Writer – David Kraft
Artist – Alan Kupperberg
Inker – Chic Stone
Colours – Don Warfield
Letters – Joe Rosen

Together, The Thing and the Human Torch are just two of the members of the Fantastic Four and due to their shared experiences and adventures, they are more than family. Like all family though, they have their disagreements, though most of the time, it finds Johnny Storm teasing Ben about something or playing a practical joke. No matter the writer of the book or who draws it, it never really gets old and so it is that this issue begins. Things get serious soon enough though when a woman tries to come to them for help and is attacked outside of the Baxter Building. Suffice it to say, the two heroes manage to get the story from her, what little she is able to give and the rest of it from Nick Fury. It seems that a woman named Ultima and her father who is known as The Word, are kidnapping people and changing their lives against their will. Some of them find it better, some do not, but no matter how it is looked at, kidnapping and brainwashing is against the law and so The Thing and the Human Torch set out to find The Word and put a stop to his dastardly schemes. Written by David Kraft, the man does a great job with the story despite the silliness of the villain, both his powers and his name. In one sense, ‘The Word’ denotes power, but when sitting around trading war stories, when someone says they went and fought Blastaar and then Ben goes on to say he fought The Word, one of them is going to sound impressive while the other does not. Also in this issue is the origin of the bad guy which is far more interesting than the man’s name or appearance and one can see that maybe, he might be somewhat formidable, though he also uses various tech to aid in his schemes. As it is, things get worse for the pair before they get better, the two getting themselves and defeat the villain before he can do anymore harm, but towards the end, there is also just a wee bit of tragedy as his daughter, whose story is also told in the book, finds herself paralysed. Drawn exceptionally well by Alan Kupperberg, the book looks good and reads better and with the only fault perhaps being the villain’s name, the book is a great read.

3.5 out of 5