Issue(s): Fantastic Four #282, Fantastic Four #283, Fantastic Four #284
Cover Date: Sep-Nov 85
Title: "Inwards to infinity!" / "Torment" / "Revolution!"
Credits:
John Byrne - Writer
John Byrne - Penciler
Jerry Ordway / Alan Gordon - Inker
Michael Higgins - Assistant Editor
Mike Carlin - Editor

Review/plot:
Issue #282 is a Secret Wars II tie-in, but anyone buying it for that purpose would be somewhat disappointed. The only relevance to Secret Wars II is a bit of a debate about whether or not to hunt down Psycho-Man now that it's confirmed that the Beyonder is on Earth, and a single-panel scene that repeats information from Secret Wars II #3.

On the other hand, i think there's enough in issue #282 to make up for it, including a Franklin Richard dream-sequence featuring Power Pack...

...an extremely pissed off Invisible Girl...

...and a ride in the Reducto-Craft...

...that culminates in a face off with a giant Psycho-Man.

That's better than any old Secret Wars II tie-in anyway, isn't it?

Mr. Fantastic had to rebuild the Reducto-Craft (in six hours, from memory and from scratch) that the FF have used in the past to get to the Microverse, since the original was destroyed along with the rest of the Baxter Building. The loss to Reed's equipment must have been enormous. Among who knows what else, there was the Gregory Gideon replica of Dr. Doom's time machine, Reed's Universal Translator, and all of their flying crafts.

There's a decent amount of effort (ok, just two text-heavy panels) in issue #282 put towards the notion that a trip to the Microverse isn't actually an exercise in shrinking down to a sub-atomic world; there's a point where you stop shrinking and enter another dimension instead. It's presented like it's something that was already established, but i suspect this is actually the first time we're seeing this theory (at least outside of the Handbooks, anyway). This is very similar to the Marvel theory of time-travel, which also actually sends travelers to another dimension, and is also in the spirit of the explanation of what happens to a Pym Particle user's extra mass. In my mind, it all comes out of the Handbooks' efforts to quantify and explain everything, which makes the Marvel Universe more science-fiction and less fantasy. You're trading Silver Age zaniness for more rational stories, and you can decide for yourself whether that's a good thing or not (see also the difference in resolution between the two times the Baxter Building was launched into space). This explanation does help with the question of how the Fantastic Four always manage to wind up on the same dust mote every time they shrink down to fight the Psycho-Man, but not why, say, the Hulk always winds up in Jarella's world when he shrinks but the FF wind up here instead (even if they've both used Pym Particles to get there). And there's something special about the fact that this is supposed to be a super-small world; it's a little less interesting if we're just in some parallel universe. It really does just make the Micronauts a pure space epic, for example. And how to explain people that enter the Microverse via the Prometheus Pit? I guess the idea is that you still do shrink, but there's a point where you stop shrinking and move laterally instead.

Anyway, the set-up isn't entirely academic, because it's key to unraveling Psycho-Man's defense plan, which hinges on convincing the Fantastic Four that they've shrunk too much, whereas in fact they're just on an oversized set and Psycho-Man's in a giant exoskeleton (the same one, actually, that he used in his first appearance to appear normal-sized on Earth).

The scenario is very much reminiscent of the giant Mysterio from Amazing Spider-Man #66-67.

But i've jumped a bit further into issue #283; let's rewind a bit and check out this awesome dream-sequence that Sue experiences while she's being tortured.

Reed gets progressively older as the dream goes on, and i'm sure that use of the word "female" is a callback to Stan Lee's writing.

In general it's a great reading of the subtext of Reed and Sue's relationship to date. A little later the Psycho-Man suggests that "the gulf of years between yourself and your husband creates in his mind the image of you as a foolish child...". Overall, the dream serves as a good feminist critique of earlier stories, but unfortunately at the same time it requires Sue to be a tortured victim (and this following her mental manipulation by the Hate-Monger in the previous arc that was a lead-up to this story) who is ultimately rescued by a calm and rational Reed (to be fair, Reed is later affected by Psycho-Man's doubt ray, destroying his usual unshakeable confidence).

The other powerful female member of the FF is also reduced to blubbering terror by the Psycho-Man's fear ray.

Don't worry too much about She-Hulk, though. Despite being pushed around and demeaned for about half an issue, she gets to deliver comeuppance.

She's helped by Pearla, ruler of the first microscopic kingdom the Fantastic Four ever encountered, back in FF #16.

Pearla's kingdom (which was always a little odd, being a medieval swords and sorcery realm in a heart-of-the-atom sci-fi setting) was conquered by the Psycho-Man "mere months ago". It's cool to show that this micro-kingdom existed in the same universe as the Psycho-Man. We also know that the Micronauts live in the same dimension as the Psycho-Man, so we really do have a unified Microverse. Presumably Jarella's world is floating out there somewhere, too.

Meanwhile, Sue catches up with Psycho-Man and extracts her vengeance.

All of this examination (and more) of Sue has a point. You can debate whether or not she needed to be mentally raped twice in order for it to happen, but i think it's a net positive that the Invisible Girl finally becomes the Invisible Woman.

When i read this in real time, it didn't seem that controversial to me. She was clearly an adult, was married, and had a child. In the eyes of an eleven year old, that pretty obviously makes you a woman. But in retrospect, while it was long overdue, it really was a big move to change the classic name of one of Marvel's premiere super-characters.

Of interest on the super-powers side of things, we're reminded that Mr. Fantastic's powers go beyond basic stretching; he can really become a goopy mess when he needs to.

Add up all of the above, plus great scripting and nice art...

...and you've got a really good set of issues.

Quality Rating: A

Historical Significance Rating: 5 - Invisible Girl becomes the Invisible Woman

Chronological Placement Considerations: A scene in issue #282 shows the Beyonder talking with "Vinnie" and "Toots" from Secret Wars II #3 in a restaurant. The Beyonder is still wearing his unmodified Steve Rogers form. The scene is colored in flashback colors, but it's meant to be occurring "this very moment" while the FF have first arrived in the Microverse. So roughly speaking, Secret Wars II #3 occurs concurrently with these issues.

References:

• When Franklin wakes up from his dream, he realizes he's in the Avengers Mansion, where the FF have been staying since the destruction of their headquarters. The footnote says the destruction was in issue #277, but it was actually Fantastic Four #278-279.
  
• A footnote references Secret Wars II #2 when Reed says that he knows that the Beyonder is on Earth, but in that issue, Reed said that he already been warned of the Beyonder's presence by Captain America.
  
• All of the FF except Sue were in the original Secret Wars, and Reed puts forth the thought that it's because of this that she's less concerned about the Beyonder's arrival.
  
• Johnny says that Sue is even more upset that when she had her miscarriage in Fantastic Four #267.
  
• The FF first went to the Microverse in Fantastic Four #16. They met Princess Pearla, now Queen, in that first trip as well.
  
• The Psycho-Man used his giant exoskeleton in his first appearance, Fantastic Four annual #5. No footnote for this, but the event is referenced.

Crossover: Secret Wars II

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

The Psycho-Man's henchman Dutta is named for Barry Dutter, who wrote many letters to Marvel expressing hatred for the She- Hulk and a desire to get rid of her. Hence, the "Dutta- shut up!".

In that panel of Sue telling off Reed -- does anyone know why the FF would have a huge Japanese flag in their HQ? (Kidding.)

I loved Byrne's run on this title. I was such the fanboy of his back in the day, and he broke my heart with his abrupt departures three times in the 1980s (X-MEN, FANTASTIC FOUR, and the flagship title of that other company you don't cover). All three series, in my opinion, were worse off afterward.

Sue's dream sequence lives on in my memory more than anything else in a pretty great multi-issue story. I love the subtext in the way *everyone* is drawn here, not just Reed -- Johnny is in her psyche as a young boy, and Ben is more recognizably human in his features, more vulnerable.

And if memory serves, the excellent issue with the little boy tragically emulating the Human Torch is coming up soon. Good stuff.

The Reducto-Craft looks way too much like a medicine bottle.

I'm pretty sure the replica of Doc dooms time machine will show up in WCA during the lost in space/time arc (in which it is destroyed by dominus's team, which included a living cactus)

Yes, eventually there was a backup story in an FF Annual that revealed the Watcher saved the FF's stuff and eventually returned it to them.

Ok, thanks

Barry Dutter didn't just write to Marvel. When Dave Kraft launched Comics Interview, Dutter quickly started writing in again about how much he hated the She-Hulk(due to Kraft being her former writer). This went on and on to the point where other letter writers wanted him banished. Logically, this meant that Dutter literally spent YEARS writing and crabbing about this one thing. No wonder Byrne did what he did. Of course, nobody pointed a gun to publishers' heads and made them print his letters to begin with...

Then, Barry Dutter would go on to write some stories for Marvel in the early-1990s.
See? Perseverance pays off.
Someone should have assigned him to a She-Hulk story.

The whole explanation for how shrinking below Planck's Constant sends you into another dimension was first stated by an parallel dimension counterpart of Henry Pym's in WHAT IF? #23, "What if the Hulk became a Barbarian"? (Answer: he'd start wearing a hat with silly horns). It was probably decided to embrace this theory because (A) modern particle physics models have pretty much disproved the old "worlds within worlds" theory, and (B) to explain how heroes could re-visit a particular "micro-world" if they were nowhere near where they shrank the last time. (But I'm with you -- it still kills some of the fun)

I love the Byrne/Ordway combo. Rare for Marvel, yes?

Ordway didn't do a ton for Marvel, period. And yeah, FF #276-283 seem to be his only pairing with Byrne at Marvel.

The dour-looking guy staring into his glass in that interpolated Secret Wars panel looks like Shooter. I mean, he looks both like real Shooter and more specifically like the way Byrne drew "Sunspot" (the four-page villain who rants about his ability to "create a new universe," and then shoots his own foot off) in that notorious sequence from DC's Legends.

I was nine years old when these issues came out (and now I know that Fnord is two years older than me) and they also made a huge impression on me.

In retrospect I do see that this story falls into the pattern of Byrne traumatizing a female character before building her up to be stronger. But at the time I was impressed with his work developing Sue in these issues. Actually, even as a kid I had always thought that Sue was known as "the Invisible Woman" so it was a surprise when I read these issues and found out she was still known as "the Invisible Girl" and was at long last changing that name to reflect her age & maturity. As Fnord said, "it didn't seem that controversial to me."

The final scene where Sue confronts Psycho-Man always stuck in my mind. Byrne drew Psycho-Man as looking especially evil & twisted when he's gloating over Reed. I'm glad that Byrne never showed just what Sue did to the Psycho-Man to avenger herself. By leaving that a mystery, it caused me (and undoubtedly many other readers) to imagine all sorts of unspeakable things that were terrifying beyond what Byrne could actually have depicted on-panel. Sometimes what you DON'T see is much scarier than what you do.

If you click on the link to the Impossible Man Summer Vacation Spectacular 2 above, you'll see that we do find out eventually what Sue did to him. Fnord thought it was implied in this story.
It's interesting because as a kid I guessed what Sue did to him and always was of two minds about the ending. On the one hand,it was EXACTLY what he deserved. OTOH, Byrne was associating female strength and maturity with revenge and cruelty, and that creeped me out.

Thanks for the info, Michael. Seeing that scene of the Psycho-Man going to the Impossible Man for (appropriately enough) psychotherapy actually gave me a chuckle. I believe that the info revealed by the Psycho-Man in that Impossible Man special was later reiterated by him in Fantastic Four Unlimited #8, albeit in a rather more serious manner, understandably enough!

Reading this storyline as a back issue, I thought it was odd that Byrne kept the Psycho-Man in the shadows but showed so much of him that it was obvious who he was. But this site helped me realize that the character hadn't been seen in this comic for over a decade, and wasn't used much at all.

Additionally, Kirby and Lee never actually used the "Hate" setting on Psycho-Man's raygun-box-thingus, so that, plus the fact that the FF were the first to battle the original Hate-Monger, was probably the inspiration for this storyline.

But yes, as fnord noted int he previous entry, the story has little to say about racial hatred; if we're being generous, though, it's perhaps an interesting example of sexism. Sue will explicitly compare what the Psycho-Man did to her with rape, and both the fears and doubts he uses against her and her final decision int his arc are very tied up with themes of sexism and feminism. So perhaps Byrne was sneaking in one set of "real-world issues" by initially trying to take on a flashier one?

Of course, the FF aren't the best team to use for a racism-themed story anyway, considering that they're one of the MU's least diverse teams.

In retrospect I do see that this story falls into the pattern of Byrne traumatizing a female character before building her up to be stronger. But at the time I was impressed with his work developing Sue in these issues. Actually, even as a kid I had always thought that Sue was known as "the Invisible Woman" so it was a surprise when I read these issues and found out she was still known as "the Invisible Girl" and was at long last changing that name to reflect her age & maturity. As Fnord said, "it didn't seem that controversial to me."

It's also Byrne playing with Claremont themes: prejudice, female empowerment, even Sue-as-domme-vie-mind-control. It almost reads as a criticism of how Claremont handles these plots; Sue doesn't find the whole thing secretly liberating, she just experiences it as a violation.

It's also worth recalling that this wasn't too far past things like the defeat of the ERA; it was at the 1980 Republican convention that Phyllis Schlafly and her supporters succeeded in in getting the party to drop its support fort the amendment.

I always did like the conception and depiction of Mr. Fantastic's self-liquidizing.

Ben Herman, I thought Shooter send-ups generally involved his head being out of frame?

Just checking this page randomly... Sue has a mullet! I had stopped reading Byrne's FFs around 250. Glad I missed this look!

Re: #283- Some nice touches by Byrne here. I particularly enjoyed the opposing aging of Reed and Sue. Reed getting older and more crotchety as Sue grew younger and more fearful and ineffective. While exaggerated the mean Reed here is encapsulating how many readers felt about Sue for many years.