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Fantastic Four #22

Aug 2020
Dan Slott, Paco Medina

Fantastic Four #22 cover

Story Name:

You had one job


Synopsis

Fantastic Four #22 synopsis by Rob Johnson
Rating: 4 stars
While the adult Fantastic Four got involved in the Empyre conflict they sent their children Franklin Richards and Valeria Richards home to Earth with the 2 alien kids they'd rescued to look after. But the Kree Jo-Venn and the Skrull N'Kalla's animosity to each other caused trouble and Valeria used the Four-Alarmer to call for help, which arrived in the form of their old allies Spider-Man and Wolverine. Alicia Masters and Human Torch's alien girlfriend Sky also came to help. N'Kalla, in the form of a tigroid, recognised Alicia's name and ran to her. But newly-arrived Logan thought she was attacking and stabbed her. Meanwhile Spidey was still sensing danger, which we know was the threat of the Dark Harvest, elite Priests Of Pama sent after the young aliens.

We begin with a shot of the FF and Kree/Skrull troops on their flagship being attacked by the onboard plantlife. The plants have particularly affected Thing, which places this scene within Empyre #2.

Meanwhile on Yancy Street Franklin and Logan are shouting at each other while Alicia is crouching over the girl copiously bleeding green who continues to insist she knows her, although Alicia doesn't recognise her at all. Jo-Venn has spent all his young life fighting N'Kalla in the battle-domes (of the Casino Cosmico) and he says she *can't* die like this ... because *he* must be the 1 to kill her. Wolverine has to restrain the suddenly raging boy. Valeria comes out of the FF's base at 4 Yancy St and helps her brother and Alicia get the dying girl inside to the medical bay.

All this time Spidey has been trying to get anyone to listen to him because the danger he sensed is still here and all round them. Sky asks 'Spidey' who he is and what he's doing. And she tells him she's Sky from the planet Spyre, Johnny Storm's soulmate. That's enough to distract him, and cause the Dark Harvest to choose that moment to attack. Their leader Master Forest says all they want is the Kree boy but Wolvie takes that as a cue to plough into the troops, despite ungrateful Jo-Venn insisting he can fight his own battles. Spider-Man joins in. Winged Sky has taken to the sky and sees a female approaching Jo-Venn and swoops down to interpose herself protectively. But for her troubles Sharpest Thorn peppers her wings with poisoned thorns. And another Harvester captures the Kree in vines.

Inside Valeria and the autodoc have N'Kalla stabilised. Before she sinks into sedation the Skrull girl insists that she could always tell Alicia all her secrets. Franklin suggests he and his sister better go out to help the others in the fight they can hear. Val doesn't want to leave Aunt Alicia alone with a wounded Skrull whose only instinct is to fight, so she digs up an image inducer which 1 of them can use to impersonate Alicia in case N'Kalla wakes up. Alicia says she can take care of herself. And also she doesn't want her image to be scanned into the device because she *knows* the pair would use it later to play tricks on her husband Ben Grimm.

Outside a large member of the Dark Harvest called Venerable Oak is holding Spider-Man in the air, and Spidey is complaining about splinters. Master Forest mentally probes the boy known as the Kree's Living Chronicle and retrieves what he's after, a memory from the Kree/Skrull War event of Captain Marvel constructing an Omni-Wave Projector (back in original Avengers #94). With this the Cotati can send their thoughts across the Universe, including taking psychic action. Jo-Venn is now unconscious but Master Forest decides to double his winnings by going after the Skrull girl too.

He tells Oak to drop Spider-Man and break the door down. And they find that the inside of 4 Yancy St is much larger than the outside (the FF obviously have a Time-Lord as their architect). Master F sees the Four-Alarmer and recognises it from his studies as the device the Skrull De'Lila, disguised as Invisible Woman, used to summon Ghost Rider (Danny Ketch), (the Mr Fix-It) Hulk, Spider-Man and Wolverine and tricked them into becoming a temporary FF for her own purposes (FF#347-349). The FF kids have obviously done it again. Spider-Man and Wolverine are already here so he fears Ghost Rider and Hulk won't be far behind. Right on cue GR (complete with chain and fiery bike) and grey Hulk enter the room and give the invaders 1 chance to escape with their lives. The psychic Forest is unsure if they are real, but Hulk smashes Oak through a wall ...

... where Spidey just avoids being landed on. Master Forest decides to cut his losses and the Dark Harvest leave with the Kree boy. Wolverine tries to follow but Sharpest Thorn hits him with enough poison darts to kill 20 men. Spider-Man launches 2 tracers but a foe named Bladed Leaf smashes them with a kick. Hulk and GR join the rest of the 'New FF' but reveal themselves as Frank and Val with image inducers and a cosmic punch from Franklin.

As Spider-Man and Wolverine lick their wounds Val and Alicia confirm that N'Kalla and Sky will recover. Spidey wants to know more about Johnny and Sky, and he'll be upset if he's missed a wedding since he wasn't invited to Ben and Alicia's. (They had a very small ceremony in #5, but Spidey did attend the bachelor party.) Since the real GR and Hulk aren't answering the call Frank asks Wolverine to portal in some more X-Men, but Logan points out that the gateways from Krakoa are plant-based and so are suspect in the current Cotati situation. Franklin has been on his case all issue about how useless he's been. Logan points out (again), that Franklin is an Omega-level mutant so why doesn't *he* do something. So the kid cosmic-punches him. Logan says that's a start.

Suddenly they get a call from Reed Richards, and Frank doesn't know how to explain away that they lost 1 of their charges and let the other get almost killed. But Val tells the truth and Reed says they've done their best in the situation. Val comments that the Four-Alarmer failed because it only got hold of 2 substitute FFers. But their father says it worked because there were 2 members of the FF already on site - Franklin and Valeria. He remotely triggers delivery of 2 extra FF uniforms for Spidey and Wolvie (whose costumes have got a bit tattered) and says he's confidant they'll sort it all out.


 

Review / Commentaries


Fantastic Four #22 Review by (August 8, 2020)
Paco Medina & Sean Izaakse continue to share the pencils and inks. This time Marcio Menyz is aided by Jesus Aburtov on colours.

So at the end of this issue we get the team and costumes seen on the cover of last issue. Meanwhile this issue's cover is also misleading because a) the 4 chars portrayed don't actually fight together, and b) Spider-M<an and Wolverine don't get their FF costumes until after Franklin and Valeria turn their Hulk and Ghost Rider holograms off. Of course it could conceivably be a scene from *next* issue.

The video call with Mr Fantastic at the end of this issue seems to match up with the 1 Reed remembers having when he summarises the position at the beginning of Empyre #3. So combined with the opening scene this places this issue completely within Empyre #2.



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Paco Medina
Paco Medina
Marcio Menyz
Nick Bradshaw (Cover Penciler)
Nick Bradshaw (Cover Inker)
John Rauch (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Joe Caramagna.
Editor: Tom Brevoort. Editor-in-chief: C. B. Cebulski.

Characters

Listed in alphabetical order. All stories.

Mr. Fantastic
Mr. Fantastic

(Reed Richards)
Spider-Man
Spider-Man

(Peter Parker)
Wolverine
Wolverine

(James Howlett)
Plus: Jo-Venn, N'Kalla, Sky.

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