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Fantastic Four masterpost

Note: this masterpost is dynamic - it will be updates as I read and recap the comics ; in order for an issue to be listed here, at least one member of the team must be starring in ; everything here is listed in publication order.

[1161] Fantastic Four #1

[0162] Fantastic Four #2

[0362] Fantastic Four #3 

[0562] Fantastic Four #4 

[0762] Fantastic Four #5 

[0962] Fantastic Four #6 

[1062] Fantastic Four #7 

[1062] Strange Tales #101

[comic-book-gal]

October 1962 in Marvel Comics

This recap references the following comic book issues:

[1062] Fantastic Four #7

[1062] Tales to Astonish #36

[1062] Journey into Mystery #85

[1062] Strange Tales #101

In Fantastic Four #7 the team leaves Earth for a space adventure. After some conspiracy plotted by Kurrgo, Master of Planet X, everyone on Earth hatest the Fantastic Four so they have to leave. On Planet X we learn that Kurrgo needs their genius so he could save his people, as his planet is about to be destroyed. Unfortunately, they can’t escape since they have only two spaceships. Knowing this, Reed uses his genius to… shrink the entire population of the planet so that they can fit into a spaceship? Never mind. He makes a gas similar to the one Ant Man’s using, so there’s that. After they safely reach their new home, Reed plans to give them another gas so they can go back to their original size, but Kurrgo is a greedy bastard and decides to keep the gas for himself and that kinda leads him to fail into boarding the ship. Anyways, the team goes back to Earth, but it is still not clear if the Earthlings hate them still.

Henry Pym is really busy in Tales to Astonish #36 as he’s set his very own ant network that keeps him updated with everything going on in the city so it’s no wonder that once he hears a lady asking around for him he quickly comes to the rescue. She informs him that she used to be a lover of Comrade X, but since he cheated on her he decided to take her revenge. Being told that the soviet wants to capture him and learn his secret, Ant Man decides to take action against it. He confronts him at the dock, where the lady told him he’s going to be, but is entrapped by Comrade X’s crew. Once free, he contacts the authorities and proceeds to hunt down Comrade X. Unmasking him, we find out that Comrade X was the woman at the police station all along, and Ant Man knew about the false identity since he hid in her purse when he followed her.

Next up we follow Thor in Journey into Mystery #85 where he fights Loki. Yep, we’re witnessing Loki’s very first (second?) appearance in Marvel Comics. At first, we learn that he’s been banished by the gods into a tree and his only way out is to make someone shed a tear for him. He eventually does it… by stabbing Heimdall in the eye with a leaf. So now Loki is free and ready to cause some havoc. He goes to Earth disguised as a human to find Thor. Somehow he hypnotizes him and tricks him into giving up his hammer, but as we know, without it he turns back into the lame doctor we all love and the hypnosis wears off. They fight and obviously Thor wins and Loki almost drowns but his big brother saves him and gets him back to Asgard via everyone’s favourite means of transportation, the Mighty Hammer. Oh, also, we learn that Jane low-key has a thing for Loki.

Johnny Storm makes his solo debut in Strange Tales #101. Nothing too strange happens, however. We learn that the Storm brothers are living in Glenville, New York where nobody knows of their identities and when he’s not the Human Torch, Johnny goes about his daily life along with his pals. Once a new amusement park opens up in town and gets sabotaged multiple times, Johnny decides to investigate only to find that a soviet ship stationing nearby is visible from the main attraction in the park. The Thing also makes an appearance is this.

What should you read:

Journey into Mystery #85 for Loki’s first Silver Age appearance and Strange Tales #101 if you want to get to know Johnny Storm a little bit more.

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Fantastic Four + their Fantasticar in Fantastic Four #7, 1962

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Susan Storm / Invisible Girl + Reed Richards / Mr. Fantastic in Fantastic Four #1, 1961

[comic-book-gal]

September 1962 in Marvel Comics

This recap references the following comic book issues:

[0962] Fantastic Four #6 (Fantastic Four)

[0962] Tales to Astonish #35 (Ant-Man)

[0962] Incredible Hulk #3 (Hulk)

[0962] Journey into Mystery #84 (Thor)

From now on my recaps are going to cover a month worth of comic book releases. This means I’ll do around five issues per month for a while, that’s why I hope I can move a little bit faster.

Without further ado, let’s start.

In Fantastic Four #6 we see Doctor Doom allying himself with Sub-Mariner in order to get rid of the Fantastic Four. At first Sub-Mariner is pretty chill and doesn’t seem too crazy about his revenge against humanity anymore, until Doom reopens some old wounds and he agrees with his plan. We also learn that Sue has a soft spot for the Atlantean. Wow, where did that come from? Anyways, the Sub-Mariner decides to pay the team a visit, and shortly after their headquarters begin flying into the outer space. Turns out the guy had planted a magnetic device developed by Doctor Doom that he now controls from his little space ship, planning to let the building fly into the sun. No worries, though, as Fantastic Four are never unprepared for space exploration and have some space suits laying around. Eventually the Sub-Mariner understands that Doom has betrayed him and is planning to kill him along with the fantastic team so he helps the guys defeat Doom, who they send into a long journey on a meteorite. Yeah… Eventually, everything ends well as the Sub-Mariner takes control of the ship and brings the Fantastic Four along with their headquarters back to Earth and returns to the sea. Perhaps we’ll see him again.

Another character we get to see again is Henry Pym, aka the Ant-Man in Tales to Astonish #35. We learn that he remade the serum that turned him into an ant-sized man and decided to lock it up in a vault. He also develops this obsession with ants, building a helmet that would help him communicate with the insects for some reason. The government asks him and a few other scientists to develop an anti-radiation gas, but before finishing it the communists decide to steal it. In order to stop them, Henry uses the serum, turns into the Ant-Man and with the help of an ant colony defeats the commies. The issue ends with him wondering whether he’ll have to become Ant-Man again.

Incredible Hulk #3 is one hell of a ride. Rick Jones locks Dr. Banner into his underwater fortified cave so he cannot escape during the night and people. After that, Rick goes to Banner’s house in order to get some rest, but is stopped by General Thunderbolt Ross who wants him to lead the army to Hulk, for they have to test a spaceship and the only one who could endure the g-force is Hulk. Rick agrees, and you can see how amazingly smart he is here, but does not disclose Hulk’s whereabouts. Instead, he brings him to the spaceship himself and Hulk is sent to space where he transforms into Bruce Banner again, but not for long, since he’s is getting hit by a mysterious radioactive ray of some sort. Back on Earth, Rick Jones learn that the army doesn’t plan on bringing the big guy back on Earth so he decided to do it himself. Once he touches the control panel, he feels the ray enter his body and once Hulk is again on land, learn that he can control him when he’s awake. The thing is, even though it’s day time, Hulk doesn’t turn back to Banner. In order to prevent him from doing any harm, Rick stays awake the whole night, reflecting to what he’s done. In the morning, he goes to his aunt to get a meal and a change of clothes and stops by to see a circus performance where he and the rest of the crowd get hypnotized by The Ringmaster, unable to move or speak. Before falling into unconsciousness, he reaches for Hulk who comes to help him, but because Rick fails to give him any more commands, he is captured by the circus. Eventually, Rick comes to rescue along with the FBI where Hulk helps capture The Ringmaster and before he can get captured too, runs along with Rick.

Now, let’s see what Thor has been up to in Journey into Mystery #84 where we learn more about Dr. Donald Blake and his newly introduced nurse and love interest, Jane Foster. Jane tells him that while he’s been in Europe, there has been a revolution going on in San Diablo where the democrats are fighting against the communists. Donald Blake offers to go in San Diablo to treat the ill and wounded along with Jane and other American doctors. The Executioner, the leader of the communist faction sends his men to kill the american doctors but they are stopped by Donald Blake who transforms into Thor, but he’s stopped by the capturing of Jane. He then comes to save her, along with the democrat faction. Outnumbered, the Executioner tries to flee with the loot he and his troops acquired, but is stopped by his own men who understand that Americans are truly on their side and what to help them.

What should you read:

Everything here is pretty worth-reading. If you want more Doctor Doom then you should definitely read Fantastic Four #6. In Tales to Astonish #35 Henry Pym actually becomes Ant-Man so there’s that. Hulk suffers a little bit of transformation in Incredible Hulk #3 so you might want to check it out. Lastly, we’re introduced to Jane Foster in Journey into Mystery #84 and learn a little bit more about Don Blake’s personal life.

[comic-book-gal]

Thor in Journey Into Mystery #83-84

[comic-book-gal]

November 1961 to August 1962 in Marvel Comics

Note: I’m not a native English speaker. If you find mistakes or errors in my writing, please do tell me. Also, everything I've written here is my own interpretation and my own opinion. You don’t have to agree with anything I’m saying.

This synthesis references the following comic book issues:

[1161] Fantastic Four #1 (Fantastic Four)

[0162] Fantastic Four #2 (Fantastic Four)

[0162] Tales to Astonish #27 (Ant Man)

[0362] Fantastic Four #3 (Fantastic Four)

[0562] Fantastic Four #4 (Fantastic Four)

[0562] Incredible Hulk #1 (Hulk)

[0762] Fantastic Four #5 (Fantastic Four)

[0762] Incredible Hulk #2 (Hulk)

[0862] Amazing Fantasy #15 (Spider-Man)

[0862] Journey into Mystery #83 (Thor)

Here’s the thing: if you’re like me and want to get into super hero comics and don’t really want to follow some shady reading order list on some equally shady website that claims you should skip over two decades of comic history, but prefer reading the right way, following the publication order, you’re going to be surprised at how unclear everything is at first.

When I started reading Marvel comics I was very lost, reading the beginning of a series, only to find later that it hardly makes sense and it’s not, in fact, the beginning. I remember I followed one of those reading order list on Thor, after reading some expert’s claim that you should read only what you like, and I liked Thor so I decided to start with Thor #1 (1966) only to find out that what I’m reading makes no sense. After some research I found out about Journey into Mystery and how Marvel liked playing around with their titles and I began reading that, however, nothing got clearer. In fact, I was getting more upset to find out I can’t really get invested in the story when every other issue there is a cameo from some other super hero or villain that I know nothing about and I feel completely left out, like I’m missing something big.

So I started reading everything in the publication order, and so far it works. I’m not saying you should too; this has worked for me and made my comic book reading experience far better than it was before but that doesn't mean it will do the same to you. Most people will stick to what they believe is mandatory for understanding the story, to only a certain series and will follow perhaps one or two superheroes and that is okay. I realize reading every issue Marvel had published is very, and I mean very time-consuming and to some might feel pointless and I totally agree. Instead, what I’d like you to get from my little story is that you should keep an open mind. If you see something like a cameo in the comic you’re reading that piques your interest a little bit, perhaps you could try and go back a little and find more. For example, I’m not a big fan of Hulk, like, at all and I wasn't to happy to read it, but I was surprised how much I enjoyed Incredible Hulk #1 & #2. I did not expect that at all, and I would probably overlooked it had I kept my old way and that’s a shame.

Now, going back to the actual comics, the reason I decided to group this then issues together is because they have a lot in common, presenting the origin stories of some of our favorite characters, but also because the publication pattern up to Fantastic Four #6 was rather inconsistent. If you look at the list I made and the dates corresponding each issue, you’ll see they were not released every month, and some of them won’t make any significant appearance any time soon. Once Fantastic Four #6 is released, there is a little bit more order in publication, so I’ll most likely do these post by month. Now I decided it would be best to group them together and make a big post on origin stories.

Besides that, we got a lot of alien invasion - the Skrulls, the Toad Men and the Stone Men from Saturn try to conquer the Earth in just about an issue each and I’m not gonna lie to you, it’s kind of bad. More of that soon.

Fantastic Four #1 is considered to be the issue that marked the beginning of the Silver Age of comics (at least for Marvel - I know nothing about DC). Here we learn about the origin of the team and follow their very first adventure versus the Mole Man (undoubtedly, a very strange villain). To summarize it, we learn that Dr. Reed Richard has built a ship that is supposed to take the Americans into space, but he’s eager to do it before the communists, despite not knowing a lot about cosmic rays. Nevertheless, he embarks into the ship along with Dr. Ben Grimm who is totally against it (it’s weird seeing the Thing being the only reasoning one in the team for once), his girlfriend, Susan Storm and his little brother, Johnny Storm. Just as Grimm predicted, they are hit by the rays and crash back to earth, finding out they now have weird but super cool powers: Johnny has became a human torch, Sue can get invisible, Reed is elastic and Ben Grimm is now a very powerful but fugly thing. They decide to form a team in order to help mankind from whatever threats come up and call them Fantastic Four. I’d go over the battle versus the Mole Man but there isn't any point in it - he’s a weak villain even for the Silver Age. If you decide to read this issue, the origin story is enough.

The following year in January, Fantastic Four #2 is published. This time we learn that the team is already known through all of country and deeply respected by the people. That’s bad considering they have to deal with four impostors who commit ill deeds under their names. Apparently, they are shape-shifting aliens called Skrulls that plan on conquering the earth, but before, they have to get rid of their only obstacle, the Fantastic Four. The team infiltrates into their ship and dissuade the aliens from landing their ship and carrying on with their plan and everything’s good. Reading this is not really mandatory, but from what I gathered the Skrulls will make a comeback sometime so you might want to know where did that come from (hopefully they would be worthy villains then).

In Tales to Astonish #27 we get a prelude to what’s gonna become the Ant Man, with Henry Pym discovering a serum that can change anything size. He tests it on himself and gets trapped in an ant colony, almost getting killed by the insects but also being saved by them??? At the end, he deems the serum as too dangerous for humans to use so he destroys it. It’s a cute and easy to read story so you might want to check it out.

The events in Fantastic Four #3 lead to the team fighting the Miracle Man who doesn't actually perform miracles, but is a very talented hypnotist. The only reason this issue is important is because it introduces the Fantasticar, their new headquarters and some colorful and recognizable costumes Sue made for the team, making this evil fighting business seem more official. Also, in this issue Human Torch gets fed up with the Thing and decides to quit the team. Obviously, it won’t last but until the next issue, Fantastic Four #4 when Johnny, running away from the Fantastic Three who are trying to persuade him to rejoin the team, discovers the Sub-Mariner in the form of an amnesiac hobo. He regains his memories and gets pissed when he learns the humans destroyed his underwater home so he decides to take revenge on all mankind. A little excessive if you ask me. Eventually, he agrees to calm down if Sue marries him but is stopped by Johnny who is now part of the team again.

A side note: The Sub-Mariner is a character mostly present in the Golden Age. He was a part of that time’s super hero trio along with Captain America and the original Human Torch. However, super hero might not be the best way to describe him; he’s not necessary a one, but rather an antihero, allying himself with various villains through the years. Apparently, he did stuff during WWII, but to be honest, I don’t care enough to read his old comics considering how atrocious I find Golden Age stuff. The thing to remember: he lives underwater in a kingdom called Atlantis, can talk to dolphins and he isn’t a very likable guy.

Hulk also makes his first appearance around this time in Incredible Hulk #1 where the readers get to know his origin story. Dr. Bruce Banner is going to test a gamma bomb of some sort and ends up being exposed to it when he saves Rick Jones, a teenager that somehow got into the ray of action of the bomb. The gamma rays make him turn into this brute creature that will later be named Hulk at night. Hulk’s very first adventure, accompanied by the very indebted Rick Jones is his confrontation with the Gargoyle, some very smart but ugly (and I mean hideous) Soviet scientist whom Bruce Banner helps get a more human appearance, burning the smart out of his brain in the process so he’s no use to the Soviets anymore. Definitely recommend reading this issue.

Next up we are introduced, in Fantastic Four #5, to one of the most influential villains in the Marvel history, Doctor Doom. We he traps the team in their tower and takes Sue as a hostage we learn that he and Reed Richards were colleagues at the University and the guy, as smart as he was, was pretty deranged. Doctor Doom is awesome, don’t get me wrong, but this particular issue doesn't do him justice. His great plan is using his time traveling machine to send the Thing, Mr. Fantastic and Human Torch to the past and have them get Blackbeard’s treasure. Yeah. We learn that there are some magic gems that will aid Dr. Doom in his future plans but that doesn't make it less stupid. Anyways, the team brings back the chest but there’s no way they’ll let Doom have the treasure, so they fill it up with old and rusty chains. Doom gets angry and tries to kill the trio, but they are saved by the Invisible Girl and escape the villain’s castle. The story is not the best, but Dr. Doom is to great of a villain not to read this one.

Next, we get another alien invasion that Hulk has to deal with this time in Incredible Hulk #2. The story is rather confusing but goes like this: The Toad Men want to conquer Earth but are not sure what level of technological advancement the planet has reached so they kidnap the smartest man they can find, Dr. Bruce Banners to find the necessary information from him. While on their ship, Bruce becomes Hulk and smashes things. Because of that the ship crashes and the aliens escape before the humans arrive, leaving Bruce behind. He’s accused of treason and locked up, but escapes once the night falls and he becomes Hulk. While Hulk smashes things, the aliens let humans know of their presence and their plan to use some magnetic ray to bring the moon closer to the Earth if the humans do not surrender. Later, Bruce uses his gamma ray in order to pulverize the alien ships from Earth’s orbit and saves the planet, being cleared of his accusations.

One of the most beloved superhero in history makes his debut in Amazing Fantasy #15. Peter Parker is very smart teenager, but lacking social skills. His only friends are his aunt and uncle who spoil him plenty. When he goes to a science exhibit, he gets bitten by a spider who before that, was right in the ray of a radioactive ray gun that was being used at the exhibit. Because of that, he develops special abilities, but is rather immature in using them. He then makes his costume, his web shooters and creates this persona of Spider-Man in order to appear on TV and get famous. One day he sees a policeman chasing a burglar and does nothing to stop the later. A few days pass and when he gets home he learns that his uncle has been killed by a burglar. He chases him, finding out he’s the same one he didn't stop that time. At this point, Peter Parker learns that with great power comes great responsibility.

The last comic I’m gonna talk about is Journey into Mystery #83, the very first appearance of Thor. In this comic we deal with yet another alien invasion when the Stone Men from Saturn come to Earth, somewhere on the coast of Norway. As proof that everyone is a doctor and bourgeoisie is going strong, we are introduced to Dr. Donald Blake who happens to discover the aliens. When running away from them he finds himself trapped in a cave where he finds an old cane. When the gets a hold of it, both himself and the cane transform, and Dr. Blake has now the powers of Thor, God of Thunder and his mighty hammer, Mjolnir. He fights the aliens in about two pages and they get scared and run. This issue presents the origin of Thor, but it’s far from great (more of that later). Nevertheless, you might want to read it.

Now that we’re over with summarizing stuff, I’d like to point out a few things:

The writing is not great, even for comic books. This is mostly present in Hulk, where the events presented in the stories don’t really lead up to anything. A lot of stuff could have been left out and the story would make sense still. Hulk is indeed Banner’s alter ego, but in those two issues he does absolutely nothing except being salty and punching random people. Of course, this is what Hulk does and one might argue that we’re being shown this for the sake of character development, but there isn’t any. Hulk walking aimlessly in the woods and the town, scaring the crap out of everyone doesn’t show us something we haven’t figured out from the beginning: he’s a brute and he hates mankind. Instead, we get little to no Banner time, only to find out Banner is the guy who actually saves people through his intellect and not through Hulk smash. It is certainly interesting to see how he deals with his dual existence, with this part of him that he cannot control and I understand that this is about Hulk, but I think things could have been handled better.

Another thing I figured out is that Stan Lee liked alien invasions, as much as to have three different super heroes or teams fight them. I like me some alien invasions, I think they’re epic, but considering the format they are delivered it, it was rather lame. Thor stops an entire alien civilization invading Earth in about six pages and that tells us a lot about how these stories were handled.

Now, there is another reason why Thor is worse compared to other comics released before; it’s not written by Stan Lee but by this brother, Larry. It’s not bad writing per se, but I feel like had Stan handled Thor as a character, it would have received a very different start. In his very first couple of issues, he’s dull and brings nothing new except for a very peculiar costume.

Another thing I want to talk about is Susan Storm, the Invisible Girl. Most of the times, I’ve seen, he’s not taken seriously by Fantastic Four’s enemies. At first, that bugged me a little; I’m not too big on the feminist thing (and I’m taking into consideration this was written in the 60s), but considering she’s the only woman in the team, there seems to be a logical explanation. As I read more I understood that her not being taken seriously is a rather good thing for the team. She’s seen as weak and fragile by the villains and they often underestimate her. I could see this the best when Dr. Doom took her as a hostage, completely forgetting about her at some point, considering her to be too weak to do anything. She sees this as an opportunity and saves the rest of the team. I don’t know if this was made on purpose, but I see it as a great detail.

What you should read:

Fantastic Four #1 for the team’s origin story, Incredible Hulk #1 for Hulk’s origin story, Fantastic Four #5 for Dr. Doom’s introduction, Amazing Fantasy #15 for Spider-Man’s origin story and Journey into Mystery #83 for Thor’s origin story.

You might want to check out Fantastic Four #2 for the Skrull invasion story. 

That was a lot. I’m glad I found the time to read and enjoy these comic issues and actually writing something about them. I’d like to keep writing these things and find a schedule. I probably won’t read everything, but I’m pretty happy to summarize and talk about what I do read.