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The Greatest Generation versus Baby Boomers
Johnny was born in 1945, the year that World War II ended. He is
therefore the archetypal Baby Boomer (defined as the post war
generation). Meanwhile, Reed and Ben fought in the war: they are the
archetypal "greatest generation". Ben has the burden of prejudice and
personal struggle (born into poverty, a self made man), and Reed has the
burden of trying to save the world: as one of America's top scientists,
with a massive private fortune, he wants to be "mister fantastic", the
man who single handedly can take America to the moon and beyond. The
Fantastic Four is the burdened "greatest generation" and carefree "baby
boomers" personified. They reflect this massive cultural change in
America. The older ones worry and have trials, whereas Johnny's life is
an endless burst of opportunity - at least at first.
We see in issue 1 that Johnny is the only one who loves his life, whereas the others see each other as weak: Ben blames Reed, Reed sees Ben as the problem, and both see Sue as vulnerable. In contrast Johnny exudes confidence: he traps the Skrulls and says "you thought that because that is what I wanted you to think!" In issue 3 he decides to quit the team because it cramps his style.
Sue Storm may not seem to fit the Baby Boomer versus Greatest generation divide - officially she is stuck in the middle, a little older than Johnny, but not old enough to be an adult in the war. But is she? Issue 1 suggests that she is the most old fashioned of them all. The evidence suggests that she is older than she looks, and has her own secret burden to bear. See the notes to FF292 for details.The zeitgeist: why act 1 matters
The early 1960s were a transition between the mainstream conservatism of the time and the increasing questioning in the later 1960s. The Great American Novel reflects that period of change.
"What had actually made the team so important [was] the light that they shone on the ultra-conservative era of the early Sixties. Without that link between the title and the social and political world of the moment, all that's left is yet another clichéd set of super-people." (source)
"In a world where children were warned daily of an impending nuclear holocaust, where children were taught about madmen who, quite recently, had murdered innocents by the millions because of their race; in that world we also told to remain young and innocent and to obey rules without question. Something was wrong. We all knew it, though we might not have had the words to transmit the knowledge. That's where Rock and Roll and the Fantastic Four came in. They allowed us to put words to our suspicions. They gave us a space where we could consider the contradictions of our parents' words; our parents world." Walter Mosley, from his afterword to 2005's Maximum FF, quoted by Colin Smith
Here the four themes are developed:
This second mission is a major milestone: the team has shown
twice that they can defeat more powerful opponents, and they now
have the trust of the authorities. It is time to go fully public!
Memories: why the FF was different
What was it like, as a child, to buy the Fantastic Four for the first
time, when you'd only seen regular mainstream comics? User 'ghastly55'
at the classic comics board mentioned that he saw issue 2 as a child,
but was unable to find any other issues for a long time. I asked him
what he remembered. (Post reprinted here permission. Emphasis added. [My
edits in square brackets]):
I didn't really realize that this was a superhero book, since there were no secret identities, kid sidekicks, or nosy girl reporters involved. But I recognized "the monster artist" [Jack Kirby] from those other books, and then when the story ended with Reed showing the Skrull commander "pictures clipped out of Strange Tales and Journey Into Mystery", I was hooked. Except that I could never find any more issues in this line. It seemed that the store near our house didn't carry the title, and we never had cause to go near that hospital again. So I had to read and re-read that issue for more than four years, wondering if anything ever became of this odd little combo.
I remember noticing that unlike the DCs I was so used to reading, this was one full book-length story (albeit divided up into chapters).
I remember that so much of the story was told purely in the pictures rather than repeated in expository captions. Like when at the beginning of one of the chapters when the FF are captured by the army, The Thing has reverted to Ben Grimm, but no captions mentioned it and four panels went by before the army general asked "Who are you, mister???"
I remember that Reed looked slightly menacing in his first few panel appearances. [Reed's three dimensional psychology will often be discussed in these reviews.]
I remember that opening panel where an amorphous orange blob (which we're supposed to recognize, apparently) is swimming towards an oil rig. The opening panel was actually the beginning of the story, rather than a second cover shot as was common at DC.
I remember little blurbs at the bottom of some of the pages, saying things like "What is ... the Incredible Hulk" and "Look for Amazing Adult Fantasy"
I remember the closing panel being memorable because it was a long shot of four tiny figures walking across a field wondering if they did the right thing, as opposed to the DC standard of back-slapping reinforcement of some moral or other.
I remember noticing that the colors were very muddy and imprecise and yet that didn't distract me from being fascinated by the story itself. Over at the Distinguished Competition, for instance, Superman's 'S' symbol, as small and colorful as it was, was always very precisely delineated and colored with nothing going outside the lines, whereas in this book even a dark purple water tower was off-register. [The comics had no money: that's why they were allowed to take risks.]
I remember noticing that there were actual signatures on many of the splash panels, something unheard of in the DC comics I'd been mostly reading up until then.
I remember thinking that the dull yellow cover seemed odd, when compared to the primary color backgrounds throughout the Weisingerverse. [A reference to DC's famous editor Mort Weisinger]
I remember studying for hours that three-or-four-panel progression where Ben gradually reverts to The Thing. Had I been a Madison Avenue executive I'd market that progression with the catchphrase "You'll believe a monster can cry.">"
I mean, I still enjoyed reading about The Thought Beasts of Krypton and Proty and Gorilla Grodd. But THIS ... this was DIFFERENT.
Before moving to discuss issue 3, remember what sets the Fantastic Four apart from others
stories of the time: continuity. Each story is caused by the one before.
Issue 2 was a direct response to the team's appearance in issue 1.
Issue 4 continues directly from issue 3. So we should expect issue 3 to
be a result of issue 2. So let's consider the last panels of issue 2
that lead into the "worse trouble ahead" in issue 3. Notice anything?
Yes, they are both about hypnotism. And not just hypnotism, but
super-hypnotism, beyond anything a human could do.
Both the missing fourth Skrull and Miracle Man have hypnotism powers. This is the fourth skrull later when he copied Senator Craddock:
The Miracle Man, when alone, referred to "the human race" as if they were a different race from him:
Both the fourth Skrull and Miracle Man are shape changers.
Both the fourth Skrull and Miracle Man (and Craddock) have the same goal: to destroy the team's reputation, in order to make them useless.
The Miracle Man succeeded. When he was supposedly beaten Johnny suddenly changed his character and the team fell apart. The Miracle Man got what he wanted.
But wait, you say, there is no need for this theory: we already know what happened to the fourth Skrull, right?
But that explanation makes no sense. How did the fourth Skrull get up there? There
is no sign of a spare rocket. And if the fourth skrull returned he
would have told the invasion fleet that the four "skrulls" were really
the FF. And How did
Reed learn that Skrulls could be hypnotized? How did Reed learn to be a hypnotist?
So all the evidence points to Reed being the one who was hypnotized at the end of issue 2. The other three Skrulls seem to be just cannon fodder, so the fourth one probably hypnotized them as well.
But wait you say, if the Miracle Man was a skrull, why didn't he revert to Skrull form when he died in the 1980s?
Because there is no proof that he did die. He had plenty of warning,
and the shot was not to his head. A shape changer could easily route
around the injury, but fake death to maintain his cover. (And his later
"resurrection" by Dormammu was at a time when continuity had been
largely
ignored for decades. But if we demand strict continuity we could draw
parallels with the resurrection of Doom by the Beyonder, which created a
whole mess of continuity, but the Beyonder and Dormammu don't care
about such details: they want a character so "poof" the character
appears.)
But you say that Skrulls were not routinely pretending to be
humans back then? Oh no? Ever read a book called "Secret Invasion"?
A good case could be made that every Skrull battle was won by the
Skrulls, and the angry "losers" we see (e.g. the ruler in FF annual 19)
are just minor players. In FF 91 we see that they model an entire planet
on Earth. Presumably this is to better understand the
humans. We see in AFF annual 17 that Skrull cells regenerate extremely
quickly, so it is probably extremely easy to grow large numbers of
Skrulls. So devoting an entire planet to defeating another planet would
not be diffieult. This would go a long way to epxlaining their
civilisation's success. Maybe they understand us better than we
understand ourselves. With that in mind, let's look at every Skrull
appearance:
At least, that's my current thinking on the topic.
In issue 1 Reed created tension with the government by launching
without permission. In issue 2 the team were national enemies. But
by the end of issue 2 the authorities are on their side. To
paraphrase the policeman at the end, "if only the public knew what
we know!" Triumphant, Reed's ambition knows no bounds: he
previously had a network of safe houses, but he now rents the top
floors of a skyscraper in the heart of the financial district. We are
now in 1962, the year of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The theme
of confidence is palpable: enemies may appear to be unstoppable, but
as with the Miracle Man, this belief is often an illusion.
Reality versus illusion: hypnotism as a metaphor
How does hypnotism work on TV viewers or to those out of sight? The
simplest explanation is that nobody was hypnotized via TV at all: the
entire thing took place in the minds of the FF, they were hypnotized at the theater. That is all. This is all about the media.
This is an example of the zeitgeist: the rise of the importance of the media in the Kennedy era. Kennedy was a master of the media. Whether the media was the theater or newspapers or rumors or TV, it was the same. This story is about beliefs, not reality. Starting with issue 3 the FF are public celebrities, so beliefs make reality.
"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself"
Brain washing is a closely related theme. In 1961 Americans could clearly
remember the Korean War, with its rumors of brain washing. Brain
washing was a topic in the zeitgeist, and a theme of several early
FF stories, most notably the Puppet Master. But issue 3 was the
first to use it.
Love triangles
The Fantastic Four is known (or should be known) for its love
triangles:
Tragedy: "I want be Ben Grimm again! I want Sue to look at me the way she looks at you!"
This issue continues Ben's frustration as Sue is slipping through
his fingers. Above we see a reminder of issue 1: Ben and Reed were
rivals for Sue's love. Ben was the handsome one... until Reed's
space flight. No wonder he's angry.
It's the last twist of a terrible fate. Not only have Richards and Storm cursed Grimm with his irreversibly "ugly, gruesome" frame. As if that wasn't enough, he's now dependent on their comradeship and support even as he longs for his best friend's lover. It's a degree of passionate desire fused with understandable resentment that constantly festers to trigger Grimm's psychotic rages. When cornering the runaway Human Torch in The Coming Of The Sub-Mariner, he spits; "Don't worry, sonny boy ... I'm not gonna spoil your pretty features! I'll just rough you up a little ... Teach you who's boss, once and for all." It’s a scene that goes far beyond faux-sibling, rib-tickling rivalry. In truth, it’s still a frankly terrifying sequence, with the apparently unhinged Grimm holding a car above the Torch’s head and then bitterly, mockingly asking “Why aren’t you laughing now?”. In that, his portrayal can't help but touch upon issues of profound inadequacies, individual responsibility and, in a variety of fashions, abuse." (source)
Note how at the beginning it's Ben who is humiliated in front of an audience, not others. It's always Ben
The "flying bathtub" reflects the zeitgeist of the day: this was an era where vertical take off craft were first developed. Top: the "Avro" car built between 1959 and 1961 (it turned out to be too hot and unstable for full time use). Bottom: the "flying bedstead" (compare the "flying bathtub"), a successful test rig used by Rolls Royce. Note the Kirby technology. Below we have the "flying bathtub" from this issue and the later sky cycle, a variant on the Rolls Royce Flying Bedstead.
The Baxter Building has been called the fifth member of the team. it symbolizes what they stand for: unlike other heroes who keep secret identities the stand as a beacon in the middle of New York, where everybody can see them and find them when needed. Unlike other heroes who look downward (toward the world of crime), the Fantastic Four reach upward toward a better tomorrow. The Baxter Building is a Statue of Liberty for science.
The comic never states the location of the Baxter Building, but from internal evidence we can be fairly confident that it is based on the Western Electric Building in the financial district, on Broadway and Fulton Street. But first let us first examine the common belief that it is on 42nd street and Madison Avenue.
Official handbooks are just empty filler
A few years ago I helped to produce the official handbook for a
certain well known comic (not the FF). I learned that these handbooks
are mostly nonsense. This is why:
What the handbooks say
The comic stories themselves (at least pre 1990, and probably not pre
2000) never tell us the address of the Baxter Building, and the handbooks contradict each other:
Finally, Fantastic Four volume 3 issue 39 (2001) has a new Baxter Building constructed in space. It then lands on 42nd street and Madison. So this is the new accepted address in most handbooks, on Wikipedia, etc. But this was in the Franklinverse period and tells us nothing about the original address. (There is also the possibility that when the building returns after FF 202 it comes to a different address: its return is not shown.)
The real Baxter Building is not hard to find
I recently watched a time lapse video of the New York Skyline, and saw the Baxter Building for the first time. This is the view from One World Trade Center as it would have been in 1951 and 1961. Spot the difference? That's the Western Electric Building in the middle, built in 1961. That was the first year when the Baxter Building first appeared (also the year it was built, according to FF 250).
When Kirby drew the new headquarters he naturally wanted the most modern looking skyscraper possible. The Western Electric building had only just opened. Being an electric company, the residents would not be disturbed if scientists with complicated equipment came and went. And - get this - Western Electric ran a major defense laboratory (Sandia National Labs) and trained people for the space program!
"In 1960, NASA awarded Western Electric a contract for over $33,000,000 for engineering and construction of a tracking system for the Project Mercury program. As part of this effort, Western Electric engineers trained remote-site flight controllers and Project Mercury control center and operations personnel." (Wikipedia)
The upper part looks a little taller than we are used to, but it's closer to the original picture when it first appeared in FF issue 3. Artists must mainly see it from the front, the section that can detach (see below), so they assume the building is square (when seen from the top). But these photos are well within the bounds of artistic license:
This solves the mystery of the number of floors: the official
number is 40 (see FF 148) yet every early picture shows it as much
shorter. This is now easy to explain. The Western
Electric building has 31 floors. One of those would be for the lift
mechanism or engineering, so it's basically 30 floors. Now imagine that
the FF tell Marvel "the top part is our penthouse, divided into five
floors." A quick glance at the building would make us think "30 storey
building plus five floor penthouse equals 35 floors". A similar error
later on made it seem like "35 floors plus 5" and that became canon. But
in fact the base of the western section is only eighteen floors. The
penthouse section is officially twelve floors, combined into five larger
floors to allow for the aircraft hangar (the white area, about 5
normal floors high) and the laboratories (around three normal floors
high).
Objections to the Western Electric Building:
So there you have it. Western Electric was involved in the space
program, and built its high tech building in 1961, exactly as shown in
the comics. It all fits.
After the Baxter Building
The end of the Baxter Building mirrors (or anticipates) the end of
Western Electric. In 1982 Reed buys the building, and in 1986 it is
destroyed , to be quickly replaced by a bigger skyscraper. In 1984
Western Electric was split up, with a new charter and called "AT&T
Technologies" (reflecting how the FF was incorporated as part of
"Integrated Technologies" in FF 160). In 1986 their telephone production
ended in America, the work being sent overseas.
Reed replaced the Baxter Building with a much bigger building, called "Four Freedoms Plaza" (a nod to Roosevelt's "Four Freedoms" speech, and the subsequent "Four Freedoms Park"). The taller FF Plaza reflects the optimism and madness of the 1980s property bubble more than anything else. And like the 1980s boom it had little permanence. The FF part was soon destroyed (in the Infinity War, 1992), the team left it soon after, and soon after that the whole thing was destroyed (Heroes Reborn, 1996, and Thunderbolts).
Why choose the financial district? And how could Reed Richards afford to buy half a building? And how did he afford a series of hideouts in issue 2? And how did he afford to help fund a rocket in issue 1? Clearly Reed is extraordinarily wealthy. Here I will argue that Reed is a capitalist, and this is his main power, more important than his stretching or his science, is his ability to control resources. This has obvious implications for the Great American Novel: while on the surface America is built on freedom and pioneering, its real power is its capitalism: its ability to take existing wealth (originally the land itself) and multiply it.
What is capitalismWhy Reed is a genius
Reed gets most of his technology from alien contact,
especially the Gormuu ship, Skrull ship and planet X saucer, then he
studies every alien artifact he can find. I don't see any evidence that
he invents things from scratch, but plenty of evidence that he adapts
existing work. That is what all great geniuses do: they stand on the
shoulders of giants. This is not to disparage Reed: it takes a brilliant
mind to understand how alien technology works. it just makes him
realistic, IMO. But this is classic capitalism: take a resource and use
it to make more wealth.
Reed's wealth
Let's look at FF issue 1. Reed invested a lot of his own money in the
rocket ship, but it still needed a lot of investment from the
government: probably the majority of the funds came from the government,
as it costs a lot to build and run a spaceport. This is classic
capitalist behavior: Reed uses his money to leverage other people (the
government) to invest even more.
Now look at issue 2: the team have a series of secret hideouts. If Reed
owns all that property it's very expensive. Then in issue 3, he buys the
top five floors of a new building: all this indicates great wealth. As
far as we know his wealth comes from his patents. Getting wealth from
patents is classic capitalist activity. And those patents would rely
mostly on Gormuu's technology: grabbing assets and claiming ownership is
pretty much the core of capitalism.
In issue 9 we learn that Reed invests heavily on the stock market and
takes enormous risks. Years later we learn that his father is a
multi-billionaire. In issue 160 he incorporates the team for tax
purposes, and sells it to a very shady businessman, against the wishes
of the rest of the team.
When Terrax damaged the Baxter Building, Reed bought the whole thing for
a price that made Mr Collins giddy with excitement. Yet just twenty
issues earlier Reed was using the subway to save money (reminds me of
many billionaires: they never waste anything). Then when the building
was destroyed, the insurance money allowed Reed to build a far bigger
building, and then the priceless contents of the Baxter Building
mysteriously reappeared (in annual 23 I think). It all shrieks
capitalism to me.
Then we have Reed's interest in secrecy in the early issues, and how he
managed to get extraordinary planning permission: a rocket and deadly
scientific equipment in the heart of New York? This suggests a closeness
with people in high places. For me it all shrieks wealth and contacts.
And the secrecy never stops: in issue 114 Reed pays a 20 thousand dollar
fine from his personal funds and Ben says he didn't realize they had
that kind of dough. You don't know the half of it, Ben. Even if you have
the vital part from a Skrull ship, building your own subspace portal or
flying car would still cost millions probably billions.
His main power
So why do I say that capitalism is his main power? Most people will
agree that his scientific ability is more important than his stretching
ability, but I argue that his scientific ability is secondary to his
ability to use the resources he finds. Without his capitalist talent he
would be like Hank Pym or the Mad Thinker or the Wizard: those three are
at the very top of the scientific tree, but they lack resources. So
they will always be C-listers. The scientists who become A-listers all
do so via capitalism: think Tony Stark and his factories, or Dr Doom and
his vast property portfolio.
When he lost his main power
In this light we can look again at Reed i the 1970s. He lost his
stretching power and used tat as a reason to give up, But as Sue pointed
out, his stretching power was never his most important asset. So why
did Reed focus on stretching?
Stretching was just a symptom, and an excuse. The real loss was of his
self confidence. First when Sue left, and soon after that when he
incorporated the team (in FF160) and it went disastrously wrong. Reed's
real power was to be "Mister Fantastic": to be a "Master of the
universe", to take big risks and achieve world-saving results. But when
he started to make mistakes he lost all confidence. His scientific
ability was unimportant in comparison: without his confidence the team
could not go on.
Wealth or genius: which creates the best science?
Wealth gives you access to science even if you're not a top scientist.
The skrulls have low intelligence, but their empire gives them access to
high technology. Namor is no scientist, but his position gives him
access to the very best. Gregory Gideon can hire all the scientific help
he needs. With science, the biggest power is not the size of your brain
but the size of your wallet. Every real world scientist knows this: you
can be the smartest guy in the world and save the word in your lab, but
go home poor and in debt, while your idiot boss takes all the money.
Love it or hate it, capitalism is the power in this world, and that is
the real basis of Reed's power, IMO.
Objections to the capitalist theory
The story goes that comic fans demanded secret identities and costumes. So in issue 3 the team was given masks, but masks are simply not realistic, so they were erased before the comic was published.
The team were never given costumes as such: not the brightly
colored capes and masks that other heroes had. But as a team they
did get a uniform, a simple, functional jumpsuit in a single dull
color such as astronauts wear. Compare this with the flashy
costumes worn by every other superhero: the Fantastic Four are
fundamentally different.
Not like superheroes
When regular superheroes get costumes they show them off. But when the
team get their costumes (uniforms) we don't get a clear view, and
Ben refers to his as a "monkey suit" before tearing it off. These are
not godlike icons parading to be admired, they are people who just wear clothes.
Not because of fans
It is said that the FF gained costumes as a result of fan demand.
But the comics were written several months ahead of publication,
so this is too early. Some of the letters printed in FF3 are made
up by staff members, suggesting that very few had arrived when the
letters page was made up. The story itself would have been written
a month or so before that (to allow time for art), before even
those few letters arrived. A more likely explanation is that the
absence of costumes was always the plan to sneak a superhero book
past the distributor (they used DC comics to distribute, and DC
did not want direct competition). For the same reason the first
three issues had monsters on the cover, to look like an ordinary
monster comic. Issue 3's monster cover was changed at the last
minute to the cover that was eventually published.
So it was always the plan to start by looking like a monster
comic, and then sneakily reveal itself to be a superhero comic.
However, the story was evolving in a direction that made Stan Lee
decide not to have
bright costumes (with masks), but to have functional uniforms
instead. This is an early example of how the story writes itself,
and goes beyond what the writer intended. For more about the
uniforms and the unstable molecules from which they are made, see the notes to issue 15.
The Baxter building headquarters were first described as secret.
While the team were well known from a distance, the public did not know
their personal identities. This is important for the context of
alienation: the team were not yet comfortable with the public. This
secrecy also helps us to date the stories
(particularly the Torch's solo tales). How secret were they?
In summary, the FF were well known to everyone by issue 7, but mostly
unknown before issue 3. Between those dates depends on how well you
were paying attention.
Why was Johnny so angry at the end of FF3? He may have been influenced by the Miracle Man, but his actions had to seem natural to the others or they would suspect. Miracle Man had to be pushing at an open door, finding the weak point to exploit.
Clearly there's a major disagreement over the direction of the team.
We can learn more form "Strange Tales", where Johnny wanting to be a
solo hero. When seen in the context of early secrecy this enables us to date the early stories.
In Strange Tales 102, the Torch's second solo
story, the Wizard did not know the Torch's
identity, and staged an elaborate stunt to find him
the end of the story is even more clear: the Wizard does not consider the possibility
that The Invisible Girl could be present. Was he just
flustered? No, this is a guy who's an escape artist, exactly the kind of
guy who knows not to get flustered. The implication is clear: at that
time Johnny's identity was not well known, and Sue Storm had a much lower profile. So that
dates the first Wizard story to before FF6, and probably before FF3.
Meanwhile, the Wizard uses
the flame suit from issue 2 (see the discussion of Reed's technology).
So we can date the Wizard story to between 2 and 3. Given the time
needed to build the Baxter Building, the time between the events of FF2
and FF3 is probably much more than the two months between the issues.
The case against an early date
Johnny is wearing his uniform at the start of Strange Tales 101, and Sue
has her uniform at the end of 102. So this might place the story after
issue 3, i.e. between 4 and 5 (since 3 moves directly into 4). But it
could still be before issue 3.
If this was a 1961 story, updated to 1962, then it would be standard practice to draw characters as they are, not as they were.
See for example the flashback in FF 126. Or see FF207 (Spidey and the
Torch) or FF222 (the Coca-Cola issue): these were inventory issues, that
sat around for months or years before being used. When finally
published the stories were tweaked to make them appear up to date. But
with Strange Tales 102 the secrecy was essential to the story that
they could not tweak it out, it had to stay in, even though it had
become anachronistic.
All of this assumes of course that the stories are real, and are
reported to Stan and Jack. This is what the stories themselves say, and
the only way we can see the stories are realistic, so it is an iron
rule. Everything else follows from that.
Johnny's career and issue dates
This all fits the internal evidence of the early FF issues. In FF1 we
see that Johnny loves being the Torch whereas the others don't. In FF2
we see how they feel very uncomfortable being recognized in public (I
suspect that this may be the only time Johnny was seen not flamed on?),
and they have numerous hideouts. It also seems very likely that several
months passed between FF1 and FF2, and between FF2 and FF3. At the end
of FF3, Johnny is so frustrated with the team that he leaves. Based on
this I think we can reconstruct Johnny's early adventures with
confidence:
FF1: Johnny wants to immediately spend all his time being the Torch, whereas the others want to hide. This creates tension. Johnny and Sue already live in Glendale, so Johnny swears his friends to secrecy and starts having fun. His first solo tale probably comes from this time. The early Human Torch stories have lame villains simply because this is all so new - Johnny is completely inexperienced and so are they. At this point relationships with the authorities are very strained, due to the whole spaceship thing. (It was a collaborative effort between Reed and the government, and of course they wanted to say when the ship left.) So Johnny wants a separate career away from all the politics and stress. The date must be before the Russians put the first man in space, so before late April 1961 (the story was plotted in April or May). We can't put the rocket ship much before this, because the space race was very tight: America was not that far ahead, and issue 1 makes clear that every day counted. The Mole Man story was obviously a little later, to allow for Reed to have his own base and to have patched up his relationship with the military. The latest possible date is late April, because Stan and Jack were writing up the story then.
FF2 and FF3: the big story here is that the team finally become friendly with the authorities. This allows them next issue to help build the Baxter Building: first a secret project, but it very quickly becomes public. It's hard to hide when the Fantasti-car lands on its roof in the middle of New York! Several lines of evidence let us date the construction of the Baxter Building:
This all points to the Baxter building being built in 1961, and the major finalizing work (including the rocket exhaust channel to the underground) in at most three or four months between the events of issues 2 and 3. This is also the time when Johnny had his "secret identity" adventures. FF3 should be dated as late as possible to allow as much time for construction as possible. FF3 was plotted around August-September based on information given by the team, so I'd date it to the start of September. We have to push issue 2 back as early as possible to allow for the building work and Johnny's career, so I'd guess May for FF2, or perhaps even earlier. The team are already celebrities at the start of FF2, and have gained the attention of nearby Skrulls. But people can become celebrities very quickly, and the skrulls would be monitoring news broadcasts for anybody who might defend the planet, so this does not imply a very long time. So I'd place the rocket ship of FF1 in perhaps March of 1961, and .
In summary, these are my preferred dates:
Johnny's influence on the Baxter Building
It is likely that part of Reed's motivation for building his high tech
building, complete with rocket, was Johnny's love of vehicles. Johnny
was enjoying a separate highly public career around his home in Glendale
while the others were trying to live in secret. The Baxter Building
helped to keep Johnny on board, where they could control him. The
emphasis on vehicles no doubt helped his final decision to stay: the
building was designed around the needs of a Fantasti-car and a pogo
plane! The plan worked. Johnny stayed, and in issue 12 we
learn that he spent a lot of his time working on the Fantasticar,
remodeling it.
I love how everything fits together so neatly.
The Miracle Man: cliche, or
deep and rich?
The now defunct FFPlaza site criticized this issue: "Miracle Man has no deeper raison
d'étre than a desire to show off his powers -- which, by the
way, aren't really powers at all. His stereotypical 1930s
movie-serial-black-hat-villain look (with dialog to match)
also renders him laughable." Looking closer however, we
see a different story. The power to alter minds is a real power.
His motivation is the only one that reality matters: as noted in
the classic "How To Win Friends and Influence People" the need to
feel important is in some ways the number one human
motivation. Regarding his 1930s villain look, there is a reason
why that look was used in the 1930s: it was the genuine costume of
powerful people a generation earlier. FF3 is set in 1962 and the
Miracle Man is plainly not young, so he would have grown up
surrounded by those images. What appears at first glance to
be a pantomime villain turns out to be a sad older man, who's
life revolves around illusions, desperate to prove himself. This
is a good example of how this Great American Novel, writes
itself. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby merely borrowed common
stereotypes of the time. But those stereotypes were grounded in
real history. Stan and Jack knew all the cliches and treated these
stories with love, so it all fits together.
"I
don’t think it’s overstating it too much to say that this is
nearly a Shakespearean reversal of character expectations. To
take a previously known hero and recast him in the form of a
villain with completely sympathetic motivations" - ff1by1.com
The American dream is represented in this issue by a montage of American scenes.
The Zeitgeist: The great threat, like the threat from Cuba, is off the coast. It is caused by Nuclear weapons testing (Namor's home was destroyed by bomb tests). Just as Cuba could summon the might of Russia, so little Namor (once he has lost his Castro-like beard) can summon the gigantic monster from the deep. The solution of course is a nuclear bomb.
Equality is once again an issue when we see the arguments within the team, and by having a sympathetic "villain:" Namor is only an enemy because of what our side did to his people: can we really blame him? Sue understand this, and does not see him as an enemy at all, but the boys lack that insight. This is an example of why Sue is the most powerful member of the team, regardless of invisible power: her ability to make alliances is more effective than any physical power. The simple act of befriending the Sub-Mariner means she has found mankind an ally who represents three quarters of the surface area of the planet and advanced technology, plus one of Earth's mightiest and bravest beings himself. That alliance alone dwarfs the majority of victories or defeats in future years.
In this issue it's Johnny's turn to express his self confidence while also showing his reluctance to be a hero (and Ben is reluctant to get him back). Sue appeared hesitant in issue 1, Reed blamed himself in issue 2, they all doubted themselves in issue 3, and now it's Johnny's turn for some soul searching. In issue 5 it's Ben who wants to leave. Act 1 is where each person must decide to accept the challenge and wholeheartedly be part of the team.
Here Reed begins to undermine the Thing's confidence, a process
that will increase in Act 2. It's probably not conscious, but it
works. Meanwhile, Namor's tragedy mirrors Ben: both have lost
everything due to scientists playing God, and both will ultimately
fail to win Sue's heart.
The ending has been called too sudden and too silly. As if it suddenly
builds up and is over the top: Ben destroying the monster with a gigantic
bomb, then Johnny creating a tornado. But Ben is the one we remember.
But see it in the context of the
bigger story: the first arc is where the boys fight over who is most
important, and Reed does not win. The first issues all have Ben angry:
he's a hero, not a monster! The strongest guy in the group (in his
eyes), not some second fiddle to the nerd! Here he proves his worth in a
dramatic way. And Johnny wants to top that. Last issue, Johnny left
because he was not appreciated. This foreshadows the 28 year story where
Johnny's abilities are never appreciated. Just look at Strange Tales
for what he can do. In this issue, after spending time away from the
team he comes back to pull out all the stops: he creates the most
dramatic feat of his career. Ben and Johnny make Reed look irrelevant.
Next issue Reed will meet Doom, a mirror to himself, and in Act 2 he
will follow Doom's lead and dominate the others.
The ending to FF 4 (appropriately the fourth issue of the team of four) is all about power. And of course Sue quietly is the most powerful of all. Why did Namor propose to her within three panels of meeting her? Like many women, Sue no doubt works hard on being attractive: his attraction is no accident. While the boys focus on conflict and get only the most temporary successes, Sue's gentle methods will soon turn Namor, ruler of three quarters of the planet, into their most powerful ally.
Ben's character development
At the start Ben is angry and violent (e.g. against Johnny) but by the end we see his softer side.
"I've always felt that the presence
of Namor [a real he-man who threatens to take away the woman Ben loves,
making him feel vulnerable] was directly responsible for the Thing
evolving out of that role and into one that would make him one of
Marvel's most beloved and noble heroes." ("Trebor the Unconquered")
In this issue Ben is established as the common man. Reed's attempts to find Johnny are farcical, and Sue isn't very observant. Only Ben has the common sense to know where Johnny would be.
The original Sue: spunky!
In this issue we see the original independent, free spirit Sue: drinking
somebody else's drink (how did she pay for it if nobody knew she was
there?), kicking somebody over. She defies others ("maybe, maybe not" in
issue 3; defying Doom in issue 5). She had spunk. But Reed's control
turned her into the quiet housewife. She tried it his way for the first
few years (acts 2 and 3). And his way did not work (act 4) so she will
finally take effective control (see notes to FF159).
Was it just luck?
Was it an unrealistic coincidence that Johnny found the
Sub-Mariner? No, Johnny was already interested in him, and would have
known this was his best chance:
So we have a studious young man (not like the idiot Johnny of the
Franklinverse), with a special interest in the Sub-Mariner. He finds
himself in the location where the Sub-mariner was last seen, and talks
to the kind of people he moved among. So for Johnny to then find Namor
was not a complete surprise.
Sue's great secret
For Sue's probable past history with Namor, see the notes to FF 291.
This is incredibly important, but the reasons may not be obvious until
the end of the 28 year story. The Great American Novel is ultimately
about Susan Storm, and this issue is where we get a hint of her great
secret.
Why is Sue attracted to Namor?
Sue is attracted to Namor's nobility. But wait, isn't Namor
now a villain? No. He only attacks New York because America has,
unprovoked, destroyed his nation! Americans would do the same
thing if the tables were turned: imagine if Afghanistan wiped out
the whole of the United States, American survivors would not sit
back and say "oh dear, never mind." Namor is acting like a
good American. Then the Fantastic Four enter this war as America's
defenders. According to the rules of war they are then legitimate
targets (in FF6). Remember that to Namor, the FF are terrorists:
their organization (America) bombed the innocent Atlanteans, and
then the FF kill the greatest animal who ever lived... with a
bomb.
Reluctance: Ben finally leaves the team and finds somewhere he belongs: somewhere that his natural manliness is valued. But eventually his loyalty forces him back, even though he is going back to a life where Reed will treat him like child and his only outlet is to play along. This short sequence is a powerful tragedy that could be expanded into a moving full length play, if treated with sufficient gravitas.
Confidence: Ben's turning point:
choosing to
return is Ben's turning point. his spirit is finally broken.
After
this he still answers back, but the fire has gone. Before this he
was surly, violent, not always likable. But from here on he is more
humble. The reader is drawn to sympathize. (And as a side note, see the
wonderful coloring: the highlights on Ben, the dramatic eerie light over
Reed.)
Here, at the end of Act 1, Ben is a beaten man. Reed will continue to whittle away at Ben's self confidence through Act 2, until Ben is treated as one of the children. And the tragedy is that he will accept that role because his spirit has gone. He will not regain his spirit until he has to undergo the hero's mental journey at the end of Act 4, exploring his psyche and slaying he demons on Battle world. Appropriately, Reed's own dark journey will be just as deep and painful, until Ben ends up as leader and Reed is the one who is humbled. But we're getting ahead of ourselves! We should just note that Ben leader a team in issue 4 foreshadows his role in Act 5.
Just as Ben loses his confidence, so Johnny gains his. From now on, Johnny will tend to be the one who starts their fights. Soon after this, at the same time that Act 2 starts, Johnny begins his own adventures in Strange Tales, and eventually Ben will join him as a guest-star: the adult, the war hero and test pilot, as comedy co-star to the teenager.
Equality: Sue is at first glance a weak hostage, but defeats Doom and saves the team when the others fail (see below).
The American Dream: note the scene with the hard working Americans in their office block... and at the top, in the penthouse suite, is the Fantastic Four.
For an overview of Doom's twenty appearances see his own page.
The real Doctor Doom worked on the atomic bomb
"Lewis G. Doom worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory in 1944 as part of the Manhattan Project: an effort that culminated in two nuclear detonations over Japan and the end of World War II. We first learned about Mr. Doom thanks to a tweet from nuclear historian Alex Wellerstein, who found a document signed by 'L.G. Doom,' and concluded that Doctor Doom helped the U.S. become a nuclear power. [...] I was able to find Mr. Doom's phone number, and gave him a call. [...] A fresh graduate of Princeton in 1944, he put his name on two atomic studies that have since been unclassified and released to the public: 'Thermal analysis of plutonium,' and 'Development of gamma-phase hot-pressing of uranium.'"
That's right: the real Doctor Doom worked on the gamma bomb. (More or less.) And he worked with the people who piloted the planes:
"I loved flying, we had wonderful pilots there."
I wonder he he met a particular young test pilot, a high school football star? Technically he was not a doctor, but he would have been if it wasn't war time, he certainly knew enough.
"So are you actually Doctor Doom?"
"At that time, people did not have the luxury of going on to higher
degrees, we had to either join the Navy, Army, or Air Force, or work in a
defense industry."
"Did you ever get any Dr. Doom jokes while you were working on the bomb?"
"(Laughs.) Many. There were so many of them that I can’t remember half
of them. And in fact, early in life, I thought I would become a doctor."
(source)
Note how these jokes about "doctor Doom" predate the Fantastic Four: clearly the name was in the zeitgeist.
The real Doom's name was Dutch: Doom was an americanized version of "Dume", a name from Germany's Rhein Valley, originally a nickname meaning "naive". There are other possibilities. Victor was a Romany (a Gypsy - see annual 2) and in the Romany language "dumo" means back, or the rear part of a person's body. Like "Dume", "Von dumo" could have been a humiliating name, either an insult or a reflection of the family's lowly status. Another possibility was the German-Jewish nickname "Daum" meaning "short person", similar to the German Daumen "thumb". Victor may have embraced the similar English word "doom" as poetic revenge on the world for how his family was always humiliated, even by their name. Victor's life is dominated by the need to never be humiliated.
Or "From the homeland"
There is also another possibility, suggested by "von" meaning "from the estate of":
"In
German, von is a preposition which approximately means of or
from. When it is used as a part of a German family name, it is
usually a nobiliary particle, like the French, Italian, Spanish
and Portuguese de. At certain times and places, it has been
illegal for anyone who was not a member of the nobility to use
von before the family name. ...thus, "Hans von Duisburg" meant
Hans from [the city of] Duisburg." -Wikipedia, "von"
"Doom" is not a common Germanic word, but is probably a
contraction of "Domäne," the equivalent of the English "domain" or
estate or sphere of influence. So his proper name is "Victor from
the estate." Growing up with a name like that, while being
persecuted as a traveler, would have planted the idea of ruling a
permanent home in his mind. Given his tendency to violence it is
natural for those around him to interpret "von Doom" (from the
estate) as the English "doom" or death.
Symbolism
As a cold war novel, the Fantastic Four reflects the fear that our
enemies have secret powers. By exaggerating an enemy's power, rulers can
persuade their own people to make greater sacrifices. So much for the
symbolism: now let's look at how Doom's magic works.
What is magic?
Doom's specialty is mixing science and magic. This is made clear time
and again, from the first time we see him in issue 5. Doom's origin in
FF annual 2 shows his methods more clearly: he uses magic to change
mundane things into much higher quality versions, but at great cost. So a
man who cannot play the violin finds he can play perfectly, a man with a
headache finds it is gone, and a lead case becomes gold. All but a few
of Doom's achievements follow this pattern. So his first "invention" is a
net that becomes far larger and stronger than seems feasible, and in
FF6 he creates a grabber that magnifies "magnetic" force far beyond what
should be possible.
A little thought shows how magic must work:
Science is of course the same. Any great discovery involves:
So we see that magic is simply more advanced science. As the saying
goes, any sufficiently advanced science is indistinguishable from magic.
Doom's unique brand of magic
Doom is different from other sorcerers because he uses science that we
recognize: he is intermediate between great scientists such as Reed
Richards and sorcerers such as Dr Strange. Doom's first appearance shows
why: he has access to a time machine. This would allow him access to
advanced science that is still recognizably mechanical: that is, from
the year 3,000 rather than, say, the year 30,000.
Magic and time travel
Normally time travel is of limited use because you cannot bring back
anything you could not have anyway (see comments by FF 272). But the
whole point of magic is to apparently bend rules. Doom's unique insight
was to use magic to do what on the surface appears impossible. For
how Doom obtained his time machine, see the notes to FF271.
The long term structure
Note how the major elements in the future of Doom - including the
role of Merlin - are all contained within his first appearance: the
Great American Novel has a long term structure that was not obvious at
first.
It seems to me that Dark Island Castle (now called Singer Castle) fulfills the requirements of Doom's castle in FF 5. There are several closer castles, and the point is that a castle in New York is reality, not fiction. How could Doom resist a name like Dark Island castle? It's within a rocket-assisted helicopter ride of New York City (275 miles). The journey was probably 50 minutes or so, a surprise to the FF who thought Doom was based in Eastern Europe. The castle's extra turrets could be artistic license. The inside of the castle is suitably grand for Doom's tastes, and it's conveniently on the Canadian border for legal purposes (it was used for smuggling).
The castle is on an island, which explains the odd escape: Reed
could stretch over some water to some rocks, so why not just
stretch across the moat and let Sue walk across him? Ben would not
fear alligators, and Johnny could fly. Yet for some reason,
getting across the water was a problem. The water around Dark
Island is wide yet shallow, so Johnny's causeway would have
worked.
The legend of Oak Island, Nova Scotia, links the north east coast
to Black beard, so it's no stretch of the imagination to think he
may have sailed a little further north and down that waterway. As
a route inland to the north of the colonies, with its many islands
for hiding, this would be irresistible. So that explains how the
time machine took them to Black beard, without having to travel any
great distance.
This was before Doom had a major revenue stream (the Latverian tax base), so the castle was almost certainly rented. The animals were of course a sign of his ego, like Hearst's animal filled Xanadu. I don't know if the water was warm enough for alligators even in the summer, but he could easily have tethered them by a warm water outlet: they are obviously mainly for show.
The final event of act one carried great meaning: the team leave the
castle, symbol of the old world, and symbolically walk on water,
asserting their strength. In the classic stages of the hero's journey,
this point matters. They have passed the test of act 1, they are
entering act 2.
Consider the following "problems":
Black Beard
Sean Kleefeld once examined the real Black Beard's life to see if
Ben Grimm would fit. He was surprised and pleased to see that
actually Ben would fit in perfectly: the description, behavior and
dates all fit in rather nicely. E.g. Edward Teach (Black beard) was
known for his size and strength, his appearance is only vaguely
known (most witnesses only mention his beard), nothing is known of
his history, and he had a relatively short career (27 months). It
is possible that FF5 skips over a Johnny and Reed leaving Ben
behind with the treasure, then returning to find him, allowing two
years to pass in Ben's time period, or perhaps he used the time
machine again (as he did in Marvel Two In One).
The five act structure arises naturally and is never stated. However, the major divisions are clear to long time readers:
Act 1 contains all the elements of the first act of a classic five act structure:
The catalyst for the story, the hook that turns everything upside down, is four friends gaining super powers.
Their goal is to save the world, each in his or her own way:
Each individual is introduced a clear identity and goal:
The point of no return is in the first five issues, where Ben and Johnny consider leaving, but decide to stay and follow Reed. Reed builds a headquarters and Sue gives them an identity through their uniforms..
The main villain is an old friend and rival, Doctor Doom.
The big secret is that you can't put family first and also put the world first. That conflict, reflects in the four themes, gives shape to the next 300 issues.
The romantic subplot is that Reed must choose between family and science. Other romantic subplots are Johnny and Ben finding, losing, then regaining their soul mates.
The "theme" of any book is its message, what it is trying to say.
As the "Great American Novel" page notes, the obvious themes are (1) Family and (2) Danger. The person usually most concerned about family and danger is the
mother, hence Sue is the natural star of the book. But part of
this story is that the star, the most powerful member, is the one
most often overlooked. She is literally and symbolically
invisible. Invisibility a theme throughout the long term story:
the real story is not the obvious one. The real dangers are
hidden. This is made plain in Act 1:
Other notable hidden worlds include the negative zone and the
microverse, literally worlds inside worlds.
The themes of family and danger are very obvious, so won't be labored in these reviews. The less obvious themes are also introduced in act 1:
Each of these themes is also a conflict. All of these conflicts increase through the novel and are finally resolved in Act 5, when each person finally gets what they want (or is on the way to getting it). The remainder of Act 1 introduces all the main motifs and core characters, and conforms to the classic first act structure..
All core motifs are introduced
Act 1 introduces the major motifs of the novel: would-be monarchs (Mole Man, Skrulls, Namor, Doom), hidden races (Skrulls, Subterraneans, Atlanteans), dangerous frontiers (space, underground, oceans), Reed's health (from old academic to action hero), mind control (the Miracle Man), doppelgangers (the Skrull impersonators) and home (moving to the Baxter Building).
The high concept is introduced
The high concept is realism, not science fiction
Q: Why do you think the Fantastic Four have endured for so many years?
A: The readers could almost think of the characters as real live people.acting
Q: Do you see the Fantastic Four as a science fiction series?A. In a way, but science fiction is
sometimes limited because it usually involves aliens and other
worlds and stuff like that. I wanted to keep the Fantastic Four
very human. I loved the idea that their headquarters was in the
Baxter Building, and I think I mentioned it was on the Lower East
Side. People would tell me years later that they flew to New York
and looked for the Baxter Building, which always made me feel
great. When I was a kid, I read the Sherlock Holmes stories and I
walked around Baker Street when I was in London many years later.
When I told Jack to give them a headquarters, he did such a superb
job."
- Stan Lee, "Comics Creators on Fantastic Four" pages 18-19.
More about how Stan and Jack created
great stories
For more about cold war themes, see "The
Fantastic Four: A Mirror of Cold War America" by Rafiel York.
Some of the themes covered in these early issues include
The four members are often compared to four...
Family members
Types of person
Four elements
There are obvious parallels between the team and the four
elements:
The team occasionally battles elemental creatures representing these forces (e.g. in FF232). In the next generation the team will include an elemental who combines power over all four. See the commentary to FF61-62 for why she was the natural replacement for both sue and Reed.
The Fantastic Four is often compared to Jack Kirby's earlier
creation "Challengers of the Unknown" because of the similar
origin, uniform and purpose, and even in some stories similar
powers. Thom
pointed out that the four Challengers also reflected the
four elements in their origin story (DC's Showcase, issue 6).
Four temperaments/humors
The Fantastic Four also parallel the four medieval humors or
four temperaments (source)
This implies that, unlike the usual order (Sue is air, Reed is
water), Sue is more like water (the path of non-resistance) and
Reed is more like air (he expands to fit any space).
Jung's four archetypes
Another way to look at the mind is:
This is an edited version of comments by Jonathan Nolan, which were still work in progress. He writes "play with this [these ideas] - Stan Lee and Jack Kirby did! They were both WELL aware of this stuff. Kirby overtly used it, almost too clumsily. Stan was actually subtle about this stuff. But they both knew it well. Unlike the hacks of today..."
Sue Storm drives the action
Sue is the invisible power behind the team. The closer you look the more
important she becomes. But on the surface she doesn't seem to do
anything. She is an example of the depth and unity of the 28 year
Fantastic Four story.
There are many who think that Sue is weak at this point in the story. So it's worth reviewing her role in each issue. Sue is independent, she drives the action, and ultimately she saves the team. This is all the more remarkable when we remember that reed is the world's smartest man, Ben (at this point) is the world's strongest man, Johnny can fly and shoot vast quantities of energy, and the boys are all bulletproof when in action. Meanwhile Sue is effectively powerless: all her major foes can detect her when invisible. Yet it is Sue who creates the team, Sue who keeps the team together, and Sue who defeats Doom. Measured by her impact, Sue is the strongest one of all. (Incidentally, when Sue puts her hand to her head in issue 1 she is not fainting, she's shading her eyes from the bright sun so she can look down the dark hole where her less careful companions have fallen.)
Act 1 introduces the most important secondary characters:
These represent the full range of experience:
Four key characters may appear to be missing from Act 1: Franklin, Crystal, Galactus and the Surfer. But these embody the four themes that are already introduced:
Franklin embodies the need for equality: the weakest is actually the strongest, and they sideline him when he should be their top priority.
Crystal embodies the reluctance of Sue, Reed and Ben, which contrasts with the enthusiasm of Johnny. Only Crystal and Johnny can be enthusiastic because they are subservient to their families for their first years as heroes, so their values when they are finally free will be pure. (Crystal's tragedy is that everyone thinks she is tainted when she is innocent.)
Galactus embodies the theme of confidence: his will is absolute and he apparently cannot be defeated.
The surfer crystallizes the American Dream: a pure hearted immigrant who longs for the endless frontier. What symbolizes the American spirit more than and Oscar on a surfboard? And one with an unbeatable spirit and hands that shoots energy bolts to defeat bad guys?
Color symbolism: Green and purple are the old world
Purple is the color of royalty, representing the class system,
and green is the color of agriculture (and of sickness). Both
represent the worlds that the space age FF are leaving behind.
"In the 1960s, comic book super villains were green and purple.
It was an unwritten rule but almost certain policy: heroes wore
primary colors of red, blue and yellow, while second-rate
reprobates got stuck with secondary shades. In just the
Fantastic Four alone, every infamous foe wore a costume or had
the skin color of green or purple. Doctor Doom, Mole Man,
Sub-Mariner, Psycho-Man, Molecule Man and even the Red Ghost
wore green. The Skrulls had green skin and purple togs. So did
the Incredible Hulk, Impossible Man, Infant Terrible and
Annihilus. The Puppet Master, Mad Thinker and Sandman changed
back and forth between the two hues. Diablo, Rama Tut and Kurrgo
wore both together. Ronan sported green armor and swung a purple
club. The Frightful Four flaunted purple uniforms and the
Hate-Monger hid under a purple Klan hood. Galactus, the all-time
purple perpetrator, actually wore green shoulder pads and helmet
in his debut on the last panel of FF #48 (looking like he just
came from an interstellar lacrosse tournament; he switched to
all purple dinner wear in time for the splash page of #49). Even
non-super powered creeps shopped in the same department. The
schemer that impersonated the Thing in “This Man, This Monster”
wore green pants (justifying his actions as the Changeling).
Scientists in green outfits were compelled to create Him, a
golden persona of ensemble perfection. Trendy tycoon Gregory
Gideon and his unfortunate son strutted in green and purple
suits. Wiseguys on the Skrull gangster world named Boss Barker
and Lippy Louie also donned dapper digs in such garish combos.
[...] In the Fantastic Four, green was
mean. In the first two years of the title’s existence, verdant
villains appeared in every mag except one – FF #3, featuring the
aptly named Miracle Man (whose black suit and red cloak somehow
got by the fashion criminals). He was one of only three true
felons in the entire 108-issue Lee-Kirby run that didn’t wear
green or purple. The others were Klaw, whose offensive sounds
made bystanders see red, and the blue-suited Monocle, who was
obviously colorblind." (Robert Papetti, "Fantastic Four
In The Silver Age Sixties: A Tribute")
Identity symbolism: "good" and "bad" tropes
The first year of the FF is about alienation from the world (see the notes to issue 2). In this light, Jonathan Nolan made the following observations:
A Question Of Identity (with apologies to Sherlock Holmes)
A fan of LOST did a comprehensive list of roles, and identified them as either "good" or "bad"- when someone acted in a "good" role they advanced along their positive destiny path, when someone was in a "bad" role they risked injury, death or loss of something precious to them. He identified that ALL fathers in the show were "bad" - father was a "bad" role; ALL fast food workers in the show were good - fast food worker was a good role- and so on. It's a spin on the idea of karma and destiny- fulfill the role that is your best destiny or risk disaster. I've started doing this with Fantastic Four, and the results... Well, they're kind of astounding.
Something else from the LOST analysis that also works for Fantastic Four- when you are in a good role it is BAD to doubt
the role- to feel you shouldn't be doing it. First you get warnings-
then you lose your powers- finally you die! To doubt yourself when you
are in a bad role is GOOD. But the tragedy is that when someone is in a
bad role they DON'T usually doubt themselves- they double down on
stupid."
"I
tried to violate all the comic book clichés when I did the
Fantastic Four. I decided not to give them costumes or
secret identities, and so forth."
- Stan Lee, "Comics Creators on Fantastic Four" page 9.
Secret identities for superheroes make realism impossible.
More about realism in early Marvel comics
Realism in Fantastic Four issue 1
Superhero powers: a plausible scenario
A sign of the decline in the comic (after 321) was the creeping return of the costume. DeFalco and Ryan gave The Invisible Woman an impractical revealing uniform, and at the time of writing (2012) the team has a series of complicated costumes: though they appear minimalist (e.g. one set of costumes is mostly white) they have subtle designs and contain highly advanced gadgets.
Similarly, secret identities are sign that realism is abandoned. As soon as Englehart released Reed and Sue from daily membership, somebody else immediately gave them secret identities. When the Marvel Knights series tried to make the teams "more realistic" they gave Reed, Sue and Franklin secret identities. Secret identities for superheroes are not compatible with long term realism.
On continuity
How many other superheroes date, then marry, then have children, and fundamentally change their core characteristics? The deep continuity and character development in the Fantastic Four is kind of the point of this web site.
This is not escapist literature
The desire for secret identities and flashy costumes can probably be traced to the concept of comics as escapist literature. Fans like costumes and secret identities because they fantasize about that being themselves doing bizarre things when nobody is looking. This is the opposite of the literary approach to fantasy: as Tolkien explains in his classic "On Fairy Tales," fantasy exists to tell us about our own world (by exaggerating aspects of it). Literary fantasy exists to exaggerate reality, not to escape from it. This is why these worlds must make sense in their own terms: we must know how they work so we can take them seriously.
In short, the Fantastic Four is not like other comics.
For most of his life, Jack Kirby was compared to Ben Grimm, the
Thing. But for the couple of years when he invented the FF, he was
more like Mr Fantastic. Jack Kirby saw himself as the ideas man
who would conquer the world, while Stan Lee was the one who feared
and doubted. This of course was only Kirby's opinion, but here we are only looking at Kirby's art.
In the typed script to issue 1 (which probably reflected Stan's
understanding of the story conference with Jack) Reed was
described as "young." But Kirby made him the first ever superhero
to have graying hair, much like Kirby at the time. The only clear
image we have of Reed that is inked by Kirby himself is on the
cover to FF7. As Will Murray observed, this Reed is a self
portrait of Jack Kirby.
This period of optimism only lasted two or three years. By the
mid 1960s, when Reed had achieved dominance over the team, and
when Stan Lee was claiming he created everything, Kirby was more
like Ben Grimm (most famously in the "What If" issue 11). But it
did not start that way: Kirby later accepted this comparison, and
remarked, "People often comment that the Thing is a lot like me,
smoking cigars, kind of rough around the edges. I didn’t plan it that way, but
I guess it’s true.” (quoted by Mark Alexander, in "Lee &
Kirby: The Wonder Years")
Reed and Ben in FF11:
I admit that seeing Stan's round face in Ben's early face is
maybe my imagination. But I am always struck by how different Stan
looked before the hairpiece and mustache. And in 1960 Stan admits
he wanted out of comics, and his wife persuaded him to give it one
last shot. So at first Stan was like Ben in the origin story, with
his wife as Sue. If we believe Kirby's account then Kirby was the
one with the confidence and the plans, like Reed.
To stretch the analogy even further, Kirby should have used more
legal shielding (e.g. he should have got Stan to sign a paper at
the start saying Jack created the stuff) because from Kirby's
point of view the cosmic rays (the bright light of stardom) turned
Stan into a monster. :)
In later years, Ben's history was expanded to look more like Jack
Kirby's. For example, Ben was not only bugged by the Yancy Street
gang, but it was later stated that he was once one of them, just
as Kirby grew up in a tough New York neighborhood. But if we only
look at the early issues we see a slightly different story. In the
early days all we knew about their past was from issue 11, "A
Visit with the Fantastic Four." While reading it, consider these
parallels:
This of course only refers to the first few issues. By FF14 Reed was clearly top dog and Ben had lost. As
Kirby says, as time went on they became more and more
similar. "People claim that The Thing is a lot like me, in terms
of his personality, and as the series progressed, he became even
more so."
