Yes, I know I said I was taking a break from Fantastic Four blogging for a while. And I am. Really. But before I do, I thought I’d be remiss if I didn’t try to do a bit more to commemorate the 107 issues by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the greatest sustained run of creativity in the history of comics.

What follows is a run down of some of my favorite stories from Stan and Jack. It’s not a list of the best issues (whatever that means) and certainly not the most famous. But these are the stories I think of first when I think of their run, and the ones I most enjoyed reading. Could this list change? Yes! Do I feel strongly about the order? No! Are there great issues I left off? Of course! Do I hope you read some of these comics? Absolutely!

10) Fantastic Four 94

Fantastic Four 94 is a delightful comic. It comes very near the end of the Lee / Kirby run, and an indication there despite whatever disagreements the two had, there was still plenty of creative juice in the partnership.

In FF 94, the team travels to Whisper Hill to meet Agatha Harkness, a potential nanny for baby Franklin. Harkness appears to be a witch and her house seems haunted. But rather than tell a typical horror story, however, Stan and Jack upend our expectations by having Harkness become the hero, single-handedly defeating the Frightful Four and leaving the FF baffled. It’s a great story, told with lots of wit and humor.

9) Fantastic Four 13

Fantastic Four 13 is a classic Silver Age story, full of Cold War symbolism, as the FF travel to the moon where they encounter the Russian Red Ghost and his Super Apes. Significantly, the story introduces the Watcher, and expands the horizons for this comic and, eventually, the whole Marvel universe. It’s fair to say that FF 13 initiated the Marvel cosmic tradition that eventually leads to not just Galactus and the Silver Surfer, but the Kree, the Shi’Ar, Adam Warlock, Mar-Vell, infinity stones, Thanos, Guardians of the Galaxy and so on. It’s also just a fun comic.

8) Fantastic Four 28

There was a roughly two year period when the FF teamed up with most of the nascent Marvel universe—the Hulk, the Avengers, Nick Fury, Ant-Man, Dr. Strange, Daredevil—but this story featuring the X-Men was the best. If the plot, featuring mind control and the team’s eventually joining forces to defeat the bad guys, feels familiar, it’s because it’s the template for hundreds of subsequent super-hero team ups. It’s also a great cover that has been referenced many, many times over the years.

7, Fantastic Four 91-93

Another story from late in the Lee / Kirby run. Ben is abducted by Skrulls to fight as a gladiator on a planet where the natives have adopted the appearances and mannerisms of 1920’s gangsters. It’s a great adventure that lets Kirby draw both cool alien stuff AND cool urban New York scenes in the same story. And it has one of the most touching endings of any comic (see above).

6) Fantastic Four 54

Fantastic Four 54 falls in the heart of the Lee / Kirby peak period (issues 44-60) so it’s understandable if it gets overlooked amid stories introducing Galactus, the Black Panther and the Inhumans. But it hold its own. Not only is there a fun and interesting adventure involving Johnny, Wyatt Wingfoot and the medeival knight Prester John, but there are loads of other subplots and supplemental story lines involving Wakanda and the Inhumans. This issue helps establish Wyatt as a major supporting character, and features some of Jack’s strongest work during this middle period (and that’s saying something).

5) Fantastic Four 38-43

This is the first real multi-part Fantastic Four story (aside from issues 25-26, where they team up with the Avengers) and as if to make up for lost time, it’s a sprawling six-parter. It begins with the FF battling, and very clearly losing, to the Frightful Four (featuring the first appearance of Medusa), who render them powerless. Then, an un-powered FF teams with Daredevil to battle Dr. Doom, who has captured the Baxter Building. The team’s powers are returned and in the aftermath of that fight, Ben, who is now in his rocky form again, quits the team in disgust, and falls party to the Frightful Four (they’re back!), who hypnotize him and set him against his team. The Frightful Four captures the Fantastic Four, who then escape and reverse Ben’s mind control, freeing him to defeat the bad guys.

Whew!

It’s a lot, and arguably not one unified story, but I think of it as one epic with many twists and turns. It works in part because the FF keep getting beat, but they pick themselves up and keep fighting.


4) Fantastic Four 78-79

Another story that hinges on the transformation of the Thing back to his human form. Ben is the heart of the Fantastic Four, and his constant struggle with his monstrous appearance lies at the heart of his character. Here, he has to choose between his personal happiness and his duty to his adopted family in a story that is particularly well-crafted and poignant. When human-looking Ben and Alicia are having dinner at a restaurant, it’s so painfully awkward we’re almost relieved when the villain bursts into interrupt them.

3) Fantastic Four Annual 6

This comic is, simultaneously, a ripping Negative Zone adventure, a high-stakes quest to save the life of Sue and her unborn baby, the introduction of a top-tier villain in Annihilus and, arguably, Jack Kirby’s single best issue of the Fantastic Four. With the birth of Franklin at risk, the stakes are high and Stan and Jack rise to the occasion in one of the best Marvel annuals ever.

2, Fantastic Four 48-50

This is probably the most well-known and beloved story from the Lee / Kirby run (and maybe from the entire Silver Age), but its fame and popularity is no reason to exclude it. There are many, many reasons to love this story, from the introduction of Galactus and the Silver Surfer to the Torch’s journey across the universe, but ultimately what sets it apart is its ambition. Stan and Jack gave the FF a threat to the world that not just theoretical, but immediate and seemingly unsolvable. That they needed the help of both Watcher and the Silver Surfer doesn’t diminish the Fantastic Four, but raises the consequences of the threat and hence the story

1) Fantastic Four 57-60

This story concludes the peak Lee / Kirby period and in my considered opinion, it’s the best of their entire run. It’s a gripping story, with Dr. Doom stealing the power of the Silver Surfer and using it to subdue the entire planet, and one that really cements Doom as a bad guy without equal. No one else in comics combines his genius, his ruthlessness and his arrogance with his twisted sense of nobility and purpose. He is a compelling villain and he’s at his best here.

Like all great FF stories, this one also features the Fantastic Four getting their asses kicked. It’s only when they are beaten do we understand how big a challenge they have to overcome. It’s well-paced as well, with the story building over four issues.

But what really sets this story apart is how it combines so many threads of the Fantastic Four up to this point. It’s as if Stan and Jack had been mixing ingredients for five years and they finally pulled the finished cake from the oven. Doom stealing the Surfer’s power, the appearance of Wyatt Wingfoot, the Inhumans sub-plot; they all adds up to be more than the sum of their parts.

That said, they story isn’t without its flaws, particularly the anti-climactic ending, which I have discussed previously. But there is no perfect FF story, even from Stan and Jack (and rushed ending are endemic in their run), and this one comes closer than most.

That’s it! That’s the list! Agree? Disagree? Let me know! And stay tuned for more installments of So Random!, where I analyze a comic picked from my collection at random.