Fantastic Four #32: Bride of Doom Part 1 - Rule of Engagement with SPOILERS

[Fort Nerd]

Uh, I kind of hate Johnny now.

[Iron Maiden]

Good point. How did Alicia make so many statues of Doom if she never touched him?

Oh but she has....she did touch him while doing a sculpture back in FF #197 and 199.


issue #197





issue #199

[Oberon]

Alicia has always presented as kind, intuitive and very skilled at this. Period.

[Airtrap]

Maybe i'm the only one here but i think Johnny's cheating is not as tragic as it first seems. It's just part one of a story

First of all he was instantly regretful and Luna's prophecy already told us he would make the wrong choice and that he has commitment issues. Dan choose Zora because it was meaningless to both of them and not Lyja for example. Those are important facts to keep in mind in my opinion.

This feels like the second act in a RomCom (the first is the "meet cute" but that was a long while ago in the book). Think of it like "For the Love of the Game" the Kevin Costner, Kelly Preston Baseball movie where she catches him with his masseuse.
In the next step Johnny will get a talking to from his family and especially Sue (i think) and there will be scene between Sue and Sky how she was skeptical of her at first but grew to accept her, and she will urge her to giver her brother another chance.

Finally in act three comes the great gesture that shows Sky that he really loves her and they kiss (it would their first kiss on panel). Also their guests at a sham wedding, those normally end with someone else finding love.
I wouldn't be surprised if he proposed there, heck for extra sappiness the soulmate bands are actually engagement rings. Why else make them big golden rings?

Maybe my brain is addled by RomCom consumption but how i think this will play out

[cmore]

Maybe i'm the only one here but i think Johnny's cheating is not as tragic as it first seems. It's just part one of a story

First of all he was instantly regretful and Luna's prophecy already told us he would make the wrong choice and that he has commitment issues. Dan choose Zora because it was meaningless to both of them and not Lyja for example. Those are important facts to keep in mind in my opinion.

This feels like the second act in a RomCom (the first is the "meet cute" but that was a long while ago in the book). Think of it like "For the Love of the Game" the Kevin Costner, Kelly Preston Baseball movie where she catches him with his masseuse.
In the next step Johnny will get a talking to from his family and especially Sue (i think) and there will be scene between Sue and Sky how she was skeptical of her at first but grew to accept her, and she will urge her to giver her brother another chance.

Finally in act three comes the great gesture that shows Sky that he really loves her and they kiss (it would their first kiss on panel). Also their guests at a sham wedding, those normally end with someone else finding love.
I wouldn't be surprised if he proposed there, heck for extra sappiness the soulmate bands are actually engagement rings. Why else make them big golden rings?

Maybe my brain is addled by RomCom consumption but how i think this will play out

Yeah, I can't get that mad at him either. It was a mistake that he regrets and I can't recall any other time that he's fooled around on a girlfriend. He never cheated on Crystal during the whole time she was cheating on him. He never cheated on Lyja while they were married, even when Crystal was on the team. In fact, Ben had to warn Crystal to cool it.

I'm not a fan of Skye, though, so I hope she doesn't stick around. Maybe her joke about wanting to punish the FF for what they did to her people was not really a joke, and she playing a long game. That would be cool. She did have thing going with a guy back on Spyre before Johnny showed up.

[cmore]

https://twitter.com/DanSlott/status/1392695057560612865

Dan Slott on relationships: a thread.

Yep, that's just what us readers want ... toxic relationships and character assassinations. JK

[Thundershot]

Yep, that's just what us readers want ... toxic relationships and character assassinations. JK

I like Dan Slott’s writing. I loved his She-Hulk and unlike many, I thought Superior Spider-Man was great! I don’t mind a little conflict. That’s what makes a good story. But the relationships in FF lately.... Yikes! Let’s let the new status quo simmer for a few issues in a row... hopefully it’ll all work out.

[Crimz]

It would make no sense to me for Sue to attend Doom's wedding. Reed would because of his weird relationship with him. But Sue hates the guy so I don't see why she would.

[Iron Maiden]

It would make no sense to me for Sue to attend Doom's wedding. Reed would because of his weird relationship with him. But Sue hates the guy so I don't see why she would.

I wouldn't be surprised if she shows up as the Latverian equivalent of the matron of honor to counterpoint Reed being his second or Best Man. Zora was ordered by Doom to kill her own mother when it was found out that she was part of the Symkarian plot to frame Doom for the destruction of the Antlion and the death of a couple thousand workers.

[Spiderfan001]

spoilers:

Oh god. What if he knocks up Victorious? Then she marries Doom. Then has the baby and Doom thinks it’s his. But it’s Johnny Storm’s baby. LOL Now THAT is a soap opera!

end of spoilers

The thing is Dan Slott would do that too.
Man imagine johnny's kid being the heir to latveria.

[Spiderfan001]

Question: Are all Skrulls capable of hypnosis? I think I have heard that, but Skrulls like Super Skrull have "super" hypnosis.

could the child be controlling Alicia as she also has a hated backstory with Lyja? Just a thought.

Usually when a character is very "out of character" in a comic book, they're controlled or not in their right mind, etc.

People change, but yes, the FF did eventually accept Lyja to some degree. But the impact of some years and Skrull Invasion stuff may have changed more than a few minds about all this.

If Zora conceives, this baby will be highly powerful, no?

I don't think normal skrulls are.They have a lot of types so who knows
Usually I would agree but Slott makes character's act out of character way more than hypnosis etc.
The baby would be powerful af

[Spiderfan001]

Disappointed with Slotts reaction on Twitter mocking those who said he can’t right anything positive.

Claims no one wants to read that stuff and once again saying he was paid to make Spider-Man’s life miserable.

And people wonder why comics don’t sell that well compared to manga when every story is just depressing.

He even said soap opera stuff is great.

As for Lyja, she deserved better and spent more time doing good for the FF during Defalcos run and actually became a great character in the end.

I don’t mind Johnny sleeping with Zora but to cheat and be a piece of trash about it is not great reading in a FF comic, keep that sh@t in the xmen or Ironman.

This is pure facts.
He literally admits to actively ruining Peter's life.
He admits that soap opera is something he likes to do.
He made a post to show how Johnny is a trashbag and addressed moments from the past.The point he is ignoring is that Jhonny should be more mature now and not repeat his mistakes.
Also slott has a soulmate fetish and it shows.First Spider-man and Silk and now Johnny and Skye.Hell the names are simliar and so are their traits.Both lived in relative isolation(reserved planet and bunker).How have more people not noticed this

[Oberon]

Yes, I'd say he was a crank on those soulmate rehash.

But soap type plots have always been around. Always.

I don't mind the characters who hand around, come back, are the extended family etc.

It just seems the cast and arcs are big enough for 2 books.

[Spiderfan001]

Yes, I'd say he was a crank on those soulmate rehash.

But soap type plots have always been around. Always.

I don't mind the characters who hand around, come back, are the extended family etc.

It just seems the cast and arcs are big enough for 2 books.

Done well the soap opera is okay but this one is terrible.

The FF should have 2 books.Fantastic Four where its just the family(6) with cameos from the others.Then a Future Foundation book which is the focused more on the FF kids with Spider-man and She hulk.Frank and Val are parts of it too.

The Fantastic 4 deal is more exploring based.A lot of heart.Family is the main theme.

The future foundation is the one that does the defending.While FF go to space to explore the Foundation takes care of threats from deep space on Earth.Spider-man and val are the brains.she hulk and franklin are the brawn.Val and Franklin filter between books.When on earth they appear in the book.If not then we focus on the other kids.Spider-man is the mentor figure to these kids.We explore his mature and smart side.He is still quipy.He can keep up with Reed and should be able to handle the science.He will fight but is more of an field Scientist and Leader.
She-hulk is the other mentor and second in command.She will use the law to help example to rehabiliate any aliens stranded on this planet,to fight against corporation exploiting alien resources etc.She will also be the team brawler.This is not the savage she hulk.
The kids will be a focus and Spider-man and she-hulk help them decide what they want to do with their lives.Ideally a 50 issues run.Through the run every kid in the foundation decided what his purpose is to be in life.Some may want to fight on the front lines, some would be explorers, scientists.One of them choose to leave earth to help an alien race(around issue 20).There is a death of one of them as well(around )30.Spider-man and She-hulk's friendship is deepened.They are besties by the end.Logan,The hulk and ghost rider make appearences.
Logan and Hulk appear in the second last arc for support.Ghost rider has an arc where the cast all goes to hell.This is where the death takes place.

[cmore]

I like Dan Slott’s writing. I loved his She-Hulk and unlike many, I thought Superior Spider-Man was great! I don’t mind a little conflict. That’s what makes a good story. But the relationships in FF lately.... Yikes! Let’s let the new status quo simmer for a few issues in a row... hopefully it’ll all work out.

Oh, there are times I've enjoyed Slott's work, but this isn't one of them. Franklin's miserable. Valeria doesn't want to have 'feelings' anymore. Johnny's relationships are a mess. Sue has suddenly turned into a creepy stalker, and Alicia may be the new puppet master. Ben and Reed are the only members of the family who don't need therapy. I don't mind characters having conflicts and emotional problems, but let's dial it back a bit.