1967: Act 3: Human v Inhuman (America and Mao)

Summary
1966-76 saw Chairman Mao's "Cultural Revolution", where China stopped being "the bad guys in the Korean War," and became "that giant nation that's changing rapidly." This led to Nixon building trade links, and the gradual rise of China as an economic powerhouse.

The Inhumans represent east Asians, once considered inhuman, but now becoming friends. (The Inhumans are from the Himalayas bordering China, have strong traditions, loyalty to the state and family values, and even specialize in martial arts.)

Crystal
This page begins when Crystal leaves Asia and ends when she is officially a member of the FF. From this point on the Inhumans will be instrumental in the future of the FF (see FF130-149, annual 12, etc.) Crystal represents the future, the expanding team, the one who needs to connect to other people. She is young, female, emotionally connected to people and nature, the antidote to Reed's insularity. The happiest times for the FF were when Crystal was present. This is because the four team members are like the four elements, and Crystal represents harmony between the elements. Of course, she may need to shake things up first, as in act 5!

61

Issue 61: We see that Reed should not be in charge

What follows is the start of Reed Richards' long decline.

It may seem that this review is anti-Reed. Nothing could be further from the truth! Reed is my favorite member of the FF, the member of the FF I most identify with. He just wants to make the world a better place, to explore, to make everything bigger, better, more amazing! His heart is pure. He one of the world's greatest heroes. He saved the world more than a dozen times. He in entirely motivated by selfless concern for others. This is what makes the story so powerfully tragic, when he's brought low by his one character flaw: trying to do it all himself.

• Reed has Ben so emotionally restrained that when Ben falls into sand, Reed has to tell Ben to hit out! We see that Johnny is smart.If Johnny and Ben were given permission to make decisions they would probably do pretty well.
  
• This story parallels FF51, where Reed is also thrown into the negative zone. The difference is that at that time the crucial life and death decision (to throw Reed) was made by the Ben lookalike. It was a good decision. In this case the crucial decision (to open the door) was made by Reed. IT was a bad decision. Reed is a great scientist, but a lousy decision maker.

•  "At one point he mixes himself with liquid nitrogen in order to thwart and poison the Human Torch. He has reportedly taken a “refresher course in science“, but it would have been better if the writer had done the same, since nitrogen is a completely inert gas which makes up 79% of our breathable atmosphere and would be of no harm whatsoever."  The point of the liquid nitrogen is its physical temperature, not its chemical properties. The poisonous part is what sandman refers to "the chemical combination" - so it must refer to nitrogen plus something that's already in his sand (either naturally or added from his belt earlier) - there are several poisonous compounds of nitrogen, including nitrogen dioxide, and unpleasant chemicals such as Ammonia and nitric acid.
•  "The Sandman seemingly operate any of Reed’s devices without manifesting a noticeable amount of sand, but he stops using any of them when he reveals himself."  In other words, the Sandman uses Reed's devices against him at the start, then stops. Why? The answer is easy when we think what we know about those devices. First, they are complicated. Second, the Sandman had a long time to play with them while Reed was busy with Doom for the past few issues. Obviously controlling them took a lot of preparation and concentration, not something you can do in the heat of battle.
• "The Thing’s attacks are ineffectual, but one hit from Reed and Sandman literally blows to pieces." He then regroups his sand, so Reed's hit is ineffectual as well. The Sandman's fighting style involves repeatedly becoming soft (to change shape) then rock hard when in shape. Reed could simply have hit him when he was in a soft transition phase. Or likely the Sandman let himself be scattered. he does that to laugh at people: right from his first appearance against Spider-Man, he lets opponents punch right through him to demoralize them, showing how pointless it is to hit him, whereas he can hit you whenever he wants.
  

62

Issue 62: Crystal is smarter than Reed (regarding leadership decisions)

Reed gives up easily, but Crystal is superb. She is a far better tactical leader. This foreshadows how Reed and Sue will leave the core team in act 5 and Crystal is more than able to replace them (see FF307 and FF309). But we see now that it could have happened in act 3, and avoided all the pain and suffering of act 4. Reed needs to go, and Crystal is here to replace him. In FF72 Reed even takes Sue away. But his believes that he must control everything so he comes back at the first sign of danger (see FF72 for details)

The previous issue was asked "is this the end of Mr Fantastic?" and this issue it titled "and one shall save him."

Other points to note

• Realism:
  "It’s not initially much of a welcome that [Crystal] gets from a strung-out FF, who are clearly too frustrated and exhausted from their previous fight with Sandman to even think clearly. This is a very believable beat, as is Crystal’s appropriately fresh mind and perspective on the event." (source)
• Prejudice?
  Triton stays as Crystal's chaperone. He was always the one who wanted to explore: Is this due to prejudice? Unlike the rest of the royal family he's not a mammal.
• Kirby lines:
  Eever wondered why Kirby's view screens were weird shapes with weird wiry parts? That was normal for camera viewfinders a the time. This black and white image is a state of the art camera from the late 1920s, when Kirby was growing up. Even modern digital cameras have lines for focusing.
  

Also compare this fighter jet: Kirby lines are deliberately added to the glass, presumably so the pilot can see exactly where items are in relation to the plane.

Other artists tend not to add these lines, unless they are homaging Kirby. But they are an example of Kirby realism. He fought in the war, and cared about real cutting edge technology. His technology, right down to the lines on the glass, feels real.

Criticisms (source)

1. “'Then you too are a criminal? I am in luck!' This unfortunate line is emblematic of what is the chronic weakness of the early Marvel Age. Weak and wet dialog like this is literally the only thing wrong with this issue, but it is so persistent. It makes it almost unreadable in the modern age, but I would challenge its readability even in its own time." Hmm. have you ever used Google translate? This is an alien from a different dimension: what we hear is just a crude translation of something that was no doubt sophisticated in his own language.

2. "The only thing that is slightly niggling is the idea that Reed is quite so helpless or un-resourceful, especially since there are plenty of things for him to grab hold of or swing around. He should have made at least one failed attempt at escape."  This is why Reed is a bad leader. He cannot imagine a way out, so does not try. Someone like Ben or Johnny would try anyway.

63

Issue 63: Sue's emotions when trying for a baby

64

65

Issues 64-65: Franklin is conceived

These two issues are considered together because the comics code authority (and common decency) will not let us pinpoint the exact time Franklin was conceived, but it's pretty obvious that it has to be in these two issues.

This is how we know this is the time:

1. This is the only time possible
   In this period events took place more or less in real time. Issues 59-63 happen almost without a break, and the only gap is between 64 and 65 (between the destruction of the sentry and the Kree response: given that the sentry observes over thens of thousands of years we do not have to expect the Kree to respond instantly). Then we have no gaps before annual 5 where the pregnancy is announced.
2. The theme is love
   The team has been working almost non stop since the wedding, with tension between the two. These two issues are about Reed promising to pay more attention to Sue: they go on vacation, they shop for clothes, they hug and kiss, etc.
3. The only time that we hear of them in bed
   When the Sentry wakes them everyone talks about their sleep. We see Ben and Johnny in bed, and Reed says Sue was shaken up when in bed. This is the closest the comics code would allow to seeing the two in bed together.
4. The sexual imagery
   The cover and first page to issue 64 is packed with subliminal sexual imagery. I almost blush to point it out. Where do we see Sue and Reed on the cover (what frames them)? What is the shape of Reed's "power core" (and what is the core of a person's power). Note the symbolism of putting up barriers (the splash page) and how procreation allows our lives to continue for countless millennia, like the Kree watching over the earth for thousands of years. Then the next story is about a cocoon where the ultimate human if forming: a symbol of Franklin's pregnancy.
   
5. Introducing the Kree
   The Kree are mainly interested in humans due to our genetic potential. (This is what caused them to experiment and create the Inhumans.) So when the first superheroes arise and have a mutant child with unlimited power, of course they take an interest! It was a simple matter to guide them to  "accidentally" choose that island for a holiday. Perhaps the plan was to stop the intended procreation: attract the team to the perfect spot for love making, then kill them. The sentry knew nothing of this, but the Supreme Intelligence is called the Supreme Intelligence for good reason.
6. The name "the sentry"
   The sentry is the name later chosen by Franklin during his mid life crisis. Or at least, that's where the evidence points. See Franklin's own page for details.
   
   

Johnny's sexuality

WARNING: IF YOU SOMETIMES THINK I GO TOO FAR, YOU WILL WANT TO SKIP THIS SECTION.

SERIOUSLY, YOU WON'T LIKE IT.

OK, DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU.

These issues show not just Reed and Sue but Johnny and Crystal in love. But whereas Reed marries Sue, Johnny the hot headed youth, does nothing. Crystal and Johnny date for four years, and act like they are made for each other, yet they take it no further. Worse, Johnny repeatedly lets Crystal go without following her: or rather, he only follows later after much internal struggle. This behavior eventually causes him to lose Crystal to Quicksilver. And it's part pf a pattern: Johnny tries hard to be a ladies' man, but he's not good at it. His love life is a disaster - see the notes to FF204 for a summary. Yet Johnny is the world's most eligible bachelor! He's a superhero, handsome, intelligent, rich, wants nothing more than to be in a relationship! Why can't he settle down with a girl?

Then we have Ben: he loves Alicia, yet never settles down, with her. He seems unable to commit. Why doesn't he just marry hr ad live with her? After all, Sue and Johnny lived in Glendale in the early days and commuted into work, and Sue and Reed tried commuting in the FF 260s. There is no reason for Ben to live in the Baxter Building, so why does he?

The answer is of course alienation: being a superhero produces problems and demands that other people cannot fathom. Only other superheroes understand. Ben feels this worse than anyone: he does not fit. Ben is a classic example of queer culture: not sexually queer (at least, not necessarily), but "queer" in the sense of "different", of feeling like you don't belong. You don't fit in.

Part of this being different is in being open to new experiences. Superheroes see things regular people never do. They are less likely to be traditional, though they may try hard to be traditional, as a way to cope with the uncertainty of their life. Can you see where this is going?

• FF51: he hit his lowest point of depression
• FF55: he thought he didn't have a chance with Alicia
• FF57-60: he was powerless before Doom
• FF61-62: they almost lost Reed.
• FF62 ends with Ben desperately lonely and questioning his attitude to love.
  
  

Ben was feeling completely emotionally lost, without any anchor except Johnny. If there was ever a time he would experiment, this is it.

Issue 65 we see Ben and Johnny tumble out of bed. The same bed. Then share the bathroom.

Let that image sink in for a moment.

• Then in the next issue, FF 67, he learns that yes, women are attracted to him. Any brief experimentation is over.
  

This does not mean they are gay. In previous centuries where people had less money it was common for families to share beds. And in cultures where there is no taboo against homosexuality is was no big deal if sometimes people cuddled. In the twentieth century it became this huge taboo, something that was supposed to define your personality and cut you off from other people. But ion other cultures being curious is healthy: you get curious, try something, find it is not for you, and that's the end of the matter. it does not matter, it's not important. Why make a fuss?

Of course, the "Older man and younger man" theme fits right into the history of sexuality: the ancient Greeks expected young men to experiment that way before settling down and marrying a woman. And it puts a new angle on Ben and Johnny's play fights: in the early days Johnny was very immature and genuinely annoyed Ben, but as time went on they both learned to see that the other was hurting and needed someone to confide in. Who else can you talk to about Reed and Sue and what it's like to see other worlds?

How does this fit with Ben's "old fashioned" values seen in FF236? it is very common for somebody with a wild past to settle down and become very conservative (Small c). Ben was once a star football player and test pilot, remember: he didn't grow up in a monastery.

In conclusion, anybody who reads this who identified themselves as strongly straight will probably hate this. How dare I suggest such a stupid and crazy and offensive thing? But anybody who identifies as LGBTQ, or reads LGBTQ literature, will probably say "sure, why not? It's not a big deal." personally I believe that all the evidence points to Ben finally marrying Alicia and Johnny finally marrying Crystal, and all four being very happy. But before that, were they never curious?

Reed as a husband

Issue 64 continues the theme that Reed is not the best leader. He spends over a week securing the negative zone door.  Yes, it needed fixing, but over a week? it only took him a few minutes to get a specialized part from the other side of the world to defeat Klaw, so a week is excessive. This is classic behavior from a bad manager. Instead of doing the hard tasks that are most needed (in this case, listening to the others and identifying your own weaknesses) a bad manager will spend most of his time on the few things where he feels safe, even though they are far less important or could be done by others.

• Choosing the island was random?
  Is it too much of a coincidence that they happen to choose that island, and just in time to rescue the explorers? No: the Kree set up this outpost in order to find advanced intelligence. The explorers set off a Kree cube. The significance of this story is that humans finally reach their genetic potential through Franklin. That is the whole reason for the Kree being interested in Earth (e.g. it's why they created the Inhumans). The Supreme Intelligence can read our minds (see FF65). The Supreme Intelligence obviously wanted the Sentry to report on the team, and guiding Ben's dart was a trivial way to achieve that.

Where Sue finally snaps

After the building tension of previous issues this was where Sue finally told Reed what she thought. He promised to change, so she believed him, but next time she won't. We are still in the golden age but cracks are there.

Criticisms:

Why didn't Ronin just return with more power? Because, as Ronin says when he first appears, it makes no sense to go to Earth to accuse on the first place: clearly the supreme intelligence has some other plan. But being a supreme intelligence it's unlikely the rest of us would recognize it even if we saw it.

Other points to note:

• The timing: what's really going on?
  We later learn that the team originally gained their powers as part of a larger cosmic drama: higher beings decided that once humans enter space we are ready for the next stage in development. See the page on the cosmic for details. Franklin is then the next step: he is so important that Galactus is his herald (see the notes to issue 74). So is it a coincidence that when Franklin is conceived the Supreme Intelligence gets involved? The time scale suggests that the sentry was destroyed months before: the issues take place in more or less real time, and the gap between issues 64 and 65 is the only place where we can fit in a few extra months. So referring back to the destruction of the sentry may have just been a pretext. This is standard practice for powerful entities. If a company or government does not like what you do, but they don't want to draw attention to it (perhaps it is perfectly legal, or very sensitive) they will find some other excuse to fire you or arrest you: such as when Al Capone was arrested for tax evasion, or when union reps find they are fired for some trivial thing. The Supreme Intelligence would be extremely interested in Franklin, the "beyond omega" mutant who represents the future of humanity. But being supremely intelligent, it would not be wise to draw attention to that fact. So the destruction of Kree government property is a pretext.
  
• The timing - can we be more precise?
  The only hint we ever have of Reed and Sue in bed is when Ben asks about breakfast and Reed says that Sue had a bad dream. Then why didn't they get up earlier instead of later? Clearly they went back to bed. How did Reed comfort her? Is this the night when it happened? Modesty prevents us asking any further questions.
  
• The supreme intelligence
  This issue sees the first appearance of the Kree Supreme Intelligence, invented by Jack Kirby, and only drawn by him once. Tom Scioli observes:
  

66

Issue 66: the idol of millions

• Alicia here takes a stronger role, an answer to critics who say she does nothing. Nothing except defeating Galactus of course (by inspiring the surfer to change sides thus removing the world eater's desire to fight). The belief that Sue and Alicia are weak seems to come from the readers, not the story.
• The space warper is said to be irreplaceable, hence it's stored in a vault. This is further indication that the best technology comes from alien sources and is not understood. If it was understood and created by them then they could just create another one. Reed could create another one because he has more alien technology at hand (from the Gormuu craft in the FF271 flashback, the Skrull craft in FF2, the planet X craft in FF7, and his high resolution photos he took on the Skrull world).
• Why did they choose Alicia? They need a blind sculptress because anybody else would be blinded by him. But do they have no radar or other sensing equipment? More likely they fear he will kill anyone who comes close, but they have heard that Alicia was able to tame the silver surfer: she is the only person on earth with the skill. Her sculpting ability is useful, yes, but her blindness is more useful because she cannot reveal their secrets.

67

Issue 67: the end of an era

In the first part of this two parter, we saw Ben's confidence increase. Here it takes a battering again. More than ever he relies on Reed. The strongest being in the galaxy is once again made to feel like a helpless baby. How then does this story move the big story forwards? Isn't it a step backwards? No. The real significance of this story is behind the scenes. This issue, as printed, is very different from what Jack Kirby intended. He planned for the scientists to be noble and good, and the point of the story was to explore what happens when good people create a god who then righteously judges mankind as unworthy? But Stan Lee added the dialog as usual, and he changed the story to make the scientists evil. This was the last straw for Kirby. After years of plotting the stories for no pay, and creating characters worth billions of dollars (e.g the Avengers) for no extra pay, and pouring his heart and soul into creating the greatest comics ever and yet being paid basic page rates, and being promised a cut by the publisher Martin Goodman and then getting nothing, and Stan Lee changing his plots while getting paid far more than him just for adding dialog (at this point Stan's instructions were very short). Kirby said "no more."  After this story was changed Kirby stopped giving Marvel his best new ideas, and he put a little less effort into each issue. For details and context, see the page on 1968.

Most comic fans see this as a very bad thing. For example, Mark Alexander, in "Lee & Kirby: The Wonder Years" makes a big deal of the decline in quality as he sees it., from this point. But that is because he measures quality in terms of new ideas. I have a different take. No ideas are really new: all can be traced to somewhere. The skill is in choosing. Yes, from this point most of Kirby's stories are based on whatever he saw on TV. But that just means the ideas were pre-filtered for quality: only the best get through. In terms of the Great American Novel this simply increases the novel's value, because it sucks in even more of the cultural zeitgeist. The down side is that the stories had less detail, which made each comic worse value per twelve cents paid, at the time but in hindsight this matters little, as we can just read the next issue more quickly.

We don't actually need to know the background: all of this is reflected is reflected in the novel itself. Up to this point it seemed that the inner conflict was going to resolve itself. All the family problems stem from Reed trying to control everything, and for the past year fate seems to be pointing him toward stepping aside: the others now recognize his limits, and are willing to challenge him, and Crystal is here as a more capable leader. But in this issue that change. A spanner is thrown into the works. Ben suddenly loses confidence again, and Reed gets a huge ego boost from doing what he does best: assembling incredible technology and leading the team against other great scientists. The forces will still push Reed to retire (in FF71) but he is self belief has received such a boost that he will not be able to resit returning to take charge. This will lead to the tragedy of act 4, where the team lurches from crisis to crisis, and Reed won't face the truth until act 5, after he has been to hell and back.

OK, and what about the story?

What is man?

"The story itself is something special. A strong moral discussion lies at the center of the story and the gravity of that keeps all the issues in a tight orbit. It is revealed that there is no villain in this piece. The motivation of the scientists may be questioned, but they have actually, to all appearances, achieved their goal of creating the perfect human being who is without evil or sin — and they are very appropriately terrified of it. It is the Frankenstein story taken one step further: instead of man creating life that is imperfect yet beautiful, this story tells of man creating life that is perfect and therefore horrifying. They are fearful of the judgment of ‘Him’, and all of the conflict revolves around their urgent desire to destroy this perfect creation even before it is fully created. It’s an incredibly nuanced and profound philosophical quandary." (source)

Cultural Zeitgeist:

• "According to Mark Evanier (based on conversations he had with Kirby), Jack originally intended for this storyline to represent his take on the Objectivist philosophy. What Jack had read of Ayn Rand and had explained to him had gotten him to thinking about the philosophy and its pitfalls (some, of course, will dispute that there are pitfalls in it and that is their right), which led him to do a story about it. Jack probably did not consciously think, “Here’s my answer to Ayn Rand”; his primary goal was, as always, to just write a good story. But in Jack’s original story, the scientists are well-intentioned, with no evil plans. They are attempting to create a being totally self-sufficient, intellectually self-reliant; not encumbered by superstition, fear, or doubt; in short, a being based on Rand’s absolutes. Of course such a being would be totally intolerant of those who created him; a truly Objectivistic being would not cope with the flaws in others." (source) For how Stan Lee changed this story and how this led to Kirby giving up all attempts to create new ideas, see the page on 1968.
  
• "Some comic book theologians believe that certain Outer Limits episodes such as The Borderland, The Architects of Fear and The Bellero Shield influenced this story." - Mark Alexander, "Lee & Kirby: The Wonder Years"

Patrick ford wrote:
"There are elements in the plot which echo what Kirby had in mind for The Surfer. While the Surfer “fell to Earth” as a blank emotional slate, ignorant of the ways of man, he began learning quickly, absorbing like a new born or a fresh hard drive. It’s very possible The Surfer might have become a danger, might have seen men as inferior, or felt he had to learn the ways of power to survive. This is hinted at in the savage Surfer glimpsed in the final issue [of his own book, the issue drawn by Kirby]. It’s also the theme in part of two classic works of science fiction Kirby was familiar with."

• "In Kubrick’s 2001 the robot HAL turns against the human crew when he becomes aware they suspect he is defective. HAL views himself as superior, and sees the actions of the crew as endangering their mission."
• "In Karl Capek’s play R.U.R. synthetic men grown in chemical vats (robots is the invented word Capek uses to describe them) come to see their human masters as inferior and as the play develops Capek’s synthetic men learn to become more human"

Driving people away
This issue is the key to what drove Jack Kirby away. it also drove away the Fantastic Four:

• Johnny' story
  Johnny tells Crystal to stay home: eventually this immature sexism helps to drive her away.
• Ben's story
  Ben's ability to protect Alicia (mainly because of his self esteem problem, which prevents him from living with Alicia) will eventually drive Alicia away... into the arms of Johnny.
• Reed's story
  Reed tells Sue to stay home, again. This will eventually drive her away as well.

Other points to note

• The Great American novel
  This issue can be seen as an allegory of America. American science and technology in the 1960s took man into unknown realms. America was becoming the preeminent superpower. But what kind of world was it creating? It didn't know.
• Kirby's plans cut short
  At this point most of Kirby's story arcs were three or four issues (see the notes to issue 55 for what the Klaw arc as cut in half). This one may have been cut short when he saw how Lee changed it. Jack's plan was to see what would happen if well meaning scientists created a superior being: how would he see us? but Lee turned it into another "good guys versus bad guys" story. This was the last straw in what had been an amazing partnership. "Their collaborations clicked best when they worked on hero vs. villain (or hero vs. hero), single-story, human frailty, Earth-bound plots; but now Jack’s stories were becoming very complicated plots, continuing over several issues, involving ideas and concepts touching on mythology, space, science, religion, philosophy, and politics. The scope was becoming grander and grander. Stan shined when he wrote about the human condition, but Jack was now reaching for the stars and what was beyond humanity." (source)
• The Internet
  Kirby's plan was to explore what happens if we create a superior life form. Mankind is now doing just that: not necessarily in robots with artificial intelligence (why would a superior life form want to look like us?) but in creating systems that we rely on: we have to feed the even if it means our lives become stressful and depressing,. We all live in a rat race we don't want and don't know how to escape, yet we keep on feeding the beast, the Hobbsesian Leviathan that is advancing faster than we can understand or control.
  
• Zeitgeist
  
  • The character "Him" could have been inspired by the Star Trek episode "Arena".
  • The chrysalis could have been inspired by Ray Bradbury's short story "Chrysalis" (thanks to Pierre Comtois' "Marvel Comics in the 1960s" for pointing these out).

• The circuit
  How could Reed perfectly create a circuit based on its outside appearance? Most of the circuit is hidden: the inner workings of specialized chips, or the exact values of a capacitor, battery, or resistor. So what was Reed doing? We know that this band probably had alien origins (the scientists could not duplicate it). Reed has access to far more alien technology than they do, including three space warpers (the three faster than light alien craft he obtained over the years). He also has access to a time machine (taken from Doom's castle after FF5). Reed could see the arrangement of the sealed units in the wrist-made space warper, so he could work out how to make another one from the components at hand.How did Reed know how to link the components perfectly? As technology advances it becomes easier and easier to link. For example, the first computers required skilled technicians to connect them, but now everything connects almost automatically and you don't need a degree in engineering to operate a mobile phone. You don't even need to call out an engineer to wire it: it connects instantly. Alien technology will have taken this to the highest degree possible. Once you position the pieces in the right way the inner circuitry will do the rest. it's still a highly complex task for a human, unused to alien methods, but Reed is a genius.

• What Kirby thought of Lee, and why Kirby moved house
  Around this time this Kirby moved to the opposite end of the country. Here si the context, , officially for his daughter's asthma, but conveniently to get away from Stan:
  
  ROZ KIRBY: I’d like to say something if I could. Jack created many characters before he even met Stan. He created almost all the characters when he was associated with Stan, and after he left Stan, he created many, many more characters. What has Stan created before he met Jack, and what has he created after Jack left?
  KIRBY: And my wife was present when I created these damn characters. The only reason I would have any bad feelings against Stan is because my own wife had to suffer through that with me. It takes a guy like Stan, without feeling, to realize a thing like that. If he hurts a guy, he also hurts his family. His wife is going ask questions. His children are going to ask questions.
  GROTH: Were you very — active isn’t the right word — but you were on top of things during that period? Did you know what was going on?
  ROZ KIRBY: Of course. Jack was right down there working in what we called the dungeon. We had the basement then, a studio down there in the dungeon. Whenever anybody called, or Jack came to the office, I was usually there. It hurts to this day when my grandson sees Stan Lee’s name and he knows what his grandfather did, and he asks, “Why is Stan Lee’s name all over?” That’s hard to explain, you know.
  [...]
  KIRBY: If you ever get to talk with Joe Simon, Simon will tell you exactly what the hell Stan Lee was. He was just a little wise guy, and he came from a family that was upper-middle class, and he could do whatever he liked. He could say whatever he liked. I’ll be frank with you. We considered him a pain in the ass. He grew up to be exactly what we considered him. The only thing that ever bothered me about this thing was not the fact that I couldn’t make a living, because I did. I finally found a way to make a living. In fact, I went to California. [...]  I’m the first artist in New York to go to California, and I went to California because I just about had it with the field. I had it with the field. I had to feel like a man again.
  GROTH: What year did you come out here?
  KIRBY: Let’s see. I believe that was in ’67. [Later in the interview this was corrected to 1968. The physical move finally took place in January 1969, but 1967 is when Jack remembers wanting to get away.] In fact, Carmine Infantino was then editor of DC, and then Mort Weisinger came to visit us. It was wonderful to see somebody from the East.
  [...]
  GROTH: Now when you say you had difficulty with Marvel, can you clarify what you mean by that?
  KIRBY: I’ll clarify it by saying I’m basically a man. I’m basically a guy from the East Side. I’m basically a guy who likes to be a man, and if you try to deprive me of it, I can’t live with it. That’s what the industry was doing to me, and I had a gut-fall of that. I couldn’t do anything less. I had to get myself as far away.… "
  (Source)
  
  
  
  May 22: Kirby takes a $2000 loan from Martin Goodman to finance his family’s upcoming move to California, to live in a better climate for his daughter’s asthma. Around this time, Bill Everett also takes a “loan” from Goodman, which was an off the record agreement that Everett wouldn’t sue over Sub-Mariner copyrights, so as not to hurt the sale of Marvel to Perfect Film." (source)
  
  
  Was asthma the real reason? Kirby could hardly ask for a loan "to get away from you"!
  
  

A5

Annual 5: Sue is pregnant

This is where the whole family drama crystallizes (when Crystal arrives: no subtlety here!). From now on, the need to put the family first will be embodied in a child: Franklin. From now on, the inability to move forward will also be embodied in the same child, as he distorts reality and slows down time in an effort to prevent anything bad happening. Yet this will of course course result in far worse things. Everything pivots around Franklin.

This is the emotional heart of the story, and although these reviews focus on Reed's failings, these are minor compared to his strengths. He really does love his family, so there's no conflict with Reed i this story. It's a celebration of love.

1. Symbolically, the enemy is negative emotions.
2. Reed is for once dominated by emotion (as elsewhere, but never more than now).
3. Since Reed is happy, Ben can takes charge.

The zeitgeist

"The Psycho-Man showdown takes place on a tropical island, like a setting from the best adventure cartoon of the Sixties – Jonny Quest."  (Robert Papetti, "Fantastic Four In The Silver Age Sixties: A Tribute")

The annuals Other points to note All the most important events are in the annuals: Annual 1: War between Atlantis and the human race Annual 2: The origin of Doom Annual 3: the Wedding of Sue and Reed Annual 4: the Golden age returns (foreshadowing the next generation when Johnny will be in charge). Annual 5: Franklin announced Annual 6: Franklin born Franklin begins to hold back time. So annuals 7-10 are just reprints. Annual 11: America's bicentennial Annual 12: the end of the FF and Inhumans (set in motion) Annual 13: the underground races are finally friends; unhappy people finally have a happy home Annual 14: Franklin is no longer a child Annual 15: the Kree-Skrull war; return of Doom Annual 16: big theme: marriage (Dragon Man always represents marriage. more research on this issue is needed) Annual 17: big theme: American militarism Annual 18: end of the Kree-Skrull war Annual 19: end of Skrulls Annual 20: neutralization of Doom (by having an equal and opposite force applied: Kristof). Annual 21: the final annual of the 28 year story is about Crystal. The next generation must inevitably center on Asia and Crystal, but continuity ends in 1989. So Crystal must leave and the story stays in limbo until she returns. The annuals focus on the generations of the family: Annual 1. Namor's relationship with Sue, and being rejected by all people. he has no tribe. Annual 2. The origin story shows Reed and Ben as young adults. Annual 3. The marriage Annual 4. Three generations together: the old torch, the current team, and hints of the next generation when the Torch will lead the team (what else can a torch do but light the way?). Annual 5-6. The new baby [7-10 are reprints] Annual 11: Namor first meets Sue (for why this matters to the family, see the notes to FF 291) Annual 12: Luna is conceived (?) (see notes to annual 12) Annual 13: the family of man, above and below the Earth, is finally at peace Annual 14: Franklin is no longer a child Annual 15: Doom is reborn Annual 16: on love and marriage Annual 17: on Johnny's female friends and the milk of the next generation Annual 18: the wedding of Black Bolt and Medusa Annual 19: the next generation of Skrulls Annual 21: Doom's child Annual 22: Almost the last thing we see in the last annual as continuity ends is Black Bolt spelling out the theme of the whole 28 year story: Family.

The second story: Quasimodo

• Why were the components delivered to Alicia?
  The package was probably intended for Alicia's stepfather, but he is not always easy to find (e.g. in jail or in hiding), hence the package was redirected to his nearest relative. Why would the puppet master need Psycho man's packages? Psycho man was operating from another dimension, so needed somebody he could control. The Puppet Master was the obvious choice because:

1. he was probably already controlled by his clay (see notes to FF20)
2. he was using planet X technology (see notes to FF8) which probably alerted Psycho man's similar technology to its presence.

Kirby's original story Here are some lost pages that were changed or cut from the final version. Note that Crystal was supposed to be in the adventure: . Patrick Ford wrote: "The story featuring the Inhumans has got to be one of the most butchered stories Kirby created for sale to Marvel. It's absolutely clear numerous pages were cut, probably to accommodate the Silver Surfer story which was orphaned when Marvel's plan to introduce several new titles was shelved. You can see here Crystal joined Ben and Johnny on the mission. In Lee's rewrite she stayed behind with Sue. This likely was simply so that her sequence with Johnny could be cut from the story. In an attempt to explain quickly why the Panther was in the story Lee introduced the ridiculous idea of a "Panther Island" in the Caribbean. I'm not sure, but I would guess Panther Island was never mentioned again in a Marvel comic book. Clearly there were more pages cut which explained why and how the Panther came to be on that Island." I replied: "The butchering was badly timed by Stan. story wise, this takes place immediately after FF 67, "Him", which was the last straw for Kirby's decision to hold back his best ideas. To have Stan then wreck his next major story, and reject pages (presumably not paying for them after commissioning them) was just twisting the knife."

68

Issue 68: Johnny's immaturity... the first warning signs

Johnny grew up without a father, and learned everything from Reed. So it is no surprise that he treats every event as a conflict and has no idea how to treat women. In this issue we see the first sign of trouble between Johnny and Crystal. Right now this is a minor thing, but it will get worse and worse until Crystal has to leave. Crystal was supposed to be the replacement for Reed, the one who would lead the team into ever greater glory, but instead Johnny's immaturity will drive her away and the team will suffer years of misery (act 4).

The tragedy, the irony, the contrast

This issue also reinforces and develops the central tragedy of the series: that Reed loves his family, yet his mental limitations are the cause of their problems.

Reed genuinely and deeply loves his old friend. This issue emphasizes the point: he praises Ben's big heart, he tries to cheer Ben up, and also tries to change him to normal. But Reed lacks the sensitivity to see that his crime was not in changing Ben into the Thing, but in destroying Ben's self esteem at every opportunity. Reed never means to, but he lacks the emotional insight to see how his words hurt. Sue doesn't see it either, because she totally accepts Reed's statements that Ben's condition is purely physical. Sue lacked a father when growing up, and treats Reed's opinions and harsh words as if they were gospel truth from her own father.

Ben settles down as a hero: old blue eyes

"Bashful Benjamin was also fondly known for his baby blues, though the pigment didn’t premiere until the last page of FF #68. Before then his peepers were just black dots, but a year later the splash page of FF #80 hung another nickname on the big lug when Johnny yelled, 'Hey, Blue Eyes!' Of course, all four members were depicted with the same color irises, since comic companies reserved blue hues for heroes. But only the enduring endearing Thing got the moniker reflecting those qualities." (Robert Papetti, "Fantastic Four In The Silver Age Sixties: A Tribute")

69

Issue 69: King Kong

Other points to note

• Ben's King Kong theme returns in precisely 100 issues: see the commentary to FF169. (And FF269 also has a giant monster, Terminus, but that is probably coincidence: Ben at that time is away, in the process of resolving his problems once and for all.)
  
• Note the depth: the villain is not just out to destroy the FF. Like Reed, he has a genuine love of learning. "The Mad Thinker is entirely in character here. His objective isn’t to ‘destroy the Fantastic Four’, but to get some quality time with Reed Richards’ files." (source)
• Artistically this Kirby cover is a typical masterpiece. "The cover is one of his most dramatic, with a composition that uses figures moving in a sort of architectural framework. One of the things we notice first is the strange scale of the figures. In proportion to the buildings, they are far too large, creating that towering King Kong effect. Then too, the angle of the drawing gives us a sense of extreme vertigo, as if the building were swaying in a quake. Architect and Kirby aficionado, Jack Fetterman makes an interesting point about this cover. He states that, 'Of particular interest, as seen in the first image, the horizon as Jack indicates as a distant skyline, is not in line with the constructed perspective, but in line with the rotated dynamic one. (below) This subtle gesture reinforces his representation as being realistic when in truth it is fantastic.'” (source)
  

70

Issue 70: Reed's strength, and weakness.

These five issues, FF67-71, summarize the core strengths and weaknesses of the team, ready for the major turning point of FF72.

FF67 is the team's greatest strength:they area loving family.

FF68 is Johnny's strength (youthful enthusiasm) and weakness (immaturity).

FF69 is Ben's strength (physical) and weakness (insecurity)

FF70 is Reed's strength (he can combine the Thinker's calculating power with Ben's spirit) and a warning of his weakness: he will rely too much on his machines. This foreshadows Reed's weakness at the end of act 4, when he hits his lowest point. In John Byrne's run (FF232-294): that portrays Reed at his lowest ebb, when he builds his house as a fortress against the outside world, starts to talk mechanically, almost like the Thinker, and is often shown very small, surrounded by towering machines. As he spirals toward self realization in that run he will fight less and less, and finally end up in FF290, hidden in a protective suit so he does not need to physically touch anybody, because he is trapped in his own personal negative zone. But here in FF70 we are still in the golden age, we can still see Reed at his best, willing to jump into real life and risk death for a principle of truth.

71

Issue 71: "and so it ends": the turning point

As noted before, these issues take it in turns to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the team and its members, all building up to the great turning point on the last page of FF71. We had to finish with Sue because this is about her and the baby. Reed finally does the right thing and focuses on his family.

"This issue shows a genuine turning point in the FF dynamic, the first meaningful one since Reed and Sue got married — and potentially more significant… potentially." (source)

This story is entitled "and so it ends" - it should have been the end of the old team and the start of a new one, where Crystal and Johnny take over the Reed and Sue role, lovers who will soon get engaged. Note that there are four in the new team: where Crystal is, Lockjaw won't be far behind. Lockjaw will let Ben see himself from the outside,another misunderstood "thing" treated as an inferior because of his looks.

But instead we will see next issue that the team is not ready. Reed comes back at the first sign of trouble. The problems will grow until the team breaks apart and a long fourth act sees them stumble from crisis to crisis. Finally in act 5 the team will be ready. Johnny will be mature and Crystal will come back, Ben will have a She-Thing in the Lockjaw role to help him see himself from the outside, and Reed and Sue will leave to focus on Franklin. But all of that is a long way away, and should have happened now, but they team are tragically not ready.

Other points to note

• Sue was alone at the start, illustrating why a team that relies totally on its leader cannot work (the leader was unconscious). Sue did pretty well.
  
• Reed was wrong again, about Ben. Ben was fine, Sue apparently thought he was OK, but Reed and Johnny wrongly thought he was still mind-controlled.

Criticisms:

• Reed told Sue about the radar in the android, but surely that was obvious, yet she acts like she didn't see it? No, the radar was not obvious (he would be moving too quickly: she would not stay and watch his face): that knowledge enabled Sue to adapt her strategy and save herself.
• "It is mind-numbingly obvious that Reed, as portrayed by Kirby, was never intended to warn Sue. It was manufactured by Lee who decided to go in, add a lot of word balloons, and rob Sue of the ability to even be perceptive of her environment." (source) Reed does tell her something useful, but yes, Kirby's initial plan would make this even more dramatic, with Reed as the weak one and Sue protecting her family. However, it helps to remember that Reed is genuinely useful. Although this review often highlights his weaknesses he is still a genius and a hero.
  

72

Issue 72: global politics

This review focuses on Reed's failure. but it must be seen in context: hubris is the one small character flaw in perhaps the greatest human hero who ever lived.  He saved the world more than a dozen times. This makes his story a Shakespearean tragedy: the great hero, the selfless man motivated only by love, who is brought low due to one tiny human weakness: proud. Yet he has more to be proud of than any other hero who ever lived.

In this issue Reed fails the test: at the first sign of trouble he turn back. To be fair, Johnny was not yet mature enough for Crystal and Ben had not yet worked through his ow problems: they were not ready. The same test will occur in act 5, but that time Reed will hold his nerve.

Some people think the Watcher was telling Reed that he had to go back and fight, but if we step back and look at the Watcher's long term behavior we see that this was a test. Will Reed do the right thing? Here is a perfect example of a problem where Sue's method of making alliances would have worked, just as it worked when Alicia calmed the surfer the first time. The surfer is an honorable being and all he needed was reasoning with. Reed could have done it. Alicia certainly could have done it. Sue could have done it, but instead she deferred too much to her husband. This would have been Reed and Sue's perfect role as emeritus members; they could act as advisers, solving problems from a distance without fighting. But instead Reed fails the test and sees this as a conflict situation, and rushes back to control the others.

The surfer's personality

War and global politics

If the Fantastic Four is the Great American Novel, then it should have something to say about war. After all, America is the most powerful military force the world has ever known, with military bases across the globe, and is constantly at war with at least one other nation. So, what is the role of war in a civilized society? The Great American Novel should have something to say on the subject.

The zeitgeist: the Report From Iron Mountain

Critics call the report a satire written by Leonard Lewin (as he claimed in 1972), conspiracy theorists say it was genuine. Either way, it represents the zeitgeist of the time: the most influential satires, like this one, draw attention to real concerns through using hyperbole. Jonathan Swift's "a modest proposal" is perhaps the best known example of satire, where he draws attention to the famine in Ireland and the callous extraction of wealth by foreign landowners, and suggests in the most reasonable terms possible that the Irish should eat their babies. The idea was horrifying nonsense of the blackest kind, but highlighted real problems of the most urgent kind, and also highlighted their likely cause (the Irish people were treated as worthless by their foreign masters). The Report from Iron Mountain, if satire, serves the same purpose: it suggested ways that a single world government could be created by uniting people behind an external threat: it suggested alien invasion, war, climate change, etc. if genuine then of course the report becomes even more prophetic.

FF72 presents the same idea in simple form: the alien Silver Surfer tries to unite the planet through war. His aims are noble and idealistic. The dramatic cover, "where soars the silver surfer" and the appearance of the Watcher reflect the historical importance of this story. Incidentally, this is a perfect example, along with issue 80 (Tomazooma) of a Fantastic Four issue that at first glance appears to be shallow or even silly, but turns out to have the greatest depth. Where Jack Kirby is concerned the sillier the concept appears to be the more it deserves study. If we don't understand that is evidence of our shallowness, not his.

The role of war in human history

The surfer's attitude, that war creates civilization, may seem crude, but it betrays a deep understanding of economics. This nature confirmed by human history. For details see the interview with economist Barry Weingast on the subject of global poverty. What follows is a poor summary. Basically the surfer was right.

Those of us in comfortable nations may deceive ourselves that we are enlightened: after all, we have a more or less free press, the rule of law, freedom to plan ahead, more or less reliable institutions, and so on. We see the results in networks of trade, an absence of wars between rich nations, and great wealth relative to our ancestors. We further deceive ourselves that if only poor countries could wake up and see, those countries would also have the rule of law and become much richer.

But in reality poor nations are trapped: undeveloped countries are full of desperate people. They have nothing to lose and everything to gain by fighting. So a leader can maintain control is one of two ways. First, through a network of terror. Or second, by paying off powerful groups through corrupt practices. Both of these weaken the economy. If a ruler decided to end corruption then the powerful groups would no longer get their corrupt payments and would topple the government.

This is the case throughout most of the world: in poor countries the average constitution only lasts for seven years. Violent overthrow is normal, people cannot afford to plan ahead even if they want to, and the cycle of misery continues. This was the case in all countries until a few hundred years ago: every country had a king and various lords, and only maintained order through corrupt and inefficient payment systems. For example, in England the king was afraid of the barons and the barons afraid of the king, and each allowed the other as much power as they had to. The system was corrupt from top to bottom and the regular people suffered.

How then can people escape this cycle of poverty? Any good king is just as trapped as the peasants at the bottom. The answer is usually war. At some point a neighboring country will attack, and the need to survive forces the nation to work together more efficiently: it either becomes more efficient or it is replaced. That efficiency might disappear after the war, but eventually somebody will find a way to create a pocket of efficiency that lasts: usually through a trading arrangement. Once there is one area where the rule of law applies and people are able to make an economic surplus then law and its benefits can expand. Once there is the rule of law then people find it advantageous to cooperate in order to make even more wealth, and thus we have a pressure for more cooperation and thus more moral behavior.

We might think that this only applies to poor countries and rich countries no longer need any threat to make them unite. However, the principle is a relative one, not an absolute one: it always applies. As long as there is sufficient inequality and corruption there will always be an economic incentive to be evil. For example, for centuries after European nations began to be wealthy they still had corrupt class system. It took World War I and World War II to force them to cooperate: those led to massive reforms that benefited everybody. Even America saw a great increase in living standards and reforms: ending child labor, Depression era poverty, racist segregation etc.

So the Silver Surfer is making a desperate but rational calculation: no matter how many people he kills in his war (and he will of course be able to minimize it, due to his total control of his massive power) , if it forces mankind to unite then it will save far more death than it causes.

But of course the logic is flawed, as the surfer sees at the end. He realizes that a single war cannot cause this unity: statistically most wars cause more destruction than they prevent. A better way is to find just a small pocket of reason and law on Earth. Then that pocket will be economically more efficient and can expand without the need for war. The question is, can such a pocket or sanity exist? The is persuaded at the end that it can: because the Fantastic Four are an example of such a pocket of sanity. But this is not a trite or simplistic decision: the role of monopoly violence in the state is a major problem that economists and philosophers have wrestled with, from Plato to Hobbes and beyond.

Religion in the FF

This issue contains the clearest reference to formal religion.

But the hints are there right from the beginning, where Reed's first panel refers to him praying.

The Watcher's test

When the Watcher says the highest power of all is love, this foreshadows the triumph of soft power: In act 5 Reed will finally solve all his problems through focusing on his family, which happens to include the most powerful hero of all, his son Franklin.

The Watcher is far wiser than humans understand. This is all part of his test. To understand the Watcher's test, let us recall the Watcher's seven appearances.

The Watcher: from FF13 to FF72

1. FF13, the first appearance: the Watcher understands Reed's ego. Read the Watcher's final words - note the picture - he's talking to Reed: you will never be alone! That is, you do not have to do it all yourself"!

2. FF 20, the molecule man: the Watcher does not interfere, but he acts in such a way that the humans must decide. So we can infer that he was not telling Reed what to do when he stopped the train in FF72, he was just providing information.

3. FF 29, the red ghost again: we see that success hinges on realizing that the small things you ignore can be very powerful.

4. FF annual 3, the wedding machine: he lets Reed use a simple version of the ultimate nullifier (this one merely wipes out events for some people, not everyone). It illustrates that no matter how big the danger, we can sometimes solve it without any conflict.

5. FF 48-50, Galactus: the Watcher uses Johnny, not Reed. His explanation is that Johnny can avoid the dangers, yet Reed can stretch and shrink and control every inch of his body - he could navigate better than Johnny! However, Johnny can more easily take instruction. Humility is part of the intelligence that makes the Earth worth saving, and Reed lacks humility. So the next generation belongs to Johnny, not Reed.


6. FF 60, when Doom has the surfer's power. The Watcher clearly wanted to interfere but he did not. He must have known that Johnny could easily solve the problem by asking Lockjaw, but the Watcher kept quiet. Just as now, he simply points out the problem and watches to see what Reed will do.

7. FF 71-2: now. the Watcher warns against extremism in the team's response. And what does Johnny then do? He hurls a bolt of nitro flame at the Surfer! He fails the test. He could have solved the problem through dialog.

The Watcher says that he is forbidden to enter the fray. He is going to say something else, but Reed says "say no more" and takes it as a reason to fight. Reed has made his choice. But when he has gone, the Watcher continues speaking. he says what Reed was too impatient to hear, that the greatest power is love. This is why Alicia could defeat the Surfer but the combined attack force of the fantastic Four could not. Will they ever learn?

The Watcher: after FF72

The Watcher's later appearances continue to highlight the historically most important issues:

• 113-116 - a warning of Reed
• Giant Sized FF 2 - this is either not in continuity, or is central to understanding the big picture of Limbo, Franklin and Sue's power (see Nathan Adler's work on Limbo). I haven't yet given GSFF2 the time it deserves, so the jury is still out.
• Annual 10: the Nazis almost win World War II 
• FF188: the end of the Fantastic Four (the end of the old style FF: it was never the same again)
• FF205, 211-213: the battle for Xandar, the brain of the universe
• FF240: the Inhumans (older than the human race) leave Earth
• FF260: the trial of Reed Richards, where the universe learns the importance of Galactus
  

73

Issue 73: you are not the only superhero, Reed

• This issue provides yet more proof that Reed is a better scientist than a leader. Today's bonehead mistake was in sending Sue away. Sue has defeated Doom in the past (their first meeting in FF5) and will thwart him again (in FF87). More to the point, and her intuition could have picked up the false body transfer claims much sooner: Sue could have solved this quickly! But Reed told her to stay away and once again we have the most pointless of pointless fights, keeping the team away from more important tasks.

• Are other Marvel comics in continuity? Within the FF, FF stories are based on what Reed tells Stan and Jack at story conferences. Realism is the basis of the stories' power so we must assume that they have the same comics we have. Spider-Man sure as heck does not visit them and say "my secret identity is Peter Parker" because that news might kill his Aunt May. Only the events that we see in the FF are reported to Stan and Jack, to the events in their own mags are guess work based on whatever is in the news.
  

• "This issue is the last of a five-part story that started in Daredevil issue thirty-five which were also written by Stan Lee, but illustrated by Gene Colan." (source) However, the story works perfectly well alone as well.

• Sue can be sure that Doom is in Latveria because she sees him on TV. At this stage Doom's robots are not advanced enough to stand in for him. Doom develops more advanced robots in FF84.

• The zeitgeist is of battles that may not need to be fought. The obvious one is Vietnam, but the issue refers to "Moishe Dayan" - a reference to the 1967 Six day war.

• 
  

74

Issue 74: Franklin summons Galactus

This is a major milestone in the bigger story. Not because Reed lies to Sue, or because Galactus returns, but because Galactus is summoned by the unborn Franklin. Sue wishes the baby can grow up in safety - perhaps this is the trigger? The real story takes place inside Sue Storm, and the irony is that the boys, as usual, don't recognize this: they think they are protecting her. They think she is safe in a quiet place of rest. They don't realize that Sue is the eye of the storm, and they should be by her side.

This issue is the entire fourth act in miniature: Reed needs to make his family his top priority, and only then will the world be safe. But he has to be dragged kicking and screaming to that realization, and by then it may be too late. The following points refer to events from later in the story. It covers very big overarching concepts. You may want to bookmark it and come back after reading everything else.

Why is Galactus so different here?

Fantastic Four 48-50 (the Galactus trilogy, and more) is the gold standard for superhero comics. Utterly superb. Yet later appearances such as this one show serious differences. Here are some examples:

1. A once only event?
   The original Galactus visit was a one off event. The Watcher said of these forces "you shall never see their like again!" Yet we allegedly "see their like again" regularly in later years.
2. Why Earth again?
   Galactus seems unaware of where the Skrull throne world should be. So either he travels so widely that he would not expect to visit the same galaxy twice within a few thousand years, or he travels at random and avoids maps. Either way, why does he keep coming back to Earth?
3. How can he be beaten?
   "Of all who inhabit the known universe, only GALACTUS has powers enough to match my own!" - so said the Watcher. We can quibble over the exact meaning of this phrase, but at the very least we cannot expect any Earth bound power or collection of powers to defeat him. Yet in later appearances he is routinely defeated.
4. The surfer is different?
   The original surfer features in Skrull history books, books that less informed skrulls have not read, suggesting that he's been a round a long time.  But there is no indication in the origin that the surfer is any younger than Galactus. Galactus seems unaware of the surfer's full power: "Your power is far greater than I suspected, herald." The surfer does not understand beauty or self sacrifice: "there is a word some races use... a word I have never understood... until now! At last I know... BEAUTY!" and "I have learned from the HUMANS how glorious it can be to have a cause worth dying for!" Yet in later appearances we are told that Norrin Rad became the surfer in order to save his home world, and his beloved Shalla Bal, who can still pass for a young woman (see FF153-155). Granted, perhaps the surfer's race lives a long time, but this really sounds like a different person.
5. Why so hungry?
   The original Galactus does not get hungry quickly: "All ETERNITY awaits me! I can afford to be patient!" Yet the later Galactus is always hungry: "You must be swift! My hunger grows UNENDURABLE!" (FF76)
6. He broke a promise?
   The original Galactus can never lie. "The promise of GALACTUS is living TRUTH itself! His word can never be questioned!"  Yet when he came back he said he promised never to return, but was considering breaking the promise. (Actually he never promised not to return, he simply promised not to tarry, so this is another change.)
7. Part of a race?
   The original Galactus is part of an advanced race. As the Watcher said, "Did not YOUR race... and MINE... evolve from such humble beginnings?" Yet the later Galactus was a lone survivor of a world that, while more advanced than ours, was more like "gnats" than "gods." (Note that advanced races probably achieve some kind of shared unity - this will be relevant to the solution to the puzzle.)
8. His changed appearance:
   The original Galactus has a symbol of an eternal arrow on his chest (often mistaken for a letter G). Later Galactuses do not. They also alternate with sleeves or not, visible eyes or not, highly muscular arms or not. The ship changes completely as well: from a sphere to a wing to a cube.

Now let's look at a solution to the problems. Our first exhibit is the backup story in Fantastic Four Annual 23. It follows from a similar backup story in Annual 22, and both could be considered together. They give an overview of the highest powers in the universe, and I would like to draw your attention to a comment about the Celestials. A certain character in another comic was shown defeating Celestials. But that is just because it suited the Celestials for him to believe that. The stories also show that scale is largely an illusion, and there is much we do not know (the Beyonders, for example, are barely known at all). This is as we should expect: advanced beings are not like us. They do not look or think or act like us. We can draw some conclusions, but those conclusions may be surprising. Let's go, shall we?

Advanced beings

Advanced beings probably operate on higher dimensions. This means one being might have multiple appearances in this world. Imagine your 3D body appearing in a 2D world. Like putting your hand slowly through the 2D surface of a bath of water. To that surface, your hand appears as 5 separate shapes, then those shapes join, change shape, get thicker... one being appears as multiple slightly different beings! We can see this already in the real world: as people we exist online as avatars. One person can have many avatars at the same time. As Artificial Intelligence improves, our avatars could even answer questions on our behalf. We can exist as multiple beings!

Now recall the Watcher's comment that there are basically just two powerful beings: the Watcher and Galactus. It seems reasonable to suppose that the Beyonders, Celestials, etc., are merely aspects of Galactus. Galactus tests planets (eating those that cannot hide), the Celestials test planets (Arishem the judge), the Beyonders test planets (by providing rewards for those who reach a certain level), and so on. I further submit that each Galactus is a different aspect of the one Galactus, hence the different appearance, history, and behavior. The surfer may also have been raised to a higher dimension to gain his powers, explaining his different versions.

Our own Galactus

Our next exhibit is Fantastic Four 262, and follows from the previous discussion: we are shown (in the Trial of Reed Richards) that each civilization sees Galactus in its own image. We have the Galactus that most suits us at a particular time. Remember that the highest powers in the universe tend to personify concepts, such as eternity, or the living tribunal. It seems likely that the Watchers personify knowledge and Galactus personifies testing or truth (the same thing). It is only natural that these concepts change according to who interacts with them.

The final exhibit is Fantastic Four 604, the climax to Jonathan Hickman's long arc.

My view is that after issue 321 we see different realities slipping in and out of focus, so I take most later stories with a pinch of salt (with the exception of Claremont's run: he appears to use the original Fantastic Four). However, Franklin exists across dimensions, so every Franklin appearance counts as canon. But this is not an essay about Franklin, so I will cut to the chase. I did warn you about spoilers, didn't I? OK, here is the conclusion to Hickman's 50 issue arc: Galactus is the herald of Franklin. Yes, you read that right. Don't act horrified. It makes sense if we step back and look at the nature of Franklin's power.

Franklin and Galactus: complementary power

Franklin basically connects realities. I won't go into details, but he is a doorkeeper. He lets the entire universe (or a part of it) slip into an alternate universe. By letting people switch universes he appears to be creating or changing entire universes, but it's more subtle than that. It's more like connecting doorways, except you do not physically walk through any door, the normal passage of time does the walking for you. It's all quite simple and subtle really. As annual 23 said, scale is an illusion. But this is not an essay about Franklin.

If Franklin's power is to connect universes, and Galactus personifies testing, it follows naturally that Galactus is the herald of Franklin because every test leads to a new state of the universe (e.g. one where we have defeated Galactus or one where we are destroyed). All the rest of it, the explosions and battles and Kirby dots and such, is just how we experience this higher dimensional testing and connecting. Galactus only appears in his big G form when the test is of a particular type.

Put another way, Franklin represents the new, Galactus represents the death of the old. It's the circle of life.

The seven battles with Galactus

OK, with that understanding (Galactus adapts to us, and is attracted to Franklin), let us examine the seven battles with Galactus in the core Fantastic Four timeline. Note the Biblical significance of six struggles leading to success on the seventh.

1. FF 48-50: this was the great test. Galactus finds the Earth, and he represents all the grandeur of the universe, as you would expect. One way to think of the ultimate nullifier is that it does what Franklin does: it jumps everything to a different reality. But in this case it resets everything to how it was, say, a billion years ago, so our conscious lives no longer exist. Compare the null bands that Johnny flies through to reach the start of the universe. This probably makes more sense if you consider how reality arises from mathematical logic. Why does Galactus find Earth? Galactus is a fundamental force of the universe (see FF262). When Reed triggered the Beyonders' powers (see FF319) Galactus would have been alerted. If Earth survived then it would be able to produce higher and greater powers, and that means Franklin. Earth passed the test, and soon Franklin was born.

2. The second appearance of Galactus, FF 74: One year later (1967) Sue learns she is pregnant with Franklin. She learns in annual 5, a Microverse story. Soon after, in another Microverse story, Galactus feels drawn back to Earth against his will ("Galactus did VOW to NEVER RETURN-- and yet, he is HERE!") and is inexplicably desperately hungry. Ironically the boys are rushing around like mad things (seriously this is probably the busiest arc ever) and they think they are letting Sue rest. But the real story is going on inside Sue's womb: Franklin's stress hormones are dragging Galactus to Earth.

3. The third appearance, FF 122: Franklin's life is relatively uneventful for a few years (except for the birth, but this was probably a Cesarean due to the complications, so Franklin probably didn't feel too stressed). But by the age of four Franklin is old enough to realize what is going on, and it coincides with the beginnings of the family problems that I call Act Four. (Although Franklin is four years old in 1972 he only lets himself appear as two years old.) The Over-mind debacle in particular was a time of enormous stress for the family. This must disturb Franklin at a deep level, and so Galactus is drawn back to the Earth. Galactus always adapts to the culture that attracts him (see FF262) so when around a four year old Franklin he looks and acts like a four year old would expect. In FF 122 Galactus looks like a toy soldier with bulging muscles, and acts very dumb (tripped over by Ben, and has an easy to access spacecraft with a gigantic self destruct button). He even plays with a roller coaster and giant train set. He is basically molded to Franklin's four year old brain. He is announced by Franklin's nanny, Agatha Harkness, Agatha watches throughout, and he (Galactus) ends up in Franklin's home turf, the negative zone.

4. The fourth appearance, FF 172:Though Franklin is brain zapped in the 140s he isn't really aware of this (he is far more concerned with what happens to his family). Franklin is next aware of major problems when his uncle Ben fights against the family, then loses his powers and is replaced and fights them again. Franklin's eight year old brain (appearing as three years old) has a typical eight year old solution: he unconsciously has a new, better Earth built, and summons Galactus there so his family can prove once again that they do the right thing. And how does his eight year old brain get rid of Galactus this time? By giving him indigestion!

5. The fifth appearance, FF 212:Franklin is getting older and better at controlling things: Galactus is becoming more of a friend. The family experiences a new crisis - Sue and Reed and Ben age and almost die, so Franklin unconsciously summons Galactus to help against the Sphinx. Obviously he doesn't just say "come here Galactus" - it is all unconscious through manipulating reality so that others do the job, but the result is the same. When he finally masters his powers in FF 604 then yes, he does say "to me, my Galactus." Of course Galactus still asks for his dinner, but that is just how the test always goes, and the family always passes the test.

6. The sixth appearance, FF 243-244: the defeat of Galactus, the herald of Franklin, leads immediately to FF244: Childhood's end. This leads to Reed telling Franklin to turn off his power, leading to him being hung upside down as fresh meat for Annihilus. This trauma not only drags his parents back from Reed's negative zone debacle, but also drags Galactus along for the seventh and final time.. 

7. The seventh and final battle is FF257 - Galactus battles with himself. Now that he is a friend, he does not even consider attacking Earth. Instead he questions his existence: this is the great existential question between the twin realities of opposition (personified by Galactus) and its alternative, nothingness (personified by Death). He concludes by setting in motion the end game, by destroying the Skrull Throne World. This will end all the cosmic themes: see notes to annuals 18 and 19.

Friendship with Galactus means the end of the universe. By 262 Galactus and the team are friends. This causes the break down of reality and end of the world (in the FF 340s), just as Galactus foretold in FF 213. See the notes to FF213 for details.
 

Criticisms (source)

• "What, really is the plot of this issue?" The plot is that Franklin becomes aware, and by calling Galactus he puts the fate of the world at stake.
• "Galactus spends a deal of time trying to locate the Silver Surfer — he knows he’s on Earth somewhere, does a gigantic interstellar planet-eater need a mailing address?" Galactus is summoned by Franklin, but does not know it. Hence the danger: a world destroyer is summoned to your planet, is confused and hence irritated.
• Why is the Punisher robot suddenly whisked away? Because Galactus is as confused as anyone: he does not know what is happening.
• Why is Sue sidelined? This is the whole problem: Reed thinks he is protecting her, but is in fact ignoring her. This story is about Sue.
• Why isn't Crystal more involved? She is not a member of the team, and she is young and from a highly regimented society where stepping beyond your place is unthinkable.

• A missing page?
  The dialog suggests there is a missing page: too many events are mentioned as if they were already known, yet they are not shown. Also, the number of strange camera angles (e.g. showing somebody looking at an event, instead of the event itself, and the Surfer's neck that looks like a Punisher's neck) suggests that Kirby was either rushed, or his story was changed, or he was was generally not happy when he created this issue. See the notes to 67 for why. See "where Kirby Stopped" in Kirby Collector 61
• Why Crystal agrees
  Why does Crystal agree to Reed's deception? She is young and has never known anything except submission to a highly patriarchal society: Reed to her is like Black Bolt, plus she is loyal. And she has never seen the younger Sue, before Reed made her doubt herself.
  
• Reed lies
  Reed lies to Sue. "I hate to lie to her.." we see Reed both at his best and his worst. He is a complex, driven, conflicted would-be king, the Hamlet of comics.
• Johnny's power
  Under extreme stress, Johnny finds a new ability: electrifies lightning rods (or that's what he THINKS he's doing) creating a  barrier so strong it tosses the Punisher into the sea! For more about the nature of super powers, and their limits, and other clues that Johnny's power is not simple flame as he thinks, see the page on super science.
  

75

Issue 75: symbolic in-fighting

Continuing the aftermath of Reed's disastrous decision to come back, we see the team waste their time fighting duplicates of themselves rather than saving the world or doing something useful for others. When Reed came back what should have been an ever growing and improving family suddenly got stuck in sand. Nothing symbolizes lack of progress more than wasting time fighting yourself. The key to this issue is that Reed should have devoted his time to Franklin. This is why the Beyonders gave the team their powers, to raise Franklin (see FF319). By rejecting his role as a father, Reed has messed things up. It's reed's mistake that brought Galactus and resulted in the clones. Reed is battling against fate.

The appearance of the doppelgangers, and all the other stuff,  foreshadows what happens after act 5. Let us compare 1968 (when Franklin was born and Marvel Time began) with 1988-89 (when continuity ended):

Note the irony in Reed criticizing Ben. Reed tells Ben to think of others, and says that he thinks of Sue. but Reed lies to Sue and prevents her from reaching her potential, just as he criticizes Ben in order to stay as the alpha male. But none of that is conscious. Reed;'s mind is free of any malice, but his flaw, his ego, makes him fail and makes him a tragic figure.

The key to the these crazy Galactus and Microverse issues is the rhetorical question on the cover of FF75. It applies to the surfer, but more than that it applies to Reed. Remember that as we review the microverse issues

• Galactus "rips an island up, tossing them into the water where they are quite helpless. Ben sinks instantly, Reed tries to save him, and Johnny is pretty powerless. This is a genuinely interesting situation for the FF to be in — defeated by a large body of water — and it is thrilling. It would have been nice to note that had Sue — or possibly Crystal — been with the team, they wouldn’t be in as much trouble as they are" This is the whole point! That is the plot! It's the whole 28 year story in miniature: if he treated his family with respect all his problems would be solved.

• Galactus "gives them three doppelgangers to fight — evil versions of themselves. Why go to all that trouble when he already had them powerless in space?" and Galactus "sends a planet-sized asteroid hurtling towards Earth. This forces us to question exactly how weak and powerless Galactus actually is beyond all his insistences. Surely if he has the power to do all this, then he has the power to free himself from his stranded predicament?" Galactus is confused, but too proud to admit it, and he needs the FF to provide answers.

• Why would Crystal go along with this? See above: her background is in a strict monarchy. In a strict monarchy you do not question the male boss.

76

Issue 76: Drugs

This issue sums up Reed's avoidance of family duties, and his desire to believe he is smarter than others: like somebody on drugs.

The comics code would not allow any hint of drugs, but it's clear what this issue is about:

• The boys go on a trip... to inner space, dude.
• They travel in a ship shaped like a pill
• This is after an issue where they fought against themselves.
  
• They shrink inside an atom, That's further than Alice shrank, man.
• They see crazy swirling shapes and colors.
• They do far out things like chasing an alien on a surfboard.
• This whole place is ruled by Psycho Man.
• Psycho Man manipulates your fear, hate and self doubt (like somebody having a bad trip)
• It appears that only one person exists in this micro-world (this inner world): a metaphor for the individual on a trip.
  
• It's really heavy, man (Ben keeps talking about the higher gravity slowing him down - almost like this is a dream)
• They fight people then the people just fade away like they were never there (the android, and next issue, psycho-man)
• Reed learns stuff here about how the brain works (see comments to FF78)
• At the end (next issue) they don't need the pill to get back, psycho man just waves his hand and the trip is over, and then they all feel great.
  
• The decision to travel on that pill was the result of some brainless choices:
  
• They need to reason with the Surfer. The only one who can do that is Alicia. So they don't bring her. In fact they tell all the girls to stay away.
• They need all their fighting strength. Luckily they have Crystal: an elemental, who is superb both in battle and at solving problems in a crisis (e.g. in FF61). So what do they do? Tell her to play nurse maid to Sue.
• They need to track someone across different dimensions. How lucky! Crystal has Lockjaw, and tracking people across dimensions is his specialty. So what do they do? They forget about him completely.
• Reed says he does not want Sue to worry. So what does he do? He takes away any power she may have over the situation, and also lies to her. Feeling powerless is the main cause of fear and stress. Reed is making it worse.
• They say that every minute counts. Yet by making these stupid decisions they make the job much harder than it should be, and thus endanger the world.
• Reed acts like Sue is about to have the child or something. But two issues later the doctors say it's still a week away. She could have come. She should have come.
• When they withdraw from this crazy world they're more depressed. In the next issue both Ben's and Johnny's moods grow darker.
  

About androids and fake teams
Here we have yet another indestructible android. Why? Every issue has another (Thinker's android, his fake FF, Galactus' fake FF, this, Doom's android, finally issue 100) Why? Think: what is the opposite of an android? A real person. What is the opposite of the fake FF? The real FF. Real is growth. Real is learning from mistakes. Sue has just given birth. Reed has treated the adults like kids too long, he needs to focus on a real kid. He cannot win where he is: he cannot do it all himself. There will always be another pointless enemy until he wises up.

• Cause and effect:
  "Psycho-Man makes an appearance long enough to send an ‘Indestructible’ after the intruders and then the FF run into that. They fight, of course, and then the robot disappears. Then the Surfer comes back. Then he leaves again. It’s not just that there’s a lack of closure, there’s a lack of meaning. "  All of these events are explained in the story itself. The surfer came to amuse himself by watching the team, heard what they said, and chose to save them from the robot then sacrifice his freedom to a nobler cause. Yes, it's a lot of crazy stuff happening, but there's a reason for that. Step back and see the long term story. Franklin is about to be born. The insane pace and vast scales, from cosmic to subatomic, reflect the unborn Franklin is becoming aware, but he does not understand: it's all a swirl of sensations and that is reflected in the outside world. The "closure" is that they escape this world and thus Franklin can be born.

• Lack of conviction:
  "The FF need to get the Surfer to join up as Galactus’ herald in order to save the human race, but they go about it ham-stiltedly, with a total lack of conviction." Yes, that is the bigger story here: as long as Reed ignores Sue he will fail. This issue foreshadows act 4, and contains the 28 year story in a nutshell: Reed is not really in control and he knows it but will not face it. He tries to believe he can solve everything, while ignoring his duty, the people who can solve his problems - his wife and unborn son.

Fan Theory
Franklin is destined to control the Marvel Universe: the Beyonders designed mankind for this moment (see the notes to FF 319) it makes sense that higher beings would take a keen interest in the birth. So where are they? Take the Stranger for example. His purpose is to travel the planets looking for mutants. Why doesn't he notice Franklin?

Franklin is the most powerful mutant of all, so where is the Stranger when Franklin is born? This page in FF 76 appears to have the answer. Sue's doctor seems to know more than he is admits. Why is the doctor so keen that Reed gets back before the birth? Men were not allowed to be present at the birth (see annual 6), but Reed had to be back in order to save the baby's life. If that is what the doctor means, how could he know that? Let's look closer at this doctor. Where have we seen him before?

Other points to note

• Making his own problems
  This is yet another example of Reed creating a conflict that did not need to exist. In the last frame of FF76 the Galactus problem had been pretty much solved, and Reed had the chance to go home, but instead he decided to fight "against the total forces of Sub-Atomica" just in case they might be a danger at some future time. The guy loves to make trouble!
• Movies
  The shrinking ship has been compared to the movie Fantastic Voyage, but is probably closer to Jack Williamson's 1932 story "The Pygmy Planet" (thanks to Pierre Comtois' "Marvel Comics in the 1960s" for pointing this out).
• The last great issue?
  Pierre Comtois' "Marvel Comics in the 1960s" calls FF77 "the FF's last great issue". A lot of fans would feel the same way, though obviously I disagree. But it is probably true that this is the last great Kirby idea that slipped out before his DC Fourth World stories.
• Where did the Indestructible go?
  "FF #76, page 20. Kirby’s notes show he used the Surfer to get rid of the Indestructible, but Lee ignores this, and there is no explanation in the published book of why the Indestructible disappears." (source)
  

77

Issue 77: the most intense issue ever

The key to understanding this wild and crazy issue it is to focus on the biggest extreme: Sue's quiet peaceful life, and the the boys' chaos. The link is obvious, even if we don't understand its significance:

"And good lord, how long are we going to tolerate this treatment of Susan Richards? She is now completely bed-ridden, able to do no more than swoon. It would have made sense to give her some sort of mysterious illness or mundane complication to warrant her complete debilitation after what can only be a couple of months worth of pregnancy. It’s as if not only had Stan or Jack not witnessed a pregnancy before, but they had only heard strange, disturbing, second-hand tales told to them by dark travelers from distant lands. The effects of Sue’s pregnancy to her own body and mind are as otherworldly – not to say less believable — as a journey into a mysterious pocket dimension." (source)

So the link is obvious, the contrast is so great we can hardly miss it. It's Sue and calm versus Reed and chaos. But what does it mean? We have seen in the past 76 issues that the FF is largely the struggles of Susan Storm: her peaceful methods are generally better than than Reed's confrontational methods. This is the big picture, that if only Reed would focus on his family then everything would be resolved. Here his world is turning inside out because he went against his fate in FF72. Remember the

Pregnancy as literary metaphor

If we see this as a comic then we miss the depth. but if we see this as a chapter in a much larger literary epic then we cannot escape the metaphor of pregnancy. Something big (Franklin) is about to happen, danger, unknown, new life, etc. all suddenly makes sense.

Criticism: about the energy Galactus needs (source)

"He resolves Galactus’ hunger plight so maddeningly easily (he watched a comet hit a planet! He found enough energy practically in the first place he looked! What use are Galactus’ machines and powers if he can’t even smash a planet with a big rock when he needs to? *Head slap*)."  Note that the surfer followed the meteor "half-way across the galaxy." Clearly this is not an ordinary meteor. In half a galaxy there will be countless billions of meteors, and billions of suns each with the energy to bathe a solar system (that's the whole point of a star!). Clearly the "energy" the surfer refers to is the life energy that Galactus needs, and not simple kinetic or thermal energy. There is something about this meteor that sets it apart from others.  The key is to understand what the surfer means when he talks about energy.

"The question 'what is energy?' is difficult to answer in a simple, intuitive way, although energy can be rigorously defined in theoretical physics. In the words of Richard Feynman, 'It is important to realize that in physics today, we have no knowledge what energy is. We do not have a picture that energy comes in little blobs of a definite amount.' [...] Because energy is defined as the ability to do work on objects, there is no absolute measure of energy. Only the transition of a system from one state into another can be defined and thus energy is measured in relative terms." (source)

Life is therefore the greatest source of energy because it can do more useful work. Useful work is a physics term. It refers to work that is worth measuring: work directed to a purpose, as opposed to atoms randomly hitting each other, which also involves work, but cancels itself out. Useful implies purpose and that implies intelligence.  The key to the surfer's action is that the planet is "long dead" and may contain some history of when it was alive. Something about this highly unusual meteor is able to unlock that potential.

Other points to note

• Just as in FF75, Reed insults Ben and puts him down.
• The surfer left this issue to begin his own solo comics title.

78

Issue 78: Reed's religion; and Ben is about to propose

• These issues are the run up to the birth of Franklin. The last few issues examined the character of his father, Reed. Now its the turn of another member of the FF: here we examine the character of Ben.
• These issues are about false choices. Reed thinks he has to choose between fighting, and letting the world be destroyed. He is wrong: there are better ways to save the world (e.g. Sue makes alliances instead of fighting), and other people wiling to fight (e.g. Crystal). Now we have another false choice: Ben thinks he has to choose between looking normal or being The Thing. In fact e can have both, if only he faces his fears.
• These issues are about Reed's bad decisions. This issue is the one he returns to again and again: he tries to "cure" Ben without realizing that Ben's problem is not physical. The real problem is how Reed attacks Ben's self esteem.
• These issues are about the impending birth of Franklin. It's about family. Now Ben wants to propose marriage to Alicia.
  

Even if we look at the short term events we see that each issue leads to the next:

• Reed's crazy adventure in the Microverse gave him confidence: he did his super scientist thing and somehow the world was safe. He feels great! He's on a roll! So he decides to do another super scientists thing and fix Ben. 
• Reed gets most of his ideas and equipment from alien technology. While he was in the Psycho-man's realm he studied the equipment there. IT was all based around mind control, and Ben's inability to change is based in his mind, so it's no coincidence that when he gets back, Reed has a new idea for helping Ben.
  
  It is ironic that while studying the Psycho-man's devices he insulted Ben again. Reed understands that Ben's mind is involved but, never makes the connection with self esteem until Franklin points it out in FF245. The key to Ben changing is always his mental state. Hence any successful conversion changes his thinking (e.g. FF112, versus the Hulk) or vice versa (e.g. FF167, where increased confidence led him to change).
  

"As far as which super villain not named Victor fought the FF in the most issues, look no further than the Mad Thinker. ...  he kept teaming up with the Puppet Master (FF #28, 100, Strange Tales #126). Maybe the Thinker, like the Mole Man, craved affirmation from peers. Why else would anyone hang out with lowlifes who played with cosmic apes and radioactive clay?" - (Robert Papetti, "Fantastic Four In The Silver Age Sixties: A Tribute")

The Thinker reflects the typical readers' life. This comic, remember, is the Great American Novel: Whereas in previous centuries the typical reader was a kid who played outdoors (hence Tom Sawyer) or an adult who yearned to travel (hence Moby Dick or any Jack London story), but the 1960s the American reader was trapped in a city. Loneliness became the problem. Hence the two most common enemies (after Doctor Doom) were the Mole Man (see here for his loneliness ** link**) and the Mad Thinker. The Mad Thinker felt unappreciated and was always trying to make friends. To literally make friends: androids. Whereas the Mole Man had an army of the ugly or small and simple minded (the unpopular kids) to play with.

And beyond that, the Mad Thinker represents computers: he represents one of the biggest changes in the world in the late twentieth century, so he must dominate the Great American Novel.

79

Issue 79: Ben's spirit is finally broken

Reed thinks he has "cured" Ben but in fact he makes the situation worse. Ben's problem his low self esteem and fear of being weak. By telling him he has to choose to be weak forever or ugly forever, Ben chooses what he is told as ugliness. In the past this condition was forced on him (as he saw it): e.g. in FF40 where Reed turned him back int the Thing against his will. But now his will is broken and he does it to himself. The key fact to remember is that, as revealed in FF245 and hinted at many other times, Ben could have always changed back and forth at will if only he didn't feel so insecure. He could have defeated this android without having to feel despair.

When Ben finally chooses to make himself the Thing then his spirit is truly broken. He is like Winston Smith on the last page of George Orwell's "1984". Yet more powerful, because he knows exactly what he is doing and cannot see any way out. And the Big Brother character, Reed, is not a two dimensional villain (in "1984" the Party knows it is hurting people and does not care). Reed is tormented over his inability o save his friend, yet Reed is causing it. This is deep psychology, folks. It's powerful stuff.

Another drug metaphor

The process of powering up involves the wrist, just like injecting drugs.

• Why do we not see how Ben reacts to being human again? We do. He is emotionally torn, just as he was before. Why don't we see him enjoying being human? Because deep down it makes him very uneasy.
• Why is the android programmed to destroy the owner of the gloves? Because the Wizard knows that the android can only be activated if he (the Wizard) is in dire straits, which indicates that the Wizard is not wearing the gloves. Possibly the gloves contain a secret way to deactivate the android that only the inventor of the gloves would know.
• Why take the gloves with him on a date? Because deep down, Ben wants power. He is insecure. He feels powerless.
• Why do the gloves instantly change him? Because the real change is psychological. The gloves gave Ben's unconscious mind the excuse. They are like the Disney character Dumbo's magic feather. Ben believes the gloves are doing it, so they do.

The Family portraits

When Kirby decided to leave, he began to include affectionate family portraits. Splash pages of happy family scenes, often leading to playful moments before the main action began. This heightens the contrast with when Kirby went and the family broke apart in Act 4 (in the 1970s).

"Consider the many family portraits:

• #79 – Johnny and Crystal watch temporarily human Ben look at a Thing photo (there’s also a full-page close-up of Mr. and Mrs. Richards on page 8).
• #80 – Ben reclines and reads a letter while Johnny holds a broomstick in the background.
• #87 – The Fantastic Five – Reed, Sue, Ben, Johnny and Crystal -- stare up at an off-panel Castle Doom.
• #94 – Make that six; the fantastic adults happily gather around newest member of the family, baby Franklin.
• #99 – Reed and Sue check out the Thing in ski gear posing in the mirror.
• #101 – Ben, Alicia and Crys dance to a tune by Johnny on guitar.
• #102 – Crystal feeds a spoonful of cold medicine to a sick Thing, sitting in a blue robe with a white towel wrapped around his head.

My favorite family full-pager is on page 6 of issue #88. The FF and Crystal stand outside in the woods, wearing fashionable coats and looking like a rock band posing for an album cover. [...]  The respite snapshots and Kodak moments felt real, and gave fans from deteriorating nuclear families the elusive sense of unity and belonging we craved and needed to depend on. The Fantastic Four was together, and we were a part of them." (Robert Papetti, "Fantastic Four In The Silver Age Sixties: A Tribute")

80

Issue 80: principles and gods

Many topics could be explored concerning this classic issue, particularly concerning land rights (a foundational theme of American history and culture), but this review will focus on Tomazooma and the Keewazi tribe, and what it says about American religion.

The previous issues addressed death (via Galactus), birth (Franklin's) and marriage (Reed and Sue, and the hope of Ben and Alicia). It's time to consider abstract morality. It's time to talk religion, just as previous issues dealt with the existential questions of survival and personal identity. The Great American Novel addresses religion through a kind of parable featuring the first nations.

How this follows from previous issues

Reed Richards thinks that he, personally, is needed in the FF. He does not realize that the principle of leadership is more important then him as a leader: the fact is that Crystal is a better decision maker, and he holds them all back. This issue illustrates that: the principle of following a righteous deity is good: but saying that you should follow a particular physical being is not good, because that being, whether it is Reed of Tomazooma, will have its own needs and might fail you.

Mockery from ignorance

This is one of the most widely mocked issues of the FF, yet it is one of the most profound. Sadly, most readers miss almost all the cultural references. Even Stan Lee missed them: the original plan was for a different story entirely, and Stan did not know what to make of this when it arrived. Hence the cover that simply says "the return of Wyatt Wingfoot" - the only element that Stan could latch onto. But let us look a little deeper.

(Please remember that most references in the FF are not consciously planned, but emerge naturally because the title absorbs the culture around it. The influences are real, even if Jack Kirby did not add them consciously.)

The key to this issue is its title: the living totem. Not "totem pole," as is widely assumed, but totem. "A totem is a being, object, or symbol representing an animal or plant that serves as an emblem of a group of people, such as a family, clan, group, lineage, or tribe, reminding them of their ancestry (or mythic past)." - Wikipedia

Our next clue is when Reed says this is "the most dangerous legend of all" and that this is "the death that walks." Most readers assume this is a variation on Annihilus, who's purpose is to kill. But Comanche culture (see below) is different: death is not a bad thing, a death in battle is noble and leads to happiness and peace. This is a religious thing: the significance is not that Tomazooma kills people, but that Tomazooma represents an abstract principle made physical. Yes, he has power over life and death, but that is secondary: any true warrior would welcome death is the god willed it. To understand why a physical god is the most dangerous legend of all we need to understand Wyatt's culture.

The Keewazi tribe

Wyatt Wingfoot is from near Tulsa (see FF50) and is of the Keewazi tribe. The location, and his unusual toughness, suggests a link to the Comanche, and this is later confirmed in other comics. The Comanche were known for their state of constant war, and unusually for first nation peoples this meant they had less respect for the older members of the tribe, to the extent that suicide was culturally acceptable. This would explain why the tribal leader is so willing to face Johnny's flame: to back down would be worse than death.

The name Keewazi is probably a combination of the Kiowa and Wazhazhe people of this area, the southern plains. The name Wazhazhe (or Wažaže) was written by French explorers as "Ouasage" and was later mis-named the Osage. Osaage means "mother", presumably as in "mother earth." In their legends their ancestors were called the "war people" (as contrasted with their neighbors the peace people, the vegetarian Tsishus). Another group from the Oklahoma region was the Kiowa. "The ideal personality of the Kiowas was that of the young fearless warrior. The entire tribe was structured around this individual. The warrior was the ideal to which young men aspired. Because of these factors, the Kiowa was of utmost importance in the history of the Southern Plains." (- Wikipedia.) According to sources cited by Wikipedia, the southern Kiowa ('Gwa-kelega’) were allies of the Comanche.
Perhaps the Keewazi are a small group descended from both the Kiowa and Wazhazhe peoples, within the broader Comanche group. Regarding Stan and Jack this is unconscious of course. To them the name would have just "sounded right" without realizing why it sounded right. The name was probably influenced by Kewanis, a group dedicated to making the world a better place. The Kewanis name is referenced in the FF29 letters page. "Kiwanis International (kih-WAH-niss) is an international, coeducational service club founded in 1915. [...] The name 'Kiwanis' was coined from an Otchipew American Indian expression" (Wikipedia)

The most important fact for the purpose of this story is that the Keewazi are in Oklahoma, part of the Comanche. Comanche gods and spirits do not have physical form. It appears then that the Keewazi is a break off group that does have a physical god, Tomazooma. This is what Reed called "the most dangerous legend of all." Gods, in the sense of true abstract principles, cannot fail, but physical individuals often disappoint us and can be used to hijack religion for personal profit.

The significance of this issue

The theme of this issue is highly controversial: the story is walking on eggshells: it deals with the most sensitive topic of all, religion. The themes are clearly implied but cannot be stated explicitly for fear of causing offense. Specifically, a religion based on principles is good, even when those principles are embodied in a distant figure. But if the religion becomes focused on a particular living figure then religion becomes corrupted: people no longer focus on the principle, but prefer the easier option, magical thinking and "I am better than you." This theme is of special interest to me - see my other web site, AnswersAnswers.com, for how I believe that Christianity betrayed its true principles (respect for reality) for a love of the supernatural. As I said, this is controversial, and perhaps it's a message that can only be told through another culture, in this case the native American religion.

On a simpler level, the mixing of ball games and religion is itself a comment on American culture, and the two cultures are incompatible. It's deep stuff: better for this issue to be rejected as nonsense than for Marvel's offices to be lynched by angry mobs.

The name Tomazooma - and that mouth

The name Tomazooma makes sense in the Nahuatl languages of Mexico: toma means "to swell" as in tomana, or tomatle (swelling fruit, hence the word "tomato") and "zuma" means "to frown in anger" - hence his most notable feature, that gigantic angry mouth. So "tomazooma" means "big angry mouth" The Comanche can extend as far south as northern Mexico. Their language is in the Shoshoni group, which is itself in the large Uto-Aztecan group, so the meaning is plausible.

The ancient ball game

Tomazooma is defeated by throwing a ball into his round mouth. This reflects the ball game that was played throughout ancient Mexico and central America, where being on the losing team sometimes meant death. The mouth has that distinctive round shape because it reminds us of the goal mouth (or possibly the goal mouth was modeled after the gods, such as the gods who provide the winds or who swallow people, and would have distinctive mouths.


Criticisms
Apart from a misunderstanding of the purpose of the story, and an ignorance of ancient Mexican culture, this issue is also criticized due to ignorance of the FF and of how stories are compressed.

• Reed is often mocked for shrinking, but changing volume has always been part of this skill set. E.g. when Ben forced him into a bottle, or when he would routinely explore machines from the inside. A change of mass accompanies this, and is crucial to our understanding of how superpowers work.
• How can Reed be fired from a bazooka? A bazooka is just a tube (it has to be, to prevent massive recoil: the propellant is in the rocket itself), but this detail was so minor that the word "bazooka" was just used to indicate a gun of some kind.
• Why did Reed tell Wyatt to "be careful" being picked up when he can cope with being shot out of a gun? Reed is probably highly dense when compressed, so has great weight. It was already established that Wyatt is very strong for a normal man, so could pick Reed up. But he would need to exert a lot of force with his fingers, and could easily push Reed fro the hard to maintain spherical shape, hence the need to be careful.
• How could an oil company make such a functional robot in 1968? The story says it was funded from behind the iron curtain. Four issues later we see that, at this time, Doom was experimenting with advanced robots and his nation bordered on the iron curtain. Occam's razor (removing all but minimum elements) suggests this the Tomazooma robot was re-purposed from one of Doom's failed robot attempts: it's not good enough for active use, but good enough to scare people. For where Doom got his robots, see the commentary to annual 2.
• Why use such an elaborate method to get the Indians from their land? Because they have such iron will. The only way to make then back down is if their gods say so. Also, the oil company does not want to use litigation because that would attract attention and reveal its iron curtain backing. This was a very real danger, as revealed by how quickly they were found out.

Cultural influence
Finally, and on a lighter topic, the shapes used by Kirby in his exotic machines (not just for this issue) were the inspiration for a font: "Ottomat" - originally called Tomazooma, but the name was changed for legal reasons. The Kirby influence is most obvious in the lower case "a"

Next: Franklin