Fantastic Four #21

Cover Date: December 1963

Plot Overview: The Thing shakes the Baxter Building with his new punching bag which brings the other members of the FF  to his room. The thing is upset over the Hate-Monger causing trouble around the country. The other members agree that he is a troublemaker but they can't do much about him.

The  FF hit the strees and come across the Hate-Monger giving a speech. He incites a riot and the FF leap into action. The Hate-Monger decides to test out his Hate-Ray on the FF. They immediately turn on each other and begin fighting among themselves. They call it quits as a team and head in separate directions.

Reed returns to the Baxter Building and finds that Nick Fury is fighting with the lobby staff about seeing Reed. They know each other from World War II. Nick Fury reveals that he's now a colonial and a member of the CIA. He needs the FF's help with a rebellion in San Gusto. Reed says that he can handle it himself and takes off in the pogo plane. The other members of the FF see this and get upset that Reed took the pogo plane. Fury goads them into going to San Gusto as well and they take off in one of the FF's rockets.

The Hate-Monger watches all of this and heads back to San Gusto with his men. Meanwhile, Reed disarms several groups of rebels and stumbles upon the Hate-Mongers hideout. He gets paralyzed by nerve gas and captured by the Hate-Monger's men. The Hate-Monger's plan is simple. He's going to use the Hate-Ray on the entire world and turn everyone against everyone.

Just then Nick Fury hits the scene and forces the Hate-Monger to give Reed the antidote at gunpoint. The Hate-Monger manages to escape but Reed has the antidote. He tricks the other members of the FF into taking the antidote and the team is back together again.

The FF hit the scene just as Nick Fury ran out of ammunition. The Hate-Monger decides to blast the Human Torch with a stronger dose of the H-Ray but Sue knocks his aim off. The H-Ray accidentally hits two of his men and they shoot the Hate-Monger for bringing the FF down on him. Fury decides to unmask the Hate-Monger revealing Adolf Hitler. Fury isn't sure if it was the real Hitler of a duplicate. The issue ends with the FF saying that the Hate-Monger can never truly be defeated as long as men have hatred in their hearts.

My Take: This was a very interesting issue. Stan Lee very lightly touched on some social issues in the beginning with the Hate-Monger preaching hatred of immigrants. It was quickly forgotten when the FF turned on each other but it was interesting to see it pop up in a comic book. The Golden Age Superman dealt with a lot of the issues of his era but that kind of storytelling seemed to fade as the Comics Code came into being.

Reed Richards went solo for a good deal of the book and I liked that. It was nice to see him flex his muscles a bit. I've felt he doesn't get the same screen time that the Thing or Torch get so this was refreshing to see. Ii found the H-Ray to be a little lame but the cover of the issue gave that away. It's the Silver Age, you have to take the kooky with everything else.

I liked the reveal of the Hate-Monger as Adolf Hitler. He would have been a much older man but they played him off as probably being a clone. It was a nice surprise in the grand scheme of things and it showed that Lee was thinking outside of the box a little bit. I also thought that Nick Fury added a nice change of pace as a guest-star. He feels different from the other characters running around the Marvel Universe at this time.

The art was solid on this issue. The story was pretty down to earth though so there wasn't anything super memorable. The Hate-Monger didn't look bad as a villain. The quasi-KKK outfit was an interesting choice. I would actually be interested in seeing if there are any Stan Lee interviews about this issue or character. It made me wonder if there were specific events that lead to this issue or if it was Lee trying to be socially relevant at the time.

I give this *** out of *****.

Notes: This issue has the first appearance of the Hate-Monger. He's a solid C list villain that bothers mostly Captain America over the years. Several different guys take up the cowl but I think he's mostly gone by the 1980s. This book also features the first current timeline appearance of Nick Fury. He had previously been starring in the WWII war book Sgt. Fury and the Howling Commandos. This was a very different version of Fury to the one that people know today. He didn't have the eye patch for starters and he's with the CIA instead of SHIELD. I'm not sure when the more familiar version of Fury shows up or if we get to see how he loses his eye. I'm interested to see how he develops as the 60s progress.

Next Issue: Tales to Astonish #50

Fantastic Four #20

Cover Date: November 1963

Plot Overview: An orb appears outside of the Baxter Building and the FF try to subdue it. Sue ends up getting sucked in and the other members follow. They are greeted by the Watcher and he's decided to give them a warning about a threat to the galaxy. He shows them a nuclear accident that creates the Molecule Man. The Molecule Man figures out that with his wand that he can control any molecule and bend it to his will. The Watcher can not help them past that and sends them back to New York.

Upon their arrival they find the Baxter Building to be gone and the Molecule Man giving orders to the people of New York. Reed confronts him but the Molecule Man creates two magnets and uses them to try and pull Reed apart. The Torch makes the save and then goes in for his turn. The Molecule Man creates a shield and then easily escapes the Torch. The Thing charges in but the Molecule Man makes a mountain out of the pavement and then throws the Thing into the sewers and tries to crush him with the pipes.

Reed and Sue devise a plan while the Torch rescues the Thing. Reed distracts the Molecule Man while Sue tries to grab the wand but is unsuccessful. The FF are at a loss and decide to retreat for the time being. The New Yorkers are dismayed to see their heroes defeated. The Molecule Man sends the people of New York out to find the FF while he seals the island of Manhattan inside of a special bubble.

The FF flee through the streets of New York until the Yancy Street Gang helps smuggle them to Alicia Master's apartment. The Thing is not amused about being helped out by the Yancy Street Gang. Reed figures out that the Molecule Man's powers only work on inorganic material. Reed has Alicia disguise the FF as statues. She calls the Molecule Man in and he decides to change the statues to amuse himself. The feedback from attempting his powers on organic molecules cause a powerful feedback that stuns him. The FF use that chance to grab his wand and the Watcher arrives on the scene and takes the Molecule Man into custody.

My Take: The Molecule Man was kind of an interesting villain. Nice and powerful with a sort of original power set. Of course, he had to have a weakness to exploit because it's the Silver Age. But it ultimately made sense within the context of the story and it wasn't like his weakness has a color or something.

This issue felt a little different than some of the previous issues of Fantastic Four. The heroes come back to an essentially conquered New York and have to save the day from a position of weakness. It was a nice change of pace plot wise. The pace was also really good in this story. The fight scenes got a decent amount of pages and it felt like the plot was constantly moving forward. It also feels like they've started to cut down on the number of word ballons and exposition coming from the characters. It feels like the books are getting a little more streamlined with fewer clunky chunks of dialogue.

Now, I did have a problem with the energy bubble at the beginning of the issue. The FF's first instinct was to attack and I'm not sure that's what they should be doing. Reed is a scientist at heart and I could see him telling everyone to hold off while he examines it. What they did felt rash and not in the spirit of how I think adventurers and scientists would react to that.

I really dug the art in this issue. The Molecule Man looked a little silly but he was memorable. The facial expressions in this book were also really good. I think this was probably one of the better drawn books I've seen since starting this project.

I give this *** out of *****.

Notes: This issue features the first appearance of the Molecule Man. I would classify him as a C list villain. He pops up here and there in various books throughout the years. He's been seen as recently as a few years ago if I remember correctly. Another little side note to this issue. An episode of the 1960s animated Fantastic Four series was very loosely based on this issue.

Next Issue: Tales to  Astonish #49

Fantastic Four #19

Cover Date: October 1963

Plot Overview: Reed calls for The Thing and Alicia Masters to come to the Baxter Building. When they arrive, he explains that he had been studying up on ancient Egypt and discovered a tale of a blind ancient Pharaoh. This Pharaoh was cured by a radioactive plant. Reed proposes that they use Doctor Doom's time machine from issue #5 to travel back in time and retrieve this plant for Alicia Masters.

They head to Doom's abandoned castle and teach Alicia to use the machine. She sends them to the past where they are immediately confronted by an ancient Egyptian army. The army is no match for the FF until suddenly their powers are sapped away and they all collapse.

The FF are captured and taken to the Egyptian leader Rama-Tut. He explains that he's a time traveler from the year 3000. He came back in time in the Sphinx to loot history. He crashed and damaged his ship when he arrived and was stranded here. He was also blinded in the crash but still managed to conquer the Egyptians with his special gun. His damaged ship leaked radiation and infected the plants which then healed him. He further explains that his gun can dominate the FF and make them slaves.

Rama-Tut sends Reed, Thing and the Torch off as slaves and decides that Sue will become his bride. Each member of the FF try to fight the rays powers but have no success. Until one day, the hot Egyptian sun turns the Thing back into Ben Grimm. The change removes the effects of the ray gun and he escapes from slavery.

Ben manages to get the gun away from Rama-Tut and releases Sue from it's power before becoming the Thing again. Sue uses the gun to release the Torch and then the Thing. Rama-Tut escapes to his Sphinx ship while the Torch finds Reed and releases him as well.

The FF storm the Sphinx and are briefly caught in a water trap but the Torch manages to defeat the trap. They find Rama-Tut but he escapes in a smaller ship and travels back to the future. They muse about who Rama-Tut might actually be until Sue finds the plant that restored Rama-Tut's vision. The Thing is overjoyed at this news. They head to the present only to discover the vial didn't return with them. Reed explains that a fail safe in the machine probably won't allow radioactive material to travel with them. Everyone is dismayed at this setback as the issue comes to an end.

My Take: Rama-Tut as the villain here is a little silly but I enjoyed this issue. It was a straight forward adventure with nothing too ridiculous. This issue also holds up quick well following the Annual. It didn't feel like a giant letdown after a really good story there.

I really enjoyed the time traveling here. It was a little different of a situation from the more recent issues. It's also nice to get a villain that isn't Dr. Doom or Namor for variety. I also really liked that the ending was a downer. Spider-Man has been doing that a lot but it really feels like a novelty for this time period. It was cool that things weren't wrapped up in a nice little package when everything was all said and done.

The art was good as always when it comes to the Fantastic Four. It's Jack Kirby, what more can you say on the art front? He has the character models down and is pumping out consistent quality on a monthly basis.

This gets *** out of *****.

Notes: This is the first appearance of Rama-Tut. Rama-Tut himself is a fairly minor character but he branches out into more important characters like Kang the Conqueror and Immortus. There are multiple versions of Rama-Tut over the year due to his time traveling. Like I mentioned, Kang is the most important version of Rama-Tut to the MU. Kang himself will appear in Avengers #8 about a year later.

Next Issue: Tales to Astonish #48

Fantastic Four Annual #1

Cover Date: September 1963

Plot Overview: Namor has found the citizens of Atlantis and take his place as their king. Lady Dorma professes her love for Namor while Warlord Krang professes his love for Dorma. Namor has decided to exact his revenge on the surface world with the armies of Atlantis.

We switch scenes as the Thing and Torch are up to their usual antics around the Baxter Building. Reed breaks things up and says the group needs a vacation. Strange sea creatures have been spotted so he booked them a cruise. While out at sea, Johnny spots a monster. The FF head out to sea in a boat and are captured by Namor. He tells them to warn the U.N. of his coming and then expels them back to the surface.

Reed and a professor tell the U.N. of Namor's origin. How he is the product of a marriage between a surface man and an Atlantis princess. After their discussion, Namor reveals himself, he was disguised as the professor, and Atlantis invades New York. The Torch counterattacks but can only do so much damage by himself.

Meanwhile, Reed has developed a device to fight the Atlantis invasion and sends the Thing out to catch a prisoner. The Thing eagerly follows orders and brings some soldiers back. Reed notices that they can not breath water and knows he can use his machine. Reed's machine works and Atlantis is forced to retreat.

The last half of the issue is a giant brawl between the FF and Namor. He captures Sue at one point and takes her to his main ship. The Lady Dorma gets wind of his affection towards her and tries to drown Sue as a result. Sue is nearly lost until Namor and the other members of the FF put their differences aside briefly to save her. Sue ends up recovering and Namor returns home. Upon his return, the other citizens of Atlantis have left him. He chose the surface over them and they abandoned him for it.

My Take: This was a 37 page story with a ton of action. It really felt like a culmination of the Namor appearances in the Fantastic Four book up until this point. Namor got a lot of screen time here and they really developed him in a big way. He is a much more tragic character and you can see the seeds of him being more of an anti-hero than a villain in this issue.

After that, it feels like they have the Fantastic Four formula down with this Annual. The Torch/Thing antics feel right, the Reed/Sue relationship feels right. The book just feels like the Fantastic Four now.

This was a really great annual. It had bios on most of the villains from the series up to this point and it reprinted the origin of the FF from issue 1 as well. This would've been a fantastic buy for 25 cents when it was initially released.

I left my review a little vague on the details because of the length of the story on this one. The fight was pretty big and long and I didn't want to give away too many of the details on this one. Honestly, if you were to read an early Fantastic Four issue, you should check out the Annual. It was a really good tale.

I give this ****1/2 out of *****

Notes: This book features the first appearance of Warlord Krang. He'll be around as time progresses. I wouldn't call him important by any means. This book also features the re-introduction of Atlanteans, Lady Dorma and many other characters into the Silver Age of Marvel. The Atlanteans will be an important part of the Marvel Universe going forward. Lady Dorma is mostly a side character with a minor role in Marvel history.

Next Issue: Fantastic Four #19

Fantastic Four #17

Cover Date: August 1963

Plot Overview: The FF return from the events of last issue and almost immediately start up a search for the at large Dr. Doom. He is nowhere to be found so the FF head to an unnamed social event. They get mobbed by the crowd and a janitor helps them escape. The janitor reveals himself to be Dr. Doom after the fact and he placed a device on each member of the FF.

Doom unleashes what looks like inflatable balloons and they hone in on the devices. Each member of the FF get harassed by one of the balloons and head back to the Baxter Building. Reed discovers the devices planted on them and the balloons disappear as soon as he removes the devices. Doom has been watching the whole time and reveals that was just phase 1. Phase 2 sees him abduct Alicia Masters and uses her abduction to keep the FF at bay. Doom then demands a spot in the President's cabinet.

When that is denied, Doom unleashes havoc on the world. Reed reveals that he has a plan to battle Doom. He shows a scouting report of Doom's ship. Doom has disintegrator rays attuned to their atomic structure so Reed devises a formula to turn the Thing to Be Grimm.

Grimm flies up to Doom's ship and breaks in. The FF quickly join him and split up. They each face a deathtrap set up by Doom but each escape quickly. They confront Doom and reveal that what Doom was watching were doubles created by the Human Torch.

Doom flees to try and get to Alicia Masters but he finds that she's been replaced by Sue Storm. Sue gets the better of Doom in hand to hand combat until Doom pulls a gun. Just then the rest of the FF hit the scene and Doom jumps out of the plane and disappears into the clouds. The Thing is thrilled to see Alicia Masters and the Torch wishes he had jumped out of the ship due to all the mushy stuff too. We're promised a villain with the powers of every member of the Fantastic Four for the next issue.

The Ridiculous: Reed creates a radar device that has a specialized search for steel on flesh.

My Take: This issue was really clunky. A lot happened in 22 pages and it really felt like they were trying to do too much with the story. To me, a manhunt for Dr. Doom, followed by the deathtraps, followed by the showdown would've worked better than the couple of pages with the inflatable balloons. The panic that each member went through, minus Reed, kind of bothered me. 17 issues in and the FF seem to be fairly seasoned super heroes. I don't feel like each of them would've acted so irrationally when presented with an enemy they couldn't hurt. I really disliked this part of the story.

The rest of the story was okay though. I liked that this issue picked right up where issue 16 left off. I liked that they finally let Sue cut loose a little bit and get a little physical in a fight. I liked when they got to the deathtrap and showdown parts. I liked a lot of parts of this issue. That first part with the balloons really just took the book in a weird direction.

It really feels like they haven't figured out Dr. Doom yet. He seems kind of like a generic mad scientist type right now. And his tantrum about being ugly and not understanding people felt like a shallow attempt to try and develop him more. Doom without Latveria just doesn't work. He's interesting as a ruler that is evil but wants what's best for his people.

The art was good as always for this book. You can almost never complain about the job that Jack Kirby does on this book every month.

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

Notes: This issue features a cameo appearance by then President John F. Kennedy. This issue marks the first of many appearances by U.S. Presidents in Marvel Comics.

Next Issue: Tales to Astonish #46

Fantastic Four #16

Cover Date: July 1963

Plot Overview: The Human Torch returns to the Baxter Building during a blackout and finds that his teammates have been shrunk and are being sucked into a vent. The Torch acts quickly and welds the vent shut. The others return to their normal size. Each member admits that they've randomly shrunk in size previously and were ashamed to admit it to their teammates. They each relate their story and decide to call upon Ant-Man.

Ant-Man hear about their problems and travels to the Baxter Building. He gives Reed a sample of his formula in the hopes it might slow the process down next time they shrink.

Time passes and one day the various members hear a woman warning them of Dr. Doom. They gather together and suddenly shrink into the Microverse. They're immediately confronted by Dr. Doom who has become the ruler of this world. The Thing tries to attack Doom but he shrinks them to an even smaller size. The FF try to put up a fight but Doom and his minions manage to capture them.

The FF are sent to a prison in a pool of acid. They meet the king and Princess Pearla. She mentions that Dr. Doom is planning to sell all of them to an alien race called the Tok. Reed tries to think of ways to escape. Meanwhile, the Ant-Man comes searching for the FF and realizes they've been shrunk and follows them to the Microverse. Ant-Man fights the guards of Doom but gets taken out and captured.

Meanwhile, in the prison. Reed figures out that the Walls can block the acid. They manage to pull parts of the walls off and make a capsule to escape. They float to the surface and enlarge themselves upon leaving the capsule. Sue helps Ant-Man escape and then steals the gun of Dr. Doom as the heroes win the day. Doom flees and heads back to the normal sized world. The FF and Ant-Man follow him back. The FF plan to hunt down Doom as the issue comes to an end.

My Take: This was a really fun issue from start to finish. The characters have really been fleshed out now and you're getting good interaction every issue. You can really see how Marvel had become a different entity with characterization and heroes that were easier to relate to by this point.

The art was really good for this issue. Probably one of the strongest issues of Fantastic Four from an art perspective so far. Doom has been tweaked and looks more like the Doom you see in the books today.

I was getting kind of tired of Namor and Doom trading off as the bad guys but they gave him a break for several issues so he seemed fresh here. I liked how Dr. Doom was in the same situation he was left at the last time we saw him. That was a nice bit of continuity. Ant-Man also was a fun guest in this issue. He made sense and added to the story.

Dr. Doom trying to sell them to aliens was kind of ridiculous sub-plot though. It seemed to be tacked on and mostly filler to flesh out the 22 pages of comic here. It wasn't bad, it just felt like an unneeded layer of story. I don't feel like Dr. Doom needed that for motivation. Just capturing the Fantastic Four and having them as prisoners would seem to be enough for him. The story was a fun read but I think this part was kind of a big flaw to it.

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

Notes: This is the first appearance of the Microverse. It's a fairly minor part of the Marvel Universe but versions of it will pop up over the years. The last several months have also seen the characters starting to appear in each other's books more. The Marvel Universe is feeling more like a working single universe instead of just titles loosely existing in the same space.

Next Issue: Tales to Astonish #45

Fantastic Four #14

Cover Date: May 1963

Plot Overview: The Fantastic Four return from the moon with much fanfare. They get absolutely mobbed by their adoring public and with the help of the Torch escape back to the Baxter Building. Reed catches Sue looking for Namor and realizes that for all of his accomplishments he can't totally win the heart of Sue.

We shift scenes to the Puppet Master leaving a clinic. He's been in hiding for ever since he last battled the Fantastic Four. He mulls over which of the FF's villains he should assume control of and finally settles on Namor. Namor falls under the spell of the Puppet Master and lures Sue into a trap. He captures her easily and encases her in this giant bubble.

Namor projects himself to the other members of the FF and challenges them to battle. Thing takes a brief diversion and grabs Alicia Masters. They search for Namor until he springs a trap on them. The Human Torch uses his intense flames to help them escape the first trap. Unfortunately a giant creature grabs their sub and they are presented to Namor. Sue is still trapped in the bubble and being held by a giant octopus.

He challenges them to battle. The Torch is first and Namor uses a creature called a Flame-Eater to absorb his flames. The Thing jumps in and Namor uses a fungus that entombs the Thing into a giant rock. The Thing breaks free and Reed joins the fight. He uses his elongation powers to hold Namor while the Thing rescues Sue from the giant octopus.

The Puppet Master has been watching all of this from a nearby submarine and is not amused. He wants Namor to kill the FF. Namor tries to resist but eventually has to obey. He uses a sort of fish that spews gas on the FF. It has no effect as Reed used his hesitation to put gas masks on everything. Reed, Torch and the Thing charge but Sue steps in front of them. She wants them to stop because Namor was obviously under control.

Meanwhile, the giant octopus attacks the Puppet Master's submarine. It begins to crush the sub and the hold over Namor is broken. Namor is confused about the presence of the FF and tells them he has to continue searching for his people. The FF leave and everyone is a little confused as the issue comes to a close.

My Take: 14 issues in and this is the second time another villain has used Namor to try and take out the Fantastic Four. This is also his fourth or fifth appearance in 14 issues. Namor really isn't my favorite villain and I wish they would've had a more diverse cast of villains for these early issues. It gets a little boring having the same couple of villains show up over and over again. It also hurts that the Torch and Namor fought in a really fun battle in the last issue of Strange Tales.

This was still a fun issue despite those flaws. This felt like more like the Marvel I know and love. The characters are starting to feel right and the tone/pace of the stories are also starting to feel right. Some of these early Marvel books have been absolute chores to get through and it's nice that the books are starting to get fun.

The art was good in this issue. It's the usual quality you get from Jack Kirby.

I'll give this **1/4 out of *****.

Notes: Nothing of note really happened in this issue. They were heading back from what happened in issue 13. The continuity continues to build in the Marvel universe. You'll start to see more guest appearances from the various heroes as 1963 progresses.

Next Issue: Tales to Astonish #43

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

Fantastic Four #10

Cover Date: January 1963

Plot Overview: Stan Lee and Jack Kirby make their Marvel Universe debut here. They're working on a story for the Fantastic Four when Dr. Doom makes his return. He forces them to call Reed Richards so that he can ambush him. Reed arrives and Doom successfully captures him.

Doom explains to Reed that after their last encounter he encountered a superior race of aliens. Doom shows off his newest trick and switches bodies with Reed. The rest of the FF arrive and Doom as Reed has the FF capture Reed as Doom. The Torch and Thing offer some ideas but Doom has the best idea. They put Reed in this tube prison. After the FF leave, Doom reveals that Reed will run out of oxygen in about an hour.

Back at the Baxter Building the other members of the FF discover zoo animals that have been shrunk to a tiny size. They confront Doom Reed about if he's the one that stole them from the zoo. Doom Reed explains that he wants to shrink the FF to increase their powers. The FF are excited by this idea and Doom Reed reveals that he's going to shrink them into nothingness.

Reed Doom manages to escape and arrives at the apartment of Alicia Masters. Sue also happens to be there and KOs Reed Doom. Alicia senses an inner good in Doom. The Torch and Thing arrive. Reed Doom pleads with them and Thing hesitates. They decide to take him back to Doom Reed. During the encounter the Torch and Thing sense something off about Doom Reed.

The Torch creates a mirage and Doom Reed reveals himself. He loses his mental control and they switch back to their real bodies. Doom tries to fight them off but wanders into the reducing ray. Doom shrinks into nothing. Reed finds it to be a fitting end as the issue comes to a close.

My Take: Boy, this issue was a real mess. Dr. Doom spent a whole page explaining this ridiculous idea to the other members of the Fantastic Four. And honestly, who would believe that? This is a case where the characters were dumbed down in order for the villain to get one over on them. Dr. Doom's idea wouldn't even make sense to a lay person as he said at the time. And you would think he could've just said they had to shrink down to go do something for the U.S. government or something like that.

I just didn't like this issue at all. It was too complicated, the logic gaps were hard to overlook and it just came off poorly. It was also a fairly boring issue as it felt like people sat around talking for the entire issue.

I can't really think of anything about this issue that I enjoyed. It took me forever to read because I kept getting bored with it. This was easily the least enjoyable issue I've read thus far during this project. On the bright side of things, the Impossible Man makes his first appearance in Fantastic Four #11. He's one of my favorite villains.

A quick side note to all of this, they really need to get some new villains in there. I think Dr. Doom and Namor combined have appeared in 5 out of the 10 issues so far. I know that they're the main bad guys but I get tired of seeing the same antagonists over and over again. Hopefully starting with issue #11 that starts to improve.

I'd give this 3/4* out of *****

Notes: This is the first appearance of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in a Marvel comic.

Next Issue: Tales To Astonish #39

Fantastic Four #9

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

Fantastic Four #8

Cover Date: November 1962

Plot Overview: The Thing decides to leave the Fantastic Four after Reed won't let him into the lab. Sue follows him and tries to convince him to return. As they're talking they see a man climbing the bridge and preparing to jump. Reed and the Torch save the day.

The scene shifts to a man called the Puppet Master and his daughter Alicia. He found radioactive clay that allows him to control people if he makes a clay puppet of him. He decides to target the FF after they interfered with his plans. He makes a puppet of the Thing and summons him to his home.

The Thing obeys and Sue follows. As they arrive Alicia, who is blind, reveals that Sue is also there. The Puppet Master quickly uses ether to capture Sue. He then disguises Alicia as Sue and sends her off with the Thing. The Puppet Master then takes control of the warden to the local prison.

The Thing attacks Reed and the Torch and Reed tricks Thing into striking a certain experiment. The chemicals turn the Thing back into Ben Grimm. Reed explains that he didn't let Thing into the lab because he didn't want to reveal the experiment before it worked. Ben turns back into the Thing and Alicia seems to have taken a liking to him.

Sue awakens and tries to escape the Puppet Master and ultimately fails. She does manage to alert the FF and they arrive on the scene. They fight a giant robot and the Puppet Master makes his escape. The FF then thwart the prison riot that the Puppet Master had created.

The book ends as the Puppet Master reveals his plans for world domination to Alicia and ultimately slips on a puppet of himself and falls out the window.

My Take: The art to this issue was really good. This book had a decent amount of action in it considering the Puppet Master really has no powers. It was a fairly quick and light read as well. I enjoyed the story quite a bit and I'm not really a Puppet Master fan. The issue wasn't a classic or anything like that. It was just a fun read.

There wasn't a lot of character development in this issue. The Thing got the bulk of it as his future love interest in Alicia was brought in. The books at this point seem to take one character per issue and focus on developing them in some way. I didn't see that in this book and I felt it suffered a little because of that. All four characters need some work and fleshing out. They're a lot more developed than their contemporaries at DC but still lacking pieces that you know and love about the characters.

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

Notes: This is the first appearance of the Puppet Master and Alicia Masters. The Puppet Master will become a fairly big villain for the Fantastic Four over the years. He's never on the level of a Dr. Doom but he's a solid secondary threat. Alicia Masters will become a love interest for the Thing. The Thing also is starting to crack wise a little more. He's still mostly about the tantrums and tirades but the jokes are slowly creeping in.

Next Issue: Tales To Astonish #37