Review of
Fantastic Four (1961) #1
Published:
November 1961
Reviewer Rating:
Avg User Rating:
(3.67)
This is where it all beginsnot with grace or subtlety, but with a giant flare blazing across the sky, people shouting their lines like they're late to their own comic, and a hero literally melting a military jet over Manhattan.
Reed Richards, aka Mr. Science Over Everything, wants to beat the commies to space. His plan? Build an untested rocket, peer-pressure his best friend into flying it, and ignore all warnings about cosmic radiation. Naturally, everyone comes back with powers more appropriate for a horror movie than a superhero origin. Ben turns into a traumatized rock monster, Sue turns invisible and largely irrelevant, Johnny bursts into flames at the slightest provocation, and Reed... stretches. Its handled in two breathless pages.
There's no time for emotional fallout. We jump straight to Monster Island, featuring kaiju, giant moles, and a villain who literally lives underground and is named Mole Man. His plan? Get revenge on the surface world using monsters that feel like they wandered in from a different Kirby comic. His monologue belongs in a high school drama class.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military? Totally chill. They fire a missile at Johnny Storm over a major city, then just shrug and move on. Nobody blinks. Nobody questions this.
The dialogue is in all caps. The panels are overstuffed rectangles. The pacing doesnt exist. And yet... it works. Its messy, loud, chaoticbut underneath the shouting, theres a spark of something new. What if superheroes were flawed, dysfunctional, human?
Even without costumes or code names, the dynamics are already here. Ben steals the spotlight with his grumpy sarcasm. Johnnys pure teenage fire hazard. Reed is dangerously close to ruining lives in the name of science. Sue... turns invisible, both literally and narratively.
Its badly written, clunky, and wildly historic. The Fantastic Four are born, and with them, the DNA of modern Marvel starts mutating on the page.
4 stars. For the flare, the kaiju, and Ben angrily discarding outerwear in public.
Reed Richards, aka Mr. Science Over Everything, wants to beat the commies to space. His plan? Build an untested rocket, peer-pressure his best friend into flying it, and ignore all warnings about cosmic radiation. Naturally, everyone comes back with powers more appropriate for a horror movie than a superhero origin. Ben turns into a traumatized rock monster, Sue turns invisible and largely irrelevant, Johnny bursts into flames at the slightest provocation, and Reed... stretches. Its handled in two breathless pages.
There's no time for emotional fallout. We jump straight to Monster Island, featuring kaiju, giant moles, and a villain who literally lives underground and is named Mole Man. His plan? Get revenge on the surface world using monsters that feel like they wandered in from a different Kirby comic. His monologue belongs in a high school drama class.
Meanwhile, the U.S. military? Totally chill. They fire a missile at Johnny Storm over a major city, then just shrug and move on. Nobody blinks. Nobody questions this.
The dialogue is in all caps. The panels are overstuffed rectangles. The pacing doesnt exist. And yet... it works. Its messy, loud, chaoticbut underneath the shouting, theres a spark of something new. What if superheroes were flawed, dysfunctional, human?
Even without costumes or code names, the dynamics are already here. Ben steals the spotlight with his grumpy sarcasm. Johnnys pure teenage fire hazard. Reed is dangerously close to ruining lives in the name of science. Sue... turns invisible, both literally and narratively.
Its badly written, clunky, and wildly historic. The Fantastic Four are born, and with them, the DNA of modern Marvel starts mutating on the page.
4 stars. For the flare, the kaiju, and Ben angrily discarding outerwear in public.
