1961: FF1: Beat the Russians! (The origin of the FF)

1

Inspiration Dates Reed Richards 1961 and space travel Realism

Cosmic rays Secrecy The launch site "Hijacking"? Why take Sue?

Mutations Awe and wonder Symbolism Weaknesses? Themes

Other points Philosophy of realism Ben Grimm Reed and The Bomb The secret of FF1

Image: NASA

Date	Significance	Country	Mission Name
August 21, 1957	Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)	USSR	R-7 Semyorka SS-6 Sapwood
October 4, 1957	First artificial satellite	USSR	Sputnik 1
November 3, 1957	First animal in orbit (Dog)	USSR	Sputnik 2
January 31, 1958	First US satellite; detection of Van Allen belts	USA-ABMA	Explorer 1
December 18, 1958	First communications satellite	USA-ABMA	Project SCORE
January 4, 1959	Artificial satellite (Sun's)	USSR	Luna 1
February 17, 1959	Weather satellite	USA-NASA (NRL)1	Vanguard 2
June 1959	Reconnaissance satellite	USA-Air Force	Discover 4
August 7, 1959	Photo of Earth from space	USA-NASA	Explorer 6
September 14, 1959	Probe to Moon	USSR	Luna 2
October 7, 1959	Photo of the far side of the Moon	USSR	Luna 3
April 12, 1961	Human in orbit	USSR	Vostok 1

Note the different organizations involved: the ABMA, NRL, Air Force and NASA. This was not the monolithic NASA that later controlled the space program, it was the early days when anything could happen. Everything could rest on a single person or a single rocket idea. In this period it is highly plausible that a wealthy scientist like Reed Richards could make a difference.

1961 was the height of the cold war, the year that Kennedy was inaugurated as President. Communism seemed to be spreading over the globe. Americans had to show that freedom was best!

Dates

Were the Americans really first?

To beat the Russians into space, the origin must have taken place before April 1961. But the unexpected creation of super powers made this a matter of military secrecy, so the world at recorded Yuri Gagarin as being first. The issue was on sale in August 1961 with the next issue in October 1961 (the first issues were bi-monthly). This allows enough time (April to October 1961) for the team to become famous, as we see at the start of issue 2. The stories at this point generally take place in real time, so in total Act 1 takes around a year.

1961-1989: the story of the cold war

The Fantastic Four's golden age was the 1960s, up to 1969 when the first man set foot on the moon: and he was American.

The main Fantastic Four story, 1961-1989, parallels the cold war. Issue 1 went on sale in August 1961, the week that the Berlin Wall divided east and west.

The final issue (FF333), was dated December 1989, the month after the Berlin Wall opened to let people through.

People like Reed Richards did exist

In the early days of the space race, everything could depend on a single man. In America it was Wernher Von Braun. In Russia it was Sergey Korolyov.
   
Note that the story only shows them reaching the edge of space, and no further: just as in the real world. The team did not wear space suits, and re-entry was not a huge problem. The focus of the story was just to get to the edge of space and possibly experience cosmic rays, that is all. Just as in the real world of 1961.

1961: space travel opened Pandora's box

What of the most popular member of the Fantastic Four, the orange skinned Thing?

FF 1 was plotted in April 1961, the month that mankind entered space. This was a huge leap into the unknown. Within living memory, mankind had leaped from the horse and cart era to nuclear bombs and space travel. What would be next?

Comics reflect the zeitgeist, and they were full of stories of scientific monsters and great danger. Nobody followed the zeitgeist of the time more closely than Stan Lee and his "Timely" comics. In the month that mankind entered space most of his comics featured orange dinosaur-skinned monsters with names like The Thing.

In the same month, Amazing Adventures had another lumpy orange monster that grew ever larger, threatening to crush the world. Once again the metaphor is obvious: with nuclear power and space travel, and global superpowers poised to destroy the world, what next?

The idea of a monster who keeps growing, threatening to crush the world, was revisited in Fantastic Four 271. In that issue, years after the paranoia of the cold war, it was revealed that the scientific monster does not in fact crush the world, but the larger it grows the less threatening it becomes. This reflects the essential optimism of the Fantastic Four.

Back to the month of Fantastic Four 1, Tales of Suspense 23 had not one but two orange monsters. Note the dialog: this is about the scientific and political world of 1961, where anything might happen: communist infiltration, new worlds of the very tiny (quantum physics) and very large (space travel) - what next? As the comic title suggested, people felt a feeling of suspense at the unknown.

And so it goes on. All of these lumpy orange Things from the same month.

Why the name "The Thing"? It means "the unknown or undefined." 

Why the lumpy, rocky hide? This is the skin of dinosaurs, the only real world monsters we know of.

Why the color orange? This is the color of the mud or earth under our feet (made brighter for fictional purposes). Dinosaurs are buried in the earth. The color of the earth suggests great age, weight and permanence. Contrast this with the usual colors for science fiction, green and purple, that suggests the ever changing (green for life) and human social structures (purple for royalty): the use of green and purple for enemies in comics (as opposed to red, yellow and blue for heroes) is a topic all of its own. But these orange monsters are different from the usual science fiction, they represent something bigger and more permanent.

Which brings us to the final and most famous Thing from this month that gave us space travel: Benjamin Grimm. Why is he remembered when the other Things are largely forgotten? Why did he become the most popular member of The Fantastic Four? Because this orange skinned Thing is different. He is one of us. He will help. He will save us from the green skinned monsters.

As a test pilot, Ben Grimm is the one prepared for danger. He is the one who warns against the cosmic rays. He is the one with the courage and skill to pilot the space ship. While other comics were afraid of the future, the Fantastic Four embraces the monster, embraces change. Other comics of that month reflected 1950s paranoia, but the Fantastic Four was a message of hope, in keeping with the 1960s.

The journey into space was realistic

In April 1961 the first man entered space. Where did the Fantastic Four go? All the images show them going not much further than the upper atmosphere, just like Yuri Gagarin.

In FF1, Ben Grimm says "if you want to fly to the stars..." and that is true: Reed did want to. At the same time, America was planning to fly to the moon (and then to Mars and the stars), but for the first eight years all their flights were test flights. This was the first time the team experienced cosmic rays, so it must have been an early test flight. In The Thing, issue 2 (in the 1980s), Reed refers to his rocket as having a "star drive" but that is just a name. In FF13 they use a "Saturn rocket." But the Saturn rocket never went to Saturn. The Mercury project never got as far as Mercury, the Gemini project never got as far Gemini (the constellation), etc. The context of issue 1 is the US-Russian race to the moon. This is clarified in FF 126. the goal is not the stars, not Mars, the moon. And the flight in issue 1 was only a test flight. Just as with the Apollo program, there had to be several test flights before the big one.

Cosmic rays were in the news

Something like these rays had just been discovered:

From Wikipedia:

"Explorer 1 was launched on January 31, 1958.... It was the first spacecraft to detect the Van Allen radiation belt."
"Missions beyond low earth orbit leave the protection of the geomagnetic field, and transit the Van Allen belts. Thus they may need to be shielded against exposure to cosmic rays, Van Allen radiation, or solar flares."

Nobody knew exactly what to expect (this was all new), but all radiation was of great concern - this was the height of the cold war, when ever more dangerous atomic bombs were being tested, and the effects of radiation were being discovered.

This stuff often happened in secret

Russian missions were routinely launched in secret, and only announced if they were a success - that way they could keep any accidents quiet. American military satellites are routinely launched in secret (as far as secrecy is possible with a rocket!)

More than one rocket launch site

Reed's rocket base is described as "private" by a guard, yet it cost less than two billion dollars (the moon program cost 23 billion), and is guarded by the military.

Obviously the Pentagon would resent it when Reed used his money to gain influence. There seems to be some tension here, a feeling of "them and us."

The exact location would be a secret, so would be reported in the comic as either New York or California to throw people off the scent.

"Hijacking" the ship?

Reed designed the ship, so had clearance at every level. The rocket was fueled and ready to run. The only conflict was delays due to concern over cosmic rays. Top brass was cautious, and Ben Grimm (the pilot) agreed with them. Reed was tired of the delays, saw a launch window in the weather, and decided to launch right then. Is that really so unlikely? Is he the first military man to ignore red tape and take a risk to get things done?

A launch requires time, and a support team on the ground. Obviously Reed would have his own technicians for ground control: the men and women who have worked under him for years. The story is merely a red tape issue, nothing more.

Why take Sue and Johnny along?

The Apollo program was typically designed for three astronauts, and Reed's rocket was no different.

He obviously planned for later expansion, so added an extra seat in front.

Four people was not too much weight.
The early test flight was only to enter space and go no further. The rockets are designed to carry many tons of fuel. By choosing a shorter flight the amount of fuel can be slightly reduced. With fewer tons to carry the test rocket could easily take an extra passenger.

Why take Ben?
Ben was a test pilot, and needed to fly the rocket. As 'Iron Maiden' noted, "Ben was a test pilot after the war (think Chuck Yeager type) and most of the early astronauts in the RW were Air Force or Navy pilots. In fact the president insisted all the Mercury 7 astronauts had to be test pilots. Jack Kirby or Stan probably would have been aware of that since the space program got quite a bit of press compared to today. In Sci Fi movies of the time, it was common to have civilians on board whatever vessel was dreamed up for the movie. But let's just say Stan and Jack were ahead of the curve their since civilians have been on trips on the various space shuttles before their retirement. Probably the only crew needed were Ben and Reed, who was part of the project."

Why take two more passengers?
This was a test flight, and had room for four people. More people meant more data to study.

Why take Sue?
Why would Reed try to impress his girlfriend? Men trying to impress women is the story of the human race. What could be more impressive than being the first man in space and taking your girl friend with you. Besides, a test flight is designed for gathering data. It would be very interesting to compare male and female reactions.

Why take Johnny?
For the fourth test subject Reed needed somebody he could trust. The fact that Johnny, being younger, weighed less, was a bonus. His youth made him more interesting to study: the more body types the better. As for leaving him home that might be impossible. Johnny was a teenager who loved engineering more than anything. He would kill to be aboard this machine. And whereas Reed was a designer and Ben was a pilot, Johnny was the only one with daily engineering experience. Early spaceflight was "flying by the seat of your pants" where the ability to tinker could save your life. And finally, young people have far better eyesight than adults. A fifteen year old's eyes might be a real asset in the darkness of space.

Cosmic rays can cause beneficial mutations

Evolution depends on random variation, caused by random changes to DNA, some of which is caused by... cosmic rays. As Wikipedia explains:

"Random mutations constantly occur in the genomes of organisms; these mutations create genetic variation. Mutations are changes in the DNA sequence of a cell's genome and are caused by radiation [and other causes]"

Traveling in space, or even in an airplane, increases your exposure to cosmic rays, and thus the mutations caused by comic rays. Some of these will be beneficial, more will be harmful, but most will have no noticeable effect. The question is not what happened (cosmic ray mutations are perfectly normal), but how it happened: how quickly, and so dramatically.

The only question with the Fantastic Four is one of scale: could such great changes happen that quickly, and if so, how likely is it to cause good rather than bad results?

What does the comic actually say?

The characters first assume that cosmic rays caused their superpowers. As they learn more, that conclusion changes: other phenomena were involved too.

Was it an accident?

The Fantastic Four is based in realism, so they immediately saw something was wrong: Yes, cosmic rays can cause beneficial mutations, but the odds against such extraordinary mutations are impossibly high. "It's almost as if it were pre-ordained."

This was no accident. America is a religious nation, so the Great American Novel hints of a higher power behind this. For details see the page on the cosmic. This was the Americans' destiny.

Awe and wonder

Above all, the Fantastic Four is about the fantastic. Yet every concept is based in some way on the real world. Even the disappearance of buildings into huge holes, in issue 1. Ever heard of sink holes?

I can't resist showing this Photoshopped image by the "mbworld" moderator called "nola"

This is just one of many elements from the Fantastic Four that years later show up in Star Wars. The best known example is Dr Doom, foreshadowing Darth Vader. See the notes to FF17 for more details.

Often the comic is years ahead of the real world. Here for example is the underground valley of diamonds from issue 1, dated November 1961. Compare the real cave of Crystals discovered 40 years later

Note the people in the second picture: this cave is even bigger than the one in the comic.

Anything fantastic is fair game if it fits the world of science. In the next few months the Fantastic Four conquer every frontier: under the ground, the oceans, the far corners of the earth, and of course, outer space. All through scientific breakthroughs.

The science of underground empires

Some readers cannot get past the idea of an underground empire. but while exceedingly unlikely, it is possible, and in an alternate timeline could have happened, like this:

1. Thousands of years ago caves were the ideal dwelling place
2. As cities developed, outcasts would still live in caves
3. Over thousands of years they would learn more about growing food where there is no light
4. The shortage of resources would lead to more efficient forms of society: rather than encouraging land monopoly, the benefits of scarce land would have to be shared to allow survival.
5. This is more efficient than our wasteful surface system of rent seeking: over the centuries it would lead to economic growth and the growth of science
6. So the underground world's science would be thousands of years ahead of ours.
7. These advances would be focused on moving rock and extracting resources. The would probably focus on biology, the most efficient technology of all: hence giant underground monsters. Naturally they would become expert at hiding from our more primitive surface technology.
8. Eventually the technology would become far too advanced for any one person to understand. Humanity would evolve into a highly cooperative species where each individual's job is so specialized that their general intelligence (beyond their specialism) appears to be very low. These are the Moloids.
9. Why don't they naturally come to the surface? Because once they contact other planets and learn the dangers out there they would know that living underground is the only safe place to be. Note that earth sciences would allow interplanetary communication more easily than earth sciences: the entire gravity of the earth would become a subject of study, allowing communication via gravitational waves. This would naturally lead to the science of teleportation, as seen underground in act 5.

And so an underground empire is entirely rational, if we just think about it.

Symbolism

1. Contrasting heaven and the underworld

Issue 1 contains two stories: the origin, in space, and the battle under the ground. It symbolizes the fall of Reed's impossible goals, the overarching theme of the next 321 issues. it also shows how the team encompasses everything from the skies above to the earth beneath.

Both stories are about the space race

The Mole Man story may not seem to be connected, but look carefully: Reed learns of the Mole Man because he is monitoring two sources of information

1. Photographs of foreign nuclear plants
2. A sensitive radar station that is also capable of detecting seismic vibrations

The Mole Man is discovered by accident: the purpose of this equipment is plainly to assess a foreign power's technology. Nuclear power was cutting edge back then, and radar and seismology were the only way to detect rocket launches. Note that Monster Isle, while officially placed in the Pacific (FF296), is placed in the Bermuda Triangle in Walk Simonson's run (the famous "new Fantastic Four" issues). The simplest explanation is that during the cold war its location is a state secret. After the cold war its real location could be revealed. In April 1961 the Bermuda Triangle meant one thing: Cuba. April 1961 not only saw the first man in space but also the Bay of Pigs fiasco. In another year we would have the Cuban Missile Crisis. Monster Isle works as a metaphor: What monsters do the Americans fear? Where is their island? And how do they operate? Underground of course. The Cuban Missile crisis was about nuclear weapons (hence the interest in nuclear plants in the story) but this cannot be separated from the space race. In 1961 they both used the same rocket technology and they were both attempts for each side to intimidate the other.

So the overriding objective of the team in both stories is the cold war, and the development of rocket technology. This is the purpose of the team in issue 1. The space race was not decisively won until the first man on the moon, in 1969. This was recorded in FF98. In effect, the first 100 issues are about the space race.

2. Pressure symbolism

Imagine what that is like to be the Mole Man, hiding underground, being the most miserable and lonely of all men, believing that every single human was evil. His only friends are the simpler humanoids around him: they were loyal and (relatively speaking) loving. He would come to see them as the true humans, driven underground by the monsters above ground. When he then saw humans develop nuclear power and rocket ships he would see them as an existential threat. What was he to conclude? The story says he is driven mad - the pressure on his mind reflects the pressure of all those rocks above him - something had to give. I think that any of us would be the same under that immense pressure.

Immense pressure is a metaphor for the psychology of the 7 year story. All of the team were trapped in some way. Ben was trapped as a monster, Johnny was trapped by his loyalty to the team (he could not be independent or follow Crystal), Reed lacks social skills: nothing as bad as Moley, but he was still unable to get what he wanted, as he lamented in issue 9. And finally Sue never wanted to be a superhero, she just wants a quiet family life and polite society, yet finds herself in violent battle after battle.  They have the power to reach for the stars (literally and metaphorically) yet are weighed down by their own down-to-earth pressures.

3. Water symbolism

Issue 1 starts with Ben gong underground to hide, in the sewers: symbolizing how he feels dirty. The water also symbolizes uncertainty and instability: issue 2 again begins with be submerged in water. Then in issue 4 he takes a bomb to destroy the water monster (symbolism again!) and in issue 5 decides that living on the water is not such a bad idea, showing how he is working through his inner feelings. Underground river explicitly link to inner psychology in issue 248 (248-256 focus on Reed's mental state) and 314-15 (314-319 focus on ultimate resolution and answers: note how the water motif changes to an ice motif, suggesting the instability has been tamed and become timeless like the earth).

4. Rabbit hole symbolism

For the symbolism of plunging down a shaft (it happens at four key moments in the 28 year story) see the notes to FF127. The whole 28 year story can be seen as coming down to earth: they think their threats are from the skies (aliens, representing Russian missiles) but the real problems are within: if they are strong as a family then nothing can threaten them.

5. Moon symbolism

The whole point of the origin is the space race, which began at the start of the 1960s (first man in space) and ended at the end of the same decade with the first man in the moon. The Fantastic Four uses the moon to symbolize the future at key points

• FF1 and FF2 both feature experimental rockets, and FF6,7 and 10 feature more advanced craft.
• FF13, Reed's triumph, is where he reaches the moon and finds an advanced there being ready to greet him. The blue area could represent blue skies, where man can breathe free, explore, and learn new things. It also contains remnants of ancient empire: reflecting the American ideal of moving westward and replacing old dead civilizations.
• FF21, the hate monger, is built round a plot to control the moon for evil purposes.
• FF240 is where the Inhumans land right on top of the civilization shown in FF13, reflecting their arrogance.
• FF248 shows it is madness to think you can control the moon.
• FF286 flashes back to the Phoenix's suicide on the moon: where she was punished for using mankind's new mutant powers for evil. But this was changed to say "it wasn't me" so she could regain the old power: reflecting mankind's lack of responsibility.
• FF annual 18 has the Kree and Skrull battle for supremacy in the same way the US v Russia battled in FF13.
• FF321, the final issue before continuity ends, has a memorable scene with the moon, as does Stan Lee's "Last Fantastic Four Story."
• FF332, the final tragic ending as foreseen by Sue, is observed from the moon
  

Objections: Realism turns weaknesses into strengths

These reviews will often have a section on "objections." Looking at apparent weaknesses is a good way to uncover the underlying strength of the novel.

• In general
  Julian Darius calls Fantastic Four issue 1 stupid. He's an intelligent man, and founder of Seqart, so his criticism deserves a hearing.
  "Fantastic Four #1 would never be published today. And not because it’s so different, or so fun. Because it’s so stupid. A scientist for little reason kidnaps a space plane and get himself and his crew mutated on the spot by cosmic rays — then battles an army of underground monsters. This is more than camp, which suggests a bit more consciousness, a bit more cleverness. Its best sequences are those involving New York as setting, involving interactions with normal people — such as Invisible Woman holding a dollar bill for a taxicab driver. But this stuff is just plain bad."
  Strong stuff. Let's examine his criticisms:
  1. Reed has little reason to get the ship into space.
  That's it. That's his only reasoned argument. Apparently the cold war was not a good enough reason, so America going to the moon was a stupid as well. Darius implies that he doesn't like the other elements, but he does not give a reason why. Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I'm the kind of guy who likes reasons for things. I always ask "why" - the only question I love more than "why" is "why not?" I guess that's why I love the Fantastic Four.
• The cover
  Why is Sue trying to turn invisible and Reed tied up in ropes? See the issue 1 cover tributes page for details. Briefly, this is a symbolic cover, it just illustrates their powers and the contents of the book in the quickest way possible. However, it also fits what we know of their powers: Sue has a nascent forcefield that at this stage does not extend much beyond her skin, but it appears to make her slippery (e.g. in this issue she slips past people when invisible). Or possibly she just meant she does not have the power to turn invisible before a monster (any monster) sees her. As for Reed, he's probably demonstrating his powers to onlookers when the monster appears.
• The flare gun and taxi
  How do the words appear in the sky? They're not made of flame like the later flare gun, they're made of smoke. Look closely: the smoke comes from the gun. The simplest explanation is that the smoke cannister blows out a cloud then a small projector shines an image onto it. This can only be seen from near the building, as it would soon fade away. This explains why Reed soon replaced it with a flare that goes up, down and across making a crude "4" shape: it's much easier to see from far away. Susan was close enough for a direct line of sight, so was probably on the same street, a few blocks away. This explains how she could choose a random taxi: a taxi by a main street is very likely to drive down that street.
  

• Why so urgent?
  If nuclear plants have been disappearing, why is it urgent that the team get there right this second? Would an hour's delay hurt? But this was the era before mobile phones. It was either the flare gun or wait until the evening. Given that Reed had pinpointed the source of the problem, and the entire world was in danger at any time, waiting was not an option.
  
• Turning invisible / hiding under the road
  Alienation. The theme of the first act is the team's alienation from the world: the splash page shows how the people are scared, and Reed does not want to do this. The first story shows that Sue and Ben both want to hide, and Johnny is attacked by the authorities. Ben wants to hide because of how people react when they see him. Sue wants to hide because her natural feeling is to avoid publicity of any kind. For why, see the notes to FF291.
• Flame and gasoline
  Why does the flammable vapor not cause the car and garage to explode when the Torch flames on? Because, contrary to his belief, it is not regular plasma. See the page on superhero science for details.
  
• Destruction of property
  Why so much property damage (the doorway, the car, etc)? This is all shown to be accidental, a result of the team's jumpiness.Reed is wealthy can can pay for this. The actual extent of the damage is no doubt exaggerated in order to illustrate the team's powers: for how the writers exaggerate, see the page on realism.
• Why so jumpy?
  The authorities have good reason to be jumpy: this is 1961, the height of the cold war, always just four minutes from nuclear Armageddon. For more about the general air of mistrust see the theme of alienation in the notes to FF2. In the story, Central City is near a military base, and nuclear installations have been disappearing under the ground. For the authorities it's like 9/11 times a thousand. Some of that nervousness spreads to the population via the news: communists could be anywhere! To have dangerous powers in 1961 is like wearing an Osama Bin Laden T-Shirt in New York after 9/11.
  
• Costumes that change
  Why do the costumes stretch etc before the invention of unstable molecules? Sue can make other things invisible (she naturally does it with clothes though at this stage does not know she can do it to other things). Ad for Reed and Johnny, these are the same clothes they were irradiated in, and only look different due to cosmetic changes. E.g. Reed puts a fold up on his trousers, but the fold up does not stretch; Johnny has a collar, but that is no doubt made from asbestos. From issue 3 they use Skrull costumes. Like all of Reed's greatest inventions, unstable molecules are re-purposed alien technology. For details see the page on superhero tech.
  
• The older Human Torch
  Why don't the National Guard remember the previous Human Torch? Because other comics are not focused on reality, so we can assume that they exaggerate constantly. While the other Human Torch does exist in this world (see FF annual 4), his activities would be far more modest than the over the top stuff shown in his comic. And he probably never came anywhere near Central City.
  
• The "nuclear" missile
  National Guards would not be authorized to fire a nuclear missile. But this was only Johnny's opinion. How would he know what was in the missile? But he is terrified to see it approach him, and this is an era of nuclear terror.
• The guards
  Why isn't the base better protected? Because Reed works there. So it's easy for him to sneak in: he knows what to do.
• Cosmic rays
  "Have I mentioned that I really don’t like the term cosmic rays yet? Because I do. It’s just so…unscientific, and there isn’t even an inkling yet that they have a more official name. Gamma radiation sounds much more official"
  I include this criticism to illustrate why it is never a good idea to attack these comics: it only makes the critic look uninformed. Look up cosmic rays in a science book one day. Yes, they exist. When wading through reviews of the early FF there are endless criticisms like this. I try to only include those that aren't too embarrassing to the critic.
• Shining diamonds
  Why are the diamonds so bright? Where does the light come from? Radiation. Why else would they need full radiation suits and not just dark glasses? Why focus on nuclear plants? With so much story compressed into so few pages many of the subplots are only hinted at. Most of the early FF is "show, don't tell". It is amusing that modern readers accuse old comics of being too verbose, of needing to explain everything. This is because readers, and especially modern readers, do not see it otherwise. (Note: the original Mole Man story was probably more abut radiation and not about superpowers. For details, see the page on who created the FF. )
  
• Monologuing
  Is it a silly cliche for the Mole Man to explain his plan first? No, because the whole point is that he's lonely. Yes, he feels threatened and wants to hurt the world that hurt him, but mostly he just wants somebody to talk to.
• Leaving the Mole Man
  Why leave the Mole Man in his hideout? For the same reason you leave Castro in Cuba. Real world politics is not as simple as "kick his ass and bring him back." The Mole Man was not in U.S. territory and had an army of monsters: the best scenario they could see was simply to make him think twice, and that goal was achieved.
• Uneven art?
  The art sometimes looks off because the Mole Man story was (almost certainly) cut up and changed from a completely different story. For details, see the page on who created the FF. 
• Other objections
  Many objections are already covered elsewhere on this page, or can be quickly resolved once we realize the FF is set in the real world.

Themes (and names)

The negative zone

The big Fantastic Four story is is all about the Negative Zone, and it starts here. The dimensional portal (i.e. the negative zone portal) is the background to the Mole Man story. It is also the source of the team's powers. Here is the proof:

In FF annual 6 we learn that Sue's body, and hence Franklin's body, can only be regulated using material from the Negative Zone. This suggests that their powers came from the negative zone, but how does that fit with issue 1? The powers are first explained in FF 197: they came from very specific cosmic rays caused by sunspots. These rays are almost certainly positrons. Positrons are the antimatter (i.e. negative zone) counterpart of electrons. These are present in cosmic rays, particularly from solar flares (i.e. they are associated with sun spots).

Only one story deals directly with solar flares or anything like them: FF 297, exactly 100 issues after the sun spot revelation. It is also first story of act 5 (after the anniversary issue), the act where everything is explained. In FF 297 a dimensional portal is siphoning power from the sun, and the only way to counter it is to produce an opposite siphon. when this positive and negative flow meets it creates an "infinity vortex" with the power to combine two people into one. This ability to combine people explains the teams powers:

• Johnny:
  In FF 132 we learn that Johnny was a fan of the original Human Torch, and gained his powers: in effect the two people mix.

• Reed:
  The same issue suggests that Reed's power also comes from his reading matter: he was probably a fan of The Thin Man (see my notes to FF 132).

• Sue:
  The young Sue was a fan of prince Namor (see the notes to FF 291), the most powerful man on the planet (due to his mixture of physical strength, ruling the world's biggest empire, and his advanced technology). Namor's general purpose power is reflected in Sue's general purpose force.

• Ben:
  Ben grew up as a fan of tough street gangs, so became the toughest one of all. But street gangs are trapped by their environments, and so was Ben.

So we see that the powers probably came via positrons via a sub-space portal created by the sun's gravitational field. The negative zone portal is of course another name for the sub-space portal. For how two people from different times can mix their abilities, see the discussion of time travel by FF 187, and in the notes to FF annual 16 (about how Ral Dorn mixed with Aron). Thanks to Nathan of "how would you fix" for first suggesting positrons. And note how positronic brains are the key to the most famous science fiction story about human progress: Isaac Asimov's "I, Robot".

Names

• "Fantastic" means of fantasy and unrestrained ideas. "Four" is a family sized team. The Fantastic Four is the story of the conflict between being personally fantastic and your duty to others.
• The Thing comes from the horror genre, and the best horror is about what it means to be human (see Dracula, Frankenstein, Zombies, ghosts, body snatchers, etc.). The name "The Thing" indicates that he does not know who he is. Man or monster (the question highlighted in issue 51)? Ben Grimm is grim, and his 28 year story is of finding his identity.
• Mr Fantastic comes from the sci-fi genre. His title suggests supreme self confidence, a belief that he is better than anybody else. His 27 year story is his discovery that others are just as good, and he cannot do everything alone. It is not clear if Reed Richards' original motives are unselfish. All we know is that he does not want to be in a superhero team: his first words state that he does not want another superhero mission. Their mission against the Mole Man is promoted by top secret military photos, so is presumably forced on him by the military. In their origin story he simply wants to test the rocket: it is Sue who puts the nation first. When they gain their powers it is Ben who says they should help humanity. Reed's "Right, Ben, right" could be spoken in a hesitant voice, as if Reed was not thinking of that at all, but suddenly has to agree.
  
• "The Human Torch" comes from the superhero genre: he mirrors Marvel's most famous existing hero. Johnny Storm is the only member of the team who actually wants to be a hero, and his 28 year story, like prince Hal in Shakespeare's Henry IV, is of his preparation to finally achieve his rightful place: becoming a man (most clearly seen in his evolving relationship with women: he starts being raised with his sister, apparently blows his chances with his soul mate, feels frustrated and useless, and finally matures).
• The Invisible Girl always struggles to be noticed. She is from the romance genre: the quiet woman is the real hero. Of all the comics genres, romance is the only one with any claim to realism, and realism is what sets the Fantastic Four apart from other comics. The realism of issue 1 is discussed here. The origin of Reed's inventions is discussed here. To summarize, the powers are not an accident, the space flight was in keeping with 1961 technology, and the later higher tech is a result of access to an abandoned alien craft (comics at the time routinely involved abandoned spacecraft, and Reed gained ownership of one in issue 2)

"Reed and Sue" from "Ralph and Sue"?
"My DC-loving friend likes to point out that a lot of Marvel characters are just copies of DC predecessors (his favorite go-to argument being that Peter Parker is essentially just Clark Kent - working at a newspaper, wore glasses, masquerading as a weakling, etc.).
Recently he pointed out that our Reed and Sue made their first appearance about a year after Ralph and Sue Dibny were already created in the pages of Flash. To the ear, Reed and Sue sounds a lot like Ralph and Sue, and of course, both Reed and Ralph are stretchers (although both were introduced a couple decades after Plastic Man)." ("Unstable Molecule", on the FF message board)
For many more examples of Marvel copying DC, see FF 36 and the discussion of Medusa and Spider Girl and other examples

The themes are introduced:

All the themes of the 28 year history are introduced in issue 1.
The obvious themes are

• family,
• danger,
• discovery
• the space race.

Then there is the act by act themes: each is present in every act, but in each act one dominates:

1. Alienation (act 1)
2. Triumph (act 2)
3. Pride (act 3)
4. Disillusionment (act 4)
5. Rebirth (act 5).

These major themes should be obvious in every issue, so they won't be discussed much on this web site. Instead we'll concentrate on secondary themes.

• Reluctant heroes:
• only Johnny wants to be a superhero.
• Reed prays this will be the only time he has to act the part,
•  Susan only agrees out of duty,
  
• and Ben sees it as his curse.
• Self confidence:
  
• the flight is a result of Reed's self belief, and it almost kills them.
  
• Johnny has similar self belief, and again almost dies, and is saved by his teammate.
  
• Sue is aware of every danger,
  
• and Ben is frustrated by having great power yet being powerless. Issue 1 is the key to understanding Ben's mind:  why he can't change, and why he later thinks he is weaker than the Hulk.
  
• Equality: Equality is most clearly demonstrate by Sue. She is treated as the weakest member (until the end of act 4) yet is the strongest: Sue is the voice of caution and duty, of teamwork and common sense. These attributes are more effective in the long term than either Reed's intelligence or Ben's strength. Yet Sue looks almost powerless: invisibility is useless against the Mole Man's radar sense, just as it is useless against Namor's similar power or Doom's technology. This is the great paradox and conflict of the series: the strongest character appears to be the weakest, and struggles to be seen. Equality is also apparent in the "villain:" the Mole Man is a sympathetic character and will be ultimately neutralized (in Act 5) by understanding and respect, not violence.
• The American Dream: here we have individual courage by ordinary people leading to fantastic outcomes. From the start the motive is to support America.

The themes form conflicts, and these will all be resolved (or close to resolution) by issue 321:

• Reluctant heroes: by issue 321 everyone will have the lives they originally wanted, after saving the world from its greatest threats.
• Self confidence: by issue 321 Reed will learn his limits, Johnny will learn to temper his confidence with maturity, while Ben and Sue will both feel powerless before finally achieving everything they wish for.
• Equality: by issue 321 Sue is recognized as probably the most powerful physically, and more importantly Reed listens to her.
• The American Dream: by issue 321 everybody gets what they want (or is on their way there), and America's main challenge is no longer communism but its own divisions, and the TV image of terrorism from the middle east (Fasaud).

As this is the Great American Novel, these are also America's themes:

• Reluctant heroes: America's Founding Fathers wanted the states to keep separate from other nations, but it always ended up in wars. This was increasingly true of the Cold War
• Confidence: "We have nothing to fear but fear itself": confidence was hit by fear of reds under the bed, by Vietnam and later by Watergate and the oil crisis. Reagan was elected on a promise to return American confidence.
• Equality is the great issue of the time: civil rights and then feminism. Lack of respect for other nations caused problems - e.g. overthrowing Iran, and abuses in Vietnam.
  
• The American Dream: after the second world war, America found itself as the world's top nation, with soaring personal wealth, and was literally reaching for the stars.

The zeitgeist

The story is straight from the zeitgeist of 1961: the first American in space, the rise of nuclear power stations, the height of the cold war, and the height of the fear of enemies undermining the nation and the world. Issue 1 is basically the American zeitgeist come to life. The characters represent American ideals of the time: the serious determined scientist, the simple fighter, the pretty socialite, the kid playing with hot rods. The Bay of Pigs invasion is reflected in the Fantastic Four invading Monster Isle, the base from which an underground empire could threaten any nation on earth, just as the communist island on America's doorstep caused the same fear. The Fantastic Four appeared to succeed, but like Castro, the Mole Man did not go away, he later came back and blamed the FF for the damage to his island.

Foreshadowing the final issue

The story begins with a race for the moon (as a step to the stars), and the story will finally end (e.g. in Stan Lee's "The Last Fantastic Four Story") with the same image, this time in triumph, with the team probably leaving to collect Crystal and begin a new era.

The Mole Man and the philosophy of realism

Super powers are a McGuffin

The super powered stuff is not the heart of the story. There are no stories about stretching or flaming. Powers are merely a McGuffin, a convenient way to tell other stories.

Three dimensional characters

The real story is the characters. At first glance they may seem shallow, but look closer. Take the Mole Man for example. It's not about monsters. It's about loneliness. The monsters are how he sees his fellow man.

1. In issue 11 he is just pitiful: angry, potentially disruptive, but his handful of monsters are no serious threat
2. In his next appearance he has rallied others. This reflects the awakening of civil rights in the early 1960s.
3. Next he attempts to kidnap Sue, representing the angry, radical phase
4. His attempts to defeat the mainstream continue, but he fails: ultimately he is weaker than they are. Despite his anger he inspires pity.
5. He cannot win due to divisions and betrayal within his own side: the frustrations of the 1970s.
6. Eventually, through art, he begins to be accepted by the surface world: reflecting the free mixing of culture from all sources in the 1970s.
7. He has great plans, but these are crushed by the mainstream. This reflects the remaining prejudice.
   
8. He tries to rejoin the surface (the mainstream), but is prevented. This reflects the glass ceiling that keeps minorities from progressing.
   
9. He is accepted as an equal, being an enemy is all in the past. This reflects the mainstreaming of minorities throughout life.
   
10. But finally all the good is undone:he is treated as an enemy again. This reflects the new racism, where blacks are now imprisoned rather than enslaved, but the result is the same: they are treated as The Enemy
    

How science fiction allows greater realism

Science fiction is always about us. It lets us examine our own interests by painting them in brighter colors: wild stories can contain more reality than mundane stories. They allow a wider range of real world issues, more locations, more emotions, a wider range of people, and more possibilities.

I love the moral dilemmas faced by, say, Franklin Storm or the original Gremlin. I love seeing how Sue reached people (like Dragon Man) that more violent people cannot. I love reading about micro worlds, ancient worlds, and exotic places like New York (I live in a small Scottish village). The FF introduced me to Prester John, antimatter, disabilities, alien points of view, and so much more!

The situations are soaked in realism. Take Galactus for example. We may never face Galactus but we will face problems of a similar magnitude, and that's what makes it real. The comics described how ordinary people react (some blamed the heroes, some denied it happened, others just didn't know what to think), how advanced beings saw it (who has a right to exist, and at what cost?), how the heroes felt ("we are just ants"), and so on. The McGuffin of a fifty foot giant and a spaceship were almost irrelevant to the story, except that the space race was real and belief in gods was real. Whenever I re-read those stories the realism knocks me over.

The need for dragons

As Neil Gaiman said (after G.K.Chesterton), "Fairy tales are more than true — not because they tell us dragons exist, but because they tell us dragons can be beaten."

The dragon is not the point: it is almost irrelevant. it is simply the fastest way to summarize all the very real dangers that exist. And if it then turns out that other kinds of dragons are real (Komodo Dragons, Dinosaurs, the possibility of future genetic engineering, legends based on an actual serpents, etc), and at the time it seemed still possible that maybe that kind of dragon was real as well, then the dragon becomes an additional link to the real world, a window on new possibilities, a path worth exploring in order to open up the real world. The dragon therefore adds to the realism.

The Fantastic Four as morality plays

What is real? What matters? Without going into philosophy, questions of correct behavior are real. They are the basis of society and friendship, without which we could not survive. The Fantastic Four provides this reality through comics as morality plays.

The original medieval morality plays were very much like superhero stories: larger than life characters who personified moral attributes. The earliest Marvels are full of such characters. I'm not saying that they were designed as morality plays, but a good moral is just a natural part of a larger than life feel good story, and these were very much larger than life and very feel good. Just about every issue had some bad guy representing some moral failing and we see how that failing leads to their destruction, whereas the good guys extol friendship and overcoming their differences and triumph. Some of the bad guys could have come straight off a medieval stage: the hate Monger, Psycho-Man with his tablets with the words "hate, fear, doubt" in big bold letters; Doom's foolish arrogance, the Red Ghost's mis-placed patriotism, etc. At the time of writing (August 2011) this month is FF issue 8 (now the "Future Foundation"), and I was re-reading the original FF issue 8 ("Fantastic Four"), so let's start there:

FF8: the Puppet Master tries to control people for his own benefit, and ends up apparently killed by his own greed. A very moralistic last panel shows the broken doll on the ground.

The previous month, FF7, was the first FF issue I ever read as a child, and shaped my view of comics. Here the sin is lust for power: Kurggo, master of planet X, is left clinging to his previous gas canister that would make him master of the world. Because of his love of power he ends up missing the ship that takes his people to safety and we see him lying amid the rubble, a victim of his own greed. It was powerful stuff - well I thought so anyway.

The month before, FF 6, showed how bad guys never look after their friends: Namor teams up with Doom, Doom betrays him, and Namor realizes who his real friends are. Yes it's a simple and familiar message, but that's what morality plays are for.

The positive messages go well beyond simply using super powers: they defeat Dragon Man by becoming his friend; they defeat the Impossible Man by ignoring his foolishness; they defeat the Miracle Man by choosing to not believe in him; they defeat the unnamed Thing impostor by their good example, and so on. At their peak, the late sixties, they were always saying slushy things about love and faith and hope, and if it wasn't clear enough the Silver Surfer would preach at every opportunity. I could go on and on. Ditko's Spider-Man was the same: he had a message. Not as over the top as the later anti drug issues, but Ditko made no secret of his beliefs and how his stories spoke for him. They didn't always hit you over the head with the message, and they were seldom planned, but the message was always there.

Fantastic Four 1 as a morality play

FF 1 contains numerous moral messages, including:

1. Do not judge. The story begins with ordinary people who turn out to have extraordinary powers, to the great surprise of their peers.
2. Be brave. The story continues with the team deciding to do something dangerous, despite the dangers.
3. Be patriotic. The reason for the flight.
4. Have vision. The world is full of infinite possibilities - who knows what may be around the next corner if you take a chance?
5. Power brings responsibility. The team dedicate their powers to do good.
6. Do not judge (again): If people had not judged the Mole Man he would not have hated mankind.
7. Help each other: The team only win by helping each other.
8. And more. I don't have a copy at hand - all this is from memory.

Much of this is standard superhero stuff, but they did it with added realism: they fight and argue and do sensible things lie forgoing any secret identity.

But how can they be MORE real than everyday reality?

But does this increased reality balance the loss in reality from having giant monsters and space ships? Yes, it does, because the giant monsters and spaceships, while highly unlikely, are perfectly possible. An example of this heightened realism is in his realistic character, discussed elsewhere. Here we will just look at the science.

Reality: the comics use this as hyperbole. If you read the stories they seldom go more than a mile or two down, so the actual claim is that people can live in caves. That is based on reality.

Reality: this was common for our ancestors, when caves are available they make ideal homes. We know that fungi can grow without light, so it is realistic to speculate that perhaps a person might live for extended periods underground, only emerging occasionally to gain whatever supplies are not available.

Reality: surprising and unexplained things are discovered all the time, and this as especially true in the period leading up the 1960s. Obviously we don't know what the surprises will be. For example, it was not until the 1920s that most people accepted other galaxies existed. Around the same time, people were learning that time and space were far more amazing than anybody ever expected. The idea of giant monsters living underground was no stranger than that. The job of speculative fiction is to explore the possibilities: books speculated that the universe might be vast, time travel may be possible,monsters may live in caves under the ground, etc., etc. and some of these things are proven right and some are not. The only unrealistic fiction is that where nothing amazing and surprising ever happens.

The existence of advanced aliens is what matters. Once that is established then everything else follows in a very mundane fashion. Any civilization that is merely a few thousand years more advanced than ours would be able to perform endless miracles, fill every space, and make use of resources (like underground rocks) in ways that seem crazy to us. And if they left behind a space ship then obviously our best scientists would work out as much as they can about how it works, and use it. So all the other stuff becomes very ordinary once the alien part is sorted.

Other points to note

• The language of great literature:
  The language (especially on the splash page) is bombastic, not what we expect from a classic novel. Yet it is perfectly correct and appropriate for the subject matter. Great novels surprise and challenge, presenting the familiar (in this case a hyperbolic comic book) in a completely new way.
• This issue began "the Marvel Age of comics":
  It spawned Spider-Man, the Hulk, the X-Men, and all the rest. But none of them embraced realism in the same way. The others usually had costumes, secret identities, and all the usual comic book tropes.
• Why those powers?
  The powers come from guided evolution (see FF319 and FF351) so reflect our desires:
  
  1. In FF 132 Johnny says he thinks he got his because of his love for the original Human Torch.
     
  2. Reed replies that he wonders what that says about his own reading habits: what it says is he probably liked "The Thin Man", an earlier comic book scientist and explorer who gained stretching powers in the Himalayas, near the Inhumans' home.
     
  3. As for Sue, she wants privacy more than anything,
     
  4. and Ben was a tough guy with an identity crisis because the nerd with no social skills was cooler than him and getting the girl.
• Etymology of the word "fantastic":
  The comic helped to shift the meaning away from "impossible" and towards "extremely good." But the original meaning is perfectly suited to the story. It originally meant "existing only in the imagination" and can refer to Reed Richards' idea that he can do anything, and others are inferior. It can also refer to Ben's belief that he is a monster (in fact his rocky form is attractive, he is well loved, and his inability to change is psychological as we shall see.) The word comes from the Greek phantazein "make visible" - the perfect word for Susan Storm, who's importance only became apparent by the end of the story. In Elizabethan slang, a 'fantastic' was a fop; an "improvident young gallant" who was obsessed with showy dress. The character Lucio in Shakespeare's Measure for Measure is described in the Dramatis Personae as a 'Fantastic' - the perfect word for the brash and confident Johnny Storm. See also the meaning of "frightful" in the notes to FF39.
• Covers are often symbolic:
  That exact scene does not appear, but it represents the kind of scene that does. For more about the cover see the page on tributes.
  
• A comparison with other comics:
  most comics of the time (e.g. the Flash, Green lantern and the Atom) treated atomic power and space travel as universal good things. The Fantastic Four was the first major comic to show dangers as well. 
• The monster genre:
  The monsters from monster isle are straight from the monster zeitgeist of the 1950s and early 1960s: by examining them you get a pretty good idea of the genre. For example, "The belated nerd" points out that the first monster seen on Monster Isle looks like King Ghidorah, a monster who featured in several Godzilla movies. But the Fantastic Four came first: Ghidora did not appear until 1964.
  
  
• Other comics showed monsters as bad guys:
  this was the first to have a monster (The Thing) as a hero, and an anti-hero at that.
• What happened before FF1:
  For the events leading up to FF1, see FF11, FF annual 2 (Doom's origin), and FF271. For more details see FF126, FF291, and The Thing issues 1 and 2. Many other comics refer to this early period, but these are not by FF writers, or are from the Franklinverse period so may refer so may not be accurate.
• The theme of realism
  The ending is realistic: as in the real world an enemy is not really defeated, just annoyed. Why didn't the Mole Man simply escape through his tunnels and continue his work? See the commentary to FF31 and the page on his personality for the context.
• The mystery of who inked FF1:
  The Marvel Wiki states: "The letters page of Fantastic Four #281 credits Art Simek as the inker for this issue. The theories on who actually inked Fantastic Four #1 (and Fantastic Four #2 for that matter) continue to be debated, and will probably never be definitively answered. Many scoff that Art Simek could not have inked either issue, and dismiss the editor's reference in Fantastic Four #281 as Jack Kirby's faulty memory of years gone by. Though it was also backed up by Roz Kirby and Steve Leialoha on the same letters page." But a knowledgeable blogger refers to one frame having "the classic “shimmering halo” seen in nearly every George Klein inked story including Fantastic Four #1". A possible explanation is that the Mole Man story may have been originally an eight page standalone story intended for another comic, already inked by a different inker.
• The Zeitgeist: why that particular team?
  The Fantastic Four, as I have attempted to show again and again on this site, reflects the zeitgeist, the popular ideas of the time. The team itself is no exception. "T" explains, in a comment on "Comic Book Legends Revealed" 297:
  

"There used to be a very popular Sci Fi sub genre/trope called (by TV Tropes at least) The Lost World trope. In it, some motley crew of explorers of some sort stumble onto an island of monsters or lost civilizations or some other sort of uncharted territory full of danger, like monsters and lost tribes or weird mutated races. [The Lost World movie was released in 1960, and FF1 came out in 1961.- Chris]

"Sometimes the motley crew are explorers whose job it is to discover new things. Other times it’s just a group of people traveling together who get forced into the role of explorers accidentally by crashing onto an island or something. There was usually a handsome, dashing heartthrob scientist type (back before modern fiction decided that all scientists had to be borderline autistic nerds), the big galoot muscle, the Gal Friday/Love Interest and the kid sidekick, who usually pals around the most with the big galoot. Sometimes there are a few more characters but you usually have that core four. Another way to look at it is THE 4 archetypes: Father, Mother, Clown Child, Gifted Child. Mark Andrew did a great piece here posing the theory of how Fantastic Four #1 reads like a Lost Worlds type monster story re purposed as a superhero story at the last minute.

"You can see this structure to some degree in other books that were part of that Explorers of Lost Worlds trope, like Challengers of the Unknown. Metal Men had some of the same dynamics. Reed Richards and Gilligan’s Professor (along with Metal Men’s Will Magnus for example) are perfect examples of the Dashing Heartthrob Scientist and the Father archetypes, which is why I think so many people subconsciously associate the two characters with each other. Also, the Lost World Explorer genre is pretty much dead, so two of the only examples of it that still remain prominent in the minds of modern audiences are Gilligan’s Island and Fantastic Four (and arguably the TV show Lost). Since Gilligan’s Island and Fantastic Four are the only two Lost Worlds properties that most modern audiences are well acquainted with, it’s easier for them to believe that there is some significant connection to them and to think their similarities are more significant than they actually are, but at the time when Lost Worlds was a really popular genre there were countless interchangeable Reed Richards/Professor types." [Alex Ross used the Gilligan Professor, actor Russell Johnson, as the model for Reed in "Marvels."]

• Justice League + Challengers of the Unknown
  We don't have to look far to see the zeitgeist that created the rest of the team. The official stimulus was the sales of the Justice League, DC's new super team, but many people have noted the parallels between the FF and Kirby's earlier creation, Challengers of the Unknown: the four heroes who team up after a plane crash, their uniforms, etc. One adventure even includes super powers including flame.
• Doc Savage
  The always excellent "Dial B For Blog" finds many parallels between the FF and Doc Savage (who's team was sometimes called "the fabulous five"). Pat Savage was the (unofficial) token female. The Thing seems modeled on giant, powerful Renny, and also Monk (who was built like a Gorilla, with arms longer than his legs). Monk had a long standing squabble with Ham, after being the victim of Ham's practical joke. Johnny is based on Ham and Johnny Littlejohn (even the name and look), a character with a "fiery" personality. Reed seems modelled on Doc (the action hero leader) and Long Tom (the slender scientist).
• The 100 issue cycle
  For how themes develop over 100 issue cycles, see the notes to FF 297.
• Why those heroes?
  "Bronze Tiger" explains on the Fantastic Four message board:
  "The men of the FF need to be presented as male heroes of 1940/1950 vintage. The comic will never be worth reading and will never be popular otherwise, because anything else is a betrayal of the essence of Stan and Jack's original vision. I've attached pix of Doc Savage, Joe Louis, and Little Joe Cartwright. In my opinion, these three are the closest archetypes to Reed, Ben, and Johnny, respectively. Depict Reed as less of a man than Doc Savage, or Ben as less of a man than Joe Louis, or Johnny as less of a man than Little Joe Cartwright, and you ruin the comic." And he adds, "The comic has been ruined in just this way for decades."
  

On the subject of Doc Savage...

• Other influences: racing the Russians to the moon:
  The blog "galaxybeingsmavericlions" points out some parallels with the 1950 movie "Destination Moon":

• Cosmic rays creating super powers
  The Comics Detective points out an earlier story with a similar plot: "If momentary exposure to the cosmic rays beyond the Heaviside Layer made a super-man of an ordinary mortal--what fabulous titan of strength and intelligence might the human become who'd spend hours under such forces!" So reads the blurb accompanying the short story, "Cycle", by [John L.] Chapman in MARVEL STORIES vol. 2 #2"  Marvel Stories 2 was published by Timely, dated November 1940. Stan Lee began working for Timely in 1939. In a Wikipedia quote he described his duties as proof reading, erasing pencil from inked pages, etc. So he almost certainly read this issue.

• Why did Ben think he was ugly?
  In later years, Ben's appearance settled (reflecting his more settled emotions). He also became famous and loved, "the idol of millions". He became handsome in a rugged, hyper-masculine way, as we see in this image by John Aslarona
  

• About the cover, and its many tributes

• The indicia (Small print)
  For some reason the scanned version of FF1 has the wrong inside front cover. (His is the one in the "44 years" DVD, and the one you normally find scanned on the Internet.) Thanks to "The Ancient One" on the comics board, here is the actual indicia. Click for a full scan of the inside front cover.
  
  

• Christian Dior and the zeitgeist
  The FF refers to the Christian Dior fashion house at least three times in the early issues. Here are two examples:
  
  

  A close look at issue 1 shows that Sue's fashion sense reflects the Dior collection from 1961, which is very different from the previous year's style. Dior was the hottest fashion house at the time: Dior himself had just died in 1957, replaced by Yves Saint Laurent, who was himself then replaced by Marc Bohan for 1961. Elizabeth Taylor bought twelve of their dresses from this collection. Contrast the big flowery dresses of 1960 with the simple jacket and shirt from 1961. Sue Storm's fashion was up to the minute.

Reed and the atom bomb

We tend to think of Reed as either a "do anything" scientist (not true), or a man who designs rockets. But the comics reveal that his real expertise is in high energy sources: see FF 13, 37, 38, 51, etc. While the origin story is about his involvement in a rocket ship, the Mole Man story shows that he also involved in the atomic bomb program. Look carefully at the machine and how it works, and note that Reed already knows a little about Monster Isle

Machines like that existed in 1961:

"The Soviets, who had been calling for a test ban since the mid-1950s, took a major initiative in early 1958 when they called for an American-British-Soviet test moratorium. [...] The experts concluded that a network of 170 control posts in and around Eurasia and North America would be able to detect atmospheric tests down to one kiloton and 90 percent of underground tests down to five kilotons." ( emphasis added: source)

The secret: How FF 1 was created

Mark Andrew makes an argument that I find compelling: FF issue 1 was two new stories added to an existing (unused) monster comic story. 

Here is his evidence, plus some of my own:

• The cover and Mole Man story look like a standard Monster Comic at first glance.
• Some of the layouts seem to be not up to Kirby's standards, e.g. the one with the monster climbing out of the ground, with the FF squeezed onto the only blank spot in the picture
• The team suddenly appear in protective suits with just a weird text-only explanation
• Look at the Mole-Man's flash back sequence: the bubble-effect on the edges of the frames is clearly drawn on later and not part of the original design
• Stan Lee's famous Synopsis only covers the origin, and barely mentions the other two parts.
• Several pages don't feature the FF at all, and those that do often have the team in cover-all suits. Hint: standard stories back then were eight pages long. The Mole Man story is 12 pages, and if you collect all the pages that feature the team doing obviously superhero stuff, it makes 4 pages, leaving 8 pages of standard monster story.
• Stan routinely kept large numbers of inventory stories around "just in case", or because he paid for stuff he didn't like, but didn't have the heart to say no to the artist he's commissioned (this is famously why Goodman told Lee to fire everybody when they had to contract: they had enough stuff in cupboards to fill a few months of books)
• Changing unused stuff was routine back then: e.g. there are two versions of the original cover (only slightly different: mainly the people on the street), two completely different versions of cover number 3, and as late as 108 a story was completely rewritten with new pages added.

The conclusion is obvious: when they designed FF1, Lee saved some time: the intro is new, the origin is new, and he got Jack to adapt an existing 8 page monster story into a 12 page first adventure.

Add up the pages: 8 pages for the intro, 5 pages for the origin plus 4 pages added to the monster story, and the original 8 page monster story: Stan got a 3 story book by taking 1 old story and adding 2 more.

This isn't proof, but I find it compelling.

Next: Act 1, the story really begins