Fantastic Four #357

[iamrman]

Puppet Master was right!

Comments

[scorntx]

"Are you sure it wouldn't be faster to just tell us what happened?"
"No! I said 'There's no time to explain' and I stick by that!"


The argument could, potentially, be made that Ben's murderous rampage here (aside from anger at Alicia bein' replaced by a stinkin' Skrull) is hewing close to his original characterisation back in the Stan'n'Jack days, where he would try to kill the other FF for no reason whatsoever.
Could.
Don't know what the general audience reaction was to it in the 60s, but it definitely doesn't work in the 90s. And even less so in the 2020s.

Finding out Alicia is a Skrull doesn't make Ben chasing after her with stated intent to kill any better.

[donnblake]

This superhero fight could've been an e-mail.

[blues32]

In fairness...I don't think they had e-mail at the time. At least not wide spread.

[tcampbell1000]

I'd say it makes it a little better. Just not nearly better enough. I understand DeFalco is trying to set up a mystery by having a character act seemingly out of character: There was a lot of precedent for that in DC Silver Age comics, along with the precedent for Ben's wild rages in Lee-Kirby that you've already mentioned. DeFalco clearly loved those old comics and wanted to bring some of that energy back, and similar goals have motivated a lot of great comics scriptwriting.

But you're right: it didn't work then, it doesn't work now, and I pretty much checked out of the Fantastic Four after this until the Waid days.

[mazway_75]

I've always gotten a kick out of how Byrne, who never met a history he couldn't retcon, got his own big contribution to the FF lore retconned by Alicia being a Skrull.

Even Walter Simonson touched on it when Doom returns after a long absence to find out about the marriage and "Alicia abandoned Grimm for Storm? And Grimm didn't kill Storm for it? Impossible, it makes no sense."