Issue(s): Fantastic Four #228
Cover Date: Mar 81
Title: "Ego-Spawn"
Credits:
Doug Moench - Writer
Bill Sienkiewicz - Penciler
Joe Sinnott - Inker
Bob Budiansky - Assistant Editor
Jim Salicrup - Editor

Review/plot:
With Franklin's powers returning, Reed decides to bring him to his former classmate, Abe Jankovitz, a professor of neurological studies, for an examination. There's a nice scene where, after arguing with Sue about whether or not Franklin should be subjected to testing, Reed asks Franklin directly, and he agrees.

Also along for the ride is Lorrie Manning, who Johnny asks out for the first time this issue. She is a charmer.

Jankovitz was said to be in the same class as Reed and Ben, but he must have been an older student, or unlike the FF, he ages in real time.

Jankovitz's "neurological studies" is actually charlatan New Age stuff (which, granted, is more plausible in the Marvel universe)...

....and he decides to hit Franklin with some adrenaline to simulate the circumstances under which Franklin has exhibited his abilities. Johnny - on a date, remember - says he's going to slip out for a burger with Lorrie, resulting in a snap from Sue...

...that sends him on a guilt spiral, even after she apologizes.

While Johnny and Lorrie are out, they attract the attention of a local tough guy. Meanwhile, Franklin shoots an energy ball out of his head.

It finds the tough guy, and they seem to switch brains. The scene is revelatory, both for how Franklin really feels about his parents, and for his choice in clothing.

The FF eventually manage to subdue the Franklin Gimp, and they get everyone's brain back where it belongs, although i don't think Johnny was aware enough of what was going on to report to Reed and Sue that Franklin thinks his parents are freaks. Mr. Fantastic decides to continue studies on Franklin on his own, thank you very much.

You can see a lot of ESP jargon being thrown at us in this story - J.B. Rhines tests, biofeedback, Jaques Vallee's theories that "the most commonly reported" UFOs are psychic ectoplasm - that in addition to sounding like someone trying to get me to call a 900 number for my astrology reading, is completely unnecessary. Franklin is the son of two super-heroes. He has super powers! No further explanation necessary!

I almost want to say that the problem with Moench's run was that he was trying too hard to do something extra clever instead of just plotting a good action story and relying on his natural writing talents to make it high quality.

Back in the entry for Fantastic Four #191 i posted a letter that i hoped someone would tell me was sarcastic. Here are two more along the same lines.

Quality Rating: C-

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: Johnny Storm begins dating Lorrie Melton in this issue, placing it before Marvel Two-In-One #74.

References:

• Johnny met Lorrie in Fantastic Four #222-223. It was also in that story that Nicholas Scratch possessed Franklin.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

Ego-Spawn, who really should be called Id-Spawn, will reappear in Fantastic Force. Sort of. It may be worth tagging him as a character. I assume you'll be tracking the Void and Onslaught as characters separate from their, um, progenitors.

Thanks Andrew. I'll see how/if i want to tag it when i get to those issues.

It would be such a big mistake for Marvel's editors and writers to ever pay any attention whatsoever to such obviously sick, twisted, and demented letters as what you've scanned here. Good thing we know Marvel would never do anything so foolish and pandering, because if they ever did, Sue could turn out to be one extremely messed up character, mirroring all that weird psychological pathology that went into those letters, right back into the faces of all the other poor comparatively innocent and unsuspecting readers, for years, decades, centuries, and maybe even millennia, yet to come. Mercy.

Reportedly, titles didn't always get all that many letters, and not all the letters they got were usable, so the staffers sometimes made letters up. It looks to me like someone took the opportunity to make fun of how Sue was used.

Scandalous. When Kirby & Lee had the helm, Lee would blame all of Sue's character quirks on the made-up-letter-writers. Shameless!;D