Strange Tales 107

The Master of Flame Vs. The Monarch of the Seas!!

by

Stan Lee, Larry Lieber & Dick Ayers

About a month after his previous adventure, Johnny Storm walks home from school to find the rest of his teammates at his house. Reed Richards informs him that Ben and he were going over notes with Sue Storm for their next Fantastic Four adventure. When Johnny complains that the group never consults with him on their adventures, Reed berates the lad for his poor judgment last month with the Acrobat.

As Thing and Reed take off, Johnny enters his house. He contemplates how he can contribute more to the team, so they will all take him more seriously. Noticing a picture of Namor on Sue’s nightstand, the photo makes Johnny realize that Namor has never really been defeated by them; if he could take out Namor, Johnny just might be in better standing with the team. Before Sue can figure out what he’s up to, Johnny flames on and takes off for the Atlantic Ocean.

After flying over the ocean a ways, Human Torch’s flame starts to falter. He spots a nearby steamer ship and quickly boards it to recuperate. The crewmen are quick to notice him. Believing Johnny to be no more than a stowaway, despite his insistence that he is the Torch, the crew set him to work swabbing the deck. Johnny complies to allow his flame time to recharge. After a while, the ship runs into some fog and the power goes out. Having allowed enough time to pass, Johnny flames on to rescue the crew. He creates fireballs that surround the ship, bright enough to see through the dense fog. Once the vessel is free of the fog, the Torch continues on to his original plan.

Hovering above a spot in the Atlantic Ocean where the Human Torch knows Namor resides, he writes a flaming challenge just above the water’s surface. Suddenly, a school of flying fish emerge. The heat from the message scorches one of the creatures. It drifts down below the sea until it reaches a wary Sub-Mariner. He looks up to see the Human Torch’s message scrawled in the sky. Namor wishes he could meet Torch’s challenge, but he doesn't want to harm him because of how he feels about his sister.

Namor emerges from the sea and yells at Johnny to go back home. Torch responds by throwing a fire lasso around Namor. This infuriates Namor so much that he forgets all about Sue and starts chasing the lad. Torch leads him towards an iceberg jutting out of the ocean. Before he crashes into it, Johnny quickly dives out of the way, allowing Namor to smash into it. Before he does, Namor uses his powers to bloat himself up like a puffer fish in order to escape the hole he makes smashing into the ice.

Diving back into the ocean, Namor searches for weapons to fight off the Human Torch. In the ruins of Atlantis, he finds a fire-resistant sheet and a statue that has special hypnotic properties. As Namor reemerges, the sunlight hits the statue, causing its eyes to glow and hypnotize Torch. Namor suggests to him that they are friends and that he should come closer. Torch obeys as Namor wraps the fire-resistant sheet around his fist; punching the Torch in his face.

Johnny falls into the sea unconscious. Namor goes after him so he won’t drown. He ties Johnny onto the back of a passing porpoise, then tells the dolphin to take the boy to land. Johnny awakes minutes later. He immediately flames back on, burning off his seaweed restraints and flying off, back towards Namor. Namor takes on the traits of an electric eel and flies towards the oncoming Torch. The two of them collide, the impact sends them both falling under the sea.

The Human Torch chases Namor at the bottom of the sea. Johnny has somehow figured out how to maintain his heat under ocean water. He flies back out into the sky to reignite his body. Johnny goes supernova, making his flame so intense that it ignores the water, but he can only keep to this state for a few minutes before it completely diminishes his flame powers. Namor is buried in a hole in the sea floor created by the Torch’s immense heat. The hole quickly caves in due to the ocean pressure at the bottom of the sea, while the Human Torch travels back to the surface.

Breaching the surface in time for his flame to go out, Johnny is quickly spotted and rescued by the ship crew he had befriended earlier. Meanwhile, trapped in the ocean floor, Namor uses his awesome strength to burrow up out of the ground. Exhausted, Namor is still determined to renew the fight with Johnny. He breaches the surface, only to see a ship departing far off on the horizon. Namor is glad, for the Torch was more powerful than he had anticipated. He contemplates what a powerful team the two of them could make after the Human Torch reaches maturity. Johnny arrives home in the middle of the day exhausted. He crashes out on his bed. Sue passes by, wondering how working on cars could tire him out. “She doesn’t know the half of it,” thinks Johnny as he dozes off.

Notes

The Human Torch has added the supernova fire to his list of maneuvers. He is getting increasingly skilled with his powers, able to go toe-to-toe with Namor. He didn’t prove himself as he intended with the FF, but Namor now regards him as a worthy adversary and possible future teammate.

Namor is still lost without his people, residing in the ruins of Atlantis. The Atlanteans had access to some magical weaponry, in this case a bust that can hypnotize people. Namor performs a few tricks himself, he can take on the traits various sea life, including pufferfish and the electric eel, which we’ve seen used before in FF #6 to betray Doctor Doom.

Sue & Namor’s romance is still playing around in the background. Johnny burned up that picture of Namor in FF #6, so she must have gotten another one, probably when they were in Hollywood in FF #9. Sue is written as being really oblivious again.

Almost every time a story describes something as being asbestos from now one, I’m going to replace it with fire-resistant for my own sanity. I’m of the assumption that Stan Lee at the time thought asbestos equals fire-resistant, instead of it being a very specific type of fire resistant fiber that is extremely toxic to people.

Timely

Reed states that this takes place about a month after the events of Strange Tales #106 and the notes they are working on are for next month's adventure. This could mean a few things. Either they are making notes for their trip to the moon coming up in FF #13, they are making notes for their run-in with the Hulk, but that means they would have intentions to find Hulk and that isn't how the case is presented in FF #12, or they are going over notes for the next issue of Fantastic Four that Stan Lee & Jack Kirby are writing since we know Reed consults with them to make their stories. It's kept pretty vague. I personally think that in-universe they are notes for the FF's trip to the moon, because that would be a thing they had planned out.

Review & Ranking

This is one of the better stories in the Human Torch’s solo efforts. There’s still sticking points that drag this down, with the convoluted nature of how they use Torch’s flame and the strange fish powers of Namor. The small side story of Human Torch working on a ship. The characterization of Sue is once again greatly diminished to being just an annoying foil for Johnny’s adventures. The action between Namor and Johnny is generally better and much more fluid than anything else we’ve had in this series so far. The incredible detail on the strange hypnotic bust, silly as it is, gives it more credence at being a threat. Namor is drawn a bit off model in a few panels, but nothing extremely egregious.

Far and away the best solo Human Torch we’ve seen in Strange Tales yet. The story is of no great importance, it reiterates things we already know to a degree. Being billed as a fight issue on the cover, it delivers, but there is no great depth beyond these two characters fighting it out. I am putting it right above ST #103, the previous best solo Torch story, below the Hulk #4a that also told a pretty straight forward story with only a little meandering that doesn’t get in the way of the main plot.

Next Time

Our very first crossover, as the Fantastic Four meet the Incredible Hulk!

Fantastic Four 9

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:

1. Amazing Fantasy (Spider-Man) #15
2. Fantastic Four #1
3. Fantastic Four #4
4. Incredible Hulk #1
5. Fantastic Four #5
6. Amazing Adult Fantasy (X-Men) #14
7. Fantastic Four #6
8. Journey into Mystery (Thor) #85
9. Fantastic Four #9
10. Journey into Mystery (Thor) #83
11. Fantastic Four #2
12. Fantastic Four #8
13. Journey into Mystery (Thor) #86
14. Tales to Astonish (Ant-Man) #36
15. Tales to Astonish (Ant-Man) #35
16. Incredible Hulk #4a
17. Strange Tales (Human Torch) #103
18. Journey into Mystery (Thor) #84
19. Tales to Astonish (Ant-Man) #27
20. Strange Tales (Human Torch) #102
21. Fantastic Four #3
22. Incredible Hulk #2
23. Fantastic Four #7
24. Incredible Hulk #4b
25. Tales to Astonish #37
26. Incredible Hulk #3
27. 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.

Fantastic Four 6

Captives of the Deadly Duo!

Coming back from a search for Doctor Doom, the Human Torch and his sister the Invisible Girl race past a crowd of startled onlookers. When Sue reaches the Baxter Building lobby, she is greeted by a young mail delivery boy who is having trouble opening an elevator. Sue explains to the kid that this particular elevator can only be accessed by members of the Fantastic Four. She demonstrates with her special belt buckle that shoots a beam to unlock the doors. Reaching the living quarters, Sue is greeted by the rest of the team. Johnny, who I assume came in through a window, informs the team that he couldn't find any trace of Doctor Doom.

Going through their mail, Reed finds a letter from a young boy in a hospital. He realizes the hospital is right across the street, so he stretches through the window into the boy's room. The boy has so many questions, the answer we are privy to is about how the Fantastic Four's clothing remains on them when they use their powers. Reed explains...

Back in the Baxter building, Thing receives a letter from the Yancy Street Gang. They've been trying to rile him up. Thing responds by using his strength to roll a 6-inch block of titanium steel up like a newspaper and sending it to them. Ben wishes for a proper fight with the likes of Namor or Doctor Doom. Sue expresses she'd rather fight Doctor Doom rather than Namor because he is just misunderstood. He is villainous because he is hurting from losing his mind and his people for so many years.

Off the coast of New York, a group of dolphins are spotted at play. Among the porpoises is one Namor, the Sub-Mariner, also at play. While guiding them through maneuvers, an aerosub from above seeks his attention. Inside is Doctor Doom, he draws Namor out to greet the Atlantean. Doom tells Namor that their goals are the same in defeating the Fantastic Four and then mankind.

Namor guides Doom down into the ocean to his home among the Atlantean ruins. Once inside Doom expresses his desire for them to team up. He notices a photo of Sue Storm and realizes that his attraction to her is why Namor has softened in his attacks on the surface. Doctor Doom coerces Namor to join him in the team's defeat. Namor agrees, if they spare the Invisible Girl. It is then Doom reveals his method for their destruction, a small, red, cylindrical gadget he calls a "Grabber" that can attach itself to any object and, no matter the weight, draw it back towards the person with the remote control. With the plan agreed upon, Namor takes the device before he breaches the ocean.
Now on the surface world, Namor flies off to New York. Walking among a busy, startled crowd towards the Baxter Building.

Inside the Baxter Building, Johnny finds a photograph of Namor tucked behind some books. Immediately figuring out it belongs to his sister, Johnny confronts her about it. Being the obnoxious teenager he is, Johnny burns the photo up with his flame while Sue rightfully expresses that he has no right to do that. Reed and Thing find out what is going on and also express their frustration towards Sue. As she tries to explain herself, Namor himself appears in the doorway.

The three men go to attack mode, but Sue guards Namor using herself as a shield. Namor brushes her away to battle the Torch, but his flame goes out before they can really get into it. Reed asks Namor to explain himself. Namor responds he is there to offer his friendship, but Reed immediately thinks it's a trap. Johnny and him search throughout the building for any signs of tampering. Coming up short, Reed can't shake the feeling that Namor is up to something. As Namor makes plans to take Sue out of the building a loud CRACK! is heard by all.

The Baxter Building's foundation is split and the building itself starts ascending through the Manhattan sky. As the structure lifts off, Namor realizes Dr. Doom has betrayed him. He gives himself away to the Fantastic Four, explaining that he planted the Grabber device in the basement of the building and now Doctor Doom is in an aircraft above them, essentially towing them up into space. They all head to the orbit plane only to find it damaged and unusable from the tower shifting. They all don space helmets as soon as they leave the atmosphere. Johnny stupidly tries to flame on and fly out a window, before he remembers he needs oxygen to flame on. Reed stretches his arm out to save the lad.

With Thing holding onto him as an anchor, Reed attempts to stretch himself up to Doom's rocket. Just out of reach, Reed fails and the rocket flames burst in his face sending him reeling back. After they patch the injured Reed up, Thing decides to strike back the only way he knows how, by beating up on Namor. As the two of them tussle, Doctor Doom's voice reverberates throughout the room. He announces his plan to send them careening into the sun.

With the Fantastic Four basically defeated, Namor comes up with a plan. He finds a water storage tank the FF conveniently have. He douses himself in the water to renew his strength. Feeling refreshed from his bath, Namor hurls himself out to an oncoming meteor swarm. Leaping from rock to rock, Namor bounces onto Doom's rocket.

As soon as he lands, Namor is pulled down magnetically to the hull. Using his mighty strength Namor tears into the side of the rocket with his bare hands. Breaching the insides of the rocket, Namor attempts to force open the cabin door to reach Doom, when he is electrocuted. Hearing Namor's commotion cease, Doctor Doom prepares to detach the Baxter Building when suddenly he is electrocuted. On the other side of the cabin door, Namor is revealed to have absorbed the electric charges into his body and resupply them into Doom's cabin, wracking the villain in pain. Doom leaps out on to one of the passing meteors, holding on tightly as it takes him far away into deep space.

With the threat of Doctor Doom gone, the Fantastic Four are able to get the Baxter Building back into its proper space in Manhattan with Namor driving Doom's rocket to help guide it back. Sue reasserts her belief that Namor is not their enemy, but is full of pain and bitterness towards humanity for what they did to his people. Johnny finds the Grabber in the basement, but even the Thing's strength won't budge it. It suddenly drops by itself and flies off out a window. The Grabber homes in on the controls inside Doom's rocket being piloted by Namor over the ocean. Namor lets the Grabber destroy the rocket, making them both inert at the bottom of the sea. Namor decides he will return there too where humanity will not stir him up yet again.

Notes:

This marks the first team up of Doctor Doom and the Sub-Mariner. A team that will resurface several times way down the road. They even get a brief lived title in the 70's. Three other firsts in this issue, we get a name for the FF's headquarters, The Baxter Building, and we get the Unstable Molecules explanation for their costumes. Also, the first mention of the Yancy Street Gang.

We see a new power of Namor's. He can absorb and channel electricity through his body like an eel. It's an ability that is rare to use, but does come up again every so often. The explanation of him having "eel" powers is silly, but I do find it interesting that he has this ability.

Sue Storm and Namor's attraction to one another becomes a broad issue in this story. I think Johnny's obnoxious behavior is explained that he is afraid of ruining the family dynamic the team has been building. He & Sue have already lost their mother and father(as far as they know) and doesn't want things to change further. This is a very important story for Sue as a character, despite all the men in her life yelling at her about it, everything she believes about the morally ambiguous Namor turns out to be true.

The List

1. Amazing Fantasy (Spider-Man) #15
2. Fantastic Four #1
3. Fantastic Four #4
4. Incredible Hulk #1
5. Fantastic Four #5
6. Amazing Adult Fantasy (X-Men) #14
7. Fantastic Four #6
8. Journey into Mystery (Thor) #83
9. Fantastic Four #2
10. Journey into Mystery (Thor) #84
11. Tales to Astonish (Ant-Man) #27
12. Fantastic Four #3
13. Incredible Hulk #2
14. Incredible Hulk #3

Fantastic Four 4

The Coming of... Sub-Mariner!
by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby

"Nowadays, nothing is impossible!" -New York Mayor

The Fantastic Four search for Johnny. Making good on his vow last issue, the Human Torch has quit the team and has been in hiding ever since. In the FF headquarters Reed Richards berates the Thing for causing the Torch to quit after they beat the Miracle Man. The three members split in the Fantasticar to search for their teammate. Sue begins the search for her brother at a local Diner, but is quickly overcome with a great thirst and invisibly drinks a soda, scaring off a customer. Reed is as unsuccessful as his fiancée, he stalks a road and surprises a couple of motorcycling youths who haven't seen Johnny anywhere. The Thing, being more streetwise than his teammate, finds Johnny at a garage where he's working on a car with his friends. Thing is ready to confront the teen since Johnny can't use his powers around all the spilt gasoline. Stuck in a corner from a rampaging Thing, Johnny gets a reprieve when Thing's body suddenly reverts back to his normal human form of Ben Grimm. Johnny runs out of the garage and flames on to fly off, leaving Ben behind who quickly gets stuck back into the rocky, orange, Thing form.

After leaving Thing behind, Johnny finds himself in a poor district of the city called The Bowery. He hides himself among the derelicts and rents a cot in a rundown hotel. There he finds a comic book of the Sub-Mariner from the 40's. He recalls his sister talking about him, he lives underwater and has the strength of ten men. One of the bums notices Johnny and tells him there's another bum there who is as strong as that comic character. The bum tries to get the heavily bearded bum's attention, but he doesn't want to be disturbed. The bearded bum bats him and several others away. Johnny gets them all to stop so he can reveal who this bum really is. Igniting his finger, the Torch smolders his beard off to reveal Namor, the Sub-Mariner underneath.

Reed and Sue continue their search. Reed asks a helicopter pilot to no luck and Sue just misses her brother in the Bowery district. Johnny takes the confused Namor and flies him out over the ocean. Once there, he tosses Namor down into the ocean. With the ocean water filling his senses, Namor remembers who he is and sheds his old clothes down to his trunks. Namor quickly swims to his undersea kingdom of Atlantis only to find it completely in ruins. Noticing a faint glow over the area, Namor realizes it must be a result of the humans atomic testing. He returns to Johnny at the docks and vows revenge on all mankind.

As Johnny fires his flare to summon his teammates, Namor searches the ocean for his own ally. He uses a horn to awake a huge whale beast he calls Giganto. Namor guides the whale creature towards the coast of New York with his horn. The authorities quickly call for the evacuation of New York City and with no one else to be endangered the military and Fantastic Four are ready for battle. As the military fires missiles at Giganto, Reed flies up in his part of the Fantasticar to blast smoke around it's head to slow it down. Johnny flames on and attempts to confront it, but is quickly dowsed by the water from it's blow hole. After the Torch is rescued by Reed's stretchy arms, Thing comes up with a plan.

Rushing through military depots, the Thing gets them to strap a hydrogen bomb onto his back. He walks into the now beached Giganto's mouth and carefully strides deep into the cavern of it's body. As he searches for a place to set the bomb, a living creature the beast swallowed starts attacking the Thing. As he sets the bomb down to subdue the creature the bomb starts ticking down. With seconds to spare, the Thing quickly subdues the creature and runs for the exit. He makes it just in time as he leaps out of Giganto's mouth, the bomb detonates inside. Johnny and Reed rescue their teammate and Johnny seems to have some newfound respect for Thing.

Namor, having witnessed all of this, goes to summon more monsters with his horn when an invisible hand snatches it from his grasp. Sue races off with Namor quick at her heels. He grabs her up in his arms forcing her to become visible and is immediately taken aback by her beauty. Namor promises he will stop his attacks if she will join him and become his bride. The rest of the FF arrive to confront Namor before Sue can make a choice. Namor quickly snatches his horn back and angrily States he will now do both. Johnny gets his powers back and flames on. He flies up high over Namor's location in circles. Faster and faster until his heat and speed create a huge tornado. The vortex sucks up Namor, Giganto's large body and the horn, scattering them throughout the sea. The four are left wondering when they'll have to face Namor again.


Notes:

1st appearance of Namor the Sub-Mariner in the silver age, one of my particular favorites

Atlantis is established as a place that exists

Sue & Namor's infatuation with one another is established