The Fourth Member--Thundra, A Slight Reprise

A mere three issues after her debut with the Frightful Four, Thundra returns, along with the Four...sort of.

You see, Fantastic Four #133 (1973) is kind of a muddle. Roy Thomas had decided that his duties as Editor-In-Chief didn't leave him time to write any mags regularly, except for Conan. So he turned over the writing reigns on FF to Gerry Conway. But this particular issue was still drawn to Roy's plot, so they are some spots where it seems...some lack of communication, shall we say...leaves important events happening off-screen, or contradicting what we saw just three issues ago, or...well, you'll see.

Complicating matters further, John Buscema is off this issue, and Ramona Fradon does a "fill-in" job (the letter pages' term, not mine...they also refer to her as "woman-cartoonist Ramona Fradon"). So there are a lot of not-the-usual-chefs stirring the pot this issue.

We begin on New Year's Eve, when the FF are strolling Times Square. Suddenly:

Back so soon? What does Thundra want?

Gee, you know, it would have been to to watch Thundra issue the challenge, not just watch Reed narrate it. Not the last time this issue we'll see "tell, don't show," I'm afraid.

After she whoops the Torch, Ben tries to get in on the act, but Thundra has a plan to stop the fight from happening early:


Now wait just one minute. Back in FF #130, Thundra broke off her tussle with the Thing because she didn't think that having him fight to defend loved ones was an appropriate challenge--look:

So now she...wants to make him fight to defend a loved one. Either Thundra really changed her mind in a hurry, or Roy and Gerry didn't communicate too well.

Anyhow, Thundra does indeed kidnap Alicia to insure that Ben accepts her duel request. And where, you should be asking, are the Frightful Four? Oh, you had to ask...

That's right...hiding out in an abandoned water tower in Queens. Really, the all powerful Frightful Four...hiding in a water tower, with cinder blocks and wooden boards for furniture. Special note for regular reader Menshevik: yes, the Sinister Six could completely kick the Frightful Four's ass.

The Wizard is still relying on the old "pretend to not be killers until we don't need her and then bwa ha ha!!" plan. In a sad statement on the Femizon educational system, that plan is still working...

Meanwhile, with the challenge being so public, the media is going bonkers:

...and Shea Stadium is sold out for the main event!!

Don't worry...all those gawkers who paid to watch Ben Grimm get killed get shafted, because, after only one punch...


Oops, the fight is relocated anyway!! Ha, ha.

So why did Thundra want Shea Stadium anyway?

See, Wizard = mass murderer. Why in tarnation would Thundra work for him??

Anyway, Ben is getting the bejeebers knocked out of him, when Reed completely cheats:


Seem he just had this ray laying around that would transform the Thing back to human...for about 5 seconds. D'oh!!

So, how does Alicia get rescued?? Completely offscreen!!

Why show the resolution of the plot, when you can just narrate?!? But wait, there's more!!

Yes, Wizard, it's "obvious"...but why the hell weren't we shown?? Terrible storytelling, with all of the plot's resolution happening offstage...

And again, since you knew she had this "incomprehensible logic of fair play," why the hell did you recruit her in the first place? There's 158 villains out there who would love a crack at the FF...yet once again the Wizard went for an unknown wild-card, who ending up thwarting all his plans. Oh, Wizard, you big galoot...

And how do you know when your evil super-group is really, really really dangerous and evil? When the last panel of the comic has them watching TV (in an abandoned water tower)...

Oh, Frightful Four, you're so delightfully incompetent!!

Coming soon: the Frightful Four get stupider, believe it or not...