6:58 AM
Brad
Cover Date: December 1962
Plot Overview: The Fantastic Four are bankrupt. Reed Richards invested a vast amount of their money into the stock market but the market crashed. Reed has decided to sell all of their equipment to pay off their creditors. They get into a big argument and the Thing briefly leaves the group. While he's gone the rest of the FF get an offer to do a movie. The Thing returns after visiting Alicia Masters and they decide to do the movie. They're out of money so they have to hitchhike to Hollywood.
They arrive in Hollywood and it's revealed that Namor the Sub-Mariner is the one that offered them the movie roles. He wants to make a movie about one of his battles with the FF and is offering a million dollars if they agree to do it. The FF agree.
Namor tricks the FF and sets a trap for Reed, Johnny and Thing. He sets Reed down on an island with a Cyclops. He puts Johnny on an island with natives that have an anti-fire potion. And finally he battles the Thing on a random beach. Reed and Johnny manage to escape their traps with clever thinking. Namor and the Thing have a great battle. The Thing figures out that he can only beat Namor if he gets him out of the water. So Thing drags Namor to the shore and holds him until he starts to wear down. Suddenly, a lightning bolt hits the Thing and turns him back to Ben Grimm. Namor easily defeats Ben Grimm.
Namor returns to Sue and explains what he's done. He explains that with them out of the way he wants Sue to be his bride. Sue refuses and says that Namor will have to defeat her too. Namor uses various powers to find her but Sue manages to elude him. Reed, Johnny and the Thing arrive and attack Namor. Sue breaks up the fight and explains that they signed a contract. Namor agrees and pays them the money and returns to the sea. The movie ends up becoming a giant hit and the FF's financial troubles are over.
My Take: This was another one of those ridiculous Silver Age plots in action. Usually for a plot like this to work the characters have to be written as stupid to fall for the plot. But Stan Lee actually had a solid approach. The FF never really trusted Namor, they just were desperate for money. So at least the characters had a motivation to look the other way for this one.
I enjoyed this story quite a bit. The Thing and Namor duked it out for about 3 pages and that's been a rarity in these early Marvel titles. It was nice to get a taste of some real action. The art was great again and the plot worked despite being a product of the Silver Age. This issue really shows why Marvel was so revolutionary at the time though. It took a ridiculous Silver Age plot and made it workable by motivating the characters instead of bending the characters to the plot.
I'd give this *** out of *****
Notes: There were several celebrity cameos in this issue. I vaguely recognize them but the only one that was said by name was Jackie Gleason. Alicia Masters made a brief appearance in this issue so it looks like she was meant to become a regular cast member. Her primary role here seems to be humanizing the Thing. She sees his inner beauty and relates that to him on a regular basis. That's about it for this issue. I think this is appearance number 3 for Namor as he's the main antagonist for the team at this point. Sorry for brief layoff, I was busy with life for the last week.
Next Issue: Tales to Astonish #38
Posted in: Alicia Masters,Fantastic Four,Human Torch,Namor,Reed Richards,Sue Richards,Thing
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