In all of the multiverse, there is only one world that Uatu has avoided watching, one “What If” that he never wished to see. And now it will be revealed, the story that could damn him for all time, in Fantastic Four: Reckoning War: Trial of the Watcher #1, written by Dan Slott, drawn by Javier Rodriguez and lettered by Joe Caramagna.
While the Reckoning War rages in the main Fantastic Four series, we take a little detour this week to see whatâs going on with our personal Watcher Uatu, who has been detained by the other Watchers for interfering too many times in the development of mankind. Feels like a bit of an odd time for a trial, as the Watchersâ weapons and technology have been stolen and auctioned off to the highest bidder, but the big-headed aliens have a bit of a different set of priorities.
The conceit of this comic is another kind of âWhat if ⌠?â but instead of the Watcher looking into other universes to ponder how events could have proceeded differently, heâs strapped into this Clockwork Orange-esque machine and forced to watch âWhat if the Watcher Just Chilled While Galactus Ate the Earth?â It reminds one slightly of the Epicurean paradox, in which the existence of a god or gods is difficult to reckon with, as evil exists in the world. A deity either canât rid the world of evil, in which case theyâre not really a deity, or they choose not to, in which case theyâre a terrible monster. What this comic presupposes is that itâs a good thing, actually, to be the deity that chooses not to intervene to rid the world of evil. Now, Iâm sure weâre going to get some twist on this in upcoming issues of the main title, but weâre led to believe by the Watchers that their Prime Directive way of interacting with the universe is righteous and good, as clearly other cosmic forces have no such qualms. Humans are portrayed as capable and donât require babying by our otherworldly nannies. The story doesnât entirely convince me of its own premise, however.
The story itself is fairly straightforward. In fact, it both reads like and lampshades its own conceit. When the Fantastic Four encounter a problem, itâs up to everyone except Reed to buy time while Reed concocts some doohickey to save the day. And thatâs literally what happens here! The FF beat Galactus forever and use his technology to better the Earth, ushering in an age of prosperity. Also, several of the FF are permanently scarred, which is a slight twist on the âWhat if ⌠?â trope of nearly everyone dying. The joy of this book comes from artist Javier Rodriguez, who brings the heat in terms of excellent layouts and dynamic action sequences.
We get a taste of the hypocrisy of the Watchers, as they spend time punishing one of their own for being both compassionate and nosy, as a war rages in the main title through a complete failure to act by the Watchers as a whole. This line of story would make for a more interesting deep dive, but we instead get a beautiful but shallow retelling of one of the most retread stories in Fantastic Four history.
The issue arises â and perhaps I shouldnât dig too far into continuity â when weâve been told throughout Marvel history that while Galactus is terrifying, he isnât evil. Heâs simply a force of hunger necessary for the universe to continue functioning. While Iâve also never been really convinced of that (except possibly in the Earth X alternate universe), this internal continuity leaves one a little confused in the background of a story that paints by numbers by its own admission. Who knows if the Watcher is guilty as of yet, but yet another take on the Galactus story doesnât add a lot of evidence for this comicâs existence to me.
Chris Eddleman is a biologist and co-host of Chrises On Infinite Earths.
