The End of the Fantastic Four
by
Stan Lee, Jack Kirby & Dick Ayers
The Fantastic Four are bankrupt. Reed Richards has made incredibly poor stock options, so the Fantastic Four are forced to sell off all of their highly advanced science equipment to make ends meet. The news reaches to the depths of the ruined Atlantis where Namor, the Sub-Mariner watches the news. He plans on using their situation to his advantage. Tensions running high, Thing and Reed get into an argument over the selling of the Pogo Plane. Thing says he's had enough and decides to quit the team again.
Outside the Baxter Building, a livid Thing heads to Alicia Master's. He signals a cab, but upon arrival the surly cabby refuses to give Thing a lift; he doesn't think Thing will be able to afford the ride. Grabbing the taxi off the ground, Thing forces it over a lamp post, ruining the vehicle. As the cabby shouts at him, Thing uses his 4 flare gun. Johnny responds with his section of the Fantasticar, who gives Thing a lift to Alicia's. Inside her apartment, Alicia is able to calm the Thing down. She explains that she believes him to be as honorable as the white knight figure she has molded.
Back at the Baxter Building, the Fantastic Four receive a letter in the mail. It's from a movie studio in Hollywood; one S.M. Studios. They want the Fantastic Four to be in their next film and are willing to pay them a million dollars. As Reed's hopes are raised, Thing returns to apologize and rejoin the team. With that settled, they decide to hitchhike west across the country to Hollywood, California.
The Fantastic Four arrive in Hollywood. They immediately come through the gates of S.M. Studios and stare at the many film stars in front of them. The greatest shock is the person running S.M. Studios. They head into his office as his back is turned to them. Reed stretches his arm to tap the man wearing a green business suit who is staring out his office window. He turns to reveal himself as Namor, the Sub-Mariner. Namor explains that he does indeed own the studio. He tells them that the treasures of the ocean that have been lost to mankind over the centuries are his for the taking. He used these ancient, forgotten treasures to have enough wealth to create S.M. Studios and finance the film the Fantastic Four are to star in.
After Namor hands over a portion of their promised money, the Fantastic Four spend the weekend on vacation. Reed uses some of his money to buy a new suit to look presentable for the film. Johnny buys himself a brand new hot rod; spending the weekend driving around with local girls and impressing them with his flame powers. The Thing tries to relax on the beach. His relaxation is cut short by a bunch of buff dudes showing off for the women on the beach. Thing grabs the whole lot of them in his arms and proceeds to dump them all in the ocean. That evening, Susan Storm dines with Namor. She is suspicious of the Sub-Mariner's motives for helping the team, but Namor brushes her question off.
Shooting begins the next day with Mr. Fantastic. Namor takes the rubbery scientist to a hidden island in the Mediterranean that only he knows about. He explains that Reed's part in the movie involves him fighting the legendary Cyclops from Greek mythology. Reed assumes the Cyclops must be a prop, but when he arrives on the island he finds out differently. The Cyclops is indeed real and alive. As the giant one-eyed humanoid approaches Mr. Fantastic, he realizes he's been duped by Namor. Reed battles the giant, avoiding boulders hurled at him. He manages to turn his rubbery body into a sling around jutted rocks and bounce the boulders back at the monster. Reed uses a strategy to lure the Cyclops over to a very deep pit in the island. He stretches out his legs to trip the monster into it. With the Cyclops defeated, Reed promises to contend with Namor.
While Reed is making his way back, Namor is now set to film the Human Torch's scenes. He brings Johnny to a section of Africa. Before diving from a helicopter, Namor explains to Johnny that he will be filming him from above while he pretends to fight a village of native Africans. As soon as Johnny lands, the tribesmen hold him captive with spears.
What Namor failed to mention is that this particular tribe of Africans consume a magic potion that makes them immune to fire. As Johnny slowly realizes this, the tribesmen catch Johnny and throw him in a bamboo cage. He flames on and burns his way out, surprising the natives. They quickly consume the magic potion to immunize themselves against the Torch's flame attacks. Flying off, the Human Torch sees a nearby volcano. He hurls a fireball at the peak which sets off a chain reaction resulting in the utter destruction of the bluff. As the lava pours out, the villagers abandon the battle and flee for their lives. As the natives safely escape the destruction, the Human Torch vows to get back at Sub-Mariner.
Next Namor is chatting with the Thing on a beach. The Atlantean explains that his scene in the film is a battle between himself and the Thing. Namor suddenly swings his fist into Thing's chest as hard as he can, knocking him into the sea. He proclaims he's been waiting for this moment to battle the Thing alone. Thing gets back up only to get struck back down by Namor's winged feet. As the Sub-Mariner pounds on his rocky hide, Thing realizes the ocean water must be empowering him.
Thing scrambles to get Namor away from the ocean, when a storm pours down on them. As Thing prepares to strike Namor with a heavy haymaker, a bolt of lightning shoots down hitting Thing. Suddenly his rocky exterior evaporates and left standing is the human form of Ben Grimm. Namor takes advantage of the moment and quickly decks him one last time, leaving Ben unconscious on the shore.
The Sub-Mariner returns to his office to meet the Invisible Girl. He reveals his true intentions to her; now that he has beaten the Fantastic Four, he wishes to make her his bride. Susan is incredibly disparaged at this revelation. She goes invisible and fights Namor, knocking books and furniture into him. As she tries to escape, Namor uses his fish powers to mimic cavefish, who use a radar sense, to find her. Taking her in his arms, Susan struggles until the rest of the team bursts in.
Reed, Johnny and Thing, who is back to being in his rocky form, lunge at the Sub-Mariner. Susan suddenly blocks them off. She reminds them all that they still agreed to Namor's contract and he still owes them money. Sub-Mariner relinquishes in defeat, and promises to release their film as he heads back to the sea.
Notes:
Cycloptics: The Cyclops in this story is not to be confused with the major X-Men character known as Cyclops. This is supposedly the one from Homer and the Greeks.
Namor Tactics: I love that his plan involves splitting the team up to defeat them, but then when they come together at the end, he knows he is beat. It's a very basic idea that is pulled off rather well.
Supportics: Alicia Masters helps Thing cope with his anger by talking about it. This is a very touching (no pun intended) scene. Her role as the Thing's girlfriend established here gives the Fantastic Four its first supporting role to the title.
Odd optics: Namor using the cavefish power to find Sue is the lamest part of this issue, but I wonder if it gave Stan Lee the idea for Daredevil's radar sense. The way Kirby depicts the radar sense looks like it could have inspired him.
List Opinions: This issue is so much fun. I like the structure around the main story better than the main story. The Fantastic Four going broke because Reed is shitty at playing the stock market is a pretty great setup. Namor using this to his advantage to try to win over Sue is also great character stuff. The situations he puts Reed & Johnny however are pretty lame and in Johnny's case a bit racist. The battle with Thing was almost good, but Thing just gets struck by lightning instead of getting any offense in against Sub-Mariner. It reminds me a lot of Loki's first appearance, where his method of fighting Thor was all over the place, but overall a fun and enjoyable read. So I'm going to put it right under that one, above Thor's first appearance which is very important, but the main plot with the Stone Men is mostly nonsensical.
List:
Next Issue: Speaking of Thor, next time he faces a bunch of commies behind the Iron Curtain, only to be rescued by Don Blake.
The Fantastic Four arrive in Hollywood. They immediately come through the gates of S.M. Studios and stare at the many film stars in front of them. The greatest shock is the person running S.M. Studios. They head into his office as his back is turned to them. Reed stretches his arm to tap the man wearing a green business suit who is staring out his office window. He turns to reveal himself as Namor, the Sub-Mariner. Namor explains that he does indeed own the studio. He tells them that the treasures of the ocean that have been lost to mankind over the centuries are his for the taking. He used these ancient, forgotten treasures to have enough wealth to create S.M. Studios and finance the film the Fantastic Four are to star in.
After Namor hands over a portion of their promised money, the Fantastic Four spend the weekend on vacation. Reed uses some of his money to buy a new suit to look presentable for the film. Johnny buys himself a brand new hot rod; spending the weekend driving around with local girls and impressing them with his flame powers. The Thing tries to relax on the beach. His relaxation is cut short by a bunch of buff dudes showing off for the women on the beach. Thing grabs the whole lot of them in his arms and proceeds to dump them all in the ocean. That evening, Susan Storm dines with Namor. She is suspicious of the Sub-Mariner's motives for helping the team, but Namor brushes her question off.
Shooting begins the next day with Mr. Fantastic. Namor takes the rubbery scientist to a hidden island in the Mediterranean that only he knows about. He explains that Reed's part in the movie involves him fighting the legendary Cyclops from Greek mythology. Reed assumes the Cyclops must be a prop, but when he arrives on the island he finds out differently. The Cyclops is indeed real and alive. As the giant one-eyed humanoid approaches Mr. Fantastic, he realizes he's been duped by Namor. Reed battles the giant, avoiding boulders hurled at him. He manages to turn his rubbery body into a sling around jutted rocks and bounce the boulders back at the monster. Reed uses a strategy to lure the Cyclops over to a very deep pit in the island. He stretches out his legs to trip the monster into it. With the Cyclops defeated, Reed promises to contend with Namor.
While Reed is making his way back, Namor is now set to film the Human Torch's scenes. He brings Johnny to a section of Africa. Before diving from a helicopter, Namor explains to Johnny that he will be filming him from above while he pretends to fight a village of native Africans. As soon as Johnny lands, the tribesmen hold him captive with spears.
What Namor failed to mention is that this particular tribe of Africans consume a magic potion that makes them immune to fire. As Johnny slowly realizes this, the tribesmen catch Johnny and throw him in a bamboo cage. He flames on and burns his way out, surprising the natives. They quickly consume the magic potion to immunize themselves against the Torch's flame attacks. Flying off, the Human Torch sees a nearby volcano. He hurls a fireball at the peak which sets off a chain reaction resulting in the utter destruction of the bluff. As the lava pours out, the villagers abandon the battle and flee for their lives. As the natives safely escape the destruction, the Human Torch vows to get back at Sub-Mariner.
Next Namor is chatting with the Thing on a beach. The Atlantean explains that his scene in the film is a battle between himself and the Thing. Namor suddenly swings his fist into Thing's chest as hard as he can, knocking him into the sea. He proclaims he's been waiting for this moment to battle the Thing alone. Thing gets back up only to get struck back down by Namor's winged feet. As the Sub-Mariner pounds on his rocky hide, Thing realizes the ocean water must be empowering him.
Thing scrambles to get Namor away from the ocean, when a storm pours down on them. As Thing prepares to strike Namor with a heavy haymaker, a bolt of lightning shoots down hitting Thing. Suddenly his rocky exterior evaporates and left standing is the human form of Ben Grimm. Namor takes advantage of the moment and quickly decks him one last time, leaving Ben unconscious on the shore.
The Sub-Mariner returns to his office to meet the Invisible Girl. He reveals his true intentions to her; now that he has beaten the Fantastic Four, he wishes to make her his bride. Susan is incredibly disparaged at this revelation. She goes invisible and fights Namor, knocking books and furniture into him. As she tries to escape, Namor uses his fish powers to mimic cavefish, who use a radar sense, to find her. Taking her in his arms, Susan struggles until the rest of the team bursts in.
Reed, Johnny and Thing, who is back to being in his rocky form, lunge at the Sub-Mariner. Susan suddenly blocks them off. She reminds them all that they still agreed to Namor's contract and he still owes them money. Sub-Mariner relinquishes in defeat, and promises to release their film as he heads back to the sea.
Notes:
Cycloptics: The Cyclops in this story is not to be confused with the major X-Men character known as Cyclops. This is supposedly the one from Homer and the Greeks.
Namor Tactics: I love that his plan involves splitting the team up to defeat them, but then when they come together at the end, he knows he is beat. It's a very basic idea that is pulled off rather well.
Supportics: Alicia Masters helps Thing cope with his anger by talking about it. This is a very touching (no pun intended) scene. Her role as the Thing's girlfriend established here gives the Fantastic Four its first supporting role to the title.
Odd optics: Namor using the cavefish power to find Sue is the lamest part of this issue, but I wonder if it gave Stan Lee the idea for Daredevil's radar sense. The way Kirby depicts the radar sense looks like it could have inspired him.
List Opinions: This issue is so much fun. I like the structure around the main story better than the main story. The Fantastic Four going broke because Reed is shitty at playing the stock market is a pretty great setup. Namor using this to his advantage to try to win over Sue is also great character stuff. The situations he puts Reed & Johnny however are pretty lame and in Johnny's case a bit racist. The battle with Thing was almost good, but Thing just gets struck by lightning instead of getting any offense in against Sub-Mariner. It reminds me a lot of Loki's first appearance, where his method of fighting Thor was all over the place, but overall a fun and enjoyable read. So I'm going to put it right under that one, above Thor's first appearance which is very important, but the main plot with the Stone Men is mostly nonsensical.
List:
- Amazing Fantasy (Spider-Man) #15
- Fantastic Four #1
- Fantastic Four #4
- Incredible Hulk #1
- Fantastic Four #5
- Amazing Adult Fantasy (X-Men) #14
- Fantastic Four #6
- Journey into Mystery (Thor) #85
- Fantastic Four #9
- Journey into Mystery (Thor) #83
- Fantastic Four #2
- Fantastic Four #8
- Journey into Mystery (Thor) #86
- Tales to Astonish (Ant-Man) #36
- Tales to Astonish (Ant-Man) #35
- Incredible Hulk #4a
- Strange Tales (Human Torch) #103
- Journey into Mystery (Thor) #84
- Tales to Astonish (Ant-Man) #27
- Strange Tales (Human Torch) #102
- Fantastic Four #3
- Incredible Hulk #2
- Fantastic Four #7
- Incredible Hulk #4b
- Tales to Astonish #37
- Incredible Hulk #3
- Strange Tales (Human Torch) #101
Next Issue: Speaking of Thor, next time he faces a bunch of commies behind the Iron Curtain, only to be rescued by Don Blake.
No comments:
Post a Comment