When a new Chief Financial Officer for Fantastic Four, Inc. was needed, and Sue Richards made her decision as to who should be hired, let's just say that her husband, Reed, was a tad skeptical of her choice, given his reaction.
The person whom Sue selected to fill the position would be controversial--and a risk, considering the FF's financial affairs would be placed in his untried hands. Would it be Fabian Stankowicz? Happy Hogan? Cyrus Black? Or perhaps someone only vaguely familiar with the company, for whom the position would be untested waters?
You're getting warm. Real warm.
Sue is taking admittedly drastic steps to jump-start her brother Johnny's transition to adulthood--something she feels has stagnated, to her continual frustration. Though forcing him into a suit, escorting him to the offices of FF, Inc., and inducing a state of shock by springing his new position on him from out of nowhere will likely send tremors through the Baxter Building that even Terrax would envy.
Surprisingly, the storyline by Mark Waid has its fascination, since you can only be curious as to what Johnny might bring to the table. Initially, as you might expect, that involves mostly daydreaming.
But slowly, Johnny learns the ropes, thanks to an able assistant, Jian, who is herself on the fast track to promotion. Of course, every office has its sharks circling, opportunists which even the FF's security system would be hard-pressed to detect.
Even when Johnny brokers his first deal, which is probably too soon to have on his plate, he brings a fresh perspective to an issue that the company has often been approached with--the licensing of Reed's unstable molecules discovery. But is Johnny looking before he leaps? No doubt our sharks who shadow him at the meeting believe that to be the case--but it remains to be seen.
When the product is delivered to Mr. Suarti, it's apparent that Johnny has taken appropriate safeguards to ensure it won't be misused or duplicated. But has Johnny been as thorough as he should have been? Or is he still too naive for the business world? Our friendly opportunists, Christi and Ethan, seem to believe the latter--and it becomes all too clear that Suarti feels the same.
But Johnny turns out to be a little more quick on the ball than his detractors realize--and Jian is on hand to see Fantastic Four, Inc.'s new CFO turn the tables and take some names.
Since this is Fantastic Four and not The Wall Street Journal, however, the crisis that Johnny has avoided indeed erupts, through no fault of his own--but it offers Johnny a chance to think on his feet and deal with it, while sternly reminding his sister that responsibility is a two-way street.
When the situation is resolved, it looks like promotion is indeed in the wind for FF, Inc.'s staff--perhaps even for Johnny Storm, whose suit is beginning to fit quite well. After all, who better to weather a trial by fire?
And to Johnny's delight, the job has some fringe benefits that he can definitely get on board with.
I remember reading this and being pleased at the treatment of Johnny. Underestimated by family and foes alike, he showed what a good head he had on his shoulders all along. In another story in this run, Sue and Johnny switch powers and Sue gains an appreciation of just how much quiet self-control Johnny possesses in not burning down everything around him.
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot to like about the Mark Waid run on Fantastic Four, George--little touches that do a lot to expand characterization, while leaving room for action and drama at the proper time. I found the stories to be pleasantly surprising, and admittedly disarming.
ReplyDeleteWaid was the best writer of FF since Byrne hands down. I think FF would be a very hard title to write. The team never pemenantly changes, so it’s harder to make the danger seem real than for X-Men or avengers. The villains are great but Doom is the only one that really lends himself to new ideas.
ReplyDeleteMany A-list creators came after Byrne. But Steve Englehart, Walter Simonson, Chris Claremont, Jim Lee etc. failed to make much in the way of memorable stories. Not all bad, but very little that could be considered above average. I remember plenty of stories written by Tom DeFalco but that’s mostly due to how terrible most turned out.
All good observations, Jared. Both Byrne and Waid drew on the team's strength--the original four members--and made it the book's asset and not its liability, though Byrne would take the head-scratching step of marooning the Thing on another planet (!) and replacing him with the She-Hulk. The FF have gone through so many substitute members, as if hoping to find the right combination that would finally click--when all that was really needed was to write the original members well.
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