Science Fiction is What Fantastic Four Comics Does Best
Despite the fact that their origin began in space, aside from a brief trip to the moon, the members of the Fantastic Four hadn't left Earth's confines during the first three years of their adventures together.
That changes with this issue. 'Behold! A Distant Star!' has the FF preparing for the wedding of Reed Richards and Sue Storm when Sue confesses that she is disturbed by the fact that the skrull responsible for the death of her father has gone unpunished. That leads Reed and Sue to postpone the wedding until the FF can bring the killer to justice - which means traveling to the skrull home world!
By taking the action into space, the Fantastic Four finally gets to what it's best at: space opera. There were plenty of other Marvel comics that dealt far better with Earthbound threats than the Fantastic Four, who always seemed to either outclass their foes or have to fight some all-powerful god-villain. But the science fiction stories in Fantastic Four were where the title really came into its own.
In the past Stan Lee's regard for science has been a little low, but as of last issue, he seems to have turned over a new leaf. This science fiction story actually treats its scientific underpinnings with respect, with some thought to the actual challenges of space travel, and a nod toward Einsteinian physics.
There's an interesting parallel plot going on here too - not only can Sue not marry Reed until this matter of her father's killer is taken care of; that same killer, Lord Morrat of the Skrull Empire, is prevented from marrying the skrull princess, Anelle. When Morrat's forces encounter the Fantastic Four upon the skrull home planet, he sees them as the answer to his problems.
To be fair, the story isn't anything that Flash Gordon comics hadn't already done, and really ranks as one of the lesser Fantastic Four sci-fi adventures, but science fiction settings and technology really plays to artist Jack Kirby strengths, and it's tons better than the Red Ghost / Diablo / Mole Man issues of the previous months.
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