Random Happenstance

Like a DVD extra, except it's sold separately.

Seem familiar? It's from Fantastic Four #367, "By Reed...Betrayed!" Written by Tom DeFalco, pencils by Paul Ryan, inks by Ivy and Kryssing. But it's also a scene in Infinity War #2, a slightly different angle. I'm pretty sure this isn't the start of the trend of regular comics giving a lot of panels in service to alternate camera angles of the big 'Red skies' crossover, but it's a good example.

Despite ten or so panels that could have been cut and pasted from Infinity War #2, there is some interesting interstitial material here; mainly Sue deducing Reed has been replaced by an evil duplicate. As the Thing faces his own double, and heroes begin to gather at Four Freedoms Plaza; Sue deactivates security measures so Wolverine can sneak in. Sue then stops and scans Ben and Johnny, and while they're both genuine, a brawl breaks out among the heroes when they don't know who is real and who's been replaced, ending with evil Reed blowing up a gamma bomb. I was going to say Sue, Ben, and Johnny didn't get much accomplished, but Sue does save the heroes from the explosion.

(Did evil Reed bring or build the gamma bomb, or did regular Reed have one lying around? Why would Reed have a gamma bomb? Research? Defense? A boring Saturday afternoon? Why use that, instead of a conventional atomic weapon that won't possibly produce a gamma-powered Puck or something?)

I'm not sure if the Infinity Gauntlet/War/Crusade Trilogy is remembered as fondly as say, Crisis on Infinite Earths or the first Secret Wars, and honestly they aren't as good. But there are some strong issues and individual moments throughout that shine, and maybe a couple that could be considered classic. Give it a read, but check out the umpteen dozen crossovers at your discretion. For instance, I know I had the New Warriors issue from about this same time, with young Darick Robertson art and Dark Speedball. Darkball? Again, discretion.