“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine” Fantastic Four No. 20

30 Sunday May 2021

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1963, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 20, jack Kirby, Molecule Man, Stan Lee

Fantastic Four 20
“The Mysterious Molecule Man”
Published: August 1963
Story: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Pencils: Kirby
Script: Lee
Inks: Dick Ayers
Letters: Art Simek
Cover: Kirby and George Roussos

Synopsis

As the Fantastic Four help Mr. Fantastic in his lab, a glowing ball of energy appears on the streets of New York. The team is eventually drawn within it, and it’s revealed to be a gateway sent by the Watcher, who violates his oath of non-interference (again) to alert the team of a new threat to earth. An employee of a nuclear plant suffered an accident, he tells them, and was transformed into Molecule Man, a villain capable of manipulating matter.

The team returns to New York to find the Baxter Building has been moved to Times Square, where the Molecule Man declares he is now ruler of the earth. After a long battle, the FF is unable to subdue him. They retreats into hiding after the Molecule Man announces he will hold Manhattan hostage unless the FF are delivered to him. The FF are rescued by a member of the Yancy Street gang, who delivers them to the apartment of Alicia Masters. There, Reed is inspired by Alicia’s sculptures and devises a trap for the Molecule Man. Deducing he can’t manipulate organic molecules, Reed and the team cover themselves in plaster and pretend to be statues. After he is lured to Alicia’s by a flare, the Molecule Man is overcome with feedback after trying to alter the “statues.” Then the Watcher reappears, and after determining the FF defeated the Molecule Man, he disappears with him after returning the Baxter Building to its normal location.

What’s going on here

Fantastic Four 20 repeats the same basic plot points of earlier issues, such as FF 16, when they battled the Super-Skrull. As in that issue, after an unsuccessful battle with an overpowering villain, the team relies on Reed to outwit the bad guy.

Owen Reece, as the Molecule Man is later identified, goes on to occupy an interesting niche in the Marvel Universe. Although he made occasional appearances as a standard-issue bad guy, he really is too powerful for normal comic purposes and is instead deployed in Marvel’s big events, like Secret Wars and its various sequels, where his power matches the magnitude of the stories.

Here he is in Fantastic Four 188 (written by Len Wein), one his last appearances as an ordinary bad guy (he has taken over Reed’s body in this issue):

FF 188 (1977), art by George Perez and Joe Sinnott

In the first Secret Wars, where earth’s heroes confront the all-powerful Beyonder, writer Jim Shooter writes him as a neurotic nebbish who’s true potential is revealed to him by Dr. Doom (who at this point as stolen the Beyonder’s power):

Secret Wars (1984), art by Mike Zeck and John Beatty

By Secret Wars II, the almost-unreadable sequel about the Beyonder’s sojourn on earth, Reece is now living comfortable in suburbia when he realizes he must confront the Beyonder.

Secret Wars II (1985), art by Al Milgrom and Steve Leialoha

Three decades later, in a new Secret Wars, Johnathan Hickman redeploys the Molecule Man, this time as a human battery powering Doom’s Battle World.

Weird science

Throughout FF 20, Stan and Jack toss around various notions about molecules, some of which may surprise chemistry teachers:

I guess newspaper ink contains zinc and lead, but mostly I think they’re paper, ie., carbon (this may be Stan working around Jack’s pencils, since later in the issue it’s revealed that the Molecule man can’t affect “organic” molecules, which presumably includes carbon).

We also have this odd moment of Reed finding proof of life in outer space, as if they hadn’t been to an alien plant in FF 7, much less encountered Skrulls and the Watcher.

The Watcher, insult comic

Uatu doesn’t hold back about the Molecule Man

Pals

I love this bit of back-and-forth between Ben and Johnny. It captures their relationship perfectly.

The strange and terrible power of the atom

Once again, nuclear energy is the one-size-fits-all bestower of powers of the early Marvel universe

The incredible Mr. Fantastic

More creative stretching from Reed

Nu Yawk, Nu Yawk

The FF take the subway

The sexist sixties

Sue wilts under pressure again

Dig that Kirby Krackle

A cool sequence

For Sale

A mint (9.8) copy of FF 20 will run you $33,000, three times more than last issue. Go figure.

Next issue: The Hate-Monger!

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine” Fantastic Four No. 19

23 Sunday May 2021

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1963, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 19, jack Kirby, Rama-Tut, Stan Lee

Fantastic Four 19
“Prisoners of the Pharoah!” (sic)
Story: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Pencils: Kirby
Script: Lee
Inks: Dick Ayers
Letters: Sam Rosen
Cover: Kirby and Paul Reinman

Synopsis

Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Girl and the Human Torch search New York for the Thing and Alicia Masters. Once they’re all back at the Baxter Building, Reed informs them of his latest discovery: When looking at Egyptian hieroglyphics, he unearthed evidence of a radioactive cure of blindness which could be used to treat Alicia. The team then travels to Dr. Doom’s castle (in the Adirondacks, not Latveria) to find the time machine Doom used in FF 5.

Sent back by Alicia to ancient Egypt, the FF are attacked by local warriors. The FF have no trouble subduing them until they mysteriously lose the use of their powers. Captured, the team is brought before the pharaoh Rama-Tut who reveals himself to also be a time traveler, but from the far-distant future. Bored with his easy life, he traveled to the past (in a vessel that resembles the Sphinx) and set himself up as ruler. Using his future mind-control technology, he makes the FF his slaves, saving Sue to serve as his queen.

The Thing, working as a galley slave, mysteriously transforms back to human form (more on this later), and slips free of his shackles. He then frees the rest of the team before changing back to the Thing. The FF pursue Rama-Tut, who escapes in his time machine. Before returning to the present, Sue discovers the optic nerve treatment for Alicia. Unfortunately, a flaw in the time machine prevents the transport of radioactive material, so the treatment doesn’t make it to the present, leaving Ben distraught.

What’s going on here?

Along with being an entertaining adventure that also contains some nice character building, Fantastic Four 19 has had an out-sized impact on the Marvel universe, primarily because of the introduction of Rama-Tut. Initially conceived as a stand-alone bad, writer Steve Englehart revealed he was actually an earlier incarnation of Kang the Conquerer, a time-traveling Avengers villain.

Avengers 129 (1974), art by Sal Buscema and Joe Staton.

Eventually he was later revealed to also be the Scarlet Centurion and Immortus, and he features in numerous time-twisting stories. It is far beyond the scope of this blog, or the reasoning power of this blogger, to unravel Kang’s complete timeline, but suffice to say he’s a major part of the Marvel firmament.

More specifically, FF 19 also features in a handful of stories when other heroes venture back to the same place and time in ancient Egypt.

First, Dr. Strange is sent back in time by Nightmare (for reasons way too complicated to get into here). Captured by the automated defenses in Rama-Tut’s time machine, he uses his astral form to explore and discovers the captured FF.

Dr. Strange 53 (1982), art by Marshall Rogers and Terry Austin

In this telling by Roger Stern and Roy Thomas, it was Dr. Strange that changed Ben back to his human form, setting off the events that allowed the FF to return to the future.

Here’s Stan and Jack’s telling of the events

And here is Stern and Thomas’s

Artist Marshall Rogers also has fun mirroring Kirby’s great sequence of Ben escaping the galley:

Not to be out-done, Englehart has the West Coast Avengers also travel back to the same moment (and also for reasons way too complicated to get into here). In that story, the team encounters both Strange and the FF.

WCA 22 (1987), art by Al Milgrom and Kim DeMulder

In Englehart’s story, the WCA are desperate to hitch a ride back to the present, but just miss the FF.

Here’s Stan and Jack:

Both the Dr. Strange and the WCA comics are the sort of intricate, multi-layered story telling that rewards fans with obsessive knowledge of their Marvel characters and history, but also represents the fan-as-creator tendencies that left new readers (and some editors) cold. These are the kinds of story helped inspire projects like the New Universe and the Ultimate Universe, where there was no deep past for writers to play in and no fear of convoluted stories losing readers

Pals

FF 19 also featured some nice moments between the team, particularly this panel, where Reed and Ben’s friendship is obvious. We’ve had some many examples of Reed scolding Ben that it seemed Stan forgot they are former college roommates and best friends.

The Amazing Mr. Fantastic

We get some great stretching action in this issue. First:

and then here:

Spalling iz hard!

“Pharaoh” is consistently misspelled “Pharoah” throughout the issue.

They’re fighting again

It’s pretty mild, compared to other issues

The sexist sixties

Once again, Sue is singled out by the FF’s captor for special, creepy treatment.

Fun time

I loved this sequence

Kirby Krackle

There are a lot of great images in this issue, but this might be the single best panel in the first 19 issues of the FF.

These are also great

For sale

A mint (9.8) version of FF 19 is just $11,000. A bargain!

Next issue: The Molecule Man!

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine” Fantastic Four Annual No. 1

16 Sunday May 2021

Posted by percivalhenry in The World's Greatest Comic Magazine

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Annual, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four Annual, jack Kirby, Namor, Spider-Man, Stan Lee

Fantastic Four Annual 1
Published July 2, 1963

“The Sub-Mariner versus the Human Race” (main story)
Story: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Pencils: Kirby
Script: Lee
Inks: Dick Ayers
Letters: Art Simek

“The Fabulous Fantastic Four Meet Spider-Man” (second story)
Story: Lee
Pencils: Kirby
Inks: Steve Ditko
Letters: Ray Holloway

Cover: Kirby and Ayers

Buckle up everyone, because we’ve got a lot to cover in the Fantastic Four’s first annual. It features two stories, both loaded with historic significance, a gallery of pin-ups, and a handful of assorted extras, all of which are worth looking at.

But first, the main event:

Synopsis

The story begins under the ocean, in Atlantis, which Namor the Sub-Mariner has finally rediscovered and where he is now crowned as ruler. We meet Dorma, his love interest, and Krang, a rival. Meanwhile, in New York, the Fantastic Four plan a cruise vacation in part to investigate the sighting of sea monsters. While at sea, the team is captured by Namor (the sea monsters were a lure), who informs the team the surface world can no longer encroach on his ocean kingdom, and releases the FF to spread the word.

Reed summons an emergency session of the United Nations, and introduces Dr. G. W. Falton, who explains the history of homo mermanus, the water-breathing off shot of humans, their civilization, and the birth of Namor. When Reed declares humanity must fight Atlantis, Falton reveals himself to be Namor in disguise, and then launches an invasion of New York.

New York is soon overwhelmed by Atlanteans, but Reed invents a device that evaporates the water in the their helmets, sending them back to the sea. Defeated, Namor abducts the Invisible Girl after a scuffle with the FF, and brings her to Atlantis. The rest of the FF pursues, and while Namor and the team battle, Dorma realizes Namor is in love with Sue and floods her chamber. Sue nearly drowns, and Namor calls off his fight with the FF to take Sue to a hospital on land. When he returns to the ocean, the city of Atlantis is deserted as his people have abandoned him.

What’s going on here?

This is the first annual of the modern Marvel era, but apparently not Marvel’s first annual. While investigating the history of Marvel’s annuals is an exercise in frustration, the lack of explanation in this issue suggests readers were used to them. Initially Marvel used its annuals to tell big stories or for big events like Reed and Sue’s wedding (spoiler!). Later, they became used for Marvel’s interminable cross-over events. While they were once reliably published one a year (annually, you might say) they’ve since become much more erratic. The FF reached 27 annuals before the first series was rebooted in 1998 (though some were reprints).

This first story has a lot going on. Most importantly it tells the story of Namor, his people, and his birth to an Atlantean princess and a human sea captain. Namor has now appeared in five stories in the FF’s first two years, as many as Dr. Doom, and with this annual he’s given more dimension and background. Notably, he’s also identified as by G.W. Falton (really Namor in disguise) “the first known mutant,” a tag line which Marvel used to advertise Namor’s solo book in later, mutant-crazed years.

The story also moves Namor from villain closer to hero, or at least, anti-hero. Despite his new-found leadership of Atlantis, it doesn’t appear his heart is really in the invasion of earth, and he’s still clearly smitten with Sue. And while Sue remains Namor-curious, she seems to realize her future is with Reed and the team.

The annual just has a ton of action as Stan and Jack take advantage of the extra space to stretch out. The regular jokey fight between Ben and Johnny, usually just a panel or two each issue, covers more than two pages. The team also battles Namor twice, each time for several pages.

They’re fighting

As noted above, this is a big brawl.

The sexist sixties

The real victim of Ben and Johnny’s fight? Sue’s dresses.

The Amazing Mr. Fantastic

Reed gets to show off a bit while fighting Namor

Operator

Reed never wrote down the number for the United Nations.

Red Menace

Khrushchev makes his second appearance in the FF. For those keeping score, that’s Khrushchev 2, JFK 1.

Vacation!

Ooops

Very odd drawing of Ben here by Jack. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he looked like Pepe the Frog.

Kirby Krackle

Kack makes up for his stumble with all sorts of cool images, particularly in this double-page spread of Atlantis, the only double-page spread in the FF to date.

Also this is a pretty excellent view of Namor. A swimmer’s body, indeed.

But wait, there’s more!

The second story is an odd one – it’s an expanded version of the FF’s first meeting with Spider-Man, which appeared as part of a larger story in Amazing Spider-Man 1, published a few months earlier.

There’s not much to it: Spider-man, very new to the super-heroing business, breaks into the Baxter Building and fights the FF, hoping to prove his value with the expectation they will hire him. When he finds out there’s no money in being an FF member, he sulks off. While the version in ASM 1 was drawn by Ditko, this one was drawn by Kirby with Ditko’s inks. The dialogue and the layouts are basically the same, but the art is very different. See for yourself:

Spider-Man tried the same trick decades later with the Avengers, breaking into Avengers Mansion and asking for a job. It didn’t work out then, either. (Much later, of course, he ended up as a member of both teams).

While Spidey’s initial meeting with the FF was an inauspicious one, it was the first of many encounters that led to a deep friendship between Peter Parker and the FF. They have appeared in so many issues together it would be impossible to list them all but here are some notable ones:

From Marvel Team-Up 17

From Marvel Team-Up 100

From Amazing Spider-Man 258

And much more recently, from 2011 ‘s FF 1, when Peter joined the team after Johnny was believed dead:

We’re still not done!

Fantastic Four Annual 1 included a series of pin-ups of the FF’s foes. Interestingly, while many—like the Mole Man and the Mad Thinker— had only appeared one, their presence in the gallery suggested Stan and Jack had long-term plans for them.

The annual also included a cutaway drawing of the Baxter Building, the third such illustration of the FF’s headquarters so far. Each one is a little more detailed, and this one includes an interesting tidbit about Sue and Johnny still living at home and commuting in from the suburbs.

Lastly, each of the FF was the subject of a Q&A section that attempted to answer readers’ questions about the team. For example, we learn why Reed is grey at the temples, that Johnny is just 16, and that while the Hulk is stronger than the Thing, Ben is a more wily fighter. Alas, much of Sue’s Q&A is dedicated to her love life.

For sale

A mint version (9.8) of FF Annual 1 should cost you around $46,000.

Next week: Introducing the Rama Tut!

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine” Fantastic Four No. 18

09 Sunday May 2021

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1963, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 18, jack Kirby, Skrulls, Stan Lee, Super Skrull

Fantastic Four 18
“A Skrull Walks Among Us!”
Published June 1963
Story: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Script: Lee
Pencils: Kirby
Inks: Dick Ayers
Letters: Art Simek
Cover: Kirby and Paul Reinman

Synopsis

As the Fantastic Four recuperate from their recent adventures, on the home planet of the Skrulls—”in the fifth quadrant of the Andromeda Galaxy”—the Skrull Emperor plots an attack on Earth. He reviews his latest weapon, the Super-Skrull, who possesses all the powers of the Fantastic Four and then some.

As the FF contend with a horde of shoppers in a department store, the Super-Skrull lands in Time Square and announces his dominion over the Earth. Soon the FF arrive and after a furious battle, they are overpowered by the alien and retreat. Mr. Fantastic surmises the Super-Skrull is receiving his power from an external force and builds a device to block the signal. After luring the Super-Skrull to fight the FF on a volcanic deserted island, Reed, Ben, and Johnny distract him while Sue attaches the device. No longer receiving his power from the Skrull home world, the alien is weakened. The Human Torch then seals the Skrull in a crater by fusing sand into glass.

What’s going on here?

Another whiz-bang issue—that’s three stellar issues in a row, for those keeping track—that introduces another major villain to the Marvel universe. Fantastic Four 18 follows a now familiar pattern: The FF loaf around the Baxter Building or New York, often showing off their powers among civilians, before they’re drawn into an adventure. The pace then quickens and the second half of the comic is non-stop action, usually culminating with the villain’s defeat on the final page, or even final panel.

FF 18 reintroduces the Skrulls, not seen since issue two, and adds a bit more context to the alien. We visit their home world and meet their emperor, later revealed as Dorrek VII. He goes unnamed here but eventually he and the Skrull royal family become significant characters in their own right, particularly his queen, R’Kill, and their daughter, Princess Annelle.

The comic also introduces the Super-Skrull, Kl’rt. He, too, isn’t named until later issues, and has a long and tangled history in the Marvel Universe. I’m partial to his appearance in John Byrne’s Alpha Flight 10, when he battled Sasquatch.

His most recent appearance came in the 2020 Empyre crossover, when he was found responsible for the genocide of an alien race. To punish him, the hero Hulkling—the new Skrull Emperor—makes him a diplomat, forcing him to make peace instead of war. (Empyre was a bit of a mess, but it was steeped in deep Marvel history and it had its moments).

Empyre Aftermath: Avengers (Writing: Al Ewing and Dan Slott, art by Valerio Schiti)

Go Gadget Go

FF 18 was a big issue for cool space-age vehicles and gizmos.

First, Reed unveils the team’s new passenger ICBM for a quick trip to Hawaii with Sue.

Ben and Johnny have to make do with the Fantasticars.

Later, the team takes off in the Pogo Plane, presumably named that because it can take off and land vertically. (Why they need both the Pogo Plane and the ICBM goes undiscussed).

And lastly, Reed deploys a “remote control orbital public address system.”

The sexist sixties

Sue spends the initial battle with the Super-Skrull “nursing” Johnny.

Later, even after she uses her powers to attach Reed’s device to the Super-Skrull, she’s still helpless.

Comic relief

There’s a particularly silly sequence depicting the FF escaping what appears to be Macy’s. Sue’s dress is either not made of unstable molecules or the colorist didn’t get the memo.

Feats of strength

As he has done in almost every issue thus far, Ben shows off his strength by destroying property. As we shall see elsewhere in this issue, the Skrulls claim Ben can lift only five tons, a figure significantly revised upward in later issues and in the Handbook to the Marvel Universe.

They’re fighting again

This time its over what’s on TV.

Kirby Krackle

Jack really comes alive when he gets to draw alien technology. This issue is no exception.

This is a pretty amazing sequence, too (undiscussed is Kl’rt’s fondness for how tunes, particularly from Annie Get Your Gun)

For sale

A mint (9.8) edition of FF 18 will set you back $47,000.

Next: The first Fantastic Four Annual!

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine” Fantastic Four No. 17

02 Sunday May 2021

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1963, Dr. Doom, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 17, jack Kirby, Stan Lee

Fantastic Four 17
“Defeated by Doctor Doom!”
Published May 9, 1963
Story: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Script: Lee
Pencils: Kirby
Inks: Dick Ayers
Letters: Art Simek
Cover: Kirby and Ayers

Synopsis

After last issue’s adventure, the Fantastic Four bid farewell to Ant-Man and begin searching for Dr. Doom on the streets of New York. Doom, disguised as the Baxter Building’s janitor, implants tracking devices on the team, who are soon followed by floating, immaterial robots. Doom then abducts Alicia Masters to use as a hostage, and blackmails the US government, disrupting the nation’s electronics in order to gain a seat on the president’s cabinet (!).

The FF launch a plan to rescue Alicia and defeat Doom but Reed recognizes Doom’s floating headquarters are protected with disintegrator rays. The rays are keyed to the team’s unique molecular structures, which were scanned by the floating robots. To bypass the rays, Reed gives the Thing a serum that changes him back to Ben Grimm, rearranging his molecules and foiling the disintegrator rays. Once aboard Doom’s ship, Ben—now changed back—destroys the ray device, and the other team members join him. Doom briefly detains the team members with individually designed traps (again) but the team escapes (again). Finally, Sue switches places with Alicia, getting close enough to Doom to stall him until the rest of the team arrives. Doom, however, escapes.

What’s going on here

Another satisfying, action packed issue, and one that helps establish both the characters of Doom and Ben. Like last issue, the story starts slowly, with comedic bits as the team tries to live normal lives in New York, before building to a crescendo aboard Doom’s ship.

While this is Doom’s fifth appearance, it’s the first where his motivations are revealed. He’s not just a power hungry villain, but an insecure man, tortured by feelings of inadequacy tied to his disfigurement.

But unlike future issues, where Doom’s plans involve world domination, here all he wants is a cabinet seat. (Which one is left unsaid: Secretary of Housing and Urban Development? Postmaster General?)

Meanwhile, after Reed changes Ben back to human—something which happens with regularity in these early issues—we learn that Ben’s heroism isn’t a function of his monstrous form. After spending much of the FF’s first year serving as the team’s comedian and hot head, we get a glimpse of the inner strength that helps define him and make him one of Marvel’s most beloved characters.

Heroic Sue

The Invisible Girl also gets some more dimension in this issue. One consequence of the introduction of Alicia to the FF’s world is Sue is no longer the most helpless woman, and she is replaced by Alicia as the designated hostage. But Sue also is toughened up a bit (although she attributes her fighting prowess to Reed’s tutelage—even when she triumphs it’s because of a man).

Byrne Baby Byrne

John Byrne references this issue at least twice in his subsequent comics. First, there’s this cover:

There’s also this great Kirby sequence of Sue evading a trap of rods…

…which Byrne homages (or swipes) in Alpha Flight 3:

The Incredible Mr. Fantastic

Some cool Reed action here:

They’re fighting again

Ben is understandably upset Alicia has been captured by Doom.

Geo-politics

In this issue we meet JFK (or at least his hair) as he drops some identifying verbal clues, like “vigor” and his daughter’s name (and speaking of Carline Kennedy, it appears the First Lady is lecturing the future Mrs. Schlossberg in silhouette). The rocking chair may be a reference to Kennedy’s back problems.

We also meet Khrushchev, here identified as Comrade K.

All dressed up

The FF looks pretty spiffy here:

Believe the hype

This issue features more the than the usual bombast from Stan. On the cover, as well as inside. The second feels like a direct attack on the Justice League of America.