Fantastic Four #239
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeFantastic Four #239 resolves a nearly two-decade-long running joke in Marvel continuity: Ben Grimm had name-dropped his Aunt Petunia as far back as Fantastic Four #25 (1964), and this issue—picking up directly from her shadowy debut in #238—finally puts a face and a backstory to the character, delivering one of the more satisfying payoffs of John Byrne's celebrated FF tenure. The issue simultaneously introduces Roberta, the Baxter Building's robotic receptionist, a minor-seeming addition that became a durable fixture of the title's supporting cast across decades. As a double-barreled 'first identification/first appearance' issue sitting at the heart of Byrne's all-solo creative run, it captures that run's defining method: grounding superhero wonder in family, domesticity, and long-deferred continuity promises. The story's dark undercurrent—the abuse subplot and Reed Richards's morally ambiguous resolution—generated lasting critical debate among readers and remains one of the more discussed tonal experiments of early-1980s Marvel.
In "Wendy's Friends," the Fantastic Four answer a peculiar call from the Thing’s great aunt Petunia, who’s troubled by strange happenings in her quiet town—especially after her young neighbor, Wendy, befriends otherworldly creatures. Written and illustrated by John Byrne, this 1982 issue blends eerie mystery with the team’s trademark dynamic, all while a hidden conflict brews in Attilan. The cover by Byrne captures the story’s unsettling tone with striking, detailed artwork.
ComicBooks.com Value
Show all 10 grades ▾
This exact issue on ebay
Raw — NM+ ▾ $7.29–$35 2 listings
Raw — VF/NM ▾ $5.19–$9.49 3 listings
Raw — VF ▾ $3.99–$24 7 listings
Raw / ungraded ▾ $2–$300 31 listings
More listings for this title
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
John Byrne was writing, penciling, and inking Fantastic Four entirely solo at this point in his celebrated 1981–1986 run, with Jim Salicrup as editor under Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter. The issue was released in November 1981 with a February 1982 cover date, colored by Glynis Wein and lettered by Jim Novak. Byrne constructed the Aunt Petunia reveal as a deliberate two-issue build across #238–239, first slipping her into the book without identification, then springing her true identity on both the reader and a visibly stunned Johnny Storm—a structural trick consciously echoing the Stan Lee/Jack Kirby era's habit of layered character reveals. The story also advanced ongoing Byrne subplots: Ben Grimm's temporary reversion to his early lumpy form (introduced the prior issue), Crystal's pregnancy in Attilan, and Frankie Raye's growing integration into the team.
Trivia · 7 facts
- John Byrne served as sole writer, penciler, inker, and cover artist—one of the most sustained solo creative efforts on a major Marvel title of that era.
- Aunt Petunia Grimm (Petunia 'Penny' Grimm) is formally identified in this issue; she had first appeared without identification one issue earlier in FF #238 and had been verbally referenced by the Thing since Fantastic Four #25 (April 1964)—a gap of nearly 20 years between first mention and first in-person identification.
- First appearance of Roberta, Reed Richards's robotic receptionist for the Baxter Building, a character who would accumulate over 50 appearances across Marvel titles and receive entries in the Marvel Encyclopedia: Fantastic Four and FF: Fifty Fantastic Years.
- Frankie Raye (the second Nova/Human Torch) appears as an active member of the FF team on their mission to Benson, Arizona, cementing her role after her own origin was revealed in the preceding issues.
- A subplot advances Crystal's pregnancy in Attilan and Quicksilver's search for outside medical help—threads that feed directly into Fantastic Four #240 and Avengers Annual #12.
- Ben Grimm wears his original helmet-and-uniform design from Fantastic Four #3 in this issue, a visual callback Byrne used to comment on the character's history while Reed's attempted cure had temporarily reverted Ben toward his earliest, more dinosaurian rocky form from FF #1–10.
- A Mark Jewelers advertisement insert variant of this issue exists, the standard direct-edition and newsstand versions rounding out the print run.
Full credits
Reprints
↩ Reprints [Marvel Hostess Ads] #67 (1982)
Reprinted in Fantastic Four #129/130 (1982), Fantastic Four #1 (1983), Los 4 Fantásticos #23 (1984), Nova #105 (1986), Fantastici Quattro #11 (1989), Fantastic Four Visionaries: John Byrne #[1] (2001), Coleccionable Los 4 Fantásticos de John Byrne #2 (2002), Coleccionable Los 4 Fantásticos de John Byrne #3 (2002), Fantastic Four: Klassiska serier av John Byrne #[nn] (2005), Best of Marvel : Fantastic Four - Retour aux sources #[nn] (2005), Fantastic Four: Tilbake til start [Alle Tiders Superhelter] #[nn] (2005), Coleccionable Marvel Héroes #14 (2010), Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus #1 (2011), Marvel Héroes #59 (2015), Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four #21 (2019), Fantastic Four Epic Collection #13 (2025), Die Fantastischen Vier #12, El Asombroso Hombre Araña Presenta #196, Fantastic Four #32
Key issues in Fantastic Four
★
★
★
★
★
★
★
★Variants (1)
Reviews
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet.