Fantastic Four #12

Cover Date: March 1963

Plot Overview: The U.S. military mistakes the Thing for the Hulk and tries to capture him. A higher up calls off the attack and apologizes to the Thing. The Thing returns to the Baxter Building just in time for Thunderbolt Ross to arrive. Ross wants the Fantastic Four to take care of the military's Hulk problem. This leads to Reed, Johnny and the Thing dreaming up scenarios where they capture the Hulk.

The FF show off their new FantastiCar before heading to the desert with General Ross. Reed Richards and Bruce Banner meet as there's a big meeting. Banner's assistant Karl Kort has a run in with The Torch and Thing and quickly exits the scene. Banner swears that the Hulk isn't responsible for the recent damage. He believes it's a saboteur that he's dubbed the Wrecker.

The Torch and Thing grow tired of waiting and barge in and cause havoc as the meeting comes to a close. The Torch hands Rick Jones the wallet of Karl Kort and asks if he'd return it. Rick goes to find Kort and realizes that Kort is literally a card carrying Communist.

Back at the base, the FF have fixed up an experimental rocket sled and have the Thing ride it. The Thing hits a sabotaged piece of track and crashes. Banner approaches to ask for their help because Rick has been captured by the Wrecker. Banner doesn't want to reveal he's the Hulk so they ultimately don't believe him. Banner heads to his secret cave and becomes the Hulk. The Hulk comes upon the Fantastic Four and takes out the Thing with one punch and uses dirt to put out the Torch's flames. The Hulk smashes his way to the surface where he escapes Reed. He uses his sonic boom clap to take out Reed, Johnny and Sue. The Thing attacks and they battle until a mysterious ray takes out the Hulk.

The Thing follows the ray and smashes a giant robot he finds. This leads the Thing to a chamber where Karl Kort is. Kort tries to use a ray gun on the Thing but Sue disarms him. The FF have cleared the name of the Hulk. The Hulk watches as the FF return home at the end of the issue.

My Take: This was a great issue. It really felt like it clicked. The characters were really distinct and came across well developed. The story wasn't goofy or too wacky. They had an idea of having the Hulk fight the Thing and they executed on that idea. No silly pseudo-science, no bait and switch or anything like that.

The art was really great in this issue. All of the characters looked really good and the action scenes were good. I also enjoyed that there was some action in this issue. Marvel has been really hit and miss with giving us actual fights in the comics. And I always enjoy when they go through with a battle.

Other than Amazing Fantasy #15 this was probably the best comic I've read since doing this. I would hold this issue up against anything that's come out today and I feel it could hold it's own. It's still a little rough around the edges but the quality of a good story is in there.

I'd give this issue ****1/2 out of *****

Notes: This issue is the first time that Marvel characters have truly crossed over in the Silver Age. To this point there had been little references to other comics like someone reading a Hulk comic. But nothing like this. It even went so far as to have supporting cast interact with the heroes. This is really important as one of the huge innovations that Marvel did was having a shared universe.

Don't get me wrong. DC characters crossed over before this of course but Marvel really made it feel like any of the characters could turn the corner and just run into another Marvel character. That's where their real innovation in the shared universe department came from.

Next Issue: Tales to Astonish #41

Strange Tales #105

Cover Date: February 1963

Plot Overview: The Wizard becomes a model prisoner so that he can get access to the hospital wing. He uses several chemicals to eat a hole through his cell wall which allows him to escape. The Wizard challenges the Human Torch to a rematch.

Johnny Storm sees the challenge and gets ready to head off but Sue forbids it. So Johnny makes a fake version of himself to distract her long enough for him to escape. The Human Torch arrives on the scene and the Wizard uses a variety of attacks that the Torch foils. The Wizard figures out that Sue has entered his home and sneaks off and captures her after exposing her with a spray.

The Wizard tells the Torch that there's a bomb in the room but he will let the Torch enter if he turns off his flames. The Torch agrees. Sue and Johnny are now trapped with the bomb and the Wizard reveals that if the temperature rises the bomb will go off. Sue and Johnny can't reach the bomb so Johnny takes a gamble and uses his flame powers to disable the bomb before it can go off. Johnny becomes the Torch and launches the bomb into the sky where it explodes harmlessly. The Torch then uses his powers to escape the room. The Wizard tries to escape but the Torch sets off the sprinklers which causes the Wizard to slip. The Wizard has been captured. The issue ends with Sue throwing something at Johnny after he made a sarcastic comment about her help.

My Take: I enjoyed this issue quite a bit. It was essentially a direct continuation of the battle they were having last time. The Wizard was using his gadgets to try and best the Torch. The art felt a lot better this time as the Wizard didn't look quite as ugly as I remember. Overall, I found the story to be fun and it even developed the relationship between Johnny and Sue a little.

It was nice seeing other members of the Fantastic Four in the book. I like seeing their relationships develop and it's an added bonus that this book is mostly about how they interact with Johnny. I've been surprised that there haven't been more appearances by FF members so far but I guess Lee wanted the Torch to stand on his own a bit too.

I found this to be a fun story. It was mostly action and a death trap and that's just fine with me. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby really seem to pour a lot of attention into this book. Strange Tales just seems to have better overall stories and art than the other two anthology books have on a monthly basis. I'm guessing that's because it's a Fantastic Four spin-off and the cash cow for the company at the time. They probably put that extra bit of effort in so that it retains the same amount of quality as the FF book does. Where with a few of the other titles I feel like they just throw things together some months.

My main complaint with this book is that the prison people would even let the Wizard anywhere near the hospital wing. He might be a model prisoner but I would like to think that a competant staff would keep a guy like the Wizard away from chemicals just to be safe. Okay, so maybe a real prison would probably make the same mistake. Let's move on...

Good overall issue here. I'm really surprised by Strange Tales as I never thought a Johnny Storm solo title would entertain me. I'm glad to be wrong with this so far.

I'd give this ** out of *****

Notes: This is the second appearance of the Wizard. He last appeared in Strange Tales #102.

Next Issue: Fantastic Four #12