Fantastic Four from the Beginning

[My Two Cents]

I plan on picking up both Fantastic Four Omnibus re-releases on August 29th

[Master Planner]

I've been doing this for a few months. I'm in the early 60's now. I have to say, the first 50 issues are largely forgettable to me. It isn't until the Inhumans, Silver Surfer, Black Panther, and Galactus all start to get involved that things start consistently clicking for me as a reader.

I see your point. The first issues, while not as epic as the second half of Lee-Kirby run,it has a certain charm,seeing the simple nature of those proto-comics and how they set the ground for the Fantastic Four mythos and Marvel Universe in general. For example, Miracle Man's debut and villainy was pretty much forgettable,but i love that issue becaue it introduced Fantasticar, Baxter Building and the uniforms of the team.My avatar is from that issue(God,i loved confident,smoking pipe and kicking asses Reed Richards)

[dr3821]

(God,i loved confident,smoking pipe and kicking asses Reed Richards)

Hopefully, he's coming back in the revived series!

[dr3821]

FANTASTIC FOUR #2, released in October 1961


THEY WERE MERCILESS! THEY WERE INHUMAN! THEY HAD POWERS FAR GREATER THAN EARTHMEN! THEY WERE THE DEADLY SKRULLS FROM OUTER SPACE!

Funny how that sounds like a 1950s monster movie ad line. Issue two of FANTASTIC FOUR debuts those green-skinned Skrulls to the slowly emerging Marvel mythos. They definitely come across as more of a true menace than the Mole Man. As four Skrulls impersonate our fabulous quartet, the real McCoys are hiding out in a cabin in the woods. The Thing is furious at being hunted down and wants action, while Reed wants to talk. Ben is not the cute idol o' millions in these early adventures. He is bitter, angry and confused at being turned into a hideous monster.

It is fascinating to read these early issues. Things haven't quite become concrete and stable as we know them now, especially the character of the Thing. Susan is so innocent. The book was still evolving and Stan and Jack were finding their way. No costumes yet, for instance. And the team dynamic was still in flux.

I like the part where the Thing storms out of the cabin and you see the other three whispering that they are losing control of him. He may have to be stopped, but Reed blames himself for the whole situation. (As he SHOULD!!) It seems Marvel was trying to set this book apart from DC's JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA, which at the time was a huge-seller. Marvel wanted to show their team with conflict, while DC's team was so perfect and staid. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and the rest always got along, while early FF did not get along at all. This was all done on purpose, I think.

It's funny how modest Marvel was back then. Their company name is just a simple "MC" on the covers. And the credits are just a handwritten "Stan Lee and J. Kirby" here. The Skrull threat is taken care of. The invasion of Earth is halted. The heroes win the day. But the Skrulls will be a continual threat to our fantastic quarter. The ones who actually impersonated the FF are turned into cows. Which is later brought up again in a John Byrne story in the 1980s, if I remember right.

[DoodleMaster]

Hi guys. I just saw this on ebay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/44-Years-Of...AAAOSw7U5Y9ZQc

[dr3821]

Hi guys. I just saw this on ebay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/44-Years-Of...AAAOSw7U5Y9ZQc

I gotta get it!!! I don't EVER want to stop reading the FANTASTIC FOUR!

[DrNewGod]

This is fun to do. I've been rereading Marvel month-by-month from the introduction of the FF on. Not every title, but FF, Avengers, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Ant-Man, Spider-Man, Luke Cage, Moon Knight, X-Men and Defenders (as many of them are on digital). I'm up to about 1981 now, and watching the evolution of titles has been fascinating. I'm doing the same with a more limited selection of DC, keeping the same chronological pace.

The early FF is really fun. It's clearly more of a Sci-Fi/Monster title than a superhero title at this point. If you pulled out their powers, and substituted technology solutions, most of these stories could have been B-Creature-Features at the local theater. There's a lot of Kirby's Challengers of the Unknown in these issues.

I agree about Reed. I know they had to make some room for the others, but I miss that clear thinking dude who could invent next-gen stuff without being oblivious to everything else going on around him.

Johnny, back then, needed a knuckle-sandwich every morning, whether he'd done anything to deserve it yet or not.

Ben had not yet become somebody that you could care much about. He was still mainly just bad manners amplified by his misfortune.

Even more than Ben, Sue's the one that suffers the most at that point; if there was one single thing that Byrne did for the FF, it was elevate her to an equal spot on that roster.

All that said (especially if you look at DC titles at the time), you can clearly see why the FF so electrified the comics world. Good stuff!

[iPodwithnomusic]

I've also starting reading Fantastic Four from the beginning. While the issues do have some charm to them, for the most part I've been bored reading them because the stories are wacky and simple and there is so much text on every page. I also read Amazing Spider-Man from the beginning, and I didn't really get it in to until Romita took over as artist around #39. I've been reading Claremont's Uncanny X-Men and I've been really like that, his New Mutants has been pretty hit and miss for me though.

[HowitzerJoe]

Hopefully, he's coming back in the revived series!

And hopefully he doesn't treat Sue like dirt which he was akin to doing in some of the early issues.

[JackDaw]

Recently finally got round to read all the Lee/ Kirby run, and really enjoyed it.

Two potential loose ends intrigued me...say potential because others may know how they were resolved.

First was a remark Reed made to Ben. Can’t remember exact wording but something like: “Ben, stop pretending you don’t follow this. You’ve got two degrees...” Has that ever been followed up? What were the degrees in, and has Ben ever made use of academic knowledge?

The second was the fate of the advanced human that hatched out of the cocoon (that Alicia was kidnapped) to open. Whatever became of him?

[Crimz]

Recently finally got round to read all the Lee/ Kirby run, and really enjoyed it.

Two potential loose ends intrigued me...say potential because others may know how they were resolved.

First was a remark Reed made to Ben. Can’t remember exact wording but something like: “Ben, stop pretending you don’t follow this. You’ve got two degrees...” Has that ever been followed up? What were the degrees in, and has Ben ever made use of academic knowledge?

The second was the fate of the advanced human that hatched out of the cocoon (that Alicia was kidnapped) to open. Whatever became of him?

I don't know if we ever found out what they were in, but he's a qualified astronaut so he definitely has degrees and is not as dumb as he pretends to be.

[Iron Maiden]

I don't know if we ever found out what they were in, but he's a qualified astronaut so he definitely has degrees and is not as dumb as he pretends to be.

I agree. Since he was in college with Reed on a football scholarship, he probably got something maybe not as heavy into science as Reed but a pilot would have to have some math and physics skills. There are degree programs in aeronautical engineering. A lot of pilots got their basic training in the Air Force Flight Academy, or the Army Air Force Academy as it was known in my father's day. He signed up during WWII when the Air Force was a branch of the Army. He didn't make the cut for the pilot training and became a tail gunner instead.

There was a nice scene I liked and I can't recall what series in was in where Jennifer Walters bumped into Ben at a library where he was studying for the renewal for his pilot's license.

[JackDaw]

I don't know if we ever found out what they were in, but he's a qualified astronaut so he definitely has degrees and is not as dumb as he pretends to be.

Good point.

I always thought it was a slight mistake in classic Fantastic Four set-up to have such a vast gulf in intellect between Reed and the other members. As you've argued a time or three it would be good to give Sue a more amped up role. And it really wouldn't have been difficult for Ben and Johnny to become the practical technicians that help Reed with the detailed building of kit...and get to know a lot of practical science.

But..whatever minor faults it may (or may not have) still one of the great comics.

[Iron Maiden]

Good point.

I always thought it was a slight mistake in classic Fantastic Four set-up to have such a vast gulf in intellect between Reed and the other members. As you've argued a time or three it would be good to give Sue a more amped up role. And it really wouldn't have been difficult for Ben and Johnny to become the practical technicians that help Reed with the detailed building of kit...and get to know a lot of practical science.

But..whatever minor faults it may (or may not have) still one of the great comics.

One thing I wish they would do is to at least take care of some unfinished business with Johnny. He entered college in Stan & Jack's run but then no one else followed up on it. I think maybe it would be best to handle it as one of those "between the panels" events and just accept that he finished. Waid did have Sue coerce him into taking over the family business matters and that would be a good role for him in the family.

[JackDaw]

One thing I wish they would do is to at least take care of some unfinished business with Johnny. He entered college in Stan & Jack's run but then no one else followed up on it. I think maybe it would be best to handle it as one of those "between the panels" events and just accept that he finished. Waid did have Sue coerce him into taking over the family business matters and that would be a good role for him in the family.

Yes...and when he entered college one reason was “I want Ben and Reed to be proud of me”, which I thought was significant for a number of reasons...for example, it suggested that some one who knew Ben really well felt that studying was important to him.

And certainly Johhny’s best friend at college, Wyatt, self evidently believed in studying hard, and would hardly have teamed up with a slacker.

All told Johnny’s present status as an eternal playboy doesn’t really gel with the way his character was shaping up in the original run. Just when did Groundhog Day set in?