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Can I talk about the HIM! storyline in Fantastic Four #66-67 for a second? Because it might be my favorite FF story.
Here’s a quick laundry list of what it entails: teleportation machines, rogue scientists, super-eugenics, underground laboratories (The Citadel of Science!), weird body horror, cosmic awakenings, a god built by science and untethered morals. There’s a lot to recommend the Kirby/Lee Fantastic Four run, but for me, this is the apex. It’s where Kirby said, “Well, superheroes are fine and all, but why not play with gods?” It’s where the seeds of the Eternals and the New Gods and the Fourth World are planted. It’s a superhero story in name only. The superfolks are there mainly to observe and report. They’re there to witness the birth of a cosmic superhero. Pop art magi.
For the couple of days before I knew that HIM! was reworked as Adam Warlock, the whole universe (Marvel and otherwise) had opened up. You had an all-powerful being out wandering the cosmos. What would that comic be like?
