Reed Richards is Just So Tired of All These Star Wars in Fantastic Four: Life Story #3

In the 1980s, Reed Richards hatches a venture to defend the Earth from Galactus, but will his plans be derailed by the Cold War? Sue and Johnny are invited to speak to the United Nations about saving the world. And a maverick computer genius offers hope to humanity with his new computer company, but is hope all he’s offering? Find out in Fantastic Four: Life Story #3, written by Mark Russell, drawn by Sean Izaakse, colored by Nolan Woodard and lettered by Joe Caramagna.

Dan Grote: Ah, the ’80s. The era of teased-out hair, soaring power ballads and constant fear of nuclear annihilation. And, in this timeline, the era when the Mad Thinker posed as a Steve Jobs type and tried to trick the world’s nuclear powers into blowing up the planet so Galactus wouldn’t see it as a healthy snack. Justin, what did you make of the FF’s foray into the Reagan years?

Justin Partridge: Well, it isn’t a perfect issue, I will say that. But this issue unexpectedly becoming a period remake of Jonathan Hickman and Steve Epting’s now classic “Three” is definitely interesting and good enough to keep this series trending upward for me. The … shall we say, lazy take on Ben’s Judaism is absolutely a step backward, but FF: Life Story is still too interesting and emotionally effective for me to write off completely. 

In ‘80s terms, this issue is like Talking Heads’ Little Creatures. Sure, it’s got “And She Was” and “Road to Nowhere” on it. But it’s also got “Stay Up Late” on it, too. You gotta take it where you can.

Dan: Same as it ever was.

‘People like Star Wars!’

Dan: In 1994, the late Adam “MCA” Yauch crashed the stage at the MTV Video Music Awards as Michael Stipe was accepting an award for best direction for REM’s “Everybody Hurts” video. Decked out in the lederhosen of his Nathaniel Hornblower persona, Yauch decried the snubbing of Spike Jonze for his work on the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage” video and proclaimed, “And I just wanna tell everyone that this is a farce, and I had all the ideas for Star Wars and everything!”

Well, it turns out that was Reed Richards, actually. The issue opens with Reed and Tony Stark presenting the Strategic Defense Initiative — a real plan to surround the Earth with lasers to take out Soviet weaponry — to President Ronald Reagan as part of Reed’s ongoing drive to prevent Galactus from devouring the Earth. Reagan and his advisers, downright horny for the flex of military might, ask whether Reed and Tony’s missiles would be better off pointed the other way, toward the Earth, where the real enemy is — y’know, Russia. USA! USA! USA! This pisses Reed right the F off, and he storms out, once again not being taken seriously as to the dire nature of this existential threat.

Justin, are you old enough to remember ANY of the nuclear panic of the 1980s, or am I aging myself again on this website full of whippersnappers?

Justin: No, see, I caught the tail end of this, for sure, having been born into the world of ‘88. The existential dread of nuclear war was mostly contained to my class-assigned reading of Alas, Babylon and, ironically enough, a late-night screening of The Day After on TCM once when I was about 12. But as I got older, that fear was morphed into another one present in this very issue; the fear of computers and their complex systems. Fears further transmuted and necrosed by my living through 9/11, supported by the jingoism stirred up during the first botched Gulf War (which I still have a lot of very oddly pointed memories of).

But it’s interesting not only that we start here in issue #3, but that Russell has still continued to thread the threat of Galactus through “four administrations” like Reed says in the issue. In the first two issues it is presented as much more of an abstract thing and something that can possibly be tackled through a metaphysical solution. Now, here in #3, Russell is just straight up equating him with the “mutually assured destruction” that permeated the air of the time. I am not sure it’s quite successful, but it’s certainly the kind of slightly hokey “comic-book” histrionics I can truck with.

Also, I am very glad you brought up that Hornblower snubbing, because I’ve always considered it one of music history’s great whiffs. That “Everybody Hurts” video is boring as hell. Hornblower’s videos were always instantly iconic. It always chafed my own hosen that he was never fully recognized for his visual playfulness and keen points of view. 

Dan: I’m tellin’ y’all, it’s sabotage.

‘Life is a party’

Dan: Johnny Storm was the narrator for this chapter, and it appears the editorial team learned its lesson from last time, as his caption boxes make it clear right away we’re getting ol’ Matchstick’s narration, with their bright yellow-and-red color scheme and flame bursts in the top left corner. Justin, what did you think of Russell and co.’s take on the Torch?

Justin: Now this I really responded to. Especially, like I said above, with how closely a lot of this stuff echoes “Three,” just moved back a few decades. At first, I was wondering if this was just Russell and company trying to give Johnny more of a showcase after playing him toward the background in the opening issues. He narrates basically the whole of the issue, even when he’s not being featured on panel, so I figured there had to be a narrative reason why he was our “featured” lead this issue.

Better still, Russell’s take on him is really effective. Instead of just being an aloof layabout, Russell makes him the dutiful neutral party to basically the whole team. He’s the only one Sue and Reed can talk to separately. He’s the one trying to allow Franklin a companion and constant support system. He’s also the only one that seems to have his “eye on the ball” when it comes to still being a selfless hero. Even if his behavior and attitude speaks to quite the opposite.

I really loved this. A lot of the time, people don’t know what to do with Johnny or, worse, think that Johnny is just a scorching hot dummy with nothing to offer. The first part of that is absolutely true, but seeing Russell and this series rightfully place him as the beating heart of the team is really pleasing. 

Do you like Johnny, Dan? Were you into “Three”? I just realized I’ve never asked if you liked our colleague Allison Senecal’s Second Favorite Stupid Blond.

Dan: Ha! If we’re ranking himbos, I gotta say, I’m more of an Alex Summers/Clint Barton by Fraction & Aja/Brian Braddock guy. When it comes to the Four, I tend to gravitate more toward the Thing. I mentioned this when we covered the first issue, but my FF knowledge is mostly a blindspot. I haven’t read “Three” or any of the Hickman FF run. People have told me that it’s good, and I believe them.

That said, you’re right on the money about Johnny this issue. His death is affecting precisely because of how much time we spend with him, even when he’s not on panel. His party philosophy and “cheerful cynic” demeanor separate him from Reed’s fear-based drive and Sue’s activism. He knows we’re boned, might as well have a good time and leave the party while it’s still raging. Shame he’ll miss Galactus, though.

But hey. HEY. It occurs to me, you mentioned something in the intro about the Thing and how his faith is or isn’t portrayed in this book. Care to elaborate?

Justin: I dunno. Obviously a terrible Catholic like me shouldn’t be discussing it at length, but the slightly lax attitude Russell has had toward Ben’s Judisiam is … not great. This is spurred by a panel of Ben preparing a pot of pork ’n’ beans and referring to it as “food o’ the gods.” While the panel IS pretty adorable and a wonderful use of Ben’s domesticity, this and a later scene really chafed me.

Later on in the issue, he quotes a rendering of El Maleh Rachamim, a Jewish prayer for the dead, a prayer traditionally recited in Hebrew, which could have been rendered very easily with a change of lettering. Also something Ben would have more than likely kept in its original language in honor of his faith and friend.

All in all, it flints badly against some of the on-panel displays of faith we have seen in the main title and recent side stories. Hell, even the recent Road Trip one-shot has this same bean gag, but with Ben thermosing some lentils, which is in character AND still kosher.

Dan: Thank you for pointing this stuff out. Frankly, the pork ’n’ beans bit didn’t trip that switch with me (I appreciated it as a moment of levity in a book obsessed with unavoidable lowercase-d doom), and I tried internetting Ben’s prayer, but nothing came up for me.

Personally, as someone who is a-religious (but not anti-religious), I don’t feel comfortable ascribing how Jewish a character should be. Once again, I beseeched the internet to tell me whether Ben Grimm keeps kosher, and the closest attempt I could find to answer that question was a discussion on the Captain Comics website in which a bunch of dudes attempted to cite issue and panel but then collectively shrugged and said, “I dunno, beats me. I think he ate a lot of hot dogs once.” [Ed. Note: Captain Comics doesn’t know about Hebrew National?]

What we do know is that Ben’s Judaism is a relatively new development for the character. His first identification as Jewish was on a Hanukkah card Jack and Roz Kirby sent out in 1976, and the first on-panel acknowledgement of his faith was in 2002. The Thing often has been portrayed as a stand-in for Kirby, who, near as we can tell, was not a strict practitioner either.

According to this article that cites Kirby’s wife, Roz, “You need to know he wasn’t a religious man who would go to the temple every day and on weekends like his father did. He still believed in his faith, and he liked to read the Bible.”

That said, Ben Grimm can be as kosher as his current creators want him to be, and Russell is certainly closer to a Reed Richards type than a Ben Grimm.

This is a discussion we’ve had on this site before, and there are likely a range of opinions on the issue, just as Judaism contains a range of denominations. I recommend reading “Does Magneto Keep Kosher?” by actual practitioners of the Jewish faith Stephanie Burt and Ian Gregory.

‘Computers!’

Dan: Computers: THEY’RE THE FUTURE, MAN! This issue’s mad scientist-of-the-week is the Mad Thinker, making his second appearance after issue #2, where he came off like your typical Silver Age evildoer, with a complicated trap and some cackling. This time around, he’s disguised himself as Cupertino computer magnate Steve Jobs Jose Santini, popping up everywhere from the Oval Office to The Late Show with David Letterman just to remind you that computers are awesome and they can do stuff.

Like hack the world’s defense systems to launch a bunch of nuclear missiles.

COMPUTERS!

This is our third kooky scientist villain in as many issues, after Bruce Jones in issue #1 and Doctor Doom in #2. Granted, the FF are a science team and therefore should face science-based villains, but it feels like we’re due for a little variety, especially in so short a series. Justin, what did you think of the villain this go-round?

Justin: THIS I absolutely loved. Not only because I love The Mad Thinker, but also because it lobs some pretty choice bombs at Silicon Valley assholes, and I am all for that.

But my class pettiness aside, I think it’s a really smart use of the Thinker amid the creative team’s whole take on this series. We not only get some stupid comic book nonsense with his public facing persona, but the way Russell has been weaving major FF antagonists into this new history has been really fun thus far. 

Pairing him with Victor, too, is a really neat comparison of their ideology as well. Victor, naturally, thinks they can survive through strength and force of will. While the Mad Thinker says, “Fuck a bunch of that, let’s kill the world OURSELVES so Galactus doesn’t even notice us!” That’s some proper supervillain junk, right there.

Dan, do you like The Mad Thinker? Who is your favorite non-Doom FF baddie?

Dan: The Thinker, to me, is fine when you need a generic science villain to defeat handily. I liked the way Chip Zdarsky wrote him in Marvel 2-in-One, when he gave himself a Reed Richards haircut and recruited his own Fake Four. And now I’m thinking about how much I enjoyed that series and how disappointed I was when Marvel gave the FF to Slott instead of Chip. THANKS A LOT, JUSTIN.

Sorry, that was uncalled for. Anyway, to answer the back half of your question, I’m gonna say the Frightful Four because I’ve become a recent convert to the Church of Titania, and also Paste Pot Pete is fun to say. [Paste Pot Pete’s Note: Trapster! My name is the Trapster!]

Justin: TITANIA! See, I knew there was a reason we got on so well, Dan.

Marvelous Musings

• Props to Namor for taking fashion tips from Miami Vice-era Don Johnson.
• OF COURSE he would constantly rock a deep-V.
• If the Fantastic Four are the Fleetwood Mac of superhero teams, does that make Johnny the Lindsey Buckingham, always getting cut off by Diondre Cole?
• Would this make “The Galactus Saga” Rumors or Tusk? Justin says Tusk. 
• Would this make the Slott run Time?
• Bill Hicks: Another dead hero

Dan Grote

Dan Grote is the editor and publisher of ComicsXF, having won the site by ritual combat. By day, he’s a newspaper editor, and by night, he’s … also an editor. He co-hosts The ComicsXF Interview Podcast with Matt Lazorwitz. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, two kids and two miniature dachshunds, and his third, fictional son, Peter Paul Winston Wisdom.