Fantastic Four #321Fantastic Four #321
Title: "After the Fall!”
Writer: Steve Englehart
Penciller: Ron Lim
Inker: Romeo Tanghal
Colors: George Roussos
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Ms. Marvel rips down the She-Hulk’s
door and demands to know where the Hulk is. She-Hulk says that
she doesn’t know where Bruce is. She says that since he
became the Hulk full time that they aren’t that close. She
asks what it is about. Ms. Marvel says that Hulk and Thing just
tore apart midtown Manhattan. She-Hulk says that she heard about
that, but that she was at the beach. She says that she hopes Ben
wasn’t hurt too badly. Ms. Marvel asks her why she cares.
She says that She-Hulk took his place when Thing’s screwed
up love life drove him from the FF and bailed out when he came
back. She-Hulk says that isn’t fair and that she was asked
to join the same as Ms. Marvel was. She says that she was proud
to help until Thing returned. She says that she was sorry about
the accident that turned her into a Thing. Sharon says that she
isn’t. Ms. Marvel says that the last time they met that
She-Hulk had a seven to one strength advantage, but that has
changed. She-Hulk puts her arm on Sharon’s shoulder and asks
what she is looking for her cousin for. Ms. Marvel says that she
is going to let him know exactly how she feels about him beating
on her man. She says that she doesn’t like being grabbed
either and swats She-Hulk off of her. She-Hulk gets up and says
that she likes her cousin even if they don’t hang out
together, and that she doesn’t like having her door ripped
off. She-Hulk belts Ms. Marvel. She-Hulk asks if she has Ms.
Marvel’s full attention. Ms. Marvel says that she has it,
but that she isn’t going to like it. The two of them plow
through the wall. She-Hulk thinks to herself that Ms. Marvel is
much stronger than she used to be. Ms. Marvel says that she had
nothing to fight with her about, but that if She-Hulk wants to
fight that she is going to lose. She-Hulk tosses Ms. Marvel into
the air and onto a car. She says that is what the Pistons told
the Lakers and that it didn’t happen there either. Ms.
Marvel hits the ground and says that they aren’t playing
basketball. Ms. Marvel tags She-Hulk and says that she wants to
tell her a story. She says that the FF looked in a tunnel and
found the secrets of the universe. When She-Hulk asks what that
has to do with this, Sharon says that this is just as much fun. 
She hits
She-Hulk again. She says that she hasn’t been able to use
her new body like this before now. She-Hulk says that is too bad
since experience is a great advantage. She-Hulk punches Ms.
Marvel in the face. She-Hulk kicks Sharon into a car and says
that now she can test how fast she heals. Ms. Marvel gets up and
notes that her pounding didn’t even faze She-Hulk. She-Hulk
says that she was going easy on her because she knew that Ms.
Marvel was upset. She-Hulk says that her experience tells her
that this could go on for a long time, and that both of them
would have headaches, or they could just talk it out instead.
A lone large headed figure stands in the shadows. He says that this will not do. He stares out the walls of the 101st floor of the Empire State Building. The walls act like a two-way mirror where the man can see out of the walls, but people from the outside cannot see in. The man stares out over the city. He says that the fight ended too soon to comply with his plan. He says that he will have to activate his secondary plan. Suddenly there is a rattle at the door. The cleaning man is trying to use his key to get in. He says that the cleaning of those two rooms always goes so fast. Suddenly something comes over the man and he turns and walks away. He says that it is a good thing that the cleaning of those two rooms always goes so fast. The man sticks his fingers in his mouth and whistles.
Uptown, at the Chrysler Building, the Dragon Man screams into the night sky and flies off.
She-Hulk and Ms. Marvel sit together at a bar. She-Hulk says that she loved this place when she first moved to New York and found herself at the gym next door. She tells Ms. Marvel to try a pineapple-guava surprise as they are good for the body. Ms. Marvel says that her body is just fine. She notices that everyone in the place is looking at them, but realizes that they are looking at her and She-Hulk for different reasons. She-Hulk asks Sharon what has put her in such a foul mood. Sharon replies that the Thing/Hulk fight started it. She says that while the fight was happening that she was with Johnny and Alicia on Staten Island. She says that they returned to find midtown a disaster area and that the Thing was in his bed at FF Plaza. The doctor said that it was mostly exhaustion and nearly drowning, but that the Thing would be up within 24 hours. Sharon apologized to Ben that they weren’t there, but Ben replied that he told them that they should go. He said that the important thing is that he finally beat the Hulk one on one. He recounted how he beat the Hulk without knowing that it was the Hulk. He said that he fought a Hulk robot afterwards and that gave the Hulk a chance to rest up. Thing said that the two of them just wore him out. Thing said that was when the Hulk got a lot nastier than he remembers Hulk being. Thing said that Hulk tried to drown him. The doctor told Thing to calm down, but Thing smashed the doctor’s clipboard. Thing apologized, but said that is his kind of therapy. Ms. Marvel said that she knew that the Hulk was a monster, but that she didn’t know that he was that bad. She said that he shouldn’t be on the loose. She said that she hates being new to the super hero world. Thing told Sharon that the Hulk wouldn’t be on the loose long, and that when he gopt back on his feet that he was going to go see She-Hulk and find out if she knew where her cousin got off to. Alicia told the doctor that she would sit with Thing while he recouperated. Johnny asked Alicia if she was sure, but Alicia said that she was and that she and Thing used to spend lots of time together, but that she hasn’t seen him much since they started seeing one another. Alicia told Sharon that she only wants to make things peaceful among all of them. Sharon told Alicia not to worry about it and that she understands where they both stand with Ben. She says that it doesn’t bother her at all that the two of them are making up. Johnny seems less sure, but mumbles his agreement. Ms. Marvwl walked out of the building and decided that because she and Ben are a team of Things that if someone fights him that they are also fighting her. She looked at all the devastation and thought about how good it was that Reed set up a fund to pay for this type of damage. Sharon noticed a strange bald man in some type of armor scraping something off the wall. She tried to run to him, but the people in their cars shouted at her to get out of the way. Sharon called the man again and says that she was talking to him. The man says that he was not talking to her however. He blasted Sharon and froze her in place for thirty seconds. She says that when she came around that he was long gone. She explains that by the time she got to She-Hulk’s door that she was in a really bad mood, and that She-Hulk knows the rest. She-Hulk asks Sharon if she is sure that is all that is bothering her. She says that she knows how close Ben and Alicia were until Ben left her and Johnny alone for months together. Sharon says that while she doesn’t know Alicia, that she does know Ben, and that what they have is as solid as they are.
Ben and Alicia sit together. She says that it must have been terrible for him to come back and find out that she and Johnny were an item. Ben says that they don’t have to talk about that. Alicia says that they do and that they can’t let it fester. She says that it wasn’t anything that any of the three of them planned, but that it must have been hard for him to deal with. She says that he did deal with it like the man she knew he was and loved for so long. She says that she hopes that the two of them can just put it beyond them and remain friends. Thing says that he can’t stay mad about anything for very long and that she knows that better than anyone. He says that he has to admit though that it no longer hurts him now that he has Shary.
Human Torch is flying along thinking about how Alicia is all that he ever wanted in a woman, but that somehow Crystal is also. He says that he can’t get either of them out of his mind, and now he is getting jealous of Alicia being alone with Ben. He says that it doesn’t make any sense, but that he isn’t sure that he likes what he is learning about himself and his marriage. He says that he loves them both and isn’t sure what to do about it. He hopes that Crystal is okay on the moon stuck back with Quicksilver. He says that he never touched her, but that he feels so guilty anyway.
Sharon and She-Hulk walk along. Sharon says
that when she joined the FF that she was really messed up. She
says that she hated men and that she hated herself. She says that
being with Ben and the others has really turned her around.
She-Hulk asks if she doesn’t mind the changes that she has
been put through. She says that she has thanked God more than
once that she didn’t turn into a Hulk the way Bruce did.
Sharon says that her life was a disaster when she was cute. She
says that there is nothing wrong with it, but that this is much
better for her. She says that when she was cute that she liked
Ben, but that she couldn’t love him. She says that she was
raised to want a man that was tall, dark, and handsome. She says
that it wasn’t until she joined Ben when she realized what a
sweetheart he was. She-Hulk says that it sounds like Alicia
leaving Ben was the best thing that could have happened to
Sharon. Suddenly the two of them notice a large shadow over them
getting bigger and bigger. They turn to see Dragon Man swooping
down at Ms. Marvel. 
Sharon says
that he isn’t going to reach her and punches Dragon Man in
the face. Dragon Man strikes back and drives Ms. Marvel into the
ground. She-Hulk hits Dragon Man in the back of the head and says
that Dragon Man is stronger than either of them. Sharon says that
they will have to fight him together. Dragon Man swats She-Hulk
aside and Jen says that he doesn’t seem interested in her.
Sharon says that he is the only one in New York then. Sharon says
that she was a tag team wrestler before she changed and tells
She-Hulk to follow her lead. Ms. Marvel flips Jen into Dragon
Man’s face. Jen says that this should make him want to fight
her. Ms. Marvel says that they can use his confusion. She tells
Jen to leap up into his face and She-Hulk punches him in the head
while Ms. Marvel hits him low. She-Hulk gets swatted by Dragon
Man’s tail. Dragon Man turns from She-Hulk again and
breathes fire at Ms. Marvel. She-Hulk leaps and kicks Dragon Man
in the back of the head again, but once again Dragon Man
won’t fight her. Suddenly She-Hulk realizes what it is.
She-Hulk started vamping it up and coming on to Dragon Man. She
says that she is going to come over there and give him a big wet
kiss. Sharon notices that Dragon Man is trembling. Dragon Man
flies off and Ms. Marvel asks if he doesn’t like women.
She-Hulk says that it is exactly the opposite. She says that Sue
once told her that Dragon Man was first created that it developed
a crush on her and wouldn’t hurt her. Ms. Marvel realizes
that another beautiful woman would cause the same reaction. She
says that She-Hulk doesn’t have to rub it in, and says that
even real monsters are turned off by her. She says that she
wanted to get away from the man/woman scene, but wonders if she
really got that far away from it. She-Hulk says that she wonders
why Dragon Man was after Sharon in the first place. She-Hul;k
asks if she has any villains that she doesn’t know about.
Sharon says that there are probably hundreds and that it comes
with the FF territory. A man comes walking down the street and
starts drooling when he sees the She-Hulk. Sharon says that if
she was ever going to have any second thoughts about her
transformation that it would be now, but that even with all the
hassles tied together that what she has gained far outweighs
them. She says that she is going to enjoy this life and asks
She-Hulk who wants to vamp the Dragon Man anyway. She-Hulk says
that she does have a point.
Back at the Empire State Building, Dragon Man enters through the see through wall. The bald armored man tells Dragon Man not to worry and that the screen generated by his armor prevents anyone from seeing him just as it keeps anyone from observing him. He tells Dragon Man that he did a good job, and that he scraped enough cell samples from Ms. Marvel. He says that he obtained cells from the Thing earlier and that all that remains is to get some from the Human Torch. The man says that Torch will be more difficult since his skin is covered in flame when he fights. He says, “…but my plan is the fruit of endless study! After all… who knows more about everyone on Earth and how to seize power here than… a Watcher?”
First Family rating: 6 out of 10
This story has a few cool elements to it. She-Hulk versus “She-Thing” is a natural and you can really see the difference between the women and men in this issue. The men usually just punch until one of them stops moving. The women fight for a second and then spend the rest of the issue talking. Straight off the Lifetime channel. The other thing is that I can’t believe that it took this long for someone to clear the air between Thing and Alicia. This should have been done long ago. 3.5 out of 5 for writing. Ron Lim has grown a lot since this issue and generally speaking I enjoy his stuff, but this issue was kinda lousy with a few good points.