Essential Fantastic Four #1 Book review

Introducing a brand new member of the Penguin Team, Matt Kelly. Matt will be doing a series of articles and reviews on the Marvel Comics Essential line, and will be doing them about every week. The Essentials are an economical way to collect some of the greatest works Marvel has published over the years, and I think you will enjoy both the reviews and the books.

Matt can be reached either through the PCU or at his own email at mq432000@yahoo.co.nz

Originally begun as a means by which to affordably repackage the earliest adventures of their biggest stars for a curious public, the Essential Marvel line's format of hundreds of pages of classic comics in complete runs at a rock bottom price has been such a retail hit that it's now more or less turned into a wholesale reprint of their back catalogue.

If you don't mind the black and white art (necessary to hit the low price point- if you don't like it you can buy Marvel Masterworks which are the same thing but smaller and pricier though in full color) this is a great way to own and read all sorts of old Marvel comics you otherwise never would.

Being a madman who owns every one, I take it upon myself to review them individually for you, telling you which are worth picking up and which are only for those who like me, just think its damn cool to be able to have the entire Marvel Universe sitting there on a shelf. I'm not going to address the black and white issue in each individual review as I'd be saying similar things each time and it'd get old fast. What I just said is my standing comment on it.

Because FF#1, dated November 1961, was the beginning of the modern Marvel Universe Empire, which thrives to this day, we start there.

Essential Fantastic Four Volume 1
Collecting Fantastic Four #1-20 & Fantastic Four Annual #1
Scripted by Stan Lee
Art by Jack Kirby
Reviewed by Matt Kelly

The real problem with the JLA in the early 60s was that they could deliver each other's dialogue and it didn't make any difference. They had distinct power sets but not distinct personalities. It was a style that has its place for fans of simple fun action but leaves no rooms for greater depth and characterization.

When Stan Lee, ordered by his Marvel editor to come up with something to compete with rival publisher DC's superhero team, it was this element that he added. Goofy origins and super-powers had been done before. The super powers weren't even that imaginative- (well Sue's invisible energy thing was neat, but she doesn't start doing that till later) but the addition of real personalities was innovative, refreshing and most importantly fun.

It wasn't exactly realistic- Ben and Johnny merrily trashed incredibly elaborate scientific equipment during their scuffles in the Baxter Building, not something respectable adults would be likely to do if they wanted to be given the responsibility the FF was- but it was something else.

Dialogue had a zip and crackle not seen in other mags. The quips and gags heroes delivered during combat now came naturally from defensive wise-guy Ben Grimm, instead of the mysterious phenomena of stuffed shirts like Bruce Wayne, Ted Knight and Rex Tyler suddenly turning into merry quipsters every time they put a mask on.

Reed was a great leader, but not always a great person, while other titles suggested the two things were identical. Johnny would often become worn out due to his age and Sue, while written a bit chauvinistically at times in these early years to be honest, would evolve into one of the most solid women in superheroes, a genuine person without the "bimbo or bad girl" polarity that hangs around the medium.

Reed Richards, egghead, designs a rocket and with pilot Ben Grimm opts for an early launch in order to beat the Russkies into space despite the fact that the shielding may not quite be ready to resist the cosmic radiation the ship is expected to pass through. He takes along fiancée Sue Storm and her younger brother Johnny for no clear reason and against Reed's square reputation, do it without permission, something that doesn't really get mentioned.

At the time it doesn't make a lot of sense for him to be taking Sue and Johnny but later ret-cons suggested he knew what would happen with the cosmic radiation and wanted the transformations to occur to people he knew and trusted so they could form such a super team. For indeed when the ship hits the radiation, the shields are inadequate and it permeates the ship.

Upon returning to earth, Reed (Mister Fantastic) possesses great elasticity, Johnny (Human Torch) can generate and control fire, Sue (Invisible Girl, later Woman) can become invisible and Ben (Thing) turns permanently into a large orange golem like beast with incredible strength and endurance.

Sue gets a passive power that literally takes her out of the picture, but through the years she was beefed up and made much more than a simpering sidekick who just gets kidnapped, though she is that for a while at first.

The first issue begins, not with the origin of the group, but rather with the mysterious members of the FF arriving separately to a summons. In #1 Thing is bitter and out of shape about his raw deal. In #2, they don't even wear costumes, easing into this superhero gig instead of magically entering it fully formed. In #3, they get a real HQ with a layout and a car that splits into four separate sections. And then it's classic villain time.

Human Torch was based on a 40's Marvel character of the same name, but in #4, an actual character from the 40's entered the fledgling Marvel Universe chronology. Discovered by The Human Torch in a bowery flophouse was Namor the Prince of Atlantis. Having wandered ashore in disillusionment, he lost his sense of self from not being in the water enough and forgot who he was.

When Johnny dumps him in the water to see if it brings anything back, Namor soon discovers that Atlantis has been ruined by nuclear testing and vows vengeance on mankind. We have ecology, comics' nostalgia and a villain who isn't really bad, but is reacting with anger to a very real and grievous wrong.

To this day, hardly anyone straddles the fence between hero and villain like Namor. Well maybe Catwoman. But in #5 it was time for all new badness in the person of Doctor Doom. The character isn't fully fleshed out in these first appearances but the Latverian scientific genius comes across as mysterious, dangerous and a possible intellectual rival for Richards.

He was also no sniveling laughable cad- this guy had dignity, principles and strength. The two villains, Doom and Namor teamed up immediately after in #6, Lee and Kirby wasting no time in seeing how quickly they could up that ante. There's submarines at the bottom of the ocean, there's Thing refusing Reed's command to lay off Namor, there's people falling out of spaceships- this had everything and Kirby could draw it all. With composition and expression.

Look at Namor on the bottom of pg. 21 of #6 and tell me he isn't going to kick you're ass. Intensity like that was hard to find in other magazines.

They're not all hits- #7, #13 and #16 are issues collected here that come to mind as being a bit stinky mostly due to arrant silliness. Though essentially fantastic, FF still was at its best when it was internally convincing- sudden u-turns into the stupendous spoiled the unique cohesion of the series.

Witness the method Human Torch uses to figure out that Reed is actually Doctor Doom in disguise at the end of #10 for instance and prepare to set the groan factor to 10.

There's certainly more hits than misses- #11 has both the debut of the Impossible Man, not a villain at all but a bored space tourist who creates trouble and a feature in which the FF answer fan mail, kinda cool and new at the time. You'll also see the debut of Puppet Master, Moleman, Thinker, the first Hulk/Thing clash, the Skrulls and Super Skrull, Rama Tut and the awesome Fantastic Four Annual 1, an epic clash twixt Namor's re-assembled Atlanteans and the forces of earth. The FF Annuals really set a standard rarely reached by others and that's apparent right here.

And Kirby? Just look at the 3 page (!) spread that opens FF Annual #1. Not much more needs to be said. Perfectly realized details pack every crevice of this immense panel, showing a vision and talent of importance was at hand.

Essential FF isn't just for Fantastic Fours and perhaps belongs on the shelves of those who aren't even Marvel fans. You may resent it if you're not into the decades of never-ending superheroes that followed in its wake but in context this was just a couple of guys freshening up the medium and their enthusiasm and skill is apparent to this day.

A vital piece of pop culture history, which retains its vitality. There are rough edges and people have done it since, but those with an interest in and respect for the medium really should stop by and see what all the fuss was about.