Part 4:1 – Do You Know Where Your Woman Is Tonight?
Fantastic Four # 147
June 1974
“The Sub-Mariner Strikes!”
Gerry Conway, Rich Buckler, and Joe Sinnott
Doug: As a bridge between the gut-wrenching story we’ve just taken a look at (albeit a long look – but it was fun!) and the story we’re next interested in (FF #’s 147-149), here’s a very brief look at events involving Reed/Sue/Franklin over the intervening two story arcs.
Doug: The issues from 142-146 are not without their significance in their own right – we see the introduction of Darkoth the Death-Demon on #142, the beginning of Rich Buckler’s tenure as penciller on the title (and his quick transition to a “Kirbyish” style), a great Doctor Doom entrance (copied (?) in The Empire Strikes Back) that leads into a mediocre two-parter in #’s 143-144, and Ross Andru as guest-penciller in #’s 145-146.
Sharon: Regarding the Dr. Doom entrance, it was copied all right—but not exactly in the way you think. This is a clear swipe of a Jack Kirby panel from Fantastic Four #87. I’ll get to Rich Buckler’s—ahem—“homage” to Kirby later on in this entry, but as for The Empire Strikes Back—as many are aware, there have been theories and arguments raging for decades about whether Kirby’s work influenced George Lucas and his Star Wars films. But that is a topic for another day…
Doug: Issue #142 gives us a recap of the events at the end of the previous story, mostly as related by Ben. Johnny has interaction with an old classmate of Reed’s, who happens to coach football at Metro U. Sue drives Franklin back to the farm where she’d sought refuge some issues before (only to have been kidnapped by Agatha Harkness). Other than that, most of the issue is a battle royale between Ben and Darkoth, and further revelations on Alicia Masters’ attempt to have her eyesight restored. One might also question if Medusa wasn’t in romantic pursuit of Reed in this issue as well. Another thing: I found it odd that Reed’s classmate, Coach Thorne, when laying eyes up Doom, acted as if he’d never seen the good Doctor. Must never watch the news or pick up a paper…
Doug: Issue #143 really doesn’t address the Sue/Franklin subplot, other than to show a 3-panel shot of Sue lamenting that she can trust no one after what Reed did – NO ONE! By the way, Giacoia’s inks over Buckler in this book leave a lot to be desired as compared to Sinnott’s!!
Karen: I’ll second that – Giacoia’s inks look rough and unfinished compared to Sinnott’s.
Sharon: Agreed, Buckler’s work looks terrible here. His pencils usually need a lot of help in the inking stage, and while I think Giacoia’s is a very good inker, Giacoia’s linework is too delicate for Buckler. Buckler usually needs a “slick” inker like Sinnott—or even a Dan Adkins (in Giant-Size Avengers #1), both of whom really add a polish to his pencils.
Doug: And that’s about it… Issues 144-146 were basically throwaways if you ask me. For Conway having been on the top of his game in the story we reviewed over the past two weeks, and returning to the summit with our next arc, he sure took some creative “time off” over these five months.
Karen: That’s putting it kindly, Doug. These issues were mediocre. Even the Dr. Doom story was boring.
Doug: Personally, I’m really excited to discuss this particular issue – the arc, too, but more for this story. When I was a youngster we moved away from my hometown due to a change in jobs. I was fortunate that I was able to find some new friends who shared my budding interest in comics. I really hit it off with one friend in particular, and he had this issue. FF #147 had to be perhaps only the fourth or fifth issue of the magazine I’d ever read. So, with a limited background I was just wide-eyed at the emotion of this tale – even as a not-quite-8-year old, I knew that this was big stuff. The fight early on between Ben, Johnny, and Namor was captivating. We had a lot of Megos back then, and we would act out various scenarios we’d seen. I had a Tarzan, and the “newer” Megos had colored briefs under the costumes. A stripped-down Tarzan was our Sub-Mariner!
Doug: But back to the story… As an adult, I can only imagine how painful it must be to be served a divorce summons, as Reed received from Sue. Conway was treading on very mature themes as we head into this story.
Karen: Yes, as we discussed before, I believe these stories from the 70’s were the precursor to our modern day ultra-realism. While on one hand I can appreciate such things, I’m sort of sorry to see mainstream comics turn so unrelentingly negative now. Although perhaps with the change in administrations and the overall resurgence of hope (even in these grim times) we might see comics become more optimistic as well.
Doug: Although the battle scene between Ben and Johnny and Namor was well choreographed, I do find it a little strange that Namor was just lying in wait beneath the waters of that lake. I suppose the flight path to Sue’s friends’ place was pretty well known and even standard, but it was a bit of a stretch on Conway’s part. Too, the asbestos net? Where exactly had Namor hidden that? Seems his outfit lacks a utility belt!
Karen: The details of the story do not bear close inspection!
Doug: A comment on Rich Buckler’s art in this issue – in his first story, #142, either he took pains to emulate John Buscema or Joe Sinnott provided that as a service. In the succeeding few issues, Buckler took on more of the “Kirbyish” appearance; but by the time we roll into this arc I would say he’s walking more on his own two feet. While the Kirby look is still present, there really are some fine looking panels in this story and I think that’s a tribute to Buckler’s growing confidence in himself.
Karen: I always liked Rich Buckler’s work. He was part of a group of very talented young artists and writers- perhaps the second wave of Marvel? – who made their mark in the 70s. I think because he worked on both FF and Thor, the Kirby clone label was applied to him. I mean, anyone being inked by Joe Sinnott is going to look somewhat like Kirby! Look at his other work, such as Deathlok in Astonishing Tales. The guy was a great storyteller and could flat-out draw!
Sharon: Okay. Buckler. So I’m reading FF #147 for the first time, courtesy of Fantastic Four Essentials Volume #7, and I noticed something strange—the panel of Subby carrying Sue in his arms looked awfully familiar. (The FF Essentials #7 does not include page numbers, but for the record the panel I’m referring to appears on page 10, panel 4 of the FF #147 reprint.) I had a strong feeling of déjà vu, I knew I’d seen that panel before—I could vividly picture it in context in another story---and off I raced to FF Annual #1…and sure enough, there it was, in all its Kirbyesque glory, on page 36, panel 1 of the Annual! Buckler had essentially copied the Sue and Namor figures!
