Fantastic Four #4

The Coming of… Sub-Mariner
On the Trail of the Torch/Enter the Sub-Mariner/Let the World Beware!/Sub-Mariner’s Revenge!
Release: February 8, 1962
Cover: May 1962
12 cents
Credits: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Inks: Sol Brodsky (uncredited)
23 pages

Famously, Human Torch meets a random amnesiac hobo and decides without permission to burn the hobo’s beard off his face. The hobo looks like a character Torch read about in a comic, which convinces him to toss the hobo into the ocean. I would argue this behavior on the part of the Torch is inappropriate. But nobody on the team is setting a better example.

“You see, officer, I was reading a comic about this guy who could breathe underwater. And the hobo looked a lot like the guy in the comic and…”

Reed is going around asking random people if they’ve seen the Torch, so he pulls a biker off his motorcycle to ask him. I presume the motorcycle crashes; we don’t see it again. Thing detects heat coming from a garage, so he smashes through the wall. When it turns out that heat was indeed coming from the Torch, he picks up a car and smashes it through another wall. Invisible Girl drinks a soda, and it doesn’t look like she paid for it.

Is the motorcycle okay?
Can he not use doors?
Why is this okay?
Most likely she paid off-panel. The one responsible member of the group.
I hope Thing at least left a PO Box number with the army

I think the questionable behavior is topped when Thing goes to a military base and asks for a nuclear bomb and they give him one. Two issues ago, the army had been trying to capture the Fantastic Four. I guess they felt they owed them a nuke as an apology. Thing’s plan is to climb into the monster’s belly and leave the bomb there, then escape. Only one flaw in this entire plan. Thing notes it when he realizes it. “I shoulda guessed! A giant like him would be apt to swallow lots of undersea monsters alive!” Yes, anybody would suspect that any given monster was likely to have swallowed smaller monsters, which would still live in its belly. Logical to assume.

Duh. There are always smaller monsters in the belly of a big monster…

Many odd character moments make me wince, but this is a pretty significant comic. This is where we start to see the comic will be more than a series of one-off adventures, as the ending of last issue directly leads to the events at this one’s start. This comic ties the Golden Age of superhero comics into this new Marvel Age. And, it establishes for the first time in this new Marvel Age a shared universe in which heroes from different titles coexist.

Also of import is that it continues the story from last issue. This will be more than a series of isolated adventures, but a series with ongoing arcs. Johnny’s departure at the end of last issue directly leads to the beginning of this issue.

Even with amnesia, Namor has a way with words

This is why we read the introduction of Namor in the previous post, to get ready for his reintroduction here. However, jumping from his first appearance to here misses a lot of his history. He’s had 23 years of character growth over the course of over 300 stories, in which time he became more heroic than when we first met him or when we see him now. He’s not really a bad guy; he just gets really angry when humans devastate his undersea kingdom.

Sending a monster to destroy New York is a way better opening salvo than destroying a lighthouse.

So how much control does the Torch have over his flames? In the first issue, he melts his own car by flaming on. Seemed pretty careless. In this issue, he notes it’s safe to flame on near gasoline as long as he doesn’t move. Not sure quite what is meant by that and it doesn’t sound safe to me. Later in the issue, he can use his flame to shave a person’s beard, noting “I can control the flame of my body to within a hair’s width!” Also doesn’t sound safe, or at all appropriate.

We see a repeat of a character moment from issue 2. It was the best character moment so far, where Thing briefly turns human. Here, it happens again, and his collapse in anguish after changing back is perhaps Kirby’s best panel of the series yet.

Final panel my favorite of the series so far.

A comment from a city official, perhaps the mayor, is worth noting. It’s after he learns a monster from the sea is headed to destroy New York. “Nowadays, nothing is impossible!” It’s an acknowledgement that the world has fundamentally changed recently. These are more than isolated events. Monsters from beneath the surface did recently attack the world. Shape-changing aliens did recently invade. And four super-powered heroes walk amongst them.

We see the beginning of a famous comic romance. Sue is engaged to Reed, but has a flirtation with the Sub-Mariner. It begins here. He is instantly smitten with her and makes a proposal on the spot. “If you will be my bride, I might show mercy to the rest of your pitiful race!” Hopeless romantic, that Namor. Sue is willing to agree, but sees it as a sacrifice. Namor thinks she should see it as an honor.

At least get down on one knee, Namor…

Namor: “I’ll be back, do you hear? I’ll be back!”
Thing: “I’ve got a hunch he’ll be back!”

Nothing gets past Ben.

A good classic companion piece to this issue would be the original Sub-Mariner/Human Torch battle from Marvel Mystery Comics #8-10. I don’t have easy access to those at the moment, but have some books on order, so I’ll make a post about them in a few months.

Rating: ★★★☆☆, 56/100
Significance: ★★★★★

I greatly appreciate the significance of this issue in terms of building a shared universe. And while the character work of Ben becoming human repeats a scene from issue 2, I thought it was better told here. Also important is the meeting of Namor and Sue. But there are just so many odd character choices that make me wince a little.

Characters

  • Mr. Fantastic
  • Thing
  • Invisible Girl
  • Human Torch
  • Namor the Sub-Mariner
  • Giganto

Story notes:

  • Reed is a bit hard on Ben about Torch leaving
  • Thing throws temper tantrum
  • Torch explicitly described as teenager
  • Torch is at Swanson’s garage
  • Torch with three friends. Are any the same as his three friends in the last issue? Hard to tell.
  • Comic notes Namor strong as ten men
  • Namor travels to Kingdom (should be near the South Pole), then returns minutes later. His kingdom has been destroyed by atomic testing. He believes his peple are alive but scattered. He vows revenge.
  • Flare gun used in every issue so far
  • Giganto is different from the Moleman’s monster we met in issue 1, who will also come to be called Giganto.
  • trumpet-horn (also called sea-trumpet) awakens Giganto
  • Order given to evacuate New York
  • “Well! Here is a prize worth catching!” — Namor, upon meeting Sue
  • sea-trumpet lost at see “…forever!!”
  • Human Torch wins by creating a tornado.
  • Mr. Fantastic pin-up
  • One letter from Jim Moony from Hollywood. Likely unrelated to the comic artist Jim Mooney, who would have been working for DC at the time.
  • Several one-line text ads for upcoming Hulk comic. “You’ve never seen anything like the Hulk!” “Who is the Hulk??”
  • This is the first issue where Thing loses his temper but Reed doesn’t tie him up with arms.
  • The Fantastic Four have battled giant monsters in 3 of their first 4 issues. In the 2nd issue, they repel an alien invasion by tricking the aliens into thinking there are giant monsters on earth.

#8 story in reading order
Next: Incredible Hulk #1
Previous post: PRELUDE: Marvel Comics #1, Story C
Previous in order: Tales to Astonish #30

Author: Chris Coke

Interests include comic books, science fiction, whisky, and mathematics.

3 thoughts on “Fantastic Four #4”

  2. I find it very interesting that Namor is only described as being as strong as ten men. I’m pretty sure I read a Gold Age Namor story where he was described as being as strong as a thousand men, which seems much more consistent with his later power levels. Maybe Stan just didn’t put too much thought into that particular comment.

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