Fantastic Four 101
“Bedlam In The Baxter Building!”
Published May 1970
Story: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Pencils: Kirby
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: Artie Simek
Cover: Kirby and Sinnott

Synopsis

The Fantastic Four, plus Crystal and Alicia Masters, are relaxing at the Baxter Building when they receive a notice from their doorman they need to vacate the building as it has been purchased by “the maggia,” Marvel’s versions of the mafia. The action cuts to a meeting of a crime family, led by “the top man” discussing how they plan to legally evict the FF to seize their weapons and inventions.

While in the park, the FF see helicopters approaching the Baxter Building. As the team investigates, first the Human Torch, then Mr. Fantastic, the Thing and Crystal are captured by maggia henchmen. The four are placed in caskets and dumped into the ocean, but escape after Crystal breaks free.

Meanwhile, the Invisible Girl resists capture and battles the thugs until the rest of the team arrives. The leader of the maggia is then shot by the Baxter Building doorman, who is revealed to be the “top man” in disguise.

What’s going on here?

Sadly, this is another lackluster issue of the FF as we count down the few issues remaining in the Lee/ Kirby partnership. While the structure of the comics is sturdy enough—Stan and Jack have used this basic formula and pacing for one-and-done stories many times—the plot is ridiculous. The mob buys the Baxter Building (signing a note announcing that’s who they are?) and the team has to vacate immediately, leaving all their stuff behind? Even the average 12 year-old reader has a better sense of real estate law than that. Then there is the problem of mobsters taking down four of the most powerful heroes in the marvel universe. None of it makes much sense.

By this point Marvel had been using “maggia” instead of mafia for years (it dates back to Avengers 13) but it never stops sounding odd to me. I’ve never read why Stan felt he couldn’t use “mafia” – was he really worried the real-life mob would object? Given how often they are portrayed in TV and movies, it seems overly sensitive.

Stan and Jack attempt to give the story a bit of a twist with the reveal at the end that the doorman was the mob boss, but it falls flat. We don’t have anything invested in either the doorman or the mafioso, and his infiltration of the Baxter Building hardly seemed worth the trouble.

It’s bedlam, I tell you

This is the second of at least three FF comics that use Bedlam in or at the Baxter Building. (For those curious, the term “bedlam” derives from the name of a mental hospital in London).

The first instance was in FF Annual 3:

And it appears again on the cover of FF 169 (although that’s not the name of the story)

The sexist seventies

Reed once again wants to protect Sue and the other “girls” from bad news.

Later in the comic Sue does hold her own against the maggia thugs and kicks some ass. Silly Reed.

Half bad

This issue has another one of these awful half pages (thankfully they are consolidated into one in the digital comic).

We get letters

Longtime comic writer Alan Kupperberg has a letter in this issue (at least I assume it’s the same guy). He had his first published story, in Hulk 172, just two years later.

Dig that Kirby Krackle

Another subdued issue from the great Mr. K. There’s no interior splash pages, although the lead one is very fun.

As befitting the nature of this issue, we don’t have much gee-whiz images, but lots of Jack’s city scenes, which can be just as good (note how the mob restaurant is called “sleazy.”)

And I loved this panel of Crystal:

Also on sale

What else was on newsstands in May of 1970?

Next issue: The return of the Sub-Mariner!

Fantastic Four 98
“Mystery on the Moon!”
Published: Feb. 1970
Story: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Script: Lee
Pencils: Kirby
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: Artie Simek
Cover: Kirby and Sinnott


Apologies for skipping the last two weeks! I was on a family vacation without much time for blogging. We should be back on track now.

Synopsis

In his lab at the Baxter Building, Mr. Fantastic is deciphering a message from aliens, but can only make out the word “tranquility.” When he sees the Thing’s newspaper article about the upcoming moon landing, he realizes it refers to the Sea of Tranquility on the moon, and believes it’s an attempt disrupt the landing. Meanwhile, a Kree sentry declares it his mission to prevent humans from traveling to space, and uses his beta-gun to raise an island from the Pacific from which it will use a “stimulator” to awaken a “nameless mass” on the moon which will attack any living things that land there.

Leaving the Invisible Girl behind (yet again), the three male members of the FF take a missile they borrowed from NASA (why they don’t just take their own plane is not clear) to the island, from where Reed has detected the signals, and after a hazardous landing, battle the Sentry. After it’s defeated, Reed and the Human Torch descend into the depths of the island where they encounter the stimulator. The machine emanates rays which weaken them, however, and with his fading breath, Reed summons Ben, who destroys the stimulator—saving the Apollo 11 astronauts—and rescues his teammates.

What’s going on here?

This isn’t a bad issue, and there’s a lot to like about it, particularly Jack’s depictions of the sentry and the man-on-the street scenes he does so well. He is assisted by the inks of Joe Sinnott, who returns after missing the last two issues. The story is brisk and straightforward, and is a fun attempt to tie current events into an FF story.

That, however, is the story’s biggest weakness. The moon landing, while a big deal in the real world even six months later, would seem to be a pretty minor event in the Marvel universe, given how often our heroes have traveled to space. Remember, the Fantastic Four visited the moon as far back as issue 13, and since they, and many other Marvel heroes, have visited multiple planets outside the solar system. Even if the rest of humanity isn’t aware of this, it’s not clear why Ben—who is frustrated he’s missing the televised broadcast of the landing—or the Sentry should much care.

Clearly, this is a case of Stan and Jack embracing the zeitgeist and just running with it, regardless of the continuity or logic problems. And Jack has a lot of fun depicting both the launch of Apollo 11, and the excitement it generated.

Again, Jack really excels at these crowd scenes. The Bridgette Bardot reference is a nice goofy touch.

To close the loop, here’s the rest of the landing, as depicted throughout the issue (the nameless mass is never revealed – a McGuffin).

About that cover

There’s some slight of hand at work here, because the the cover sure implies the FF are on the moon, which obviously never happens in the comic (in this comic, anyway). And yet, it never explicitly says they’re on the moon, and the island in the comic is described as looking like the surface of the moon. So technically accurate, if a bit sneaky.


The sexist seventies

Not only is Sue shunted aside again, she’s reduced to playing a housewife whose role is to cook for the team:

And when they leave her to take care of Franklin, Reed doesn’t even tell her where they are going:

Ooops

The team has to make a rushed landing because their missile (or is its plane?) is running out of fuel.

Yet at the end of the comic, there seems to be plenty of fuel to fly home:

It’s clobberin’ time

This is a good one:

Read all about it:

Once again, newspapers are the information-transmission technology of choice:

Dig that Kirby Krackle

Jack pulls out the stops with this amazing splash page:

This is a great sequence:

And some other cool panels:

Also on newsstands

What else was on sale in February 1970?

Next issue: The return of the Inhumans!

Fantastic Four 97
“The Monster From the Lost Lagoon!”
Published Jan. 1970
Story: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Script: Lee
Pencils: Kirby
Inks: Frank Giacoia
Letters: Sam Rosen
Cover: Kiby and John Verpoorten

Synopsis

Fantastic Four 97 opens with Mr. Fantastic, the Human Torch and the Thing in a small submarine, searching for a sea monster. In passing we learn the team was on a beach vacation (the actual location is never said), and the U.S. Navy has asked for the team’s assistance (and loaned them the sub). The trio encounters a killer whale that seems directed by a human form, but it disappears before they can learn more.

Back on the beach, the Invisible Girl is waiting with baby Franklin, and is soon joined by the rest of the team. Meanwhile, in an underwater cavern, the sea creature takes on a human form and journeys to the surface where he revealed to be the handler in a dolphin show attended by the Reed, Ben and Johnny. Reed begins to suspect the dolphin handler is somehow connected to the sea creature, and drafts the handler into showing the team the underwater caverns.

Once they are submerged in the submarine, the handler breaks out of the vessel, leaving the others to drown. They escape to the cavern, where the handler transforms back into the creature, and battles the team. Eventually he leads them to a space craft with other creatures, and the three realize he is an alien attempting to leave Earth. The comic ends with the space craft launching from beneath the ocean.

What’s going on here?

This is an odd but entertaining issue, a one-and-done story that feels like a pre-super hero monster mystery Marvel was knocking out in the 1950s. It obviously borrows its villain from the Creature From the Black Lagoon, a 1954 horror movie, and Stan and Jack don’t bother to disguise their swipe. But despite that lack of creativity, there are enough original elements to keep the story moving. The creature’s secret identity as a SeaWorld-esque dolphin handler is a fun twist, and while the misunderstood-alien trope is pretty familiar by now, it works in this context. The alien returns in a few years, in FF 124, and then once more decades later in a Power Pack story.

What elevates the story is the characterizations of the team members, both internally (Johnny is pining for Crystal, Ben is devoted to his teammates) and amongst each other. The team is on vacation, and for Stan and Jack, it’s an opportunity to slow things down and let them be family and friends with each other. These two pages convey a ton about the team, particularly Johnny, and their relationships with each other. They help invest us more in the the team then any number of action pages:

We get more of this as the characters banter later in the story:

About that cover

Speaking of character development, the cover is a great snapshot of the Fantastic Four on vacation. Johnny is bored, Ben is relaxed, Reed is doting on Franklin and Sue is checking the temperature of the milk in the baby’s bottle. All while a monster looms. Perfect.

Crazy Credits

We are told explicitly what sort of story this is: ” mystery thriller.” Note Joe Sinnott is gone again. Fear not, he returns next issue.

The sexist sixties seventies

It’s a new decade but the same old treatment of Sue. She’s is basically not in this story except the scene on the beach shown above. Some vacation; Sue is stuck watching the baby while the boys have an adventure.

Dig that Kirby Krackle

There’s one interior splash page in this issue, and it continues the series of portraits Jack has been turning out lately:

Some other great images:

Also on newsstands

What else was on sale in January 1970? Covers by Franzetta, Adams and Romita

Next issue: The return of the Kree Sentry!

Fantastic Four 95
“Tomorrow .. World War III”
Published Nov. 1969
Story: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Script: Lee
Pencils: Kirby
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: Artie Simek
Cover: Kirby and Sinnott

A quick note before we begin: I neglected to note last week that last week’s post was the 100th in this blog’s journey through the history of the The World’s Greatest Comics Magazine (94 regular issues plus six annuals). I generally don’t indulge in a lot of self-congratulations, but that’s a lot of blog posts and a lot of great FF issues! Thanks to everyone who’s been along for the ride!

Synopsis

Fantastic Four 95 opens with a new villain, Monocle, spying on the Fantastic Four and contemplating his plans for world conquest using his “neutrak ray.” The FF, minus the Human Torch, are on the roof on the Baxter Building, where Mr. Fantastic explains their mission is to ensure the safety of delegates at a special United Nations meeting, and that an attack could set off World War III. They then board the Fantasti-Car to patrol the skies above the U.N., and after the Thing breaks off in a separate plane, Reed and the Invisible Girl are attacked by the Monocle’s ray. Reed prevents the Fantasti-Car from crashing in the city streets while Ben supports a collapsing building.

Meanwhile, Medusa is summoning Crystal home to the Inhumans, by orders of her husband, Black Bolt. Johnny protests, but to no avail, and is distraught when Crystal leaves. Reed and Sue arrive and tell Johnny he’s needed to help find their attacker.

At the U.N., Monocle prepares to attack a delegate giving a speech when his neutral ray backfires, thanks to Reed deducing the nature of their earlier attacker. Monocle attempts to flee but is apprehended by the team.

What’s going on here?

In truth, this is a pretty lame story that’s redeemed by some good character development around Johnny and Crystal and excellent Kirby artwork. Probably to compensate for the thin story, Jack’s uses fewer and bigger panels, including two interior splash pages, and it looks magnificent. But otherwise we have a throw-away bad guy, an implausible and bare-bones plot, and a not-particularly-surprising twist at the end.

New York, New York

I’ve frequently pointed out Jack’s gift for rendering real people and New York street scenes. Those are a real highlight of this issue, as Monocle infiltrates the U.N.

The Sexist Sixties

Gee, I wonder if Sue might have any power of her own that might be better suited to protecting her and Reed from a crash…

Weird science

Of course Reed knows all about Neutrak Rays. Duh!

Bullpen Bulletins

An interesting item here referencing the great Wally Wood and what can only be Steve Ditko.

Dig that Kirby Krackle

Lots to love in this issue, including two great splash pages. Special shout-out to Joe Sinnott for his work on Johnny.

Some other cool panels:

And this is just a great sequence:

Also on newsstands

What else was on sale in November 1969?

Next issue: The return of the Mad Thinker!