10: What If... times changed?

After penning 4 What If issues plus 2 backups, PBG was told by Mark Gruenwald that they wanted to give other writers a chance. The situation changed when old friend Ralph Macchio took over as editor in 1983. He happily bought whatever great ideas Gillis threw at him, which resulted in writing credits on 7 of the final 8 What If issues. 

What if Dr. Strange had Never Become Master of the Mystic Arts #40 (1983)

Pencils: Butch Guice
Inks: Guice / Sam Grainger

An alternate spin on Gillis' previous Strange What If, this sees the mantle of sorceror supreme go to Baron Mordo, while Stephen returns to a career in medicine. Mordo pretends to be a reformed character to fool the Ancient One, but he's under the thrall of Nightmare. Eventually the good Doctor is dragged into the fight and the universe rebalances to how it was meant to be. It's interesting to an extent to see Mordo wearing the cape and his blunter approach to classic encounters. A story about Mordo redeeming himself might've been more compelling than another where he's just faking decency. Great fun all the same, with some pretty early Guice art.

What if Susan Richards Died in Childbirth? #42 (1983)

Pencils: Ron Frenz
Inks: Joe Sinnott

Wow. Just wow.

I was unfamiliar with the original story this was based around, Fantastic Four Annual #6. Reading the two back to back, it's impressive how faithfully the opening scenes are reproduced by Ron Frenz and the inker of both issues, Mr FF himself, Joe Sinnott.

Peter Gillis ascribed to the established notion that love and death are the only things worth writing about, and this issue is the perfect distillation of both. The 9 panel funeral eulogies by each of the FF are beautifully done. Reed's overwhelming grief and anger for revenge is utterly palpable throughout. 

If there is one flaw in the story, it's Franklin shaped. It's stated early on that Reed's son survived, then he's never mentioned again. I can see bringing him into the story would muddy the waters, but not giving him a second thought just makes Reed seem the worst father ever.

Gillis had a lifelong love, encyclopedic knowledge and acute understanding of the Fantastic Four, describing Sue as the heart of the FF. Here he perfectly encapsulates the traumatic wreckage of everything collapsing without her. It's a shame Gillis only ever got to write the FF in a few What If's. What wonders he could've wrought on the core title. This is arguably one of the best single issue stories Marvel ever published.

What if Conan were Stranded in the 20th Century? #43 (1984)

Art: Bob Hall

From the sublime to the ridiculous... The Conan crew of Thomas, Buscema and Chau did a tenuous early What If (#13) where Conan found himself stranded in 1970's New York. He mostly wandered around in a confused rampage, before finding a convenient route back to his times. Gillis believed Conan was too intelligent to play the ignorant savage abroad routine, so he wrote this direct sequel, possibly the first What If to a What If. Here Conan quickly learns the language, dabbles in petty crime, before forming his own street gang, the Barbarians, which appears to be a nod to cult classic film The Warriors. There's some amusing moments in this tale (like the infamous pimp scene below), but the notion that Conan would become nothing more than a criminal gang leader in our time holds no appeal for me.

A finale face off with Captain America sets up a potential third part that never came to pass; What If Conan joins the Avengers? Conan did end up joining the Savage Avengers a few years back, which goes to show, if you live long enough, everything will happen.

What if Captain America Were Not Revived Until Today? #44 (1984)

Pencils: Sal Buscema
Inks: Dave Simons

This issue could be better summed up as "What if Captain America Were Revived in Fascist America?" The short lived 1950's Commie bashing Cap and Bucky take centre stage here, with original popsicle Steve Rogers only getting unfrozen in the final 10 pages. Essentially the mentally unstable 50's Cap becomes a figurehead for an all too prescient far right candidate, scaremongering, witch hunting, and trading on OG Cap's good name. By the time Steve wakes up, America is under martial law and there's a wall built around Harlem. Good Cap joins the resistance alongside a disturbingly gun toting Spider-man. It ends on Cap's 'trash' speech, which has gained circulation during America's recent turbulent elections. I don't rate this amongst Gillis' best quality writing, yet the issue remains as sadly relevant as ever.

Next: it's the end of What If as we know it.