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| Images copyright MARVEL COMICS. Art by JACK KIRBY |
Remember FANTASTIC FOUR #2, where four SKRULLS impersonate the cosmic quartet in order to frame them for a series of crimes they didn't actually commit? (There's more to it than that of course, but that's the READER'S DIGEST version.) At the end of the story, three Skrulls transform into cows and REED RICHARDS hypnotises them so they can't change back. The curiously missing fourth alien is dismissed by Reed with these words: "The fourth one is on his way to another galaxy now with the rest of his invasion fleet!"
Say what? Now that just doesn't make any sense. You see, the FF masquerade as the aliens (so they're disguised as disguised Skrulls), to throw the orbiting invasion fleet 'off the scent'. Reed informs the Skrull leader that Earth's defences can never be defeated, then says the foursome (still pretending to be Skrulls disguised as themselves) will stay behind and remove all evidence of their presence on the planet. Amazingly, the alien leader falls for their preposterous fable and awards them a medal.
This is a tale laden with illogical and error-ridden plot points. First is the idea JOHNNY STORM comes up with to infiltrate the alien ranks (see here). Then there's the fact that, descending back to Earth, the four are exposed to the cosmic rays that first gave them their powers, causing The THING to temporarily change back to human form. However, they must have passed through them on their way up to the waiting Skrull armada, so why didn't it affect BEN GRIMM then? Delayed reaction perhaps? Then why just Ben and not the other three?
However, it's the missing Skrull which has always bothered me. When Reed leaves the aliens tied up in their hideout, there are four of them. When the FF return, there are only three - but Stretcho remains recklessly unconcerned. If the Skrull's on his way back to his own galaxy with the rest of the invasion fleet, why isn't Reed worried that he'll alert the other Skrulls of the deception? Something has clearly gone wrong here, and Stan fails to tie up the loose ends. So exactly what happened?
Here's my theory. Unless an encounter with the fourth Skrull on the FF's return was edited out for reasons of space (between pages 22 & 23), then the missing impostor died when he collided with the real HUMAN TORCH while both were aflame. Concerned that the COMICS CODE wouldn't permit this, ol' Stan had a fourth Skrull added to the three tied-up ones in the panel where Reed decides on their next move. However, in an editorial oversight, Stan neglected to include the subsequent pages when he had the earlier panel altered, and so therefore later attempted to explain the inconsistency by means of some expository dialogue. (Though Stan's 'resolution' fails to satisfactorily explain the Skrull's mysterious disappearance.)
Well, that's one possibility as to what happened. Can anybody come up with another explanation? If so, let rip in the comments section and show us all how clever you are.
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Meanwhile, take a look at the page below, from The MIGHTY WORLD Of MARVEL #4 (cover-dated October 28th 1972), and see how the problem was 'fixed' a whole eleven years after the fact. A Skrull has been added to panel 3 and the dialogue amended to remove any mention of the absentee alien. (Just a shame they didn't position the speech balloons in panel 5 in the right order.) In the last page's final panel (not shown), a cow has been added near the other three in the field, but is difficult to discern under a nearby tree.
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