The Deadly Flight of the U-Foes!

Even though they eventually fizzled as a concept, I have to admit to being a little giddy when it comes to the U-Foes, a team of villains which mimicked the same origin as the Fantastic Four but lacked that team's moral scruples.

The U-Foes never quite achieved the notoreity as their sister group, the Frightful Four, though it wasn't for lack of trying. Created by Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema, with assistance from Al Milgrom (costume design) and Jim Shooter (names), this group of astronauts, unlike Reed Richards and his party, came well-financed and didn't need to rely on the government for their covert space flight plans:

If you don't recall the names of any of these four characters, you're probably in good company with the rest of us. I have problems spelling "Utrecht," let alone remembering it. In fact, if someone asked you to give the individual names of the villains they became, could you? Utrecht doubtlessly had what it takes to rise to the top of the business world, and as "Vector" he was as ruthless as they come--but the Wizard could teach him a thing or two about carrying off a plan as well as giving your group a solid rep.

Still, "Waiting For The U-Foes!" is a fun little story, with obvious parallels with and deviations from the FF's origin:

And when they launch into space, all goes according to plan--if you can call exposing yourselves to cosmic radiation a reliable plan, that is:

However, Utrecht's intent to achieve a much greater level of power than the FF is brought to a halt when Bruce Banner, who has stumbled on their base and monitored the deadly effects of their mission, intervenes and aborts their flight:

Like the FF, these four also crash back to Earth--and Banner is the first to see their transformations, though he'll later be astonished that they deliberately risked death to achieve them:

Utrecht becomes Vector, who can deflect objects at will. Steel has merged with the mass of the ship to become the super-strong Ironclad, who, like the Vision, can also increase his own mass. Jimmy Darnell becomes X-Ray, something of a predecessor to the Monica Rambeau version of Captain Marvel but who instead can shift to and emit different forms of deadly radiation. His sister, Ann, has become Vapor, who can shift her state to different gaseous forms.

The four are none too pleased to discover it was Banner who aborted their flight, and take what little delight they can in demonstrating their deadly new abilities against him. And in doing so, Ironclad settles on their group name:

Yes, "this guy," they realize, was Bruce Banner, who transforms to the Hulk and gives the "U-Foes" one hell of a baptism of fire. But it's the U-Foes themselves who turn out to be their own worst enemies, when, lacking any time to train in the use of their abilities, their powers run amok and they become a deadly danger to each other:

Probably one of the easiest fights the Hulk ever had. But despite appearances, we haven't seen the last of the U-Foes--and the Hulk is definitely going to get his licks in (as well as vice versa) when they meet again.