Fantastic Four 18
“A Skrull Walks Among Us!”
Published June 1963
Story: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Script: Lee
Pencils: Kirby
Inks: Dick Ayers
Letters: Art Simek
Cover: Kirby and Paul Reinman

Synopsis

As the Fantastic Four recuperate from their recent adventures, on the home planet of the Skrulls—”in the fifth quadrant of the Andromeda Galaxy”—the Skrull Emperor plots an attack on Earth. He reviews his latest weapon, the Super-Skrull, who possesses all the powers of the Fantastic Four and then some.

As the FF contend with a horde of shoppers in a department store, the Super-Skrull lands in Time Square and announces his dominion over the Earth. Soon the FF arrive and after a furious battle, they are overpowered by the alien and retreat. Mr. Fantastic surmises the Super-Skrull is receiving his power from an external force and builds a device to block the signal. After luring the Super-Skrull to fight the FF on a volcanic deserted island, Reed, Ben, and Johnny distract him while Sue attaches the device. No longer receiving his power from the Skrull home world, the alien is weakened. The Human Torch then seals the Skrull in a crater by fusing sand into glass.

What’s going on here?

Another whiz-bang issue—that’s three stellar issues in a row, for those keeping track—that introduces another major villain to the Marvel universe. Fantastic Four 18 follows a now familiar pattern: The FF loaf around the Baxter Building or New York, often showing off their powers among civilians, before they’re drawn into an adventure. The pace then quickens and the second half of the comic is non-stop action, usually culminating with the villain’s defeat on the final page, or even final panel.

FF 18 reintroduces the Skrulls, not seen since issue two, and adds a bit more context to the alien. We visit their home world and meet their emperor, later revealed as Dorrek VII. He goes unnamed here but eventually he and the Skrull royal family become significant characters in their own right, particularly his queen, R’Kill, and their daughter, Princess Annelle.

The comic also introduces the Super-Skrull, Kl’rt. He, too, isn’t named until later issues, and has a long and tangled history in the Marvel Universe. I’m partial to his appearance in John Byrne’s Alpha Flight 10, when he battled Sasquatch.

His most recent appearance came in the 2020 Empyre crossover, when he was found responsible for the genocide of an alien race. To punish him, the hero Hulkling—the new Skrull Emperor—makes him a diplomat, forcing him to make peace instead of war. (Empyre was a bit of a mess, but it was steeped in deep Marvel history and it had its moments).

Go Gadget Go

FF 18 was a big issue for cool space-age vehicles and gizmos.

First, Reed unveils the team’s new passenger ICBM for a quick trip to Hawaii with Sue.

Ben and Johnny have to make do with the Fantasticars.

Later, the team takes off in the Pogo Plane, presumably named that because it can take off and land vertically. (Why they need both the Pogo Plane and the ICBM goes undiscussed).

And lastly, Reed deploys a “remote control orbital public address system.”

The sexist sixties

Sue spends the initial battle with the Super-Skrull “nursing” Johnny.

Later, even after she uses her powers to attach Reed’s device to the Super-Skrull, she’s still helpless.

Comic relief

There’s a particularly silly sequence depicting the FF escaping what appears to be Macy’s. Sue’s dress is either not made of unstable molecules or the colorist didn’t get the memo.

Feats of strength

As he has done in almost every issue thus far, Ben shows off his strength by destroying property. As we shall see elsewhere in this issue, the Skrulls claim Ben can lift only five tons, a figure significantly revised upward in later issues and in the Handbook to the Marvel Universe.

They’re fighting again

This time its over what’s on TV.

Kirby Krackle

Jack really comes alive when he gets to draw alien technology. This issue is no exception.

This is a pretty amazing sequence, too (undiscussed is Kl’rt’s fondness for how tunes, particularly from Annie Get Your Gun)

For sale

A mint (9.8) edition of FF 18 will set you back $47,000.

Next: The first Fantastic Four Annual!