FANTASTIC FOUR #265

"THE HOUSE THAT REED BUILT" | "HOME ARE THE HEROES"
John Byrne, Everything Except...
Lettering by Mike Higgins | Coloring by : Glynis Wein
Editing: Bob Budiansky | Building: Jim Shooter

The Plot: (Story 1) The Trapster breaks into the Baxter Building with plans to kill the Fantastic Four, but is thwarted by the building’s automated defenses.

Sub-Plots & Continuity Notes: Franklin’s robotic baby-sitter is named as HUBERT in this story's narration, despite my belief that Byrne never called it by name during his run. Perhaps I was simply remembering that none of the characters seem to refer to the robot by name.

My Thoughts: This is a nifty little eleven-pager narrated partly by Trapster and illustrated from his perspective, through his eyes, and partly narrated by the Baxter Building itself and viewed through its built-in cameras. The story isn’t especially action-packed or funny (aside from the inherent humor of Trapster being defeated by a building), but its creativity makes up for that.

The Plot: (Story 2) A week has passed since Mister Fantastic, the Thing, and the Human Torch vanished, along with several of New York’s other heroes. Sue, Alicia, and Franklin have been staying at Avengers Mansion to be near the heroes’ point of disappearance. As the trio goes out on a walk through Central Park, they witness the heroes’ return. But the happy reunion is cut short when Sue suffers a radiation-induced attack. The FF rush her to the hospital.

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #251

"ENDINGS!"
Plot: Roger Stern | Script: Tom DeFalco
Pencil Breakdowns: Ron Frenz | Finished Art: Klaus Janson
Letters: Joe Rosen | Colors: Christie Scheele | Editor: Danny Fingeroth
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The Plot: Spider-Man and the Hobgoblin continue their fight within the goblin's burning warehouse as firefighters battle the blaze outside. Hobgoblin gets the drop on the spider-senseless wall-crawler, subduing him and escaping the scene in his battle van. But Spide-Man grabs hold of the fleeing vehicle and eventually makes it inside for a rematch with his foe. As the van rockets through the city under control of an auto-guidance system, Spider-Man's spider-sense returns, allowing him to turn the tables and stun the Hobgoblin. But when the van drives into the Hudson River and begins taking on water, Spider-Man is forced to evacuate. He dives back into the water to search for the Hobgoblin, but finds only his mask drifting to the surface.

Later, Peter Parker has dinner with Harry Osborn and assures him that all proof his father was the Green Goblin was destroyed in the warehouse fire. After Harry leaves, Peter suffers an agonizing blast of spider-sense and follows it to the Sheep Meadow in Central Park, where an enormous futuristic structure has appeared. The web-slinger is drawn to the bizarre edifice and as soon as he enters it, he vanishes.

The Sub-Plots: Jonah Jameson, having printed his confession regarding his role in the Scorpion's creation in the Daily Bugle, steps down as the newspaper's editor-in-chief, turning the job over to former city editor Robbie Robertson.

HERCULES: PRINCE OF POWER, VOLUME 2

"MY LOVE IS... GREEN?" | "RED WOLF STALKS THE STARS!"
"DEADLY LEGACY" | "A PEARL OF GREAT PRICE!"
Writer/Artist: Bob Layton
Letterer: Rick Parker | Colorist: Christie Scheele | Editor: Bob Budiansky
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

Something became clear to me as I began reading Bob Layton's second HERCULES mini-series. This is all one big "What If" story. I recall that Volume One began with narration stating that Hercules was returning to Olympus following his adventures with the Avengers. I simply took this to mean that he had recently left the Avengers in the continuity of the time, but apparently not. It actually meant that the story was starting after all of Hercules's adventures on Earth, at some undisclosed time in the future. Layton did not do a good job of explaining this.

However, Volume Two clears things up right off the bat as we join Hercules, 400 years later and still on his exile to learn humility. Narration indicates that Hercules spent some time on the brewery planet we last left him on, before returning to his travels across the universe with the Recorder.