Fantastic Four #606, July 2012, written by Jonathan Hickman, penciled by Ron Garney
Fantastic Four #600, January 2012, written by Jonathan Hickman, penciled by Steve Epting, Carmine Di Giandomenico, Ming Doyle, Leinil Francis Yu and Farel Dalrymple
MISSION: MARVEL ENTRY #44
Fantastic Four #13, April 1963, written by Stan Lee, penciled by Jack Kirby
Maybe I’m not in the right mindset, but this issue was kinda dull. Or just exhausting. The amount of story that Silver Age creators crammed into 20ish pages is astounding, but after reading a batch of modern day comics the switch can be draining. Like, there’s enough story in this issue to fill around 3 issues of the current FF. While I definitely don’t prefer decompression to Silver Age speed, I think a happy medium is best.
In the course of this issue, the Mr. Fantastic discovers a new rocket fuel that will get a spaceship to the moon (even though the FF have already gone into space a couple of times by this point) and decide to win the space race (again, haven’t they already done that?). At the exact same moment, we get introduced to Ivan Kragoff, a Russian scientist who has a whole bunch of apes that he mistreats and exploits (because he’s Russian and therefore evil). Ivan decides to bombard his apes and himself with cosmic rays to give them all powers and then defeat the FF. Both spaceships launch at the same time and land on the moon. Ivan and his ape buds get powers and they fight with the FF. The FF discover the Blue Area of the moon, which has an atmosphere and ruins, and then the Watcher intervenes. We get a whole ton of origin on the Watcher before the FF stop Ivan (now calling himself the Red Ghost). Then the FF hightail it home, leaving the Red Ghost trapped on the moon with some angry apes.
It’s a lot.
I never knew why he was called the Red Ghost; now I know “red” means “communist.”
1st Appearances:
- Red Ghost/Ivan Kragoff (becomes a mainstay Marvel villain, which is shocking considering he’s a one-dimensional Russian scientist with monkey henchmen)
- Igor, Mikhlo and Peotr (Red Ghost’s minions)
- The Watcher/Uatu (real name unrevealed; goes on to pop up in every major story that Marvel will ever put out, all the way up to present day. Literally, every one)
- Blue Area of the Moon (which will go on to be the home of the Inhumans and the site of Phoenix’s suicide in “The Dark Phoenix Saga”)
My Score: 7
MISSION: MARVEL ENTRY #39
Fantastic Four #12, March 1963, written by Stan Lee, penciled by Jack Kirby
Not gonna lie, kinda disappointing. This was supposed to be the BIG moment. This is the first time that two Marvel Comics starring completely different characters crossover. As far as readers at the time were concerned, all these mags took place in different universes, not meant to be one big story. Now, with this, the possibilities are endless. Now that the Hulk and the Fantastic Four have been seen together, I can only imagine what readers at the time thought. FF and Ant-Man? Thor and Ant-Man? What about that Spider-Man guy, could HE meet the FF? AWESOME BRAIN EXPLOSION! Wow!
But. This issue is still kinda boring. Yep. Said it. The first 2/3rds of this issue are the FF farting around with Thunderbolt Ross with the Hulk on the periphery. Meh, by the time Thing and Hulk throw down…was pretty bored.
Also let’s take a moment to ponder the plight of ’60s super-heroines, shall we? And by heroines I mean heroine singular, since Invisible Girl is the only one Marvel has right now. In interviews (that I have just watched on NetFlix because that’s what I do at nights) Stan says that he wanted to have a strong woman present on the FF, to be more than just a damsel in distress. So…well, that’s just not the case so far. Nearly every issue of FF has had either lengthy discussions in the letters page about whether or not Invisible Girl should be on this team, or has had the character herself lament her uselessness. In this issue she throws a pity party when she realizes she can’t do anything against the Hulk, and all the boys have to cheer her up by saying that she’s good for morale. Good. For. Morale. I kinda wonder if Invisible Woman’s modern role as a Marvel Universe powerhouse (and to a lesser extent Wasp’s later role as Avengers leader) is a knee-jerk counter-reaction to how one-note she was in the ’60s.
I know it was the ’60s and it was just how things were then. I watch Mad Men like every other 26 year old who lives in New York City. But man, I just kinda hoped Marvel was as progressive about gender politics as they were about the pushing the comic book medium forward. It’s still early. I am curious to see who the first empowered female Marvel character will be.
1st Appearance:
- The new Fantasti-car debuts, replacing the old bathtub inspired one with the one that separates into four flying mini-planes
- Wrecker/Karl Kort (not the one you’re thinking of, THIS wrecker is an American turncoat workin’ for the Reds who may or may not be seen again)
My Score: 7
