Issue #1

Hey, comic book fans, thanks for reading the first post on this blog! On this blog, I am going to try to review every Marvel comic ever made, we’ll see just how far I get. But first, a little background about me. My name is Joshua. I've been a fan of the MCU since about 2017. I started off watching Marvel cartoons like Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes and Ultimate Spiderman (two fantastic shows by the way). After that, I started moving into the main MCU films, like the Avengers movies and Thor: Ragnarok. When I watch a movie or show that I really like, one of the things I tend to do is look online and find analysis videos on it. This teaches me more about it, and I can find out what others feel about the topic in general (for example, I loved watching Daredevil this past year, and I found I’m far from the only one, and Thor: Love and Thunder is one of my favorite MCU movies, I found out that is not a popular opinion). One of the most common things I would see in these analysis videos is comparison to the comics, characters, powers, and storylines, and I wanted to try this out for myself. So, I finally bought the Marvel Unlimited app, which gives me access to every Marvel comic. I came up with the idea to do quick reviews on each of these comics and then post them, so maybe people who are in the same boat as me will get to see content that I would’ve loved to have. Now to the first comic: The Fantastic Four (1961) #1.

Now, technically, this is not the first Marvel comic, the first comic that ever came out from Marvel would be this one: 

This one came out in 1939 and even introduced one of the core members of the Fantastic Four: The Human Torch. However, the official era of Marvel comics, one that corresponds with Spiderman and several other Avengers, begins with the Fantastic Four title. These are also the beginning of the ones written by Stan Lee. So, beginning in 1961, we have the very first Marvel Comic: Fantastic Four.

This comic immediately starts us off with Reed Richards using a flare gun to signal his four comrades, which he says is the first time he’s ever had to do this. At this point, it seems like the four of them are very unsure about how to use their powers, as they seem to never use them. Invisible Woman notices the signal first, and quickly uses her power to sneak a cab to find Richards, The Thing, who is permanently stuck in his “orange rock” form, is looking for clothes in his size when he sees the alert. He takes off his “disguise”, and uses a sewer to quickly get to Richards, almost killing a civilian when he re-emerges. Finally, the Human Torch is working on his car, he immediately melts the car as he turns into his fiery self. He gets into a problematic situation though, when government planes start chasing him. He tells them to stop, but they get too close, and he melts the planes. When a nuclear missile attracted to his heat is launched, however, his flame is weakened and it’s too fast for him. This is when Reed Richards, as Mr. Fantastic, saves his life by grabbing the missile just as the Human Torch’s flame goes out. He catches the Human Torch and then gathers his crew. 

We are then taken to Mr. Richards, who is about to have a talk with the group, and then we transition to their origin story: Reed Richards and Ben Grimm are scientists, about to take off on an unauthorized spacecraft, Susan insists on going with her husband, and Human Torch with his sister. All four (although Ben originally resists) are desperate to beat the Russians to be the first in outer space, and so they head out before the rocket is ready. When the cosmic rays hit the craft, the shielding isn’t strong enough to resist, they start hitting the members on board. When Ben (the pilot) is overcome physically by his transformation into the Thing, the auto-pilot takes over and brings them back home. One by one, the four of them figure out how the cosmic rays have affected them, and all the powers they now have. They each immediately make a pledge for their names, to stick together, and most importantly, to use them to help mankind. 

Next, we are introduced to our villain of the story, who is going around the world underground, digging up atomic plants, he’s known as The Moleman. The Fantastic Four decide in their meeting to head to Monster’s Aisles, as Reed Richards has found a way to predict where the Moleman is going to hit next. While Ben insists that this monster island isn’t real, they head there anyway and almost immediately encounter a three-headed creature with wings. The Fantastic Four take it out with startling ease, as Susan distracts the creature by turning invisible, which gives time for Reed Richards to turn into Mr. Fantastic and turn his arm into a lasso, which he then uses to grab the creature by the neck and send it into the ocean. Immediately after however, Mr. Fantastic and the Human Torch fall through a cave in, and are blinded at the bottom by a light so bright, it knocks them out. Next thing they know, they are in what’s known as the Valley of Diamonds, in adhesive suits. 

Meanwhile, at the top, Sue and the Thing are looking for a way to get down to Reed and the Human Torch. A rock monster suddenly attacks from behind, and The Thing springs into action. He defeats the rock monster, and he and Sue head out to find their missing comrades. We head back down into the cave, where the Moleman himself is telling his story to Reed and the Human Torch. He was horribly disfigured at birth, and no one would give him the time of day, so he headed off on his own. He found a cavern that led to the center of the earth, but when he fell through it due to a cave-in, he lost his sight. He then used this to his advantage, took control of the creatures of the monster island, and planned to rule the world from underground. Moleman has also taught himself, not unlike Daredevil with his sight, the ability to fight using his other senses, mainly hearing. He then shares his plans with the heroes, he will destroy every atomic plant in the world, and then use his monsters to overtake it. Just then, Thing and Sue show up to take down Moleman, who responds by summoning the giant creature we saw destroy an atomic plant. 

Chaos reigns as the Human Torch distracts the large monster as Reed grabs the Moleman, who summons all of his other monsters. Knowing that they can’t take all of the monsters, the Human Torch uses his flame to create a rockslide that blocks the monsters off, he and his comrades run out of there just as the rocks fall, trapping the Moleman in his cave. As the Fantastic Four get off the island, Moleman blows it up, seemingly trapping himself in, forever. 

We end off there, and briefly reviewing this issue, it’s a pretty good introduction to our characters. It’s pretty short, so there is very little character development, but good action scenes. We see the seeds sown that Ben Grimm holds it against Reed Richards that he turned into the Thing, and Sue wishes he would forgive her boyfriend. We also see the superhuman strength of Mr. Fantastic, strong enough he can take down a missile and a giant three headed dragon with one hand. The art, while very 60’s, is stunning and simple at the same time. Art like this is a bit lost in modern day, where everyone heads for hyper-realism, but this art design is clean and simple. I find that several of the stereotypes in superhero movies today also start around this time, like the villain being hated by the whole world as a motivation, and him explaining the whole plan for no reason to the heroes. It’s a simple read, but a very good one.

It’s an excellent start to a good group of superheroes, simple, but brilliant.

8/10

Also, here’s a link to Marvel Unlimited, which I am using to read the comics: Marvel Unlimited | Over 30,000 Comics. One All-New App!