Fantastic Four 77 “Shall Earth Endure?” Published: May 1968 Story: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby Script: Lee Pencils: Kirby Inks: Joe Sinnott Letters: Sam Rosen Cover: Kirby and Sinnott
Synopsis
The three male members of the Fantastic Four are in the Microverse, where in the last issue they persuaded the Silver Surfer to return to Galactus and spare the earth by finding him another planet to consume. The FF, minus the soon-to-give-birth Invisible Girl, remained behind to pursue the Psycho-Man, and in the opening pages of FF 77, they are whisked via teleportation to the villain’s headquarters. There, they confront him only to discover they were fighting an illusion created by his emotion warping powers.
Meanwhile, the Silver Surfer has returned to the earth’s dimension, and flies across space to convince Galactus to spare the earth. Galactus commands the Surfer to find him another planet to consume, which he somehow is able to do quickly. But when the Surfer asks to be released from his imprisonment on earth, Galactus refuses, saying he needs to be able to find him.
Back in the microverse, the FF fight first a giant version of the Psycho-Man, then one in armor outfitted with weaponry. The FF eventually triumph when the Thing collapses his headquarters around the Psycho-Man, trapping him. But Mr. Fantastic orders him freed, explaining they need him to return to earth since they have been teleported away from their Reducta-craft. Reed tells the Psycho-Man that Galactus threatens his universe as well, and when he examines Reed’s mind and sees he’s telling the truth, returns the FF to their dimension to battle Galactus.
What’s going on here?
This issue concludes the four-issue Galactus/Pyscho-Man arc and unfortunately it ends with a fizzle, not a bang. The story’s problems started last issue, when Reed tells the team they need to remain behind to end the menace of the Psycho-Man. But how he intended to do that is never clear, and even when they have trapped him, it’s not clear what the next move was supposed to be—arrest him? murder him? The confusion about their purpose in the microverse speaks to the general aimlessness of the issue. The Surfer’s reunion with Galactus is unsatisfying and anti-climactic—he finds him new planet to consume in what seems like minutes—and the FF’s confrontation with the Psycho-Man ends with Reed sheepishly needing him to give the team a ride home.
On the plus side, Kirby is on the top of his game in this issue.
They’re fighting again
When I first read this panel, I assumed the Psycho-Man was using his mood altering powers to pit the team against each other. Nope, just their usual bickering.
Crazy Credits
Nil Nisi Optimus translates from latin as “nothing but the best is good enough.” If only that were true.
It’s Clobberin’ Time
Well, sort of.
Mid-century Modern
More Baxter Building interior decor. Is that a Cezanne?
Weird science
Why, yes, it is a computerized matter receiver.
Ladies and gentlemen, Joe Sinnott:
A master at work.
Dig that Kirby Krackle
Some great splash pages in this issue. Like this one:
Fantastic Four 76 “Stranded in Sub-Atomica!” Published: April 1968 Story: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby Script: Lee Pencils: Kirby Inks: Joe Sinnott Letters: Artie Simek Cover: Kirby and Sinnott
Synopsis
In the previous issue, Mr. Fantastic vows to find the Silver Surfer for Galactus, and deduced he shrunk himself into the microword, a dimension between molecules and home of the Psycho-Man. Fantastic Four 76 opens with Reed, Ben and Johnny—Sue is still sidelined because of her pregnancy—boarding the Reducta-Craft and shrinking in pursuit of the Surfer. The team quickly finds him and when they try to corral him, a battle ensues and they are badly beaten by the perturbed Surfer.
Meanwhile, as they fight, the Psycho-Man stumbles upon them—what a coincidence!—and dispatches what appears to be an indestructible android to retrieve the Surfer. But it instead encounters the FF, and battles them to a standstill. Realizing time is running out, Reed sends Ben and Johnny to capture the Surfer while he prepares to battle the android, to his death, if necessary. But just as Reed prepares to grapple with it, the machine disappears, removed by the Surfer. After overhearing the FF, the Surfer now realizes the fate of the earth is at stake, and he says he will voluntarily return to Galactus. The issue ends with the Surfer riding off and the three members of the FF determined to pursue the Pyscho-Man.
What’s going on here?
While there are some cool visuals, and great interplay between Reed, Ben and Johnny, this issue unfortunately feels like padding. The confrontation with the Surfer seems pro-forma, and the fight with the indestructible android reads a lot like other recent battles, such as with Galactus’s Punisher two issues ago, or with the Mad Thinker’s android in issue 71. All these enemies are really proxies for more potent foes, and they lack the same stakes or sense of urgency as when the FF fight the actual villain themselves. This issues ends with a fizzle, too, as the Surfer bails out the FF, and decides to resolve things with Galactus. Reed’s decision to stay in the microverse makes a lie out of the title, “Stranded in Sub-Atomica.”
Best pals
There are some nice moments between the three teammates, such as here when Reed admits his mistake and Ben is quick to forgive him.
And here, when he apologizes for implying Ben and Johnny didn’t take the mission seriously enough.
The sexist sixties
As she has for the last few issues, Crystal continues to patronize Sue by telling her everything is fine.
Doctor who?
In this issue, we learn Sue is nearing full term, despite never appearing visibly pregnant. We also learn that doctors still made house calls in 1968, and men still wore hats.
Weird science
This whole issue is basically all weird science, but I particularly liked Reed’s explanation of how the Reducta-Craft is powered.
Bang! Pow!
Some cool sound effects in this issue. Maybe things sound different in the microverse.
Dig that Kirby Krackle
We have to start with this splash page
Other cool images:
Also on the newsstands
Here’s what else was on sale in April 1968
Next issue: The conclusion to the Galactus / Psycho-Man story!
Fantastic Four Annual 5 Published Aug. 1967 Cover by Jack Kirby and Frank Giacoia
Story 1 “Divide .. And Conquer!” Story: Stan Lee and Kirby Inks: Joe Sinnott Letters: Sam Rosen
Story 2 “This is a Plot?” Story and Pencils: Kirby Inks: Giacoia Letters: Gaspar Saladino (credited to L.P. Gregory)
Story 3 “The Peerless Power of the Silver Surfer” Story: Lee and Kirby Inks: Giacoia Letters: Art Simek
There’s a lot to cover in this annual, which is jam-packed with three original stories and a bunch of great pinups. We’ll tackle them one at a time
I should note I’m calling it an annual, although it’s called a King-Size Special on the cover, because it’s numbered according to the FF annuals and because it’s generally listed as an annual. It gets confusing down the road, when a separate run of Giant-Size Specials were printed in the 1970s, most (but not all) reprinting material from earlier annuals.
“Divide .. And Conquer!” synopsis
This story opens in media res, with the Invisible Girl in Mr. Fantastic’s arms, surrounded by the rest of the team, Alicia Masters and Crystal. She’s fallen ill, and it’s soon revealed to be morning sickness: She’s pregnant, and the rest of the team rejoices.
Meanwhile, a new villain soon unveiled as Psycho-Man is terrorizing a henchman who delivered “component five” to the wrong address. The package has been mistaken delivered to the home of Alicia Masters, and as she and the Thing try to make sense of it, he is attacked by Psycho-Man and his remaining henchmen. Psycho-Man uses his emotion-controlling powers to conjure a monster Ben fears, defeating him. The villains leave with the package.
The story then jumps to a tropical island, which the Black Panther has just purchased. The Inhumans Black Bolt, Medusa and Karnak are also on the island, and after a brief fight between T’Challa and Karnak, they team up to investigate a source of danger sensed by Black Bolt. It is the lair of Psycho-Man, where he is building the Mind Ray, and the Inhumans and Black Panther start fighting his henchmen.
The Thing, the Human Torch and Triton the Inhuman then appear, teleported by Lockjaw (Reed and the pregnant Sue stay behind), and the heroes are confronted with various manifestations of fear and doubt created by Psycho-Man. Eventually, Gorgon, who had been scouting the island, arrives and uses his hoof-striking power to shatter the illusions. Black Bolt destroys the Mind Ray and as Psycho-Man explains his origin—he is from sub-atomica, a tiny realm within our own—and his plans to destroy the heroes, the Black Panther, who had been hidden in a tunnel, pounces. He defeats Psycho-Man, who disappears into the armor he no longer can animate.
What’s going on here?
A lot! This is a fun story with a paper-thin plot that hangs on a couple of implausible coincidences. First, Psycho-Man only comes to the attention of the Fantastic Four because his package was delivered to the home of Alicia (yet another time she has been a victim of real estate — first the Dragon Man crashed into her apartment in issue 47, and then in issue 49, the Silver Surfer collapses on her roof).
Secondly, the Inhumans just happen to stumble on to the island just bought by the Black Panther—it’s not ever really explained what they are doing there, but Gorgon later suggests they might be scouting for a new refuge—and together they just happen to stumble on the Psycho-Man’s lair.
Despite the improbabilities, it’s a fun story that feels a bit like a reunion, drawing together a bunch of heroes introduced over the last few years. And it continues a recent tradition of stuffing annuals with guest stars.
Who is this guy?
This is the introduction of Psycho-Man, a second-tier villain who shows up every 10 years or so, mostly in the Fantastic Four but also (appropriately enough) in the Micronauts, as well as Captain Marvel, the Silver Surfer and Spider-Man. One interesting aspect of Psycho-Man is that he’s from sub-atomica, the micro-dimension accessible only by shrinking. It’s not really obvious why he needs to be from there—he could have just as easily been from another planet or dimension—but it’s an interesting twist.
My first encounter with Psycho-Man was in a chilling (perhaps even sadistic) story arc involving the mental manipulation of the Invisible Woman from John Byrne:
Fantastic Four 283 (1985, Byrne/Ordway)
Big news!
Annual 5 also marks the announcement that Sue is pregnant. It’s a fun scene when the rest of the team find out:
The baby turns out to be Franklin Richards, of course, who becomes a integral part of the Fantastic Four family, and later the team. He’s currently a mopey teenager in the current FF comic, but we occasionally get glimpses of his future as one of the most powerful characters in the universe.
Here he is single handedly punching out a bunch of insane Celestials and resurrecting a dead Galactus in the climax of Jonathan Hickman brilliant arc (all from 2012’s Fantastic Four 604, with art by Steve Epting and Rick Magyar):
We’ll have much more to say about Franklin later —the kid ain’t even born yet.
“This is a plot?”
The second story is a goof: a madcap romp through the Marvel offices with Stan and Jack as they are pursued by fans. It’s full of gags and in-jokes designed to delight the ardent Marvel fan.
I hesitate to read too much into it, given how slight and silly it is, but it does suggest that Jack considered he and Stan to be equals and co-collaborators and that, at least to some degree, he enjoyed taking part in the myth-making engaged in by Stan.
This sort of behind-the scenes story shows up occasionally, such as in Uncanny X-Men Annual 7, when the Impossible Man leads the X-Men on a scavenger hunt that includes the Marvel offices:
“The Peerless Power of the Silver Surfer”
Story three’s plot is also thin: The Silver Surfer hears the sentient computer Quasimodo, last seen in Annual 4, crying out in anguish as he is trapped in a machine. Using the power cosmic, the Surfer creates a new body for him, only for Quasimodo to lash out and attack him. The two battle before the Surfer imprisons Quasimodo as a statue on a clock tower.
The story is notable for two reasons. One, it’s an early Surfer story co-plotted by Kirby, and sort of hints at what Jack had in mind for the character. Two, the art is just stunning. Inked by Frank Giacoia, he really brings out the Surfer’s iridescence, and the effect is impressive.
In this story, Kirby also delivers what may be the ultimate Kirby Krackle panel as well. That’s a lot of dots!
But wait! There’s more!
FF Annual 5 also included an array of pinups, including one for every member of the Inhumans. Here are some of the best:
There’s also a great double-page splash of the FF:
Dig that Kirby Krackle
As if that wasn’t enough, Jack dropped gems all over this comic. Here are a few more:
Percival Henry: The Fantastic Four and more 