My Rating
Suddenly: The Secret Defenders
Ben Grimm, old blue eyes himself, has just been sent crashing downwards through multiple floors of an abandoned six-floor walk up in the Bronx, New York. Professor Hulk regrets applying too much force to his return blow, but with the Fantastic Four showing up to intervene in the capture of Johnny Storm, the situation has raised his blood pressure. To make things worse, the nonchalant bravado of Ghost Rider and Wolverine is making it difficult to use tact. The Human Torch has recently burned down Empire State University defending himself from an unprovoked attack from some Skrulls, Spider-Man has enlisted the help of his old superhero team, the New Fantastic Four, to help convince Johnny to surrender peacefully.
Elsewhere, hurtling towards the Moon, Doctor Doom has just harnessed the cosmic power of a fallen Watcher by placing it into his new battle suit, now Victor’s intends to invade the citadel of Uatu. Unknown to Victor, the kingdom city of Attilan has been put on high alert. Black Bolt and his Inhumans are preparing for any spillover from the villain’s attack.
Back on Earth, Johnny’s old flame, the Skrull warrior calling herself Lyja Lazerfist has joined the fray! Before Dan Ketch can perform the Penance Stare on the Human Torch, Lyja blasts the Ghost Rider out of range for his attack. Before thing can get any worse, the Skrull woman watches as both teams vanish into thin air.
What caused Susan Storm to lose her cheerful demeanor? Has Ben Grimm received a permanent face-lift thanks to Wolverine’s snik-snik? How do two teams of superheroes just disappear? Collect the series to find out!
Reviewer Notes
Wow, the 1990s and costume changes. Lol, the X-Force fashion really became popular for a lot of heroes back then. There were cargo pockets and straps for the boys, and skimpy swimsuits for the girls. Thanks, Rob Liefeld.
Now to the story. There is a lot of action taking place in this issue. The reader received a lot of bang for their buck in those days. Compared to a new series like Rainbow Rowell’s She-Hulk for example, Fantastic Four #374 has more going on than 3-4 new books. We get the New/Old Fantastic Four bro-down. We get Doctor Doom’s subplot involving Uatu and the Inhumans. Not to forget Reed and Susan’s marriage issues, and Franklin Richards babysitter woes. Some may say too much is happening?
The Susan Storm outfit is the kicker. If you read the letters from the readers section, there are a couple mentions about the swimsuit. It was the 1990s, what can I say? I prefer the classic blue jumpsuit myself.
I’m giving issue #374 four out of five stars.
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