My Rating
Mission For A Deadman!
Deeden State Correctional Facility has a nickname amongst its federal inmate population. Dubbed the “Dead-end”, this prison is the home of America’s most dangerous killers. If your crime sees you moved here the electric chair is soon to come. For one such young man, George David Munson, is about to meet his maker.
As George sits and eats his final meal, Father Albert Vito takes the man’s last confession. A sealed letter is handed to the priest, a promise is made, and the guards eventually come to walk the guilty to his final destination. Father Vito looks down at the envelope to view the address. His eyebrows raise in disbelief as the priest realizes the letter is to Johnny Storm of the Fantastic Four.
A week later Father Vito stands in the lobby of the Baxter Building. He has just returned from the 48th floor where the Fantastic Four reside. A fight had broken out between Johnny and Ben Grimm, almost demolishing the entire living quarters on the upper floors. Father Vito debated on staying to help counsel the two but Susan assured the priest she would handle it. He had delivered the letter and now it was up to the young man.
Will Johnny Storm accept a dead man’s request to clear his name? How can a low-level street thug push Johnny into the biggest moral dilemma of his superhero career? Can a picture of Christopher Reeves’ “super-guy” really send old blue-eyes into an inconsolable rage? Collect the series to find out!
Reviewer Notes
In Fantastic Four volume 07 issue 03 (2023), Ryan North based his entire issue around Johnny Storm and a long forgotten street criminal named Mr. Merrill. First introduced in this issue of Fantastic Four, Herman Merrill is a low level street thug who worked for the Maggia leader known as Hammerhead. Johnny Storm stumbles upon a money laundering scheme which incriminated the now deceased George David Munson.
By the end of the issue 233 Johnny Storm corners Munson in a warehouse and almost burns him alive. This appears to be the Human Torch’s first moral dilemma on killing for the greater good. I enjoyed the 2023 story a lot so I tracked down issue 233 for more context. To be honest, I don’t understand why Ryan North picked this particular subplot to make a callback to in 2023. It was a very small part of the larger storyline.
I guess Ryan is trying to show Johnny Storm still maintains his morality after all these years. With everything Johnny and the Fantastic Four have been through does his morals really need to be questioned? I don’t think so.
Overall, issue 233 is just okay in my opinion. It was fun to see Johnny on a solo quest for once, but a money laundering scheme with low-rent villains like Hammerhead are kind of a waste of his talents. Daredevil and Spider-Man are mentioned in this story. It would have been more interesting to me if one of those two showed up in a supporting role. I’m giving this issue 3 out of 5 stars.
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