Fantastic Four #249
Published and © by Marvel, December 1982
Title: “Man and Super-Man!”
Synopsis: Shi’ar guardsman Gladiator follows Skrulls to Earth, where he thinks they’ve gone into hiding as the Fantastic Four.
Writer: John Byrne
Artist: Byrne
Review: First, the story: This is a fine first half to a two-part slugfest including the Skrulls and Gladiator. For fans of John Byrne’s X-Men work, it was a huge thrill seeing the artist tackle the Shi’ar guardsman again – but not nearly as thrilling as the final-page appearance of what seems to be the X-Men themselves. On the art front, this issue marks the beginning of Byrne’s gradual decline on this title: While still quite nice, there are several panels where the backgrounds are noticeably missing. Sadly, that would be a trend that would continue in issues ahead.
Grade: B+
Cool factor: Byrne drawing the X-Men again. (Or so it seems.)
Not-so-cool factor: Where did the backgrounds go?
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: “By all the devils of the nine circles, I swear if he has succeeded in pursuing us through hyper-space, you will know the torture of a thousand agonies!” – A Skrull Supremor, demonstrated the vaunted Skrull management style
Editor’s note: This review was originally published by Comics Bronze Age on Nov. 6, 2009.
