunkyRenegade** · 10-04-2006, 10:18 AM

Slightly off topic, I'm looking for a place to start with FF. Would this issue be a good starting point?

**CyberCoyote** · 10-04-2006, 10:34 AM

Originally Posted by FunkyRenegade

Slightly off topic, I'm looking for a place to start with FF. Would this issue be a good starting point?

Not really. The FF is all about family, it's the core concept of the high adventure team. Right now it's about keeping up with the CW goings on and the family ruptured.

In 2 more issues a new creative team will be taking over, no penciller mentioned yet but Dwayne McDuffie of Static Shock and JLU cartoon/comics fame (as well as last year's MOST excellent FF Special) will take the reigns. Sure it'll be in the aftermath of Civil War and may introduce replacement members on the team, but it should be a good starting point. McDuffie's currently writing Beyond, a very fun series of which #4 (of 6?) is coming out today. It features some FF cast members (Medusa used to be on the team when Sue was pregnant). He's the kind of writer who'll give a new reader a full and complete rundown of what's going on for a fresh start. I'd definitely reccomend starting there (issue #542) if anywhere.

Then again I was excited about JMS coming in and it's proven fairly lackluster. :rolleyes:

The current FF books are really just Civil War tie ins which flesh out what's going on in CW. If you're really into CW then you might enjoy the next couple of issues also.

**Pyro** · 10-04-2006, 01:51 PM

I have been waiting for this issue, but it didn't turn out to be so great. I mean, it was nice, but we got a scene that doesn't quite mesh w/ CW 4 and a repeat of the ASM scene. Reed's argument ("it's the law!") is really lame and he knows it. I wish Reed actually came off better like we were told he would. And I wish Johnny had had an appearance.

**MerrickM** · 10-04-2006, 02:30 PM

A very important lesson in persuasive speaking: When trying to convince someone that supporting a government crackdown is a good thing, DON'T MENTION MCCARTHY.