Fantastic Four #47

Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: November 11, 1965
Cover: February 1966
12 cents
Story: Stan Lee
Art: Jack Kirby
Inking: Joe Sinnott
Lettering: Art Simek
20 pages

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Fantastic Four #46	Reading order	Amazing Spider-Man #31
Fantastic Four #46	Fantastic Four	Fantastic Four #48

If ya got a few spare minutes, it’s time fer us ‘ta save humanity again!

All Johnny can think about is Crystal. Guess we’re over Dorrie. Also, a man is dying. Luckily, Sue is there to point out Triton needs to get to water immediately. Johnny’s head is elsewhere. He’s only thinking with his, let’s say, heart.

The Great Refuge is the home of the Inhumans. They are ruled by Maximus the Magnificent. He had ordered the Seeker to return the others, such as Triton. He had ordered Gorgon to bring Medusa to the Great Refuge. He wanted Medusa back so he could marry her.

Mr. Fantastic reluctantly turns Triton over to the Seeker, when the Seeker claims it’s the law of Maximus.

It’s worth noting the Inhumans, except for Triton, all came here of their own accord. They wanted to escape the Fantastic Four, and had Lockjaw teleport them here. Which is exactly where the Seeker would have brought them if he’d found them.

Maximus is the brother of Black Bolt, and Black Bolt may be the rightful ruler.

There is a savage group of Inhumans known as Alpha Primitives, who Maximus sends to attack Black Bolt’s group.

Maximus notes an accident had taken away Black Bolt’s power of speech. Medusa implies it was no accident, and that Maximus was responsible for his brother’s fate.

Black Bolt takes the crown from Maximus and claims his rightful place as ruler of the Inhumans. His main motivation here seems to be that he wants to marry Medusa.

Sue makes the wise point to Johnny: “You’ve barely met here! You hardly know her!” Reed is too sentimental, talking about a man in love. Johnny appreciates that Reed now refers to him as a man. Since he’s 18.

We see a flying Inhuman.

Sue gets a new hairdo. It’s something women do, even at strange times, like when searching for a hidden civilization in the Alps. This is Marvel getting with the times. It’s not 1961 anymore, and Sue needs a haircut that suits a modern 1965 woman.

Black Bolt will spare the Fantastic Four if they leave now and never reveal what they’ve found. Mr. Fantastic says the Inhumans must come out of hiding and join the human race. Didn’t humanity just create mutant-hunting robots last week? What makes you so confident they’d accept Inhumans if they can’t accept mutants?

It doesn’t matter anyway. Maximus has a weapon he’s going to fire into the atmosphere which will kill all regular humans, but leave Inhumans unaffected.

The Inhumans saga is plainly not finished, but we are going to pause here anyway. In part because I want to hammer in how many good stories are being published at this moment and see how they all line up. I’m very curious what’s happening in Amazing Spider-Man this very month, so let’s head there.

I think now is a good time to reflect on how little sense any of this makes. Even though it will make even less next issue.

Back up a dozen issues and there were a few groups of people. Most Inhumans presumably were in the Great Refuge. Black Bolt had a group living in a sanctuary he had made for them. Medusa had split off from Black Bolt’s group, and was living in hiding on an island.

I’m not sure where Gorgon was. The evidence is contradictory. He may have been back in the Great Refuge or with Black Bolt’s group. The Seeker is hunting Black Bolt’s group, and presumably any Inhuman.

Medusa’s character arc from issue 36 through 44 makes no sense whatsoever. I think we covered that before.

What about Gorgon? In issue 44, she seems terrified of him. She needs the FF to protect her, and he’s ready to destroy a city to get her.

Gorgon takes her back to Black Bolt’s gang, and chides her for having left that group. This suggests Gorgon and Medusa were both with Black Bolt’s group, and he brought her back. Importantly, Gorgon certainly knew where Black Bolt’s group was, as he went straight there with Medusa. Crystal seemed happy to see him, and acted like she’d expected him to bring Medusa there.

Triton notes they’ve hidden from the Seeker for years, so the Seeker presumably doesn’t know about Black Bolt’s sanctuary. But Gorgon does. And Gorgon claims to also fear the Seeker. So as of 46, it really seems like Gorgon was with Black Bolt’s group, left the sanctuary to bring Medusa back there, and that they are all one group hiding from the Seeker.

But then we learn Maximus sent Gorgon to get Medusa. So Gorgon must have been in the Great Refuge with Maximus. It sounds like Gorgon and Seeker were both sent by Maximus to retrieve lost Inhumans. Hmm. Perhaps Gorgon was like a spy who had infiltrated Black Bolt’s group on Maximus’ orders.

The Seeker intended only to return them to the Great Refuge. For all their fear of the Seeker, they then went to the Great Refuge pretty willingly. The FF had found their hiding spot, so they went home. Triton had seemed utterly terrified of going there. But the rest just went. Why? Was Gorgon somehow forcing all of them to?

Then we learn Black Bolt was in exile, by order of Maximus. He wasn’t allowed to return. But Maximus had sent the Seeker to bring all Inhumans back. So did Maximus want them back or not? Did Maximus want Triton back but not Black Bolt? He wanted Medusa back to marry her. And then I don’t know why Maximus attacked Black Bolt’s group. And then felt the need to deny having done so. Did he want them back or not? Were they in exile or not?

None of this makes any sense.

Finally, Maximus has his weapon he’ll fire into the atmosphere which will kill all humans and not Inhumans. Remember that, as we’ll see next issue that this won’t make any sense either.

A lot of the problems lie in the script, and so can be blamed on Lee. But Kirby may share some of it, as even trying to look at the art and ignore the dialogue, I can’t find a sensible story that connects it all.

Rating: ★★★½, 62/100
Significance: ★★★★☆

I read this story in Fantastic Four Omnibus vol. 2.

With this entry, the Fantastic Four overtake Dr. Strange for the characters with the most entries in the Best We’ve Read, sliding back into the #2 spot. There’s still 5 more chapters in the Eternity Saga to boost Dr. Strange’s score. But as we’ve noted, there are at least another 6 great consecutive issues of FF coming as well. Neither is likely to unseat Spider-Man at #1 anytime soon. And you’ll notice it’s then a steep drop. There is no fourth contender. These three titles dominate the list.

Alas, we are currently only tracking 100 entries on the list, so the introduction of Loki in Journey Into Mystery #85 will have to fall off.

Characters:

• Human Torch/Johnny Storm
• Mr. Fantastic/Reed Richards
• Thing/Ben Grimm
• Invisible Girl/Sue Richards
• Triton
• Seeker
• Alicia
• Gorgon
• Medusa
• Crystal/Chris
• Karnak
• Lockjaw
• Maximus, the Magnificent
• Floating Inhuman

Story notes:

• Maximus the Magnificent has ordered Triton’s return to the Great Refuge.
• Alicia’s statues: a miniature thing, heads of Reed and Sue.
• Dragon Man trashes Alicia’s apartment; she escapes.
• Maximus is the ruler of the Inhumans; Reed reluctantly agrees to abide by his law.
• “Wherever injustice exists, it is our affair, Sue! Even our marriage can never change that!
• Black Bolt is rightful ruler.
• Maximus and Black Bolt are brothers.
• Maximus has weapon to conquer the humans– atmo-gun.
• Maximus sends savage Alpha Primitives after Black Bolt.
• Medusa bethroted to Maximus, but she and Black Bolt are in love.
• Crystal and Medusa are sisters.
• Maximus pretends the Alpha Primitive attack was accidental.
• Black Bolt claims his crown.
• Maximus claims his power is equal to Black Bolt’s, but he has more cunning while Black Bolt has more courage.
• FF follow homing device to Great Refuge
• Dragon Man turned over to authorities; sent to desert isle for sanctuary under sedation.
• Peyton Place reference.
• Inhumans not born with powers; science of artificially acquiring traits.
• Great Refuge in High Andes.
• Johnny refers to Crystal as “Chris” instead of “Crys”.
• Atmo-Gun will send up vibrations into the atmosphere that will only affect humans, and Maximus will inherit the earth.

Previous	#446	Next
Fantastic Four #46	Reading order	Amazing Spider-Man #31
Fantastic Four #46	Fantastic Four	Fantastic Four #48