Fantastic Four #260
Published and © by Marvel, November 1983
Title: “When Titans Clash!”
Synopsis: A shorthanded Fantastic Four does battle with Doom and Tyros. Luckily, the Silver Surfer is nearby to lend a hand.
Writer: John Byrne
Artist: Byrne
Review: With the exception of setting up a Sub-Mariner subplot (which continues in Alpha Flight #4), this issue is turned over to an all-out battle royal: The FF! Silver Surfer! Doctor Doom! Tyros the Terrible (aka the villain formerly known as Terrax the Tamer)! As FF writer, John Byrne regularly displayed a knack for the little character moment; here, he shows he’s a master of BIG! PUNCHING!, too. He also has a nice touch when it comes to cosmic prose, an essential skill for authoring a title like FF. And his fight choreography – in both story and art – is excellent.
Grade: A-
Second opinion: “Well done.” – Gene Kehoe, It’s a Fanzine #21, November 1983 … “Beneath a rather nicely composed cover by Byrne, it’s action all the way in Fantastic Four #260.” – Pierre Comtois, “Marvel Comics in the 1980s: An Issue By Issue Field Guide to a Pop Culture Phenomenon,” 2014
Cool factor: BIG! PUNCHING!
Collector’s note: According to the Grand Comics Database, there is a 75¢ Canadian variant of this issue. … According to MyComicShop.com, there is also a Mark Jewelers variant.
Character quotable: “Then ‘no one’ rides a shining silver board!” – The Silver Surfer, reminding us all that he’s a silly concept that strangely works
Editor’s note: This review was originally published by Comics Bronze Age on Jan. 27, 2010.
