“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine” Fantastic Four No. 37

31 Sunday Oct 2021

Posted by percivalhenry in World's Greatest Comic Magazine

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1965, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 37, jack Kirby, Skrulls, Stan Lee

Fantastic Four 37
“Behold! A Distant Star”
Published: Jan. 1965
Story: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Script: Lee
Pencils: Kirby
Inks: Chic Stone
Letters: Artie Simek
Cover: Kirby and Stone

Synopsis

As usual, the issue opens with shenanigans at the Baxter Building, as Reed experiments with a Power-Ray that amplifies the Human Torch’s powers. The team is preparing for Reed and Sue’s wedding, but Sue confesses to Reed she is upset that her father, killed by the Skrulls in issue 32, remains unavenged. The story then cuts to the Skrull Princess Anelle and her betrothed, warlord Morrat, whom we learn was responsible for the death of Franklin Storm (and who happens to be a big jerk).

Back on Earth, Reed announces the team will travel to the Skrull home world to bring Franklin’s killers to justice, and using a Saturn rocket borrowed from NASA and outfitted with an engine of Reed’s invention, the team travels across the galaxy. There, after an initial encounter with the Skrulls, the team discovers the alien atmosphere has sapped their powers and they are captured by Morrat’s forces. Morrat schemes that once word of his conquest of the FF spreads, he will be able to unseat the emperor, Anelle’s father.

To prevent the team’s execution, Reed bargains with Morrat, promising to build him a weapon to make him all-powerful. When the rest of the team objects, Reed turns the weapon on them, restoring their powers (yes, you guessed it, it was the Power-Ray). Meanwhile, the emperor gets word of Morrat’s intentions and accuses him of treason. Morrat’s coup attempt fails, and he is killed by the Skrull army. Anelle is almost killed as well, but saved by the Invisible Girl’s forcefield. In gratitude, the emperor grants the FF a wish, and when they ask to know who killed Franklin Storm, the emperor reveals it was Morrat. The team the returns to Earth in time for a wedding rehearsal.

What’s going on here

FF 37 is a quintessential Silver Age comic, in all its glorious absurdity. A story that today would be spooled out over six or eight issues—if not made into an event: “The FF invade the Skrull Homeworld!—is done and dusted in 21 pages. The insanity of the premise—as a romantic gesture, Reed decides to launch a cross-galactic invasion—is glossed over in a few panels. The mechanism—the FF borrow a rocket from NASA—is told in another single panel. Reed’s massive miscalculation—not anticipating the team would lose its powers in the Skrull Galaxy—is barely acknowledged.

And yet, the story is incredibly fun. Kirby clearly has a blast drawing cool Skrull stuff, there’s lot’s of snappy banter, the subplot of Morrat’s betrayal creates some effective tension, and the Power-Ray reveal, although telegraphed a mile away, is still a satisfying twist.

Adding to its appeal, the comic has a golden age of science fiction feel to it, from it’s lofty title (“Behold! A Distant Star”) to a terrific Kirby cover that feels like it belongs on the cover of Amazing Stories magazine. Compare it to the these covers:

Fantastic Four 37 also adds the story of the Skrulls by introducing Princess Anelle as a member of the Skrull royal family. Princess Anelle becomes a significant figure, retconned into the lover of the Kree Mar-Vell, the first Captain Marvel. Together, they are the parents of Hulkling, a Young Avenger who later becomes emperor of both Kree and Skrull empires.

Unfortunately for Anelle, she missed all this, having died years earlier when Galactus devoured the Skrull home world in Fantastic Four 257.

Krazy Kredits

They’re back!

It’s Clobberin’ Time!

Also back after a few issues absence. This is still only the fourth or fifth time Ben has said the magic words.

Weird science

Reed explains intergalactic travel.

And here’s yet another new power of the Human Torch’s that shows up for one issue and then disappears.

Breaking the fourth wall

Ben seems to know sound effects in comics are words, not noises.

Speaking of Ben

He plays dumb a lot in this comic, so it’s nice when someone (probably Sue in this case) acknowledges he’s a lot more capable than he lets on.

Oops

Looks like Stan had to explain where Reed got those flowers.

The sexist sixties

Sexism isn’t limited to earthlings.

Dig that Kirby Krackle
In this issue we get another full-page Kirby Kollage (complete with a note from Stan).

Plus we gets lots of fun alien stuff.

Also, for the first time that I have noticed, Jack’s sound effects are crossing the gutters between panels, which gives the action a more dynamic affect.

Next issue: The return of the Frightful Four!

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine” Fantastic Four No. 36

24 Sunday Oct 2021

Posted by percivalhenry in The World's Greatest Comic Magazine

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1964, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 36, Frightful Four, jack Kirby, Medusa, Stan Lee

Fantastic Four 36
“The Frightful Four”
Published Dec. 1964
Story: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Script: Lee
Pencils: Kirby
Inks: Chic Stone
Letters:Art Simek
Cover: Kirby and Stone

Synopsis

As the engagement of Reed Richards and Sue Storm, seen last issue, is made public, the Baxter Building is swarmed with media. The couple also gets gifts including a gag from, of course, the Yancy Street Gang. Meanwhile, a trio of enemies of the Human Torch—Paste-Pot Pete, the Sandman and the Wizard—plot to team up to defeat the FF by recruiting a fourth, female member, Madam Medusa.

As the FF rests after an engagement party, the newly named Frightful Four launch an attack on the Baxter Building, and successfully subdue the Thing, Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Girl. Undetected, Alicia Masters uses Sue’s flare gun to summon the Human Torch. The Frightful Four then apprehend Alicia, and attach the Wizard’s anti-gravity disks to her and the unconscious captured trio, sending them up toward space.

The Human Torch forces the Wizard to fly them in his spacecraft to rescue the team and Alicia. Then, reunited the team confronts the rest of the Frightful Four back on earth. During a battle, the Wizard’s detonates his spacecraft, and the villains escape in the confusion.

What’s going on here?

This is a fun comic, and contains a lot of elements that make the Fantastic Four so successful. There’s character development as Reed and Sue progress toward marriage. There’s the slapstick elements of the Thing (again) falling for a Yancy Street gag. There’s the Marvel world-building, with the synthesis of the assorted Torch villains into the Frightful Four. Plus there’s a pretty good action story, featuring some heroics from the Torch. What’s not to like?

The issue’s notable introductions are the Frightful Four as a super-team capable of taking on the FF—and we’ll see much more of them in issues to come—and of course, the first appearance of Medusa. Medusa is later revealed as queen of the Inhumans, and becomes a significant character in the Marvel Universe, but it’s doubtful Stan and Jack had that future in mind for her in FF 36. At this point, she’s just an intriguing female villain with an unusual power.

The formation of the Frightful Four is an interesting concept, since none of them had previously appeared in the Fantastic Four. While Sandman was primarily a Spider-man villain, he fought the Human Torch in Strange Tales, and the Wizard and Paste-Pot Pete (who thankfully will become the Trapster) were both introduced in Strange Tales.

(As an aside, I debated whether to include the Torch’s appearances in Strange Tales in this blog. They are in-continuity, and the rest of the FF often appear, so it would make sense to fold in those issues. Ultimately, I’ve decided to just focus the blog on the FF’s main title. The FF appear in so many comics outside their main book over the years—particularly the Thing, in Marvel Two-in-One and his solo titles—that adding them all could add hundreds of comics to the project. And with more than 600 issues of the main title in its various volumes, I have more than enough to write about.)

Here’s the first appearance of the Wizard:

*Strange Tales 102* (art by Kirby and Ayers)

and of Paste-Pot Pete:

And here’s an odd battle between the Torch and Sandman, where Johnny claims his flame powers give him super strength, which I’ve never seen before or since (then again, the comic was called Strange Tales).

Eventually, in FF 36, the team gets together in snazzy new uniforms, and looks like a super team ought to:

Saying the quiet part out loud

Stan and Jack sort of tip their hand a bit here. It’s not obvious why the Frightful Four needs a female version, save for better story-telling possibilities.

Cameos!

The guests at the FF’s engagement party seems to be mostly the Avengers and X-Men (plus Rick Jones), and features some stilted dialogue from Jean Grey:

Also, a sort-of appearance from Spider-Man:

They don’t call him a genius for nothing

Reed can count to four.

Have we met?

The Sandman seems intent on getting his revenge on Reed, although this appears to be the first time they have fought each other:

The sexist sixties

Sue actually does quite a bit in this issue, but it’s sadly undermined by this sort of language.

Weird science

Like the rest of us, the Sandman is befuddled by the Wizard’s antigravity disks.

Dig that Kirby Krackle

Jack leads off with a great splash page (incidentally, the credits are pretty subdued this issue):

I love this image of the FF floating off into space:

and this is a great panel:

For sale

A mint (9.8) copy of FF 36 is worth about $23,000. A fine (6.0) version is $325.

Next issue: The return of the Skrulls!

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine” Fantastic Four No. 35

17 Sunday Oct 2021

Posted by percivalhenry in The World's Greatest Comic Magazine

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1964, Diablo, Dragon Man, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 35, jack Kirby, Stan Lee

Fantastic Four 35
“Calamity on the Campus”
Published Nov. 1964
Story: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Script: Lee
Pencils: Kirby
Inks: Chic Stone
Letters: Artie Simek
Cover: Kirby and Dick Ayers

Synopsis

The comic opens on the campus of State University, the alma mater of Reed Richards and Ben Grimm, where Reed has been invited to give a lecture. Some hijinks on campus ensue as Ben and Sue tangle with the football team, and Reed learns that a Prof. Gilbert on campus is building “a creature more powerful than anything that lives—including the Fantastic Four.”

Meanwhile (although logically some time before the other events in the comic), in Transylvania, Diablo escapes the mountain under which he was buried in FF 30 and makes his way to New York in pursuit of the Fantastic Four. Once on campus at State U., he convinces Gilbert to let him animate his creature, which becomes Dragon Man.

The Thing stumbles on the Gilbert and Diablo, and battles with Dragon Man, before the robot monster runs amok across campus. While Sue is able to subdue it with kindness, Diablo attacks the FF. Dragon Man now turns against Diablo, and both plunge into a lake and disappear. The story ends with Reed and Sue strolling down State U’s “lovers lane” and Reed kind-of, sort-of proposing to Sue.

What’s going on here?

This is a fun issue, and Stan and Jack clearly enjoy the campus setting, with its swooning co-eds, tweedy professors and beefy football players. The FF comic book was gaining popularity among college students by this point, and it seems possible Stan and Jack were either inspired by the feedback they got from the students, or simply wanted to give some them college-based material. The story also reinforces Reed and Ben’s shared history as college roommates but interestingly, another former classmate, Victor Von Doom, isn’t mentioned.

One puzzle that’s hard to unravel is where, exactly, did Reed and Ben, go to college? Here, in FF 35, it’s referred to as State University, and it appears to be a rural campus, with a lake and woods with a lover’s lane (some sources put it in Hegemans, New York). But later retellings of Reed and Ben’s origins put them on the campus of Empire University, or Empire State University. Here’s one mention of it, in The Thing 2, written by John Byrne:

*The Thing 2, 1983, art by Ron Wilson and John Byrne*

Empire State University plays a significant role in the Marvel Universe, chiefly as Peter Parker’s university both as a student, and a graduate assistant. So it would make sense that Reed and Ben went there, and that “State U.” is is just shorthand for “Empire State U.” Yet most depictions of Empire State U. place it it in the middle of Manhattan, making it an urban campus, and not at all the rural location of FF 35. The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe puts it in the village, pretty much where New York University is in the real world:

Further confusing matters, the Handbook is inconsistent about where Reed and Ben attended college. Reed’s entry says it was State U. (among other institutions), while Ben’s says Empire State U.

The obvious, and unsatisfying, answer is that over the years writers have conflated the two universities, and since Empire State U. became a prominent part of the shared universe, it just made since to retcon away State U., although not every writer got the memo.

Just please don’t ask about Metro College, where Johnny begins classes in FF 50:

Introducing Dragon Man

FF also features the return of Diablo, and the introduction of Dragon Man, who becomes a fixture in the Marvel Universe. It’s established in this issue that he (or it?) is not inherently evil, but does the bidding of whomever controls him. Over the next few decades that’s pretty much how he’s used, as a pawn of other villains. Here is is in Power Pack 6:

*Power Pack 6 (1984), written by Louise Simonson, art by June Brigman and Bob Wiacek.*

But much later, Dragon Man gets an intelligence upgrade, and joins the Future Foundation, the group of super-smart kids (and moloids and other creatures) founded by Reed.

*Fantastic Four 579 (2010) written by Jonathan Hickman, art by Neil Edwards and Andrew Currie.*

There, he becomes a sort of chaperone, keeping an eye on the kids, and developing some very urbane tastes.

*FF 22 (2011) Hickman, art by Andre Araujo*

**True love**

Since Reed and Sue have been married for most of their comic-book existence (more than 50 years in real time), it’s hard in retrospect to imagine there was any suspense about the future of relationship. But Stan and Jack are determined to tease us.

Cameos

FF 35 also features some unannounced cameos, from Professor Xavier and Scott Summers:

and from Peter Parker:

This is the sort of shared universe stuff that set Marvel apart in the Silver Age, and must have been so thrilling for fans to stumble across, particularly since their appearances were unannounced. Of course, Stan being Stan, he went ahead and took credit for that in the letters page:

Note the shade-throwing regarding Kirby and Ditko, and the irony of State U. being such an easy name to remember, given the aforementioned issues.

Krazy Kredits

Sort of downbeat this issue.

They’re fighting again

Not actual fisticuffs, but some verbal sparring. I think it counts.

That’s a mouthful

I thought this was fun.

Dig That Kirby Krackle

Not too many gee-whiz panels, but still some nice work from the King:

House ad

Speaking of shared-universe stories, cross-overs abound this month:

For sale

A mint (9.8) copy of FF 35 will run you about $6,750. Fine (6.0 is about $140. I bought a Very Good issue for $40.

Next issue: The Frightful Four!

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine” Fantastic Four No. 34

03 Sunday Oct 2021

Posted by percivalhenry in The World's Greatest Comic Magazine

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1964, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 34, jack Kirby, Stan Lee

Fantastic Four 34
“A House Divided”
Published: Oct. 1964
Story: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Script: Lee
Pencils: Kirby
Inks: Chic Stone
Letters: Artie Simek
Cover: Kirby and Stone

Synopsis

The Fantastic Four are opening mail in the Baxter Building, including a package with a Beatles wig sent to the Thing. Meanwhile, the world’s richest man, Gregory Gideon, is entering negotiations with his rivals. Rather than wait three years to take over their business empires, he dares them to give him a challenge: If he succeeds, they sell to him in a week; if he fails, he abandons his takeover plans. They accept and challenge him to defeat the Fantastic Four.

Mr. Fantastic awakens to the workmen dismantling the team’s vehicles at the behest of Ben, who is convinced Reed is a Skrull. They begin to fight. Meanwhile, in Long Island, Sue arrives at the home she shares with Johnny and finds evidence he is a Doom robot. After fighting amongst themselves, the four eventually converge at the Baxter Building, where Gideon has set a trap: a time machine that will remove the FF from the present.

However, Gideon’s young son is a fan of the FF, and rushes to save them. He and Ben are transported back in time, and Gideon, coming to his senses after losing his son, renounces his ambitions. Ben and Tommy Gideon return, due to Reed turning off the device’s power source, and the Gideon family is happily reunited.

What’s going on here?

This is an odd issue. As Stan notes at the end, it’s “the first story in a dog’s age without a costumed super-villain.” Depending on how you count these things, it could be the first since FF 3, when the FF fought the Miracle Man, who was basically just a stage magician.

Despite the lack of super villains, FF 34 has its moments, especially when we spend time with Gideon, who, in his over-the-top plutocrat style, is sort of a combination of Daddy Warbucks, Richie Rich, and Donald Trump. This panel sort of says it all:

The story hangs together, but just barely, and like a lot of these early FF issues, depends a lot on coincidence, mistaken identity, and no one stopping long enough to ask what’s going on. It also relies on the FF fighting each other as its main hook, which would be novel if it didn’t happen almost every issue.

At some points, the story just falls apart. In one instance, Reed, in the middle of battling his teammates, grabs a ray gun left on the ground by Gideon’s henchmen, and fires it at his best friend and fiancee’s brother, without even knowing what it does.

Then there’s this exhausting two panels of exposition that answers questions we didn’t really care about (how did Gideon’s henchmen get in the Baxter Building?) and doesn’t answer the ones we do. (Where did Ben and Tommy go when they went back in time?) Gideon will appear once more, in FF 134-136, about a decade hence, before disappearing forever.

Plus this odd detail, which seems tossed in for plot purposes, and never returned to. But: Gideon owns the Baxter Building? That seems like a potentially big deal (and might also explain how his henchmen got in).

The sexist sixties

After about 33 issues of serving us Reed’s causal sexism, Stan and Jack now want us to see Gideon’s mistreatment of his wife as evidence of his villainy.

Speaking of sexist, check out this ad for a dubious karate technique, featuring the “pretty Japanese wife” of the instructor:

Krazy Kredits
Nothing too zany this month.

Suburbia

During these first few years of the FF, we’ve vaguely known Sue and Johnny still live at home in Long Island, although it’s rarely mentioned or discussed. Here, for the first time in the FF, we see their house.

Mid-century modern
Gideon, on the other hand, appears to live in a luxurious ranch house …

…with a carpet that could only have been designed by Jack Kirby.

Pop culture
Apparently Beatles wigs were a thing.

Let’s talk about us
It’s been a while since the FF comic referenced itself, but it’s Tommy’s reading material of choice.

On the subject of comics, it was a pretty good month for Marvel collectors:

The incredible Mr. Fantastic
Apparently he could turn his legs into wheels. Who knew?

They’re fighting again
And this is before Gideon’s machinations.

Dig that Kirby Krackle
This is a great panel:

So is this:

And this:

Mail bag
George R.R. Martin is in a cranky mood, and no fan of Millie the Model:

Pin up!
Dr. Doom lurking is a nice touch.

For sale
A mint (9.8) copy of FF 34 could cost you $13,000, while a Fine version will be about $100. I bought mine, listed at Very Good, for a lot less than that.

Next issue: Dragon Man!