Fantastic Four #34: Flame On 80

Fantastic Four #34, page 8, panel 4

Fantastic Four #34: Flame On 80

Rapturously Written by Stan Lee

Deliciously Drawn by Jack Kirby

Impeccably Inked by Chic Stone

Lavishly Lettered by Artie Simek

The plot continues to contrive conflict amongst the Fantastic Four, with Sue tricked by a wrecked room and a sooty note written on a wall into believing that Johnny is a robotic duplicate sent by Doctor Doom. Fisticuffs ensue, with Johnny pre-emptively flaming on in suspicion that Sue is being controlled by the Puppet Master.

I kinda wish the pairing off of the team for battles had been different. It would have been great to see Johnny and Ben's humourous battle at the start of the issue take on a darker, more personal tone, whilst plenty could have been had from Sue and Reed going at each other, using their history with Namor as fuel for this fire. But it's entirely possible that Gregory Gideon didn't know about that.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #34 on our thirty-eighth episode: Two Not-That-Fat Men On Fantastic Four