Fantastic Four vs the X-Men Primer
Fantastic Four Versus the X-Men was a limited series that was cranked out during the big X-Men boom of the late 80s early 90s. It was one of two “Versus” titles that pitted the X-Men against another superhero team (the latter being X-Men Vs the Avengers released later the same year). This series was written by long time X-Men writer Chris Claremont and drawn by Jon Bogdanove. It’s more of an X-Men title than it is a Fantastic Four book since the major focus is on the X-Men for a few reasons. The first was that this series was written as an epilogue to the Fall of the Mutants event that saw three members of the X-Men — Shadowcat, Colossus, and Nightcrawler — seriously wounded during the X-Men’s battle against the Marauders. Issues of Uncanny X-Men at the time also precluded this series with direct references. The Fantastic Four title at the time? Not so much. In fact, per the Marvel Chronology Project, the events of this limited series happen between pages of an issue of Fantastic Four.
The plot is somewhat straight forward: The X-Men seed Reed Richards to help cure Shadowcat whose phasing powers are cranking into overdrive and she is at risk of complete dis-incorporation. Seeking this as an opportunity to defeat his longtime foes and indenture the X-Men, Doctor Doom plants a counterfeit diary in Reed Richard’s belongings that tell that Reed intentionally exposed his friends to the cosmic rays that turned them into the Fantastic Four. Such a discovery, as you’d expect, shake the Fantastic Four to their very core. Unaware that he is being gas-lighted by his greatest foe, this also cause Reed to doubt his abilities and when the X-Men come knocking he refuses to help because Reed is not confident that he can succeed. This leads to the X-Men going to Doctor Doom for help. Of course the deception is revealed and the Fantastic Four intervene and stop Doctor Doom from killing Shadowcat with is faulty calculations.
As far as Fantastic Four stories go, this is notable as it is the last time you see She-Hulk acting as a member of the team. At the time, the Thing had returned to the team after a prolonged absence and She-Hulk was silently phased off the team without so much as a departure issue . Claremont tells a compelling story, but its heavy leanings toward X-Men continuity does a disservice to the Fantastic Four since the aftermath didn’t effect the FF overly much.
Although the Fantastic Four and X-Men will later team-up many times after this limited series, the teams don’t get a dedicated limited series again until X-Men/Fantastic Four in 2005.
