Fantastic Four #268 (2026 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

This 1984 issue of Fantastic Four has heartbreak, mystery and tons of action. Not to mention a bunch of guest stars!

The story takes place after the Secret Wars. The Thing has temporarily stepped away from the team in order to find himself on the Battleworld. Taking his place is She-Hulk. Jennifer Walters has been on the team for a couple of weeks now and seen action as the FF's heavy. But she's yet to seen the interior of the Baxter Building. Sue Richards has just previously experienced a miscarriage. So in order to give Sue and husband Reed a chance to mourn, Johnny Storm thinks now is as good a time as any to give She-Hulk the deluxe tour of the team's headquarters. 

One of the areas where Johnny takes Jen is to a little seen 'trophy room' full of tech recovered from the Fantastic Four's numerous encounters with baddies. One of the newest additions to the room is the mask of the recently deceased Doctor Doom! And it gives both the Human Torch and She-Hulk the creeps . Rightfully so! Because all of a sudden the mask comes alive and starts destroying the entire building!!!

I had mentioned that this issue had a bunch of guest stars in it. Assisting with the complications of Sue Richards gamma infused pregnancy are some of the Marvel Universes leading experts in gamma radiation. Dr. Michael Morbius, Dr. Bruce Banner, Professor Walter Langkowski (Alpha Flight's Sasquatch) are consulted to tragic circumstances. Even the diabolical Otto Octavius is given a day pass from prison on the good and desperate word of Mister Fantastic. But alas it just wasn't meant to be.

As a parent of multiple multiple miscarriages, I can completely sympathize with Reed Richard's. Knowing my wife was suffering and that my children were at risk, I too would have moved Heaven and Earth to save them. God knows I tried.

Speaking of Bruce Banner- he actually makes 2 cameos! That's because during her tour of the Baxter Building, She-Hulk recounts her origin story to Johnny Storm. Thanks to a blood transfusion from cousin Bruce, Jen first became the Savage She-Hulk before gaining full control of her rage and emotions as the Sensational She-Hulk!

The characters all with beady little eyes. The blondes all with Farrah Fawcett style hairdos. The dark blue uniforms with the white collars. She-Hulk in all her Amazonian stature and allure. This is quintessential John Bryne Fantastic Four! The only thing missing is Wyatt Wingfoot. But don't worry; he's teased to be returning in the next issue.

Lastly, I have to marvel at the cover. It's a combination of an actual photograph of Doctor Doom's mask and John Byrne's version of ray beams shooting out of the mask's eyes! The creator of the real life Doom mask is Eliot R. Brown. Some of you might recognize his work of the famous live action cover of 1985's Amazing Spider-Man #262! Note: The image I have used is a hi-definition version found on Marvel.Com. Here you can see the full outline of the mask and the rivets. On the original cover, all that is really hard to make out. One of the few times that digital beats paper...

A great issue with action, adventure and sadness! But absolutely powerful. 

Completing this review completes Task #6 (Fantastic Four Comic from the 1980s) of the 2026 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars. 

Deadpool by Alyssa Wong, Vol. 1

A new series of Deadpool has the Merc with a Mouth invited to join an illustrious team of assassins. In order to secure membership, Deadpool has 48-hours to kill Doctor Octopus! Should he fail, Deadpool will never again be given a chance to join a team that has been Wade Wilson's dream job for all of about 30 minutes.

With just a couple of hours before Deadpool's time limit is up, the mercenary awakens to find himself strapped to a table in a strange looking lab, being attended upon by one strange lady. This isn't the type of trap that Deadpool should have any trouble escaping from. He's done this kind of thing a million times before. The part where he's got an experimental symbiote taken from the DNA of Carnage, that's another story. 

Alyssa Wong's debut as Deadpool writer was an enjoyable one. Wong carries themself much like previous Deadpool writers have when it comes to the character- with little to no reverence about anything. Though I would say that Alyssa Wong's Deadpool isn't as juvenile in terms of bathroom humor. But those pop culture references and non-sequiturs are just as brilliant as ever. 

The issues reprinted in this book introduce readers to the character of Valentine Vuong. According to several online sources, Valentine is Marvel's first openly non-binary character to use They/Them pronouns. I'm sure comic book scholars are debating that claim to this day. Regardless, Valentine becomes Deadpool's love interest in this book. 

I had written a while back that I had difficulty following works that use non-binary pronouns because based on decades of English lit classes and readings, I was used to he/she, etc. Well, I don't think I am the only one that has a problem with this. On several occasions Alyssa Wong uses she/her pronouns to describe Valentine Vuong. And according to Wong's Wikipedia page, the writer uses they/them pronouns!

Plus, Wade keeps referring to Valentine as his 'girlfriend'. For a non-binary character is that even pronoun accurate? According to Quora: NO! The appropriate non-binary term world be 'enby' or 'enbyfriend.' Maybe Deadpool doesn't know Valentine is non-binary? Maybe Marvel or Wong thought while readers might understand they/them, adding enby might be too much? Regardless, it's not just amateur reviews like this Madman that gets those pronouns confused. Nor do we all stay consistent with them!

Speaking of a lack of consistency, the artwork by Martin Coccolo was varied. All of the heroes are draw with very clean, thick lines. The villains are illustrated in thinner lines about as hard to clearly see as strings of gossamer. Put both parties together and the pages look like they were drawn by 2 different artists. The first time we meet the character of Deadpool's crazed researcher captor, Harrower, she is extremely stunning with this luscious full head of hair. Yet over the course of these first 5 issues, Harrower's hair obtains less body and seems no more than shoulder length. I'd possibly blame the inker on this. However, it appears that Coccolo was both the penciller and inker on this book. Therefore, I can't really forgive the lack of cohesion in the overall artwork.

Yes, I want to get my hands on volume 2 when it comes out. Yes, I liked this book. However, I did find that while it seems to fit within the Marvel Universe, each issue seems to want to contradict the one before. Are the mistakes first time jitters, like how the first season of a popular TV show has to work out some production errors and kinks to get things right? Or is this just another sign at the lack of care in quality by the editorial staff at the House of Ideas. I hope it's the kinks. My gut tells me it's all due to the worst level of editorial control at Marvel since Bob Harras.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.