Fantastic Force #1 — Nick Peron

Jan 17

Jan 17 Fantastic Force #1

Legacy

The Fantastic Four has officially broken up leaving Psi-Lord asking his allies Huntara and the Black Panther about what he should do. Huntara thinks that she has heard enough and tells Franklin to move on from the issue. Black Panther intervenes and has Franklin explain things. Psi-Lord speaks of the Fantastic Four's recent battle with the Dark Raider, an evil version of his father from another reality, and even though he ignored his grandfather's warnings, the battle ended with the dissolution of the Fantastic Four. After hearing this, the Black Panther believes that perhaps the break up of the Fantastic Four was pre-ordained. He takes the pair to another room where they find Vibraxas in a training session with combat robots. Although Huntara comes to his aid, the arrogant Vibraxas refuses her help back to his feet. As Vibraxas goes to leave the room he almost stumbles into the Black Panther's other charge, the Inhuman known as Devlor. When Vibraxas berates Devlor, the young Inhuman transforms into his monster form but cannot bring himself to fight. The Black Panther then tells the group that he has matters of the state to attend to and leaves the youths to get acquainted.

While down on the street a strangely garbed man reads the Daily Bugle and learns of the Fantastic Four's dissolution and the fact that his old foe the Black Panther plans to visit the United Nations. When the man operating the newspaper stand asks if he intends to buy the paper, the mystery man fires a blast from his hand destroy the stand. He then walks off intent on getting revenge against his old foe.

Back at the hotel, Devlor takes it easy enjoying television and room service. Elsewhere Franklin and Huntara continue to talk about his future, recounting their training under Warlord Kargul. Suddenly they are all attacked by Klaw who is seeking revenge against the Black Panther. When each of the super-powered youths attempts to fight him on their own, Klaw easily beats them back. Franklin quickly realizes that they need to work together to stop their foe and establishes a psi-link between himself, Huntara, Vibraxas and Devlor. Working together they keep Klaw on the ropes until Vibraxas is able to destabilize Klaw with his vibrational powers. The Black Panther returns and knocks out Klaw with a pair of Vibranium knuckles. With their foe defeated, Klaw is quickly turned over to the NYPD. With the battle over, the four youths realize that they fight well together as a team. Franklin suggests that they work together and they all eventually agree. Black Panther then christens the group with their new name: The Fantastic Force, a team that will live on in the tradition of the Fantastic Four.

Recurring Characters

Fantastic Force (Psi-Lord, Huntara, Vibraxas, Devlor, Black Panther), Klaw

Continuity Notes

This story follows the events of Fantastic Four #392 following their battle with the Dark Raider. Following that battle the Fantastic Four decided to split up due to Sue's insistence that her husband is still alive and Johnny's volatile relationship with Lyja. Some facts about this:
- Reed was seemingly slain in Fantastic Four #381, but is later discovered alive in Fantastic Four #406.
- Johnny had just recently discovered that Lyja's "baby" was really a Sha'Barri egg in Fantastic Four #390.
- The Fantastic Four are drawn back together during the events of Fantastic Four #397-399.

In the early pictures of the Thing that are laid out on the table depict him with lizard-like skin instead of his trademark brick-like complexion. As explained in Marvel Two-In-One #50 the Thing's body continued to mutate between Fantastic Four #1-10.

One of the photos on the table is a homage to the cover of Fantastic Four #3.

The teenage Franklin seen here was delivered to the modern age by Nathaniel Richards from Earth-6311 to replace his Earth-616 counterpart. This occurred in Fantastic Four #376. Although everyone reacts as though this is Earth-616's Franklin all grown up, the young Franklin is returned in Fantastic Four #413. Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #14 confirms that they are separate entities. Franklin believes that his mission was to stop the Dark Raider from destroying the Fantastic Four as explained in Fantastic Four #387, however this is part of a larger scheme to stop Hyperstorm that is not realized until Fantastic Four #414.