“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Fantastic Four No. 68

17 Sunday Jul 2022

Posted by percivalhenry in The World's Greatest Comic Magazine

Tags

1967, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 68, jack Kirby, mad Thinker, Stan Lee

Fantastic Four 68
“His Mission: Destroy the Fantastic Four!”
Published: Aug. 1967
Story: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Script: Lee
Pencils: Kirby
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: Art Simek
Cover: Kirby and Sinnott

Synopsis

Fantastic Four 68 opens with the team visiting Alicia in her hospital room where she is recovering after ordeal of the previous issue (chronologically this story follows FF 67 , not FF Annual 5). The Thing has a moment of anguish about his appearance, and after some horseplay with the Invisible Girl and Mr. Fantastic in the Baxter Building, Reed renews his efforts to restore Ben’s human form.

Meanwhile, Dr. Santini, a chemist summoned by Reed to help with Ben’s case, is abducted by a mysterious villain who impersonates him to destroy the Fantastic Four. The villain is unnamed and shrouded in shadow but various hints suggest it’s the Mad Thinker.

We also check in with the Human Torch, who introduces Crystal to his grease-monkey friends. When Johnny gets jealous when one hits on Crystal, she uses her elemental powers to chill them out.

Back at the Baxter Building, Dr. Santini’s imposter arrives and begins to work with Reed to revert Ben to human form. When Ben is finally bombarded with “mesa rays,” his form is unchanged but because of the villain’s sabotages, his mind is altered. The story ends with an angry Ben menacing Reed.

What’s going on here?

After the events of the last two issues (and the annual), most of this issue feels a like a time out that allows the team and fans to catch their breath. Much of the story is devoted to the interplay between Reed, Sue and Ben, a reminder of their friendship, and that Reed and Sue are still newlyweds. We also get a reminder that Johnny is still a car-crazy teenager.

The story’s focus on Ben underscores that his transformation into the Thing—at the hands of his best friend—remains the core tension of the book. Stan and Jack arguably return to the theme too often, but his torment is what helps make him one of the most sympathetic, and beloved, characters in comics.

The sexist sixties

This sequence is actually sort of charming, and is a rare instance of Reed’s playfulness, but it does feel rooted in the sexist characterization of Sue as obsessed with her clothes and appearance.