Black
Panther
Fantastic
Four #545
In
which we learn the Gravity of the situation…
"Reconstruction:
Chapter Two – Don’t Make Me Embarrass You in Front of Your Friends”
Writer – Dwayne McDuffie
Penciller – Paul
Pelletier
Inker – Rick Magyar
Letterer – V.C.’s Russ
Wooton
Colorist – Paul Mounts
Asst Editor – Molly
Lazer
Editor – Tom Brevoot
Editor-in-Chief – Joe
Quesada
June 2007
We
intro’ed these shenanigans a bunch last issue, so I’m just gonna roll right into
the story today…
We
begin with Reed and Sue solar sailing their way to Titan. Sue’s a bit miffed at
not knowing their destination, but as they close in on Saturn’s moon, a hologram
of Mentor appears and welcomes them to his home. That kind of blows part of the
reveal of where they are going, but only a small part of it. Reed still gets to
pull back the curtain and show Sue where they are headed.
And
of course, she worries about how things are back with the other two of the
superhero foursome, which is the perfect lead-in for the book to drop is right where
they are. And where they are us about to go toe-to-toe with the Silver ‘fricken
Surfer.
And
the reason for this upcoming throwdown is the planet-sized kelpto named Epoch,
who just happens to be harboring the body of a stolen Earthman superhero named
Greg Willis a/k/a Gravity. Epoch is sheltering the remains for some reason. The
FF just arrived here to question him, but now it seems the Surfer is going to feed
him to Galactus for a snack.
There’s
a bunch of reasons for this beyond Galactus is hungry which we will get into next book, but first a word from our superhero team!
And
that word is “get-ready-to-rumble”! I love this sequence because we catch T’Challa
in some very human like interactions. He plays Ben’s straight-man, which is
very much Reed like, shares an intimate second with Ororo which isn’t something
Reed would let happen this close to a developing situation, and then instead of
putting a leash on Johnny, he encourages the lad to “go wild” in a way that
Reed wouldn’t. Panther doesn’t avoid diplomacy but he actively believes in
preparing for the worst, something that Reed wouldn’t do. Reed wouldn’t want it
to seem like the FF was provoking anyone, whereas T’Challa wants to negotiate
from a position of strength. I’m intrigued.
Ben
attempts to de-escalate things, but Surfer’s not having it…
…which
sounds to Ben like that is the bell of round one. Ready, everyone? ‘Cause Here!
We! GO!
Ben
about gets turned to pebbles by a blast of the Power Cosmic…, but Johnny swoops
in just as Surfer gets serious and makes off with his teammate to a nearby
asteroid.
And
while they prepare for the Surfer to follow, he’s detained by the sudden
appearance of a thicker patch of space that he wrongly attributes to Epoch…
…only
to find that it is courtesy of Storm, who is feeling a bit cocky. That’s the
Silver Surfer, dear. What do you think you can do against a guy that wields
cosmic power, Ororo? I mean, if you’re bluffing that’s great, but he’s clearly
unimpressed.
oh…my!
Pardon
me for thinking Storm was pulling a fast one here. Even in space, girl’s got
game.
And
speaking of game, this entire thing is about obtaining the dead body of
Gravity, whom Epoch is sheltering. That trophy won’t go to the winner of this
beat down though, because Epoch starts speeding time up at the cost to her own
power reserves in order to accomplish THIS!
That’s
right, baby! Gravity’s BACK! (I really liked him in Beyond! Did you go get it
yet? No? Bad reader! Bad! Bad!)
And
we know what Epoch’s deal for Gravity being chosen as the recipient of the
greatest honor in the universe prize. It’s the same thing Eon gave Quasar and
Captain Mar-Vell, the coveted Protector of the Universe prize.
After
having to ask twice if he was dead, Greg decides he’s on an LSD kick of some
kind gand given that he’s floating in space talking to a giant planetoid with a
glowing face and tentacles I’d say that’s probably the reaction we’d all have
in his situation.
Epoch
isn’t having it though and forces some cosmic knowledge and power on Gravity,
in a rather painful way.
While
all this is going on, the Surfer has broken free of Storms electrical discharge
and he’s a bit…miffed.
Johnny
takes him off his board, but for a guy bonded to that cosmic surf plank that
just makes a usable project aimed at an enemy. Nite-nite, Torch.
However,
upon calling back his flying steed, the Surfer encounters an unexpected rider…
…Isn’t
that a neat graphic? Anyway…
T’Challa
bests the Surfer in hand-to-hand combat and gets him in a wrestling hold even
the Surfer can’t break. He wants a chance to de-escalate the situation and talk
things out.
..sadly,
as soon as Panther starts talking Stardust steps in and blasts him and the Surfer
back to neutral corners. He drops Ben into some kind of force ball and apparently
knocks Panther unconscious. Which is sad, as Panther’s maneuver bore fruit: the
Surfer wanted to hear why the Fantastic Four were searching for Epoch too.
Except
T’Challa is playing Opossum and Surfer knows it. At this point however the
tension between the groups has dissipated and Surfer learns the group is only
there to recover Gravity’s body.
And
this aside happens between Ben and Norrin that really shows a sliver of what McDuffie
can do with these characters. For all this banging about for the past 17 pages,
if there can be moments like this then you’ve got a winning FF run, in my
opinion. As long as you spice up your people punching things with some philosophy
or smarts, then I’m on your side, book. No matter who makes up the FF nor how I
feel about the editorial mandates enacted to make them come to be.
And
certainly I feel that when the book turns the tables on us and has Ben flat
declare that he isn’t going to let Galactus nosh on Epoch. The team discussion
that follows is EPIC. Johnny and Storm side with Ben. T’Challa attempts making a blanket decision against taking a stand for Epoch…
…and
this bit of face-off in the wake of Reed’s actions during Civil War is
amazingly pointed. Wow! What a dynamic the book sets up here. Had I been buying
Marvel at the time, I would have put the FF on my pull list the very day I read
this one. Love to see where this would end up going.
Storm
forces T’Challa’s hand, flatly stating that they can’t walk away. Love that Ben
is chomping at the bit here and Johnny has to talk him down.
The
group tells Surfer who’s reply is “…take this opportunity to tell him yourself.”
as Galactus’s ball-shaped spaceship appears. While Galactus starts putting
together his world-eating machine, T’Challa has Michael Collins bring the ship
around and they bug out. Gone in a flash! That’s Panther’s big plan apparently.
The
thing is flabbergasted and then gets pissed. Storm’s calm demeanor belies
something else in the works though. She truly trusts her husband.
He’s
about to take his frustrations out on the Surfer when suddenly…
…a
cosmically powered-up Gravity finally makes himself known, heralding a REALLY
big head-to-head next issue.
We’ll
take a look at that tomorrow, but for now let’s agree that first two books show
a bunch of promise for this new squad. Way better than I had ever hoped for.
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