Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: June 8, 1965
Cover: September 1965
12 cents
Produced by: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Inking: V. Colletta
Lettering: S. Rosen
20 pages
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| Fantastic Four #41 | Reading order | Fantastic Four #43 |
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I am to blame for what happened to him! I can never escape that responsibility!!
Pretty awesome cover.
Last issue ended with Thing about to kill a helpless Mr. Fantastic. Let’s see what happens.
While his back is glued to the board, Reed’s plan of attack is to expand his belly. I didn’t need super powers to be able to do that.
We get one of those weird explanatory editorial injections, which I usually take to indicate a disagreement between writer and artist. Stan claims the machine which brainwashed the Thing has also dulled his fighting ability. I’m guessing Stan didn’t think Thing as drawn was defeating Mr. Fantastic easily enough for Stan’s tastes.
Above we also see what I think of as an iconic Human Torch shot, flying straight out of the page, near horizontal.
“In trying to save you, don’t make me kill you.” Marvel heroes alway say that when they are forced to fight their friends, and it always bugs me, because they never kill their enemies. They non-lethally defeated Mole Man and Doom and Namor. Yet Reed can’t imagine fighting Ben without killing him?
(Fine. Reed was only saying that as a ploy, but it is a weirdly common Marvel trope.)
As we mentioned last issue, while the actual reason for the fight is this brainwashing machine, poignance comes from the fact that there are real underlying issues Ben and Reed are fighting about. Ben is resentful; Reed does feel guilty.
I appreciate they show Sue holding her own and taking on two foes by herself. In the end, she’ll be the last member of the FF to fall.
While a lot of these stories have filled their 20 pages by combining character work and soap opera and set-up with action, they did all that last issue. This is just 20 pages of action. Picks up in the middle of a battle. Ends in the middle of that battle. No subplots. No pausing to breathe. Running on pure adrenaline.
And the issue ends off worse for the FF than it started. Now two of their number have joined the Frightful ̶F̶o̶u̶r̶ Six. The Fantastic ̶F̶o̶u̶r̶ Two are probably doomed. But let’s go on to the next issue to find out.
But first, another letter from future Marvel superstar Don McGregor, aged 19.
Dear Stan and Jack,
Stan, what are you trying to do to me? How can you expect me to wait another month for the outcome of a powerless Fantastic Four against Doctor Doom, when I’ve already had to wait a month for this issue. You’re going to drive me completely out of my head. The suspense is terrible and excellent. Of course I’m talking about F.F. #39. It was marvelous! The cover was great. The title was terrific. More titles in the future like that one, Stan, they really stand out more than the run-of-the-mill titles. The opening page was drawn excellently and written superbly. There were many other great features. One asset was the conversation between the characters. The dialogue seemed crisp and natural, and, skipping to another subject, Jack has improved his photo-drawing pictures to such an extent that it’s fantastic. Daredevil is great and I really liked the way you included him in the story. Is his costume red or black? The only thing the issue lacked was that it did not concern itself with the future wedding of Reed and Sue in any way and, of course, that is understandable. But, don’t forget that they are supposed to get married! I’ll leave you with this one last comment: reading Marvel magazines today means that you’re reading the classics of tomorrow. Thanks for the fun and games.
Donald McGregor
The line about reading the classics of tomorrow proved quite prophetic, Don.
Rating: ★★★½, 61/100
Significance: ★★★☆☆
I read this story in Fantastic Four Omnibus vol. 2.
Characters:
- Wizard
- Sandman
- Trapster
- Madam Medusa
- Thing
- Mr. Fantastic
- Human Torch
- Invisible Girl
Story notes:
- The effect of the Id machine dulled Thing’s strength.
- Reed stuffed in urn.
- Johnny also subjected to Id machine.
- Reed and Sue passed out; again the FF are defeated.
| Previous | #373 | Next |
|---|---|---|
| Fantastic Four #41 | Reading order | Fantastic Four #43 |
| Fantastic Four #41 | Fantastic Four | Fantastic Four #43 |
