Featuring: Fantastic Four Release: March 10, 1966 Cover: June 1966 12 cents Writer: Stan Lee Penciller: Jack Kirby Inker: Joe Sinnott Letterer: Artie Simek 20 pages
He paid the full price– and, he paid it– like a man!
After introducing the Inhumans, and then introducing the Silver Surfer and Galactus in perhaps the best and most iconic FF story ever immediately after, you’d think Stan and Jack would want a break from the iconic stories that will be remembered for decades to come.
But this is perhaps the most iconic issue of Fantastic Four ever. It’s perhaps the best Fantastic Four comic ever. It might be the best comic Stan and Jack ever made.
It might be the best comic anybody ever made.
The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine indeed.
I won’t ruin this image with my clumsy words. You can just appreciate the opening page for yourself. I just suggest that you take a minute with it.
This picks up from last issue in a couple ways. Alicia and the Silver Surfer grew close during the events, enough to make Thing jealous and wander off morosely. There were even newspaper headlines about Thing being seen wandering the streets feeling sad. We saw a mysterious man reading those headlines. We didn’t learn his name, but we learned he intends to destroy the Fantastic Four.
Featuring: Fantastic Four Release: February 10, 1966 Cover: May 1966 12 cents Script: Stan Lee Art: Jack Kirby Inks: Joe Sinnott Lettering: S. Rosen 20 pages
Master! For the first time I realize the dread enormity of what you plan to do! You must not tamper with other worlds! You cannot destroy the entire human race!
Would you hesitate to tread upon an ant hill? These creatures are of no consequence to Galactus!
These are not ants, Master! They think… they feel… they have even created the primitive civilization which we see all about us!
Master! Say we may leave this world! My heart grieves at battling one with whom I shared… a universe!
You speak of me as though I am a monster! Do not the humans themselves slay the lesser beasts for food… for sustenance? Galactus does no less!
Galactus is not evil! He is above good.. or evil! He does what he must… for he is Galactus!
Emulate the Watcher! Stand and observe! Try to fathom the cataclysmic forces which have been unleashed! For you shall never see their like again!
Long have I cherished the stumbling, bumbling, but always aspiring human race!
Consider the courage they display! Though they are still in their infancy, you must not disdain them! Did not your race… and mine… evolve from such humble beginnings? Do they not possess the seed of grandeur within their frail, human frames?
And at last I perceive the glint of glory within the race of man! Be ever worthy of that glory, humans… be ever mindful of your promise of greatness! …For it shall one day lift you beyond the stars.. or bury you within the ruins of war!! The choice is yours!!
Generally, my plan is to pick a single quote from each issue to open these posts. I cheated last issue and am doing so again this issue. Too many great quotes. Also too many great images.
This isn’t the worst cover we’ve seen, but it is the most disappointing. Compare it to the awesome first page.
That’s a cool image. But the cover? No Galactus? The FF just as floating heads? Just a shot of the Silver Surfer. With the corner of the cover devoted to Johnny at college? What?
Notice they seem to have gotten the coloring of Galactus basically right now. Purple over red, wearing pants. Still bare arms, but that’s fine. Third time’s the charm. Here’s how it looks in the digital version with modern coloring.
I think the conclusion of the Galactus saga is excellent, but the structuring of this issue is again weird. To appreciate that, I’d like to peek ahead a few pages.
Recall where we were. Galactus is about to destroy the entire world in order to convert its resources into energy to feed himself. His herald has been convinced by Alicia that human life matters, so Silver Surfer has decided for the first time in countless eons to defy his master. Meanwhile, the Human Torch has journeyed across the universe to the giant space station that is Galactus’ home, to find the one weapon that may yet save them.
With all that to wrap up ahead of us, this is page 15.
We meet Coach Thorpe, who is very concerned his college football team is performing poorly. And his star quarterback is giving him attitude.
I cannot even begin to explain the surreality of the contrast between the first and fifteenth page of this comic.
Featuring: Fantastic Four Release: January 1, 1966 Cover: April 1966 12 cents Written in the masterful manner of Stan Lee Illustrated in the magnificent mode of Jack Kirby Inked in the majestic mood of Joe Sinnott Lettered in the nick of time by S. Rosen 20 pages
Of what import are brief, nameless lives… to Galactus??
It is not my intention to injure any living being! But… I must replenish my energy! If petty creatures are wiped out when I drain a planet, it is regrettable… but unavoidable!
I am supreme unto myself… I am Galactus!
This planet contains the energies to sustain me! I shall absorb it at will… as I have for ages in countless galaxies throughout the cosmos!
Destroy is merely a word! We simply change things! We change elements into energy… the energy which sustains Galactus! For it is only he that matters!
No! No! We all matter! Every living being… every bird and beast… this is our world! Ours!
Perhaps we are not as powerful as your Galactus… but we have hearts… we have souls… we live… breathe… feel! Can’t you see that?? Are you as blind as I?
Never have I heard such words… sensed such courage… or known this strange feeling… this new emotion…! There is a word some races use… a word I have never understood… until now! At last I know… beauty!
But look! Look at the city below you! Look at the people! Each of them is entitled to life… to happiness… each of them is… human!
All I need do is link these two igniters… and all the seas of Earth shall be transformed into purest energy… enough energy to sustain me until I find the next such planet somewhere in the endless cosmos!
Trust me! Banish fear from your heart! You shall travel by time space distortion! We must force open the very fabric of time itself! Let it be done… now! You are traveling back… far, far back… into the center of infinity!
There’s always a chance, darling… so long as we’re alive!
Perhaps for the first time within memory… I have found something worth protecting!
This is the middle chapter of the Galactus saga. In many cases, the middle chapter of a saga is the weakest. But the odd structuring of the story makes this the best issue. The first issue was beset by having to finish off the Inhuamns saga before getting started. The last issue will oddly finish halfway through and then become about college football.
Making this the only chapter that dedicates 20 pages to being about Galactus.
I have a book collecting some Jack Kirby Collector magazines, which includes some pencils for this issue. Comparing Kirby’s pencils with the finished artwork can help us understand what Joe Sinnott brings to the table with his finishes.
Let’s dive in and I’ll make some comments as we go.
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
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.
Featuring: Marvels Release: December 14, 1993 Cover: February 1994 $5.95 Writer: Kurt Busiek Artist: Alex Ross Letterers: Starkings w/ John Gaushell Editor: Marcus McLaurin Assitant editor: Spencer Lamm Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco Cover design & logo: Joe Kaufman Interior design: Comicraft 45 pages
The real story was the people who’d been scared too long. Who’d been wound tight by talk of mutant menaces and hidden conspiracies and shadows under the bed.
I’ve mentioned before I want to frame our reading around the Marvels miniseries from the 1990s. That hasn’t really been obvious yet. We read Marvels #0, which retold a few pages from Marvel Comics #1. And we read Marvels #1, which paralleled 1940s Marvel comics. But our reading is concentrated in the 1960s. Finally, we get to Marvels #2, which parallels the 1960s Marvel stories, ranging from Avengers #6 (May 1964), the 191st entry in our reading, through Tales of Suspense #69 (June 1965), the 404th entry in our reading. Quite the range. We are reading it after completing the Iron Man story from Tales of Suspense #72, because we’d first needed to tie up some continuity ends.
We’ve hinted before at the theme of this comic, and I’d like to just discuss it up front. The two centerpiece stories are the wedding of Reed and Sue in Fantastic Four Annual 3, and the attack on the X-Men by the Sentinels in X-Men #14. The writer Kurt Busiek had noted in his own Marvel Universe research what we also found in our reading here, that these events must occur on nearly consecutive days. That’s not obvious from any comic, but does follow from a close reading of the many interconnected comics. And the two stories make for quite the juxtaposition.
The contrast between these two arcs becomes the central tension of this issue. The Fantastic Four wedding is the celebrity event of the century. The press covered it, crowds of fans gathered, famous people like Tony Stark and Millie the Model attended. The Fantastic Four are super-powered heroes and beloved by the public.
The X-Men are also super-powered heroes. But where the Fantastic Four gained their powers from cosmic radiation, the powers of the X-Men are innate, based on an accident of birth, perhaps from radiation their parents had been exposed to. The “Children of the Atom”. And that difference is big enough that the same public who cheered on the wedding of the FF members would listen with interest and nods of approval as Bolivar Trask went on the airwaves to declare mutants a menace and announce he’d created robot-hunting Sentinels to hunt and kill the X-Men.
We read the Heroes & Legends retelling of the wedding, which focused on this very tension in the form of a child, who was a huge fan of the Fantastic Four, but afraid of the X-Men. He learned better by issue’s end.
Here, the arc will play out within Phil Sheldon, the photojournalist who specialises in shots of the people he’s dubbed the Marvels. A person who idolizes heroes like the Fantastic Four and Avengers, but fears mutants like the X-Men.
It’s entirely irrational, just like all forms of bigotry.
That’s enough belaboring of themes. Let’s dive into the story. As we do, we’ll try to draw the parallels between what’s happening on the page and our reading.
I’ll note that the title is called “Monsters”, which brings to my mind Thing and Hulk. The latter doesn’t appear, and the former is a minor player at best.
It’s 20 years after the events of Marvels #1. Phil Sheldon is now an established freelance photojournalist happily married with two kids. We see hm doing freelance work for Barney Bushkin at the Daily Globe. The shadows on the page somewhat obscure Phil’s eyepatch, a lifelong injury sustained last issue by getting too close to a superhero battle.
We remember meeting Barney in Amazing Spider-Man #27. He’s nicer than Jonah, but asked too many questions for Peter’s tastes.
Featuring: Fantastic Four Release: July 1, 1965 Cover: 1965 25 cents Written by: Stan Lee Drawn by: Jack Kirby Inked by: Vince Colletta Lettered by: Artie Simek 23 pages
I now pronounce you man and wife! You may kiss your bride!
It’s the wedding of the century. Today’s the day. Half the Marvels have been invited! And the rest of them are turning up anyway!
This issue represents by far the largest gathering of heroes and villains yet, forever binding these disparate characters into a universe.
This issue represents the idea that there is no status quo, that these characters are at their best when they change and grow. Forward momentum is an essential ingredient to storytelling. Genuine, non-illusionary, change.
This is the most significant moment in the early Marvel Universe.
I think I’d have come up with a better title than “Bedlam at the Baxter Building”.
I wish Chic Stone or Joe Sinnott had been the inker. A few months too late to have Stone and one month too early to have Sinnott. Also, Colletta is uniquely suited to a long special issue with many characters because he’s famously expedient.
I appreciate that the headline takes for granted the public knows who Reed and Sue are without the need for surnames or superhero identities. The cover does the same for its audience.
Pretty cool this worked out to be the 400th story in our reading order. Currently on track to also have the 500th story be a particularly special issue of Fantastic Four as well. When we read Avengers #1, it was the 100th story, but then I went and retroactively mucked with the ordering.
Featuring: Fantastic Four Release: May 11, 1965 Cover: August 1965 12 cents Story by: Stan Lee, who has never lost his touch! Art by: Jack Kirby, who has never lost his magic! Inking by: Vince Colletta, who has never lost his flair! Lettering by: Sam Rosen, who has never lost Artie Simek! 20 pages
You did this to me, Richards!! You turned me into somethin’ so ugly that they can only call me… a Thing!
I appreciate that they use Ben’s real name in the title, rather than his superhero name. It adds a certain something, though I suspect Stan did it for alliterative purposes: brutal, betrayal, Ben.
Notice this picks up right where the last issue left off, so no time has passed. Yet we’ve read 7 other comics in the meantime. The idea is all this stuff is happening close to concurrently.
Ben had been turned human again, but Reed felt they needed him to be super strong again to defeat Dr. Doom, so without permission, Reed fired a ray to turn him back into the Thing.
Ben is justifiably angry and quitting the Fantastic Four.
Featuring: Human Torch and Thing Release: March 11, 1965 Cover: June 1965 12 cents Written in the magnificent Stan Lee tradition! Illustrated in the majestic Bob Powell manner! Inked in the magiloquent Mick Demeo style! Lettered in the mortgaged Sam Rosen home! 12 pages
Due to the tightness of forthcoming FF chronology, we are reading ahead a bit in these Human Torch stories. Since Dr. Strange is still involved in a big saga, we are still holding off on reading Dr. Strange stories.
Dr. Strange at last gets half of the cover, but Kirby’s work here doesn’t quite do justice to the tale Ditko is spinning inside.
Stan notes the story will start in the middle. That is unusual for one of these stories, but it’s a classical storytelling technique, en media res.
This issue promises a surprise twist, an old villain in a new guise. I don’t want to spoil the big surprise.
Featuring: Fantastic Four Release: December 10, 1964 Cover: March 1965 12 cents Proudly produced by: Smilin’ Stan Lee and Jolly Jack Kirby Inked by: Chic Stone Lettered by: Artie Simek 21 pages
The main credits are shared between Stan and Jack without specifying who did what.
Fantastic Four has been one of the best of these Marvel superhero titles since the start, but it’s regarded as one of the best comic series ever, which hasn’t yet been obvious. The series gets better at some point. It can be hard to pinpoint the exact point of transition. We noted issue 29 when Kirby started using photo collages as a step toward greatness. The introduction of the Frightful Four in this issue also suggests we are well down the path. Particularly the mysterious Madam Medusa.
Sue and Reed announced their engagement last issue. They’ve now made a public announcement, and the press is excited, underscoring their celebrity status. There will be a big engagement party this issue.
Also, I think Sue’s gotten a haircut. Her hair definitely seems shorter.
Featuring: Human Torch and Thing Release: December 10, 1964 Cover: March 1965 12 cents Story by Swingin’ Stan Lee Art by Bouncin’ Bob Powell Inking by Chucklin’ Chic Stone Lettering by Sizzlin’ Sam Rosen 12 pages
Dr. Strange finally gets the cover almost to himself… but we won’t be reading his story. As we’ve discussed, the plan is to take a break from Dr. Strange, but keep reading the Human Torch/Thing stories. The Dr. Strange stories have mostly been happy to be single short episodes that fit in 10 pages. The only exception has been the 2-part battle against Dormammu. But even that epic was only 20 pages, the length of a normal Fantastic Four or Spider-Man story. Not one to make incremental change, Ditko decided he needs 170 pages and 17 months to tell the next story.
I’ve made no secret that I’ve found these last 30 issues of Human Torch stories to be almost entirely worthless. Putting Ben and Johnny in Beatles wigs is probably the single most worthwhile thing that has happened yet. Especially since Johnny is wearing the wig over his flaming head. The fact that it’s not burning means it must be made from unstable molecules.
Stan Lee made a big deal last issue and in recent letters’ pages about the exciting new artist for this series. That artist is Bob Powell. Powell will be the Human Torch/Thing artist for as long as this series has left. He will not be turning the quality of stories around. Powell is another returning artist from back when, having worked in comics since the 1930s, occasionally doing some Marvel work. He’ll also be taking over the Giant-Man title this month… and not turn the quality around on that one either. He’ll have the honor of putting Marvel’s two worst series to bed.
