Fantastic Force Primer
Fantastic Force was yet another title from the 90s of comic books that suffered from the tropes of the era that created it. Marvel was likely trying to replicate the popularity of X-Force, which took the X-Men concept and populated a team with edgy young characters. Fantastic Force was a spin-off created from Tom DeFalco’s run on Fantastic Four pairing up the now teenaged Franklin Richards (aka Psi-Lord) with all new characters: Huntara the warrior woman, Vibraxis of Wakanda, and the Inhuman known as Devlor. The group was formed after the alleged break-up of the Fantastic Four in Fantastic Four #392. The FF didn’t stay disbanded for long but the Force continued on for 18 issues.
The entire series was written by Tom Brevoort and Mike Kanterovich. The series tried to delve into the past history of these relatively new characters and introduce a new bunch of villains. It tried to explore the true heritage of Huntara, who at first believed she was the daughter of Nathaniel Richards, but could have been a lie. It also dealt with Vibraxes guilt over lives lost due to his power over Vibranium as well as Devlor’s destiny to be “the One” of the Inhumans. Unfortunately, the series didn’t hit it off and a lot of these plot threads remained unresolved and are all but forgotten. Only Vibraxas’ storyline found some kind of resolution. Adding Black Panther, the Human Torch, and She-Hulk to the team did little to boost readership.
After issue #18, the Fantastic Force were seen one last time in Fantastic Four #416 and disbanded and were never seen as a group again.
