With the announcement of a possibly forthcoming Fantastic Four movie - third (fourth?) times the charm! - I was thinking about who would make a good Dr. Doom. Who has the bombast, the dramatic demeanor. Then I read some concerns about Pedro Pascal as Reed, because the person just sees Pascal as himself now, rather than whatever role he's playing. They mentioned Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, and my brain said, "Nic Muthafuckin' Cage as Doom."
Then I woke up on the floor with blood pouring from my eyes and ears. Anyway, comics!
Sue's helping with an archaeological dig in Arizona (because North established or reiterated that's what she has a doctorate in) which has found peculiar skeleton. 20,000 years old, but with European skeletal features. Oh, and there are scraps on clothing made of unstable molecules on the body. Using invisibility to compare the remains to the FF's - Gomez's stretchy Reed skeleton is highly disturbing, but only present on a splash page, so I can't show it here - leads to the conclusion the body is Sue, somehow.
So then we get the somehow. Reed brought Sue back to a point when the earliest arrivals were passing by that point, as an anniversary gift. Sure, he's off by probably at least 100,000, if not 200,000 years, if The Indigenous Paleolithic of the Western Hemisphere is on the money, but it's the thought that counts. Anyway, Rama-Tut shows up to kill them, right after he promised to do so in 1963's FF #19. And he's going to cheat like crazy, as every time they thwart him, he jumps back to before that, until they're overrun with Rama-Tuts.
Reed and Sue retreat to their time (4 years after Sue finds the body) to concoct a plan. Which involves building a gun that does science stuff, but also 3-D printing facsimiles of themselves. Meaning Reed has a 3-D printer that creates human bone and tissue. That feels kind of creepy. Sure hope he doesn't hit the "Asgardian Thunder God" setting by accident (or "accident".)
Anyway, when Rama-Tut uses time tricks to swipe the gun, after Reed spends 3 panels explaining exactly what it does, he unwittingly shoots the duplicates, kept invisible until then, instead of the real deal. North writes Rama-Tut as a big gloater. Bragging, talking shit, the whole nine yards. Gomez has draws several panels of Rama-Tut looking smug.
There's some handwavey explanation for why Rama doesn't just try again when he eventually figures out it didn't take, but more critically, Future Sue invisibly communicates with Present Reed and Sue that there's nothing to worry about. Sue can apparently make Braille with her powers, which isn't that out of line for the level of power she's demonstrated.
Not sure what Present-Day Sue is going to tell the people who called her in for that dig.
It's Tigra's turn with Dr. Sterman, as she relates what happened in the confrontation with the new Moon Knight - she and Hunter's Moon got their asses kicked - and why she's convinced the new guy isn't Marc Spector. The latter of which involves a stroll down memory lane through her past lovers. We don't see any flashbacks, just her talking. Eyes darting away from Sterman's, or looking at something only she can see (figuratively). Fiddling with her hair or flexing her fingers, showing off the claws. Little tics, stuff like that.
As for the fight, this new Moon Knight has at least one new trick. Namely, he can envelop someone in total darkness, which he likens to the new moon. Rosenberg kind of blends purple with black for taht effect. That's how - combined with some pepper powder to mess with her nostrils - he can take out Tigra. Seems like that shouldn't help with a cat's hearing, but oh well. Reese dares him to prove he's Moon Knight by taking over the Midnight Mission, but the building rejects him. I think the building lifts from its foundation before dropping in an attempt to squash him, but it's not really clear. Either way he leaves, telling them to stay out of his way.
It's the Shroud, right? Got the shadow powers, knows martial artist, wouldn't need light to fight anyway because he's blind, kind of nuts. It's the Shroud. Can't decide yet if this is better or worse than Mark Waid writing him as a pathetic stalker loser in Daredevil. See how MacKay plays it.
2 comments:
Of *course* Reed has a machine that prints copies of his family's skeletons. Creep.
I guess being able to create actual bone and tissue would be extremely helpful for grafts and transplants and whatnot, but an entire organic body is. . .whoo, kind of disturbing.
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