Superheroes' lives can go at a break-neck pace. Just when one crisis is abated, it seems like another one pops right up. It doesn't matter if you're a solo hero or part of a team of heroes, the superhero's life can be an endless parade of craziness. For the Fantastic Four, that is especially true, even if they prefer to be seen as "imaginauts". This comic here provides an example of what I am talking about. And it is another opportunity to show off some art by my favorite comic artist of all time: George Perez. This is Fantastic Four #184!
The cover is a George Perez, Joe Sinnott, and Danny Crespi piece. It's really good. But of course, it's George Perez. You have our villain, the Eliminator, front and center.
"Aftermath: The Eliminator"
Writer: Len Wein
Penciler: George Perez
Inker: Joe Sinnott
Colorist: Glynis Wein
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Editor: Len Wein
Editor-in-Chief: Archie Goodwin
The story begins with the FF rescuing Reed Richards from the Negative Zone, aided by their allies Thundra and Tigra. Ben takes Reed to get some rest and presumably to get checked over. I can imagine that the FF have some kind of gadget that can do medical checkups better than any doctor.
Johnny and Tigra look out at the Negative Zone portal's window. The Human Torch notes the irony that Counter-Earth's Reed Richards (who became the evil Brute) attempted to trap Reed in the Negative Zone for good, only for himself to end up there.
Elsewhere, Sue Storm-Richards keeps an eye on her husband, worried what Ben will do if he finds out that their son's nanny, Agatha Harkness, made off with Sue and Reed's son Franklin.
But Ben has a different concern on his mind at the moment: Calling his beloved Alicia Masters and letting her know he's okay. Afterwards, he heads back to the portal room, finding it...a bit of a mess.
Page 147, Panel 7
The Baxter Building does have auto-repair systems, but the fracas with the Brute knocked them out of commission.
As such, they will need to clean up. However, Tigra and Thundra, being liberated 1970s women, they decide cleaning the place up is Ben and Johnny's job. Well, yeah. Ben and Johnny do live in the Baxter Building, Tigra and Thundra were just guests helping out for a bit. Johnny is like "Well, time for me to hit the dusty skies", flames on, and flies off. While he's out in the big blue yonder, he finds himself thinking about this girl he's met named Frankie Raye. However, someone has him in their sights.
Page 149, Panels 3-6
Ben tries to clean the Negative Zone portal room when he gets another visitor.
Page 150, Panel 3
Yup, the Impossible Man! And he has a very important question for Ben Grimm. One that could break the Marvel Universe as we know it:
...what's a movie? Yeah. That's his big question. An annoyed Ben tells him that a movie is basically a bigger version of TV. The Impossible Man is like "I like TV! These movie things sound awesome" and flies off. Ben hopes he chokes on popcorn. So, how is Reed doing?
Page 150, Panel 8
Yeah, he's fine. Sue briefs him on Franklin's disappearance and gives him his uniform. Reed is reluctant as he has lost his stretching powers. Sue points out that if his powers were all he contributed, then he could easily have been replaced with a rubber band. That's funny, but it's true. Ben finishes up the cleaning, and the group head to Whisper Hill, Agatha's home. However, something blows up the Fantasticar, sending the three members of the FF reeling. Sue uses her forcefields to cushion their landing. Ben finds a strange metallic egg nearby. Something hatched from it. They enter the old house and find the missing Johnny.
Page 155, Panel 6
Johnny tries to warn his fellow Fantastic Four members, but the being that zapped him introduces themselves.
Page 156, Panel 5
Meet the Eliminator. His job is rather self-explanatory. He was sent to eliminate any evidence of Agatha Harkness's existence among mortals...including anyone she knows. And that includes the FF.
Sue fears this big lug may have killed Franklin. However, the Eliminator tells her he didn't. His masters will deal with the boy in their own way. The Eliminator may be tasked with killing the FF, but that doesn't mean our heroes will let him, as Ben demonstrates by ambushing him. The Eliminator is a tough cookie and himself doesn't go down that easy. He blasts at Ben with flamethrowers in his fingertips, but Johnny absorbs the flames, allowing Sue to knock down the Eliminator with a forcefield.
The Eliminator was prepared for that. His boots have jets that can also work as a vacuum, which he uses to put out Johnny's flames. He uses his hammer hand to knock down the FF and then blasts at the heroes with a laser beam from his head. Sue tries to counter it with a forcefield. It...does not go well.
Page 159, Panel 6
Howling with grief and rage, Reed tries to attack the Eliminator, only to eat Omni-Beam. He then takes down Ben, and overloads Johnny. With the Fantastic Four seemingly dead, the Eliminator triggers his self-destruct sequence, as part of his mission. However, he gets a surprise.
Page 161, Panel 9
The Fantastic Four LIVE!
"How did they live", you ask? Well, a little bit of trickery on their part. Sue's forcefield actually protected her from the Eliminator's Omni-Beam. She turned invisible, and use her forcefields to protect Reed and Ben, and Johnny faked his overloading. They outsmarted the monster.
With that, they decide now is a good time to run.
They flee as fast as they can, but they fear they won't be able to outrun the explosion. Sue throws up a forcefield as Whisper Hill blows up.
The story ends with them vowing to find Agatha Harkness and Franklin Richards.
One thing I always liked about this issue was that the Fantastic Four managed to defeat the Eliminator not by out-brawling him, but with guile and trickery. The Eliminator is a character I find kind of funny. I always had the impression that he was some kind of cyborg. I mean, look at him. He looks like someone who would be the main villain in a B-Movie Terminator ripoff. Yet he claims he was sent by New Salem, which was a community of witches. It's so bizarre to me. Yes, this is the Marvel Universe, where it's possible for Doctor Strange to team up with Deathlok, but in this particular occasion...it feels...off. If the Eliminator's design was changed to make him look more magical, I think it would make more sense.
The only real criticism I have about this comic is that it does feel like we're stuck in the middle of something. Which...it was, really. We were in the middle of some storylines at the time. There is plenty of action, and everything goes at a good pace.
As for the art, it's George Perez, enough said.
If you want to read this for yourself, you should track down the 2005 trade paperback Fantastic Four Visionaries: George Perez Vol. 1. You can also find it in the 2024 trade paperback Fantastic Four Epic Collection Vol. 10: Counter-Earth Must Die. Thanks for reading this blog entry! if you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! See you next time!
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