Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: December 9, 1963
Cover: March 1964
12 cents
Lovingly written by: Stan Lee
Tenderly drawn by: Jack Kirby
Heroically inked by: Geo. Bell
Neatly lettered by: S. Rosen
23 pages
The most notable thing about this comic is the credits. “Lovingly written”, “Tenderly drawn”,… Stan is starting to insert a little creativity into that box. This will become a pretty regular thing for him. It begins here. The closest we’ve seen to any embellishment before was in the “Tales of Asgard” story from Journey Into Mystery #99, which was “Presented with pride…”.
The Fantastic Four pose for a photoshoot with Life Magazine. We’ll get to see Alex Ross’s rendering of a Life cover when we get to Marvels #2.
A reporter describes an event as the “biggest news event of the century”. That seems hyperbolic. Especially when the event turns out to be an alien invasion. We’re approaching 20 in a single year.
The Fantastic Four battle a powerful alien. The twist is that this alien is actually an infant. As we’ve discussed, Marvel had been putting out lots and lots of short science fiction stories. I’m pretty sure the alien turning out to be a child was the plot of at least a few I’ve read. Now they think they can take a cute premise for a 5-page sci/fi tale, and spread it into a 23-page superhero adventure. And why do they think that? Because they came up with a pun for a name. The Infant Terrible. If a near-literal translation of a foreign language expression counts as a pun.
Rating: ★★★☆☆, 50/100
Significance: ★★★☆☆
I read this story in Fantastic Four Epic Collection vol. 2: The Master Plan of Dr. Doom. You can also find this story in Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four vol. 3. Or on Kindle.
Characters:
- Mr. Fantastic/Reed Richards
- Thing
- Human Torch
- Invisible Girl
- Infant Terrible
- Big Joe
- Alicia
Story notes:
- Big Joe drives Aston-Martin DB4.
#151 story in reading order
Next: Strange Tales #118
Previous: Tales to Astonish #53, Story B
