While
Earth X was only fourteen issues long (1-12 with a zero and an X issue as
bookends), it looks like Marvel gave Ross and Krueger a bit more room to flesh
out the story with the addition of these “Special Issues” (there are five in
total). The thing is, you would assume
that a “special” would only add tangential material to the story and not be as
integral as the Universe X Special Issues are.
There are slight recaps of the action that goes on here in the regular
issues, but really, these are very important issues if you want a better
understanding of what is going on throughout the story (and the story is very
convoluted and can get kind of confusing at times with so many moving pieces,
so anything that can clear things up even a little is welcomed).
The
first “Special Issue” looks at the Fantastic Four as its main subject. Considering how integral Reed Richards was to
Earth X, this is not a bad idea. Of
course, this also means that we get another retelling of their origin (at least
it’s only a quick one pager this time) as X-51 is relaying it to Galactus (who,
it turns out, is now Franklin Richards).
We are then back in Doom’s castle, the home of the “Fantastic Four” (who
are now down to two members). We get
more solemn Reed as he remembers his fallen bride, and then another brief
flashback to show how Sue and Johnny died at the hands of Namor. This is not just window-dressing though as it
sets up Ben Grimm’s journey to Atlantis to consult with Namor. Captain Marvel, as a child of Him and Her (I
know, kind of weird) has been raised in Atlantis for the last few years to
avoid the general population’s wrath at something new and different (they are
no longer able to have children, probably due in large part to the
mutations). Ben Grimm, master of a
restraint, decides to forego the fetch quest in order to beat up Namor one last
time for what he did to Johnny and Sue. Namor
fights back, and actually knocks Ben’s breathing apparatus off. If it wasn’t for Namor’s quick thinking, and
the rescue breathing he learned in his seventh grade health class, Ben Grimm
would be no more. 
Be
wakes up and is greeted by Mar-Vell, as a child of course. Marv, makes some comments about Sue and
Johnny, and then lets out the revelation that he is actually in both the land
of the living (as a child) and the land of the dead (as a seemingly omnipotent
god-being). Apparently, Marv’s big plan
is to make a new realm for the dead, a paradise, if you will. The issue is, to do so from the land of the
dead, he will need help. All of the
heroes in death’s realm, well most of them anyway, don’t think they are dead,
they actually think those that are still alive are the ones that have died. In order to exit the realm of the dead, they
will need to realize where they are, which is easier said than done apparently,
which we see as Johnny Storm, who realizes that he is dead, tries to convince
his sister of that very fact. Sue states
that the only way she will admit to being dead, is basically if Dr. Doom admits
it first, so off goes Johnny to get that done.
The way he does that is by removing Doom’s mask and showing him that he
is no longer the scarred monstrosity that caused him to put the mask on in the first place
(apparently when you die, your physical scars disappear). 
Back in
the land of the living, Grimm has returned to Latveria with Marv to get Reed on
board with the plan, and part of the way to do this is to bring Sue back from
the dead (which is why she needed to acknowledge that she was dead in the first
place (which she does, because Dr. Doom, realizing he is also dead, apologizes
to her and asks for her forgiveness). We
then get a brief Dr. Doom origin story before Marv brings Sue back to
life. In order to recreate her, with her
physical body being long since dead and decomposed, Alicia Masters molds Reed’s
arm like clay (which is easy to do when he is as malleable as he is) into the
form of Sue. The final piece of the
puzzle is taking Adam Warlock’s soul gem and giving it to Sue as a vessel to
house her soul. With that, Marv works
his magic and Sue comes back to life.
Reed loses an arm, but that’s a small price to pay. I do find it odd that the Sue that is now
alive, has aged just as much as all of the other characters, but I guess it
kind of makes sense since Alicia never really got to see Sue before her
death. With that, this issue comes to a
close with a warning from Uatu that everything is far from over.
Next issue: everything is certainly far from over because
Universe X #1 is forthcoming. What is
Marv’s plan, and why is he doing it?
Will Reed and Sue retire to Florida and live out the rest of their days
together? Will Uatu continue to be super
creepy?
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