What If?

 

cover art by John Buscema with alterations by John Romita

I liked the original What If? series. It's a fun idea and was generally well-executed, though I do think the writers used it to channel a perhaps-subconscious desire for tragic alternate endings a little too often. I reviewed the second issue in the series some time ago. Today, we'll jump back to look at What If? #1 (February 1977). The script is by Roy Thomas and the art by Jim Craig. 

The issue spends a few pages setting up the concept for the series--the Watcher will narrate alternate-universe versions of Marvel history, in which one key element is changed. The Butterfly Effect then takes over, leading to sometimes massive changes in that universe as compared to the original universe.

In this case, we go back to Spider Man #1, in which he tried to join the Fantastic Four as a way of monetizing his powers. When he finds out the FF is pretty much a non-profit, he goes on his way.

But in this version, Sue calls him back and suggests he might be a good fit for the team, eventually talking Reed into it. The FF members all get a spending money stipend anyways, so Peter (who has to reveal his identity to the others as a condition of joining) can get a small salary that he then passed on to Aunt May.

At first, everything is hunky-dory. Joining the FF is enough of an endorsement to get J. Jonah Jamison to give up his anti-Spidey campaign. Spidey's villains pretty much get curb-stomped and the webslinger is a good fit in helping defeat FF villains.

Events begin to diverge farther from the original time line when the FF go to the moon and fight the Red Ghost and his Super Apes. Reed hadn't had time to alter the rocket for an extra passenger, so Sue stays behind to watch the store. This gives Puppet Master a chance to gain control over Namor and have the undersea prince kidnap Sue.

So when the FF get back to Earth, they immediately go on a rescue mission. They don't know that Namor is being controlled by someone else.

A nifty fight ensues. But when Puppet Master tries to amp up his control and get Namor to use deadly force, the Submariner begins to resist. Eventually, Sue is freed and Puppet Master is killed by a giant octopus.

Sue, who realizes Namor wasn't himself, defends him. In fact, she impulsively decides she loves him and opts to stay with him. Namor uses a machine to transform her into a water-breather.

Reed consouls himself by saying that Sue will act as Namor's conscience. In a nice bit of irony, Spidey wonders if things would have worked out differently had he never joined the FF, but Johnny assures him that it was all Fate and would have turned out exactly the same way.

It's a fun issue. The concept is well-executed and the changes that happen after Spidey joins up are reasonable and logical. Jim Craig's art is fun, though not as dynamic as Romita or Buscema. Sue suffers a little because the story is set in a time frame before she developed her force field power and she's pretty much just a damsel in distress during the climactic fight scene. Though, to be fair, she is the one who steps forward and argues for Spidey's admittance to the FF. 

Next week, we'll return again to the saga of Capt. Willy Schultz.