Comics can be very bizarre.  On the one hand, they often have the ability to condense incredibly complicated information in a readily understandable way.  On the other, popular comics (especially superhero comics) tend to contain the most outlandish, potentially confusing goings-on of any artform.  It is no wonder that comicdom breeds tenacious fans.  Merely understanding some of the long story arcs, character metamorphoses over several years, and levels of reference between issues can require a lifetime of dedication.  I am a recently serious (though still casual and occasional) comic book reader.  One of my best triumphs of the summer has been finally reading through Watchmen, a thoroughly amazing experience overall but also something of a bad call on my part.  The reason?  After it, everything else seems lacking, unsophisticated, predictable, etc.

Fantastic Four #292 is weird.  Not because it is an especially well written issue (it isn’t) or because it approaches high art where other issues falter (it doesn’t).  No, #292 is typical in its breakneck pace, its references to other issues and storylines–fully half of its 32 pages discuss previous narratives–and, as I mention above, its generally confusing nature.  Hey, I suppose it is my fault for not having read the rest of the story-arc.  I maintain, Fantastic Four #292 is weird and in one way totally exceptional.  But why?  Well, its all spelled out on the cover:

Human Torch: Nick Fury is going to kill ADOLF HITLER!

Invisible Woman: And we’ve got to STOP him!!…….OR DO WE?

Nick Fury is going to kill Adolf Hitler? Sign me up!  Without getting into too much of the backstory–and without ruining the inevitable surprise for those of you who want to buy it for a dollar or less–the extant Fantastic Four (here the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch, and She-Hulk…Reed Richards is presumed dead and The Thing had quit the group for a while) track Nick Fury to heart Germany in 1936.  They had been thrown into a bizarre time loop that oscillated them between the 1930s and 1980s of New York.  Fury wants to prevent world suffering and give the worst man in history what-for, so he sets out to potentially prevent World War II.

I will not give any more away.  Stories in which people mean to assassinate Adolf Hitler, especially when those people and their lives generally do no operate in the same time, place, and even space as this beacon of real-world evil, are instant ballyhoo.  If you find a copy for $1 or less (think Robocop’s “I’d buy that for a dollar” man), give it a shot.