10 Times That Fantastic Four Got Weird (In The Best Possible Way)
9. Marvel Writer & Artist John Byrne Joins The Story - Fantastic Four #262 (1984)
In The Trial of Reed Richards, the leader of the Fantastic Four is arrested by the Galactic Tribunal after Reed spares Galactus' life. Because the Big G can only be sustained by consuming planets, allowing the Devourer of Worlds to live will cause countless civilisations to be destroyed.
Uatu the Watcher, who chronicles everything in the Solar System, believes this trial to be so momentous, he feels it requires a person from Earth to record it. Of everyone Uatu could have possibly chosen to chronicle the trial, he hand-selects John Byrne - the writer and artist of this very issue!
Before the Watcher's arrival, Byrne was in his office at Marvel, complaining to his co-workers how he is struggling to come up with a plot for the latest Fantastic Four issue. When Uatu appears and makes his proposition to Byrne, the acclaimed author agrees, hoping to transcribe the details of Reed's trial into the comic.
Meta jokes like this are popular in the Fantastic Four series but the way John Byrne is implemented into this story arc is pretty much perfect. Probably the funniest moment is when the Thing complains to his teammates how all of Byrne's stories suck.