Fantastic Four 17 | Percival Henry: The Fantastic Four and more

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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.