The Guest Star:
      the American Eagle

The Villain:
      Klaw

Guest Shots:
      Ka-zar; Zabu; Wyatt Wingfoot

The Set Up:
      Ben is home alone at the FF headquarters- everyone else is off elsewhere, Alicia is busy, and Ben's going stir crazy. He gets a welcone interruption when Wyatt Wingfoot comes to the Fantastic Four for help.
     Wyatt relates two parallel stories. One is ancient indian legend of two brothers who engage in an epic battle, and when one finally returns victorious he has been changed and given godlike powers. The other story is one that just happened, of two indian brothers, one of whom worked for white man who were desecrating sacred lands, and the other who worked to stop him. The two fought in a cave full of strange machineries, and the second returned victorious, glowing and changed by the machineries. The second brother had departed to carry his fight to those who'd despoiled his lands, and Wyatt believed that he needed help in some form or another. Ben agress to help, and Wyatt and the Thing depart for the brother's stated destination: the Savage Land.
     The brother (Jason Strongbow, by name) has fashioned himself a costume and a name (the American Eagle) and is now hunting those who work for his enemies in the Savage Land. Ka-zar witnesses him hunting, but doesn't see the men he is hunting and assumes he is hunting rare game. A fight develops, until the two come to realize their mistakes. Teaming up, they resume tracking, only to be interrupted by the descent of Ben and Wyatt in the FF pogo-plane...

Clobberin' Time?:
      Pg 34, panel 4. Klaw has encased Ben in a sonic straightjacket, which Ben shatters. "Well that does it, ya lousy creep! I'm mad now... an' when the Thing gets mad, Clobberin' Time ain't far behind!"
     Two pages later, Ben is true to his word, as Klaw tries to hide behind a wall he'd created: "Now it's a solid wall of sound, izzit? Ya gotta do better'n that, Klaw... cuz like I told ya-- It's Clobberin' Time! And-- guess what? I'm the clobberer-- and yer the clobberee!"

Petunia's Patch:
      No Petunia in here.

Things of Interest:
      We're still waiting for the American Eagle to get a real shot at anything. Excepting one 8-page story in one issue (#27) of Marvel Comic Presents, all of his appearances to date have all been cameos in super-hero crowd scenes in various comics. He appears to be playing some role in an arc in the highly unpleasant Warren Ellis Thunderbolts (issues 112-114, plus or minus).

     The last issue / next issue links below for each Annual will take you not to the last / next Annual, but rather to the last / next issue chronologically, as determined by the Marvel Chronology Project.