Plot Twists That Didn't Work - Fantastic Four #587

Last time we talked about a bad plot twist, it was a comic book from the 70's. This time we're going to look at one that's just a couple of months old, but it telegraphed the "twist" just the same.

When Marvel announced the imminent death of one of the members of the Fantastic Four, they put a lot into the marketing. They even went so far as to put the issues in a black poly-bag (not done since the "Death of Superman" issue) and told retailers they would not be publishing any extra copies of the issue. In other words, what didn't get ordered for a specific person wouldn't be coming out. It was a brave move meant to draw attention and sales to the comic series that had at one time been Marvel's flagship title and their first foray into a team book.

The stage seemed perfectly set to allow them the chance to really keep the reader guessing. All four members of the team were purposefully put in dire straits and there seemed no easy way out for any of them. Reed was facing Galactus alone, Sue was facing a sacrificial moment with Namor, while Johnny and a powerless Ben Grimm were facing hordes of enemies from the Negative Zone. Any of the four team members could have died and it would have made sense.

The problem came when Marvel decided to make this a big news event and invite the non-comics-related news sources into the party. The cat would be let out of the poly-bag too soon.

Unlike Marvel's decision to kill Captain America a few years back and get all the mileage out of it they could, this particular death was meant to be a surprise to the reader. They knew someone was going down, but not exactly who. Unfortunately for Marvel, some guy who probably never reads comics gets this story across his desk on a slow news day and decides to publish it. "Some guy named the Human Torch is getting killed in a comic book somewhere. Ok, whatever, print it."

The problem? The news broke the story the day before the comic book hit the retail stores! Suddenly all the secrecy and hush-hush marketing tactics were thrown out just 24 hours before the big reveal. Granted, in the age of the internet it's just about impossible to keep anything secret for long, but to have gone that long and have it spoiled was a bummer.

In a poll we ran here in the days leading up to the issue, our wise Comics in Crisis readers voted Johnny as most likely to be killed. It turns out you guys were right, but it was all just speculation until the issue itself came out...but then the news media got it.

In a desperate attempt at damage control, Marvel gave the unprecedented okay for retailers to sell the issue on Tuesday if they had it instead of waiting until Wednesday. Of course, the only way to find that out was to go into the comic shop on Tuesday instead of Wednesday (and who does that?), or to see it in the paper...in the same news story that told you who died in the book in the first place. Marvel got crushed by its own marketing machine.

So in the end, even though the Human Torch went out in a blaze of glory (Ha! Couldn't resist...sorry), the big moment itself fizzled out. Of course, his death was a useless act anyhow. The door was closing behind him already. All he had to do was fly up there, shoot a few fireballs to throw them off, and then just fly away and stay alive for a few days until Reed got back and got him out! Instead, he pulls this macho "me against the millions" routine and gets killed. Like a dog staring down a truck and saying, "I think I can take him", Storm got smashed like roadkill for no reason.

And in all honesty, who really believes Johnny Storm will stay dead? No comic book character ever stays dead, right?

Plot Twists That Didn't Work - Invaders 8 & 9

Sometimes comic book writers create an incredible moment in a comic book story that catches us all by surprise and makes the reader race to the store next month to find out what happens next. Then there are times when it doesn't work as planned. Here is one that immediately comes to mind when I think of "We Sort of Saw That Coming" moments:

The End of an Invader (Invaders 8 & 9)

During the mid-70's the Invaders were a mildly popular title for Marvel comics. Issue #8 gave us the "return" of an old WW1 superhero named "Union Jack". This was the first incarnation of the character still around in Marvel comics today (as a different person). Lord James Falsworth was a superhero during World War 1 who retired. Apparently he was part of a supergroup called "Freedom's Five", a series of heroes who were later pretty much retconned into Marvel continuity. Phantom Eagle was the only one we ever really saw again though.

A visit from the Invaders makes UJ long to put on the blue-and-red suit again (one of the coolest costumes in comics ever), so he does to help them.

On the final page of the story, Union Jack agrees to join the Invaders as a regular member. Everyone is in awe and excited about having this "legend" among them...even though he's pretty old and fragile by then.

At the bottom of the page, just below the panel of Union Jack joining the team, the build-up for the next issue says "The End of An Invader!" Who could it be???

Was there ever any doubt in any reader's mind when they bought the issue next month they'd see Union Jack going down? Even though they said "It's not who you think!" in that panel? Actually, it was exactly who we thought.

Sure enough, the next month said it would be "The End of an Invader!"

So let's run a quick roll call here: Captain America...still around so it can't be him. Namor...same. Bucky...dies in an explosion later. The Human Torch...death later on as established in comic history. The only people it could have been was Union Jack or Toro.

True, Toro was sort of redundant to the team. They had Torch for flame powers, and Bucky for the teen audience, so Toro didn't have much use. But what use did they have for a 60 year old man with no super powers either?

Sure enough, Baron Blood and UJ got into a big fight toward the end of the book and Blood crushed the hero's legs. Even though Blood dies later in the book (only to come back again a dozen times over the years), the title does indeed live up to they hype. Union Jack never walks again.

Issue 20 sees the new Union Jack come into the game. This time it's Brian Falsworth taking up the family mantle and he fared a little better. Brian was the son of the original UJ and did well until his death a few years later in a car crash. Joey Chapman picked up the suit and title then (thanks to the return of Baron Blood) and wears it today.

The lesson for Marvel? If you're going to kill off a character--or end their career--you can get a little more mileage out of it if you let them be on the team for at least one full issue before you get rid of them. And whatever you do, don't let them join the team and end the book with "Next issue: Somebody dies! Wanna guess who?" That's like watching a horror movie and seeing some boy open the door and say, "I'll be right back" when the killer's outside. Yeah, we know he isn't going to be in the sequel.

Stupid Plot Twists

Last year I put together my list of favorite plot twist moments from comic book stories. Now I'd like to look on the flip side of things and talk about those plot twist moments that were just plain stupid. There are those that make you gasp in surprise and there are those that make you groan in pain. These are the groaners:

Rawhide Kid comes out of the closet

So you have this stable of western heroes and you want to find a way to drive sales for your floundering market share. A little movie called "Brokeback Mountain" comes out and suddenly you think: "Hey! Gay cowboys!" Rather than create a new title or series, you take one of the oldest western characters in your lineup and turn him into a flaming homosexual. Not subtly different, mind you, but as far into stereotypical as you possibly can get. Never mind that previous stories he's been in have had him clearly hetero, the fun word here is "retcon"! This formerly tough gunfighter is now a truly sensitive man who loves to throw out double entendre like candy as he flirts with whatever man comes within sight.

Unfortunately for Marvel, this little 2003 limited series was so unpopular with the fans that it has been quietly swept under the table. Rather than take a subtle approach to the change of the character, they did this huge instantaneous about-face that alienated the fans and killed the sales of the book. No further mention of this incarnation of the character or moment has been made since then.

Sentry is the Void...again

So you put out this miniseries that is cleverly disguised as a huge piece of Marvel Comics controversy with a "forgotten hero" called The Sentry. During this six-issue miniseries, the supervillain known as The Void keeps tormenting the hero. The big plot twist moment is revealed when the hero and villain are revealed as the same person! Brilliant! The miniseries doesn't sell much though, and the hero is shelved for a couple of years.

Enter the New Avengers storyline. They need a Superman character, so Marvel dusts off the Sentry and brings him in for a really cool moment as he rips Carnage apart in space! That, my friends, is awesome storytelling! During the second six-issue storyline of the series, we get a focus on The Sentry and come to find out--dah dah daaaaaaaaahhhh--The Sentry and the Void are the same person! Again!

Now flash-forward to a new miniseries called "The Sentry: Reborn" and we get yet another look at the Sentry's "history" in the Marvel universe as a key player during the Golden Age. During this huge battle with the Hulk and he fighting the Void, this major reveal is given as we find out--blah blah blaaah--The Sentry is the Void! Yeah, we get it.

Why Marvel keeps considering this a major reveal is beyond me. Yes, the first time was cool. The second time was good for those who missed the miniseries. The third time? Getting a little desperate, aren't we? Sentry is the Void...we get it.

Batman dies...twice!

What happens when you have a comic book writer who creates two stories so convoluted the reader has no clue what's going on? You get an iconic hero who dies twice in the same month--in two different ways!

Grant Morrison is writing the wildly-unpopular and incomprehensible piece of tripe called "Final Crisis". In this book, he decides to let Batman kill Darkseid with a gun (going against everything he's ever stood for in fifty years of comics) while simultaneously being blown apart by his Omega beams. Ok, Batman's dead.

At same time, in Batman's own title, he's running the "Batman R.I.P." storyline. In the final issue of the story, Batman jumps onto a helicopter carrying the villain of the plot (if you can call it that) and the helicopter gets blown up with Batman on it. The iconic moment in the story is Nightwing holding Bruce's cowl as an obvious foreshadowing of him taking Bruce's place soon thereafter. Um, so Batman's dead...again?

There are a few things about this that make it just plain stupid. First, Morrison wrote both stories, so there's no way he can blame someone else for this. Second, even though he wrote both stories, he made the revelation of Batman's death a key moment in both while negating the other. Batman's death in a helicopter crash has been the driving moment to his title during the race for a replacement (eventually going to Nightwing). At the same time, his death in Final (please let it be so!) Crisis drives DC's universe to mourn him.

The capper to all this? Morrison lets us see him in the past drawing on a cave somewhere. The subtle meaning behind all of it? He's not dead but is trapped in the past. How is he trapped in the past? The Omega beams have disintegrated every other person they've hit, but Batman's so bad he just uses them to time travel? Is he going to show up with Doctor Who in a future issue? Maybe he'll come back in an 8-issue miniseries called "Batman: Rebirth" written by Geoff Johns someday?

Ah, Grant Morrison...you've somehow found a way to make Spider-Man's "Brand New Day" not look so stupid. Marvel is forever in your debt.

Cool Plot Twist Moments

Ok, who saw the ending of Sixth Sense coming? How about that moment in Psycho when we find out the truth about "mother"? It's those great plot twist moments that keep us coming back to the movies. Well, sometimes they happen in comic books too. Here's a few of the better ones in recent years we didn't really see coming:

"I'm the X-Factor."

When Peter David brought Jamie Madrox back into the Marvel world, he gave the Multiple Man an interesting problem: his duplicates were no longer exact dupes of himself. Now each had their own little personality quirks that made them either a help or hindrance in a situation. Sometimes they worked for him, and sometimes they worked against him, and he never knew what was coming.

Rictor is contemplating suicide and Jamie decides to send over a dupe to negotiate with him (because he's scared of heights). After making a few, he comes across one who seems perfect and sends him over. The dupe manages to talk Rictor out of the suicide attempt and all seems goodEnter the X-Factor series. Now Madrox is leading a detective agency with other mutants. A de-powered again...until they turn to go. Then the dupe drops a little revelation that's he not what he seems and shoves Rictor off the ledge. After a brief confrontation, Jamie learns this dupe is "The X-Factor", a crazy part of himself that will surface at some point in the future and Jamie will never know when that dupe is the one he's depending on.

This was a classic moment, and set some tension in the series for a while. Peter David gave a whole new meaning to the term "X-Factor" and suddenly the name of the series was synonymous with the unexpected more than an X-Men wannabe team. Eventually, this played off into an even bigger plot twist at the end of the second six-issue storyline. We saw "the X-Factor" again, and it was completely unexpected and a beautiful payoff to the what turned out to be a 12-issue related arc. I think this series is awesome and you should check it out. I can honestly say I never saw the twist coming, and "the X-Factor" returned in the coolest way possible.

Jason Todd is Hush...or Not

During the Hush storyline, Batman found himself facing off against a villain who knew all the intricate workings of his personal life. There was no rational explanation for this, until a jaw-dropping moment in a graveyard as Hush's bandages dropped away to reveal Jason Todd. This former Robin was believed to be dead, and now all of Hush's actions made sense. The desire for revenge, the intimate knowledge of the Caped Crusader's life...everything fell into place.

Of course, this ruse only lasted a few pages before we found out it was Clayface and not really Jason Todd (until later, when we found out it was Jason Todd who swapped places with Clayface later during the chase), but the shock was there and the seeds were planted. Suddenly everyone was thinking: wouldn't it be cool if Jason Todd did return as some tough, bad guy version of himself? That's exactly what happened later, but it was this moment that was the catalyst for it all.

Ray Palmer is a Killer...or Not

When DC started promoting Identity Crisis it was almost a guaranteed hit. Brad Meltzer, the best-selling novelist, was making a statement in comics and he'd promised something big. The series definitely delivered in a lot of areas, and it made you look at Doctor Light in a whole new way. Suddenly it brought a gravity to the fight between good and evil we'd never seen before. Innocent people could get hurt. In this case, Sue Dibny (wife of the Elongated Man) was brutally murdered in a perfect "locked room" scenario, and it was up to the JLA to find out who would stoop to this. Who could get in and out of a locked room without tripping any alarms? How could they do this without discovery? Who had declared open season on the loved ones of the JLA?

It wasn't until the sixth issue that we got our answer in the form of tiny footprints on Sue's brain. Someone incredibly small had been standing on her brain, and only one person fit that category: Ray Palmer aka The Atom. This was one of those perfect cliffhanger moments that kept you in suspense for an entire month until the final issue came out. With that one revelation, everything made sense and fell into place. Of course, it was a red herring, but even when the real murderer was revealed, it made even more sense! It was a plot twist on a plot twist, and it was a gut punch moment.

A lot of things happened in this story I didn't like (not the least of which was the brutal violation of Sue Dibny by Doctor Light...an incident I consider gratuitous and just there for the shock value), but the final reveal was a good one. The story didn't end with some huge fight scene, but like any good mystery it ended with a one-on-one confrontation with the killer eventually leading to their confession.

"My Name is Peter Parker."

During the Civil War, there were all kinds of things going on there that count as cool moments. We got faked out with the "return" of Thor (who turned out to be a clone). We got blown away by the real return of the Punisher to the hero world. The Fantastic Four took separate sides in the war. Several other big moments come to mind, but the one I would have never imagined seeing was the public unmasking of Peter Parker. While it wasn't a surprise who Spider-Man was, it was a surprise to see him publicly admit it.

After years of being concerned with the welfare of his family, Spider-Man threw that all to the wind and pulled off the mask on national television. This added some great moments to the comic, including J. Jonah Jameson fainting as he realized who he'd been working with for years. The stories in Spider-Man built to a new tension as Spidey worked to save his family after this revelation brought dozens of bad guys down on him, but it all fizzled out when Marvel decided they were in over their heads and wiped the slate clean with Brand New Day. But for sheer shock value, that unmasking was out of the blue.

Elektra is a Skrull

Gotta be honest, this didn't really grab me that first time I read it. I wondered what had happened to Elektra, but wasn't thinking it was a world-wide thing yet. Still, this was the opening salvo for the Skrull's "Secret Invasion", and it was unexpected. So many questions came to mind, not the least of which was "Why her?" She'd never been that big of a player in the Marvel U, so what made her so important?

It would be over a year later before we found out just why she was so important, and by then we'd learned of tons of other traitors in our midst. This was the moment that started it.


Ok, so there were a lot of other twisty moments I didn't mention, but I wanted to keep these to recent years. I'm open to suggestions though. What major plot twist moment did you not see coming?

Another comic book review this Thursday, and then next Monday we'll be taking a look at the greatest character deaths in comic book history!