namor loves sue – Coke & Comics

Fantastic Four #11

A Visit with the Fantastic Four
Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: November 1, 1962
Cover: February 1963
12 cents
Script: Stan Lee
Art: Jack Kirby
Inking: Dick Ayers
11 pages

I read this comic in Fantastic Four Omnibus vol. 1.

I find this story interesting for all the biographical details we get filled in, even the stuff that contradicts the other stuff.

We learned last issue that Stan and Jack are characters in the Marvel Universe, publishing Fantastic Four comics. On the opening splash page, we see a new issue has come out. One child is excited to get his letter published. This is the second time we’ve seen the fan letters addressed in story. I’ll repeat what I said then: this is where Stan shines, interacting directly with young readers.

I like how popular they suggest their own comic is within the comic.

We then get a cute scene where they come across kids playing “Fantastic Four” and introduce themselves. Reed suggests the boy playing him ought to give flowers to the girl playing Invisible Girl. They offer a message to kids: don’t play with fire at home.

Fantastic Four #9

The End of the Fantastic Four!/Sub-Mariner Gives the Orders!/The Fury of Mr. Fantastic/The Flame of Battle/Vengeace is Ours!
Featuring: Fantastic Four
Release: September 4, 1962
Cover: December 1962
12 cents
Script: Stan Lee
Art: Jack Kirby
Inking: Dick Ayers
23 pages

I read this comic in Fantastic Four Omnibus vol. 1.

As with the Thor story which premiered the same day, this features full credits. In fact, the credits are more complete than the Thor story, as they spotlight the lettering of Artie Simek. The coloring of Stan Goldberg is still omitted, and anyways lost in the reproductions I am looking at.

This is a pretty famous story. For decades to come, when people refer to how Stan Lee changed superheroes, they’ll point to things like Spider-Man being unpopular or the Fantastic Four having money problems. But for 8 issues, the FF seemed pretty wealthy. Here, we learn Reed lost all his money in a stock market crash, and the FF are bankrupt and having to sell everything and disband. They even sell the pogo plane!

Fantastic Four #6

Captives of the Deadly Duo!/When Super-Menaces Unite/When Friends Fall Out!/Trapped!/The End… Or the Beginning?
Release: June 12, 1962
Cover: September 1962
12 cents
Credits: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
Inker: Dick Ayers
24 pages

I read this in Fantastic Four Omnibus vol. 1. The table of contents credits Dick Ayers as the inker. The original comic just credits Lee and Kirby.

All posts regarding Fantastic Four comics featuring Namor are henceforth dedicated to my mother.

The plot of the story concerns Dr. Doom and Prince Namor the Submariner joining forces. It’s not clear if their duo has a name, and anyway the alliance won’t last long. Dr. Doom refers to them as the Diabolical Duo, which is what the cover calls them. So perhaps that’s official. But the story title calls them the Deadly Duo.

Notably, these are the first recurring nemeses for the FF, uniting the villains of the two previous issues.

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.