“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine” Fantastic Four No. 41

27 Saturday Nov 2021

Posted by percivalhenry in The World's Greatest Comic Magazine

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1965, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 41, Frightful Four, jack Kirby, Stan Lee

Fantastic Four 41
“The Brutal Betrayal of Ben Grimm”
Published: May 1965
Story: Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
Script: Lee
Pencils: Kirby
Inks: Vince Coletta
Letters: Sam Rosen or Art Simek
Cover: Kirby and Frank Giacoia

Synopsis

Continuing a new approach from Stan and Jack, Fantastic Four 41 picks up where FF 40 left off, and is the third consecutive issue to start this way. After Mr. Fantastic reverted Ben from his human form back into the Thing in order to defeat Dr. Doom, Ben, in the last panel of the previous issue, quits the team out of anger and frustration. FF 41 picks up with him leaving, even as the Human Torch beg him to reconsider. Exhausted after his battle with Doom, Ben collapses in the back of a pickup (“I dunno where this pickup is headed for .. but as long as its headed away from the Baxter Building it’s OK with me!”), and tumbles out on to a road in rural New Jersey. His sleeping form is then collected by the Frightful Four who—coincidentally!—are holed up in a house nearby. After much squabbling, the Frightful Four under the leadership of the Wizard manages to brainwash Ben.

Meanwhile, the rest of the team becomes worried and starts searching for Ben. After hearing he was spotted on a New Jersey road, the team investigates, and eventually comes to the house of the Frightful Four. The teams battle, and with the help of the Thing, the Frightful Four subdues the Fantastic Four. The issue ends with another cliff hanger, with the Frightful Four convincing the Thing to kill his former teammates.

What’s going on here?

This is an interesting issue, in part because it’s the opposite of the former standalone, one-and-done storytelling that pretty much dominated the first three years of the Fantastic Four. This is very much a serial narrative unfolding over multiple issues, centered on the Thing’s loyalties and identity. This isn’t the first time he’s wrestled between resenting Reed and the others for his monstrous form, and the sense of purpose and family he derives from the team—it was part of the first issue—but it’s the most developed exploration of the theme to date. And as we will see, it will return again and again.

The story is also notable for its treatment of Medusa. Stan and Jack are clearly intrigued with her as a character, and have fun with her as she banters and battles with her teammates. This issue spends almost as much time with the Frightful Four as it does with the Fantastic Four, and Medusa is at the center of it all. I don’t know if at this point they had planned for her to become a hero and queen of the Inhumans, but it seems obvious she was meant for greater things.

Incidentally, it’s never explained why she is wearing a mask. She doesn’t have a secret identity, so far as we know, and even if she did, I think the hair would be a giveaway. After bullying Sandman, they decided to hang out and play cards:

About those letters …

Who lettered FF 41? It’s either Artie Simek or Sam Rosen—between the two of them they lettered almost all of these early issues—but it’s not clear which one. While it’s not all that big a deal, the reason for the ambiguity is a bit mysterious.

The credits on the splash page of the version of FF 41 on Marvel Unlimited app are in the Krazy Kredits mode, and while it says Rosen is the letterer, Simek is mentioned:

But in the Marvel Essentials reprint from 2001, the credits are completely different (image taken by my phone camera), with no letterer listed:

What gives?

The Grand Comics Database and the Marvel Fandom wiki credits Rosen, but Mike’s Amazing World (usually my default for credits) doesn’t list either.

Unfortunately I don’t have the original issue, so I can’t check those credits. If anyone out there has it, I would love to know how it is credited. Also, I’m curious how the credits were treated in other reprints, like Marvel Masterworks, and the FF Omnibus (neither of which I have).

They’re fighting again

It’s been a few issues, but this time Ben is serious.

The sexist sixties

Even Medusa isn’t immune to Stan’s stereotyping of women.

Reed Richards is a jerk!

Plenty of sexism in these panels too, but Reed is really being awful.

Trapped

Once again, the FF are captured and each confined with a device to neutralize their powers. This is maybe the fourth or fifth time we’ve seen this device.

Don’t smoke, kids

How do we know ben is brainwashed? He’s smoking a cigar!

Ben obviously smokes lots of cigars in future issues. I don’t know if this is his first taste of them, but it would be a fun project to go back through the first 40 issues to check. Meanwhile, here’s a great image of Ben with a stogie by the great Barry Windsor-Smith.

Real estate woes

The FF may not get their damage deposit back.

Hot roddin’

With the Fantasticar out of action, it makes sense for the FF uses alternative means of transportation. Why this was their only option isn’t explained.

Dig that Kirby Krackle

Sort of a subdued issue from the King (maybe due to the Colletta inks?) but this is a cool panel:

Next issue: The showdown with the Frightful Four!

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine” Fantastic Four No. 40

21 Sunday Nov 2021

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1965, Daredevil, Dr. Doom, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 40, jack Kirby, Stan Lee

Fantastic Four 40
“The Battle of the Baxter Building”
Published: April 1965
Story: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Script: Lee
Pencils: Kirby:
Inks: Vince Colletta
Letters: Artie Simek
Cover: Kirby and Frank Giacoia

Synopsis

Fantastic Four 40 picks up where FF 39 left off, more or less, in one of the few multi-issue adventures so far. While Mr. Fantastic and Daredevil split up at the end of FF 39, now they’re working together again to battle Dr. Doom, who has taken control of the Baxter Building and is using Reed’s devices against the (literally) powerless team. While Daredevil acts as a distraction, Reed joins Johnny and Sue in evading the defenses in the Baxter Building lobby. They are eventually joined by Ben, in human, form and as Daredevil fights Doom, the team works their way up to the top of the building.

There Reed uses the power stimulator the team last used in fighting the Skulls, in FF 37, to re-power the team, including a reluctant Ben. One again the Thing, Ben then battles Doom single handedly, eventually tearing apart his armor. Before he can hurt or kill Doom, the rest of the team intervenes, and Doom slinks off in defeat. But as the rest of the team rejoices, a bitter Ben quits the team.

What’s going on here?

Another issue that’s pretty much wall-to-wall action, save for about three panels of character development at the end. There’s another (rare) guest appearance from Daredevil, but he fades into the background in the second half of the book. The Thing is really the star of this issue, and his battle with Doom takes up more than five pages. It’s another early version of a Thing-Doesn’t-Quit sequence, which becomes a defining part of Ben’s character. We saw a bit of it in FF 17, when Ben, in human form, penetrated Doom’s aircraft, and then in FF 25-26, when he fights the Hulk.

In this issue, Stan and Jack set up Ben’s story arc when Reed subjects him to the power stimulator, without giving him a choice in the matter.

His transformation is suitably dramatic, and Jack devotes a half splash to his return as the Thing:

In the battle, we get some never-say-die from Ben:

Then, after he defeats Doom, he realizes what he has sacrificed and quits the team in disgust.

Deus Ex Machina

After all the angst last issue about the FF losing their powers, and Reed’s feverish attempts to reconstruct their power through artificial means, the are restored surprisingly easily. So easily, in fact, that Ben and Daredevil have the same questions we do.

Reed’s explanation falls a bit flat, too. If the stimulator was all they needed to regain their powers, why didn’t Reed just make a new one instead of building a Thing robot and a flaming flying suit for Johnny?

The sexist sixties

Sue is ready for her fainting couch again.

It’s (not) Clobbering Time!

Further evidence that his signature line really hasn’t been baked into Ben’s character yet. If ever there was a place to say it, it’s here:

Who’s the new guy?

Vince Colletta takes over the inking in this issue. Colletta is both of one comic’s most prolific inkers and most controversial, particularly for his sometimes slap-dash handling of Kirby’s work. It’s explained in great detail here. It’s hard to see a big drop off here from Franck Giacoia’s inks in the last issue, but we’re still just killing time before we get to Joe Sinnott.

Thicc Reed

Reed is noticeably buff in this issue. It’s not a particularly new development—Jack has been drawing him as a typically muscular super-hero for some time now—but it’s a pretty big departure from his tweedy, professorial look from the early issues.

Holy Billy Club, Daredevil!

Daredevil’s billy club has more gadgets and gizmos that Silver Age Batman’s utility belt. In just this issue, it turns into a gun and a “telescoping flexi-shield.”

Twanggg!

What could be more classically Daredevil than DD bouncing off of a flagpole?

Weird science

Reed invented … a drone.

Dig that Kirby Krackle

There is some great art in this issue, starting with the splash page (and check out Stan’s modest blurbing):

There are also some great fight scenes. Here’s DD vs. DD:

And Ben vs. Doom is just titanic:

Next issue: The return of the Frightful Four!

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine” Fantastic Four No. 39

14 Sunday Nov 2021

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1965, Daredevil, Dr. Doom, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 39, jack Kirby, Stan Lee

Fantastic Four 39
“A Blind Man Shall Lead Them”
Published: March 1965
Story: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Script: Lee
Pencils: Kirby
Inks: Frank Giacoia (credited as Frank Ray)
Letters: Art Simek
Cover: Kirby and Chic Stone

Synopsis

Fantastic Four 39 picks up where FF 38 leaves of, after the detonation of the Frightful Four’s Q-Bomb leaves the FF floating unconscious on a raft and with the Thing reverted to human form. FF 39 opens with the team being rescued by a US Navy submarine, and realizing they have all lost their powers.

Back at the Baxter Building in New York, Reed builds devices to mimic the team’s lost powers, reasoning that the team will be vulnerable to its enemies if they were thought powerless. Meanwhile, in Latveria, a hypnotist causes Dr. Doom to remember being tricked by Mr. Fantastic into thinking he defeated the FF (as show in FF Annual 2). Doom vows revenge and flies to New York.

In New York, blind attorney Matt Murdock meets the FF at a warehouse where they are rehearsing their new devices. As Reed explains he wants Murdock to ensure the FF’s affairs are in order if something happens to them, the warehouse is attacked. Murdock quickly changes in his Daredevil costume and helps the FF evade the attacks from Doom, who has seized control of the Baxter Building and is using the FF’s devices against them. The FF scatters and Daredevil draws Doom’s fire on the streets of New York. The issue ends with another cliffhanger as the powerless FF plans their assault on the Baxter Building.

What’s going on here?

There’s a lot going on in FF 39, although not necessarily what you might expect. While readers of last issue’s cliff-hanger ending might have reasonably anticipated a showdown with the Frightful Four, those villains aren’t even mentioned. Instead, we’re off on a new adventure with Doom. The FF’s powerlessness is the big event in this issue, and it’s framed as a major disaster for the team, even for Ben who might otherwise be pretty happy not to be the Thing again. It sends Reed into a inventing frenzy, and gives Jack an opportunity to whip up some fun devices.

While the FF’s need for these mechanical powers is short lived (I assume!) Reed’s artificial, extendable arms reappear in FF 185, when he again has lost his powers.

*FF 185, from 1977 (written by Len Wein, art by George Perez and Joe Sinnott)*

The Thing robot doesn’t reappear, but it’s a precursor of a Thing exo-skeleton worn by Ben and others on numerous occasions.

*FF 170 1976 (Roy Thomas/Perez/Sinnott)*

*Thor Annual 14, 1989 (Roy Thomas/Al Milgrom/Don Heck)*

At various points, all the members of the FF have lost their powers, although the only other time I am aware of them all being powerless was in a 1982 What If? by John Byrne, which imagines the team as a Challengers of the Unknown-type team of adventurers.

About that cover

If the cover of FF 39 looks familiar, it’s because it’s been frequently homaged (or swiped, depending on how charitable you’re feeling). Here’s a handful of homages just with Doom (including one from Kirby himself):

And while it’s not a cover, this double-page splash from Byrne in FF 236 is a literal interpretation of the cover metaphor, since the FF in this issue has been reduced to tiny size.

Get me my lawyer

Daredevil makes a rare guest appearance in the FF. Unlike Spider-Man, who is in dozens of issues and eventually becomes a team member, DD shows up only sporadically. This appearance slots between Daredevil issues 6 and 7 and was doubtless an opportunity for Stan to goose DD’s sales. This is technically their second meeting, after Matt Murdock was hired at their lawyer in Daredevil 2.

*Daredevil 2, 1964 (Lee/Orlando/Coletta)*

Who’s the new guy?

FF features inks by Frank Giacoia, a longtime comic artist with credits that date from 1942 to 1987. He was a regular inker on Daredevil and later on Spider-Man but inked the FF only a few other times after this issue. Here he is credited as Frank Ray, which FF fans might recall is very similar to Frankie Raye, the name of the Human Torch’s girlfriend in the 1980s before she became Nova and a herald of Galactus. Is there a connection? Knowing John Byrne’s obsession with these early issues of the FF, I would bet on it.

Krazy Kredits

Reed Richards is a Jerk!

Reed doesn’t care about your feelings.

Dig that Kirby Krackle

FF 39 features another photo collage, although I’m not sure this one is as successful as the previous, cosmic ones.

This is a great image of the FF after losing their powers. The body language says everything.

Another cool panel.

And Doom with Reed’s gizmos in the Baxter Building:

Next issue: The Battle for the Baxter Building!

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine” Fantastic Four No. 38

06 Saturday Nov 2021

Posted by percivalhenry in The World's Greatest Comic Magazine

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1965, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 38, Frightful Four, jack Kirby, Stan Lee

Fantastic Four 38
“Defeated by the Frightful Four”
Published Feb. 1965
Story: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Script: Lee
Pencils: Kirby
Inks: Chic Stone
Letters: Sam Rosen
Cover: Kirby and Stone

Synopsis

Fantastic Four 38 opens, as most issues do, with horseplay among the FF in the Baxter Building. We then cut to the Wizard, who is plotting the downfall of the FF with the rest of the Frightful Four. We return to Sue Storm, who is visiting a clothing boutique in advance of her wedding with Reed when she is taken hostage (yes, again) by Medusa and the rest of the Frightful Four.

As the Frightful Four abducts her to a remote atoll, the Wizard reveals his plan to use her as bait for the rest of the team, who he will then kill with a “Q-Bomb.” A distraught Reed tracks the Wizard’s aircraft, and when it appears, the Human Torch pursues it before he is captured by the Trapster (formerly Paste Pot-Pete). Ben and Reed follow in the Pogo Plane to the atoll, where their plane is destroyed by the Trapster. The two teams battle, and while Sue frees herself and, with Johnny, is eventually rescued, the Frightful Four escape, detonating the bomb. In the last panel, the team appears to have survived thanks to the Invisible Girl’s force field, but the team is unconscious and Ben is returning to his human form.

What’s going on here?

Another slam-bang issue. There’s some fun hijinks in the beginning, but for the most part, this is an action-packed issue, leading to just the second cliff-hanger in the Fantastic Four to date (the last was in issue 25, when they battled the Hulk). It’s also the second appearance of the Frightful Four, who quickly become first-tier FF villains.

The comics is now at a sustained level of excellence. Even when the stories are silly, like last issue, the interplay between the characters and Kirby’s amazing art makes up for it. Stan and Jack are really hitting on all cylinders now, as we approach the mid-way point of their run and the legendary issues from about 44 to 60.

The sexist sixties

Sue is once again taken hostage or prisoner. By my count, that’s the 10th time in the first 38 issues (and two annuals) of the FF, so about once every four issues.

To her credit (I guess) she escapes on her own, but is so groggy she still needs rescuing.

Fun and games

This is a fun sequence, and is a great capsule introduction to the team, their powers, and their relationships with each other.

The Mighty Marvel Marching Society

For the second issue in a row, the Marvel fan club gets a shout-out on the cover.

That’s Mr. Trapster to you

It finally dawns on him that Paste-Pot Pete is a ridiculous name.

It’s Clobberin’ Time

Just the fifth time Ben says it, but the second time in two issues. It’s becoming his signature. Also, it’s too bad that spring trick with Reed didn’t become a recurring feature like the X-Men’s Fastball Special.

Weird Science

The Wizard has a Q-Bomb. What is a Q-Bomb? I have no idea, but apparently it’s an atomic bomb powered by quarks (maybe?)

(And yes, the Frightful Four are all dressed in purple)

Read all about it

Once again, the power of print.

Dig that Kirby Krackle

FF 38 features an astounding splash page, which unfortunately gets covered with too much copy.

Another great splash:

And this panel is pretty cool too:

Next issue: Dr. Doom— and Daredevil!

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

31 Sunday Oct 2021

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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

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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!

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine” Fantastic Four No. 33

26 Sunday Sep 2021

Posted by percivalhenry in The World's Greatest Comic Magazine

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1964, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 33, jack Kirby, Stan Lee, Sub-mariner

(*This cover image on Marvel Unlimited is irritatingly cropped, so this is the best I can do – sorry*)

Fantastic Four 33
“Side-by-Side with the Sub-Mariner!”
Published: Sept. 1964
Story: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Script: Lee
Pencils: Kirby
Inks: Chic Stone
Letters: Artie Simek
Cover: Kirby and Stone

Synopsis

FF 33 opens with the team in the Baxter Building, examining a strange undersea creature that washed up on shore. Sensing something is amiss beneath the ocean, Mr. Fantastic sends the Human Torch to patrol the shoreline, where he discovers Lady Dorma of Atlantis, last seen in FF Annual 1, surfacing. Johhny brings her to the Baxter Building, where she explains the barbarian warlord Attuma has attacked Atlantis. Worse, she betrayed the Sub-Mariner and aided Attuma because Namor spurned her affections. Now she asks the FF for help.

The team, aided by an “Oxy-Spray” that allows them to breath underwater, descend with Dorma to Atlantis, where Namor is battling Attuma’s forces. The team surreptitiously helps him, with Sue making Namor invisible at a critical juncture, helping him defeat Attuma. The FF runs out of oxygen, however, and flees to the surface, leaving Namor unaware they aided him. The issue concludes with Namor forgiving Lady Dorma for her betrayal.

What’s going on here

FF 33 is a pretty straightforward story, told in the traditional style: It opens in the Baxter Building, the plot unfolds slowly, the second half is mostly action, and it’s all tied up in a few panels at the end. To the extent it adds to the FF’s larger narrative, it does signal Sue seems to be over her infatuation with Namor (although we don’t know if Namor is done with her, since he doesn’t know she’s helping him) and it’s another step in recasting the Sub-Mariner as a hero. Here, he is a noble warrior fighting for his kingdom. The story also introduces Attuma, who becomes a main antagonist of Namor’s over the years. Surprisingly, it’s one of the few times he appeared in the FF’s own comic.

The sexist sixties

The whole plot hinges on Lady Dorma betraying Namor because her feelings are hurt. It’s a trite and lazy story-telling device, and the same result—Dorma enlists the FF—could have been achieved in a number of other ways.

On the flip side, Stan and Jack give Sue a rare star turn in combat, where she uses her force field power to cause some real damage.

Weird science

FF 33 is a gold mine for zany, pseudo-scientific devices, starting with Reed’s “subionic analysis structure-scope.”

There’s also Oxo-Spray…

and Explo-Grenades (it’s unclear how these are different than normal exploding grenades)…

and Globules of Darkness …

and Ionic Rays …

and when that fails, Disintegrator Rays. All this stuff works underwater, too.

The Incredible Mr. Fantastic

Reed changes his shape into a manta ray, which is kind of cool

Krazy Kredits

A little more sedate in this ish.

All’s well that ends well

Stan and Jack stuff a whole lot into the last three panels here: We learn Namor is unaware of the FF’s help, Reed is convinced of Sue’s love, and we get a bit of snappy banter between Ben and Johnny.

Dig that Kirby Krackle

Jack gives us another pair of collages, with one on the cover, and this one:

Also, there are some great fight scenes, like this:

And this:

Pin up!

For sale

In near mint (9.8) condition, FF 33 will cost you $32,000. A Fine version (6.0) is $240. Both seem high to me, to be honest.

Next issue: Who is Mr. Gideon?

“The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine” Fantastic Four No. 32

22 Wednesday Sep 2021

Posted by percivalhenry in The World's Greatest Comic Magazine

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1964, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four 32, jack Kirby, Skrulls, Stan Lee, Super-Skrull

Fantastic Four 32
“Death of a Hero!”
Published: Aug. 1964
Story: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Script: Lee
Pencils: Kirby
Inks: Chic Stone
Letters: Sam Rosen
Cover: Kirby and Stone

Synopsis

FF 32 opens in the Baxter Building with Mr. Fantastic, once again, trying to return the Thing to human form. The procedure works, but Ben loses his memory of the team and Alicia, so Reed reverses the process. Meanwhile, a ray from outer space blasts open a volcano on earth, and an unknown creature emerges. The creature enters the prison cell of Franklin Storm, the father of the Human Torch and Invisible Girl introduced last issue, and takes his form, sending Storm to outer space.

Sue and Johnny Storm, attempting to visit their father, find him transformed, and he uses new powers to blast out of prison. Sue and Johnny summon Reed and Ben, and together the team confronts Franklin, who is now costumed and calls himself the Invincible Man. They fight, but Sue and Johnny can’t bear to hurt their father, and the Invincible Man escapes, much to the chagrin of Reed.

The team retreats to the Baxter Building, where Reed devises a gizmo to defeat their foe, who, he tells Sue and Johnny, is not really Franklin Storm. When the team confronts the Invincible Man, Reed tells him he is communicating via “ultra-sonic radio transmitter” to his home galaxy, and demands Franklin Storm be returned. The Invincible Man then reveals himself to be the Super-Skrull, who had been trapped in the volcano since FF 18, and he is transmitted back to his home planet while Franklin Storm is returned.

Storm, however, is booby-trapped with a bomb, and he absorbs the blast rather than endanger the FF and his children, dying a heroic death in the arms of his children.

What’s going on here

FF 32 marks the second half of Franklin Storm’s story arc. Introduced last issue as a fugitive surgeon, it seems Stan and Jack liked his character so much they used him again. They also tied up any potential messy loose ends by killing him off, but not before we hear his sad story.

He then has a poignant—and long!—death scene, told in part with this nice perspective from Jack:

Unlike in FF 31, where Franklin’s appearance was awkwardly jammed into the comic, FF 32 is much more coherent, and tells a satisfying story. Not that there aren’t some holes in the plot: It’s not obvious why the Super-Skrull needed to take the form of Franklin Storm to defeat the FF—Reed says it was to discredit the team when the Storm children refuse to fight their father—and Reed defeats the Super-Skrull by basically threatening to fight him to the death, leading him the Skrull to run away. Some warrior.

Stan and Jack also spend nearly four pages on Reed’s latest unsuccessful effort to transform Ben back to human form. While it gave us some nice character moments, with Johnny torn about whether he wants Ben as a happy human or his monstrous teammate, the episode has no further bearing on the plot and feels like padding.