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FANTASTIC FOUR IN THE BRONZE AGE!

THE RETRO COMICS EXPERIENCE!

Edited by MICHAEL EURY, BACK ISSUE magazine celebrates comic books of the 1970s, 1980s, and today through recurring (and rotating) departments like “Pro2Pro” (dialogue between professionals), “BackStage Pass” (behind-the-scenes of comicsbased media), “Greatest Stories Never Told” (spotlighting unrealized comics series or stories), and more!

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“Superman in the Bronze Age”! JULIUS SCHWARTZ, CURT SWAN, Superman Family, World of Krypton miniseries, and ALAN MOORE’s “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?”, art & comments by ADAMS, ANDERSON, CARDY, CHAYKIN, PAUL KUPPERBERG, OKSNER, O’NEIL, PASKO, ROZAKIS, SAVIUK, and more. Cover by GARCÍA-LÓPEZ and SCOTT WILLIAMS! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

“British Invasion” issue! History of Marvel UK, Beatles in comics, DC’s ‘80s British talent pool, V for Vendetta, Excalibur, Marshal Law, Doctor Who, “Pro2Pro” interview with PETER MILLIGAN & BRENDAN McCARTHY, plus BERGER, BOLLAND, DAVIS, GIBBONS, STAN LEE, LLOYD, MOORE, DEZ SKINN, and others. Fold-out triptych cover by RON WILSON and DAVE HUNT of Marvel UK’s rare 1970s “Quadra-Poster”!

“Bronze Age Backup Series”! Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Metamorpho, GOODWIN and SIMONSON’s Manhunter, PASKO and GIFFEN’s Dr. Fate, “Whatever Happened To…?”, Nemesis, Rose and the Thorn, Seven Soldiers of Victory, art and commentary by CARY BURKETT, JOHN CALNAN, DICK GIORDANO, MIKE GRELL, ELLIOT S! MAGGIN, DAN SPIEGLE, cover by GRELL and JOE RUBINSTEIN.

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“Bronze Age B-Teams”! Defenders issue-byissue overview, Champions, Guardians of the Galaxy, Inhumans, PETER DAVID’s X-Factor, Teen Titans West, Legion of Substitute Heroes, an all-star chatfest of Doom Patrol interviews, plus art and commentary by ROSS ANDRU, SAL BUSCEMA, KEITH GIFFEN, TONY ISABELLA, PAUL KUPPERBERG, ERIK LARSEN, GEORGE PÉREZ, BOB ROZAKIS, cover by KEVIN NOWLAN.

“Bronze Age Team-Ups”! Marvel Team-Up and Two-in-One, Super-Villain Team-Up, CLAREMONT and SIMONSON’s X-Men/New Teen Titans, DC Comics Presents, SuperTeam Family, HANEY and APARO’s Batman of Earth-B(&B), Superman/Captain Marvel smackdowns, plus art and commentary by BUCKLER, ENGLEHART, GARCÍA-LÓPEZ, GIFFEN, LEVITZ, WEIN, and a classic GIL KANE cover inked anew by TERRY AUSTIN.

“Heroes Out of Time!” Batman: Gotham by Gaslight with MIGNOLA, WAID, and AUGUSTYN, Booster Gold with JURGENS, X-Men: Days of Future Past with CHRIS CLAREMONT, Bill & Ted with EVAN DORKIN, interview with P. CRAIG RUSSELL, “Pro2Pro” with Time Masters’ BOB WAYNE and LEWIS SHINER, Karate Kid, New Mutants: Asgardian Wars, and Kang. Mignola cover.

“1970s and ‘80s Legion of Super-Heroes!” LEVITZ interview, the Legion’s Honored Dead, the Cosmic Boy miniseries, a Time Trapper history, the New Adventures of Superboy, Legion fantasy cover gallery by JOHN WATSON, plus BATES, COCKRUM, CONWAY, COLON, GIFFEN, GRELL, JANES, KUPPERBERG, LaROCQUE, LIGHTLE, SCHAFFENBERGER, SHERMAN, STATON, SWAN, WAID, & more! COCKRUM cover!

TENTH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE! Revisit the 100th, 200th, 300th, 400th, and 500th issues of ‘70s and ‘80s favorites: Adventure, Amazing Spider-Man, Avengers, Batman, Brave & Bold, Casper, Detective, Flash, Green Lantern, Showcase, Superman, Thor, Wonder Woman, and more! With APARO, BARR, ENGLEHART, POLLARD, SEKOWSKY, SIMONSON, STATON, and WOLFMAN. DAN JURGENS and RAY McCARTHY cover.

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“Incredible Hulk in the Bronze Age!” Looks into Hulk’s mind, his role as a team player, his TV show and cartoon, merchandising, Hulk newspaper strip, Teen Hulk, villain history of the Abomination, art and artifacts by SAL BUSCEMA, JOHN BYRNE, PETER DAVID, KENNETH JOHNSON, BILL MANTLO, AL MILGROM, EARL NOREM, ROGER STERN, HERB TRIMPE, LEN WEIN, new cover by TRIMPE and GERHARD!

“Tryouts, One-Shots, & One-Hit Wonders”! Marvel Premiere, Marvel Spotlight, Marvel Feature, Strange Tales, Showcase, First Issue Special, New Talent Showcase, DC’s Dick Tracy tabloid, Sherlock Holmes, Marvel’s Generic Comic Books, Bat-Squad, Crusader, & Swashbuckler, with BRUNNER, CARDY, COLAN, FRADON, GRELL, PLOOG, TRIMPE, and an ARTHUR ADAMS “Clea” cover!

“Robots” issue! Cyborg, Metal Men, Robotman, Red Tornado, Mister Atom, the Vision, Jocasta, Shogun Warriors, and Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot, plus the legacy of Brainiac! Featuring the riveting work of DARROW, GERBER, INFANTINO, PAUL KUPPERBERG, MILLER, MOENCH, PEREZ, SIMONSON, STATON, THOMAS, WOLFMAN, and more, behind a Metal Men cover by MICHAEL ALLRED.

“Batman’s Partners!” MIKE W. BARR and ALAN DAVIS on their Detective Comics, Batman and the Outsiders, Nightwing flies solo, Man-Bat history, Commissioner Gordon, the last days of World’s Finest, Bat-Mite, the Batmobile, plus Dark Knight’s girl Robin! Featuring work by APARO, BUSIEK, DITKO, KRAFT, MILGROM, MILLER, PÉREZ, WOLFMAN, and more, with a cover by ALAN DAVIS and MARK FARMER.

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Volume 1, Number 74 August 2014 Celebrating the Best Comics of the '70s, '80s, '90s, and Beyond!

Comics’ Bronze Age and Beyond!

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Michael Eury PUBLISHER John Morrow DESIGNER Rich Fowlks COVER ARTISTS Keith Pollard and Josef Rubinstein (art from the “One Minute Later” collection of Michael Finn)

COVER COLORIST Glenn Whitmore COVER DESIGNER Michael Kronenberg PROOFREADER Rob Smentek Rob Kelly Sean Kleefeld Peter B. Lewis Andy Mangels Franck Martini Marvel Comics Robert Menzies Jason Shayer Joe Sinnott Andy Smith Anthony Snyder Andrew Standish Roy Thomas Len Wein Marv Wolfman

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BACK SEAT DRIVER: Editorial by Michael Eury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 FLASHBACK: The Fantastic Four in the 1970s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Building upon the foundation laid by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby FLASHBACK: Human Torch Solo, a No-Go . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Marvel’s kinda-sorta efforts to spin off Johnny Storm BACKSTAGE PASS: The Fantastic Four and Other Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 A television history of the animated FF INTERVIEW: Marvel Comics on the Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 Tune in to The Fantastic Four Radio Show! WHAT THE--?!: The Impossible Man . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37 The Bronze Age return of the pest who was never supposed to come back OFF MY CHEST: The Fantastic Four: Going Cheap . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43 Rob Kelly remembers the once-plentiful Mego FF figures BRING ON THE BAD GUYS: Galactus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 The Devourer of Worlds is not your average supervillain FLASHBACK: The Fantastic Four in the 1980s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55 A time of maturity and change for the FF and friends BACK TALK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75 Captain and Colonel Future, reader comments about BI #69, and some FF extras

BACK ISSUE™ is published 8 times a year by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614. Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: BACK ISSUE, c/o Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief, 118 Edgewood Avenue NE, Concord, NC 28025. Email: euryman@gmail.com. Six-issue subscriptions: $60 Standard US, $85 Canada, $107 Surface International. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Cover art by Keith Pollard and Josef Rubinstein. Fantastic Four and Dr. Doom TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2014 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows Publishing. BACK ISSUE is a TM of TwoMorrows Publishing. ISSN 1932-6904. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING. FF in the Bronze Age Issue

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Art by Earl Norem, from the children’s storybook Fantastic Four: Island of Doom (Marvel Books, 1984). TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

SPECIAL THANKS Terry Austin Jerry Boyd Jonathan Rikard Brown Robert Brown Tim Brown Rich Buckler Jarrod Buttery Dewey Cassell Chris Claremont Gerry Conway Steve Englehart Michael Finn Stuart Fischer Grand Comics Database Haffner Press Ben Herman Heritage Comics Auctions Joe Hollon

& © Marvel. Casper © Harvey. King Fantastic Four and Spider-Man TM Jungle © Jay Ward Productions, Kong © RKO Pictures. George of the © 20th Century Fox Television. Earth the of r Cente the to y Inc. Journe

The first Marvel comic I bought cover-featured Mr. Fantastic. And Casper. And King Kong. Television was my gateway to comicbook superheroes, beginning on January 12, 1966, when Adam West as Batman knocked me POW! BAM! ZAP! into a world from which I would never exit. Back then I was strictly a DC man (make that boy … I was barely eight). I peeked at Marvel’s comic books a few times, but to my young eye they seemed course, primitive—although Marvelites might call that “energy” or “Kirby magic.” Some 19 months after discovering Batman, television led me to another comic, The Fantastic Four … courtesy of the Hanna-Barbera animation studios (see Stuart Fischer’s article on page 25 for the full story). Hey, I’d grown up on a diet of H-B cartoons—Ruff and Reddy, Yogi Bear, The Flintstones, Jonny Quest—and some of the voices and sound effects from those and other Hanna-Barbera favorites popped up on Saturday morning’s FF show. What was new to me, though, was the dynamic of this group. They weren’t like the other teams I’d encountered. They often didn’t agree, and would argue. One was a know-it-all, one wore a lot of hairspray, one was a teenage hothead, and one was big, loud, and grumpy. This “Fantastic Four” reminded me a lot of my extended family! (Without the Southern accents. Or cigarettes. Or sweet tea and banana pudding.) And thus, my first comic featuring the FF was America’s Best TV Comics, a 25-cent, 72-page issue released in 1967 by Marvel, in conjunction with ABC-TV. This one-shot promoted ABC’s fall Saturday morning cartoon lineup with a collection of comic-book stories, some reprinted (albeit truncated) from other sources and some produced for this publication. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s “Prisoners of the Pharoah” from Fantastic Four #19 (Oct. 1963) was butchered from 22 to ten pages for TV Comics, but to the eyes of this nine-year-old, it was fascinating. I had entered the Marvel Age. So by the time the Bronze Age kicked into gear, I was a regular Fantastic Four buyer and had the good fortune to pick up the majority of the comics covered in this issue, right off the stands. For me and for many of you, this issue is Kirby-inspired nostalgia … with fresh perspectives from the people who crafted these stories which still deserve our inspection lo, these many years later. Kudos to our BI writers for these looks at FF lore familiar and rare—especially Jarrod Buttery and Franck Martini, for each taking on the Galactus-sized mission of surveying a full decade of FF adventures. What more could any fan want? Well, maybe articles on Herbie the (hated) Robot, Dr. Doom, and Marvel Two-in-One … but, True Believer, BACK ISSUE has been there, done that! For the benefit of our newer readers (or for those requiring a memory refresher), previously covered FF topics are bulleted at right. And since it was Hanna-Barbera’s FF that made me a fan of “The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine,” please indulge me as I share with you my meager cartooning efforts from … >gasp!< … 30 years ago. Animation fans should recognize the inspirations for the faces of my H-B FF. Hide your pic-a-nic baskets, here comes the Sandbear! 2 • BACK ISSUE • FF in the Bronze Age Issue

Michael Eury

PREVIOUSLY COVERED FF TOPICS: • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

FF Roundtable of 21 creators (BI #7) Herbie the Robot (BI #25) Dr. Doom villain history (BI #27) Black Panther (BI #27) Sub-Mariner (BI #27) Hulk vs. Thing (BI #28) Ron Wilson interview/Marvel Two-in-One and Thing’s solo book (BI #28) Byrne’s FF (BI #38) Byrne’s She-Hulk (BI #39) The Last Galactus Story graphic novel (BI #46) The Inhumans (BI #65) Marvel Two-in-One (BI #66) Super-Villain Team-Up/Dr. Doom (BI #66) FF Centennial issues (BI #69)

Jarrod Buttery

Stan and Jack. It’s possible the comics industry might have survived without them. There’s a chance that we may be reading comics—and even magazines about comics—today, although they’d almost certainly be very different. But it is impossible to overestimate the contribution these two creators made to the industry, starting with Fantastic Four #1 (Nov. 1961). Stan Lee and Jack Kirby produced 102 consecutive issues of Fantastic Four, plus six Annuals, before Kirby left Marvel Comics. John Romita, Sr. took over as artist with issue #103 (Oct. 1970), penciling the last two installments of a three-part story featuring Magneto and the Sub-Mariner. Romita also drew the next two issues as Johnny’s Inhuman girlfriend, Crystal, leaves the team. Her physiology is no longer able to withstand the pollution of our world and she is forced to return to the Inhumans’ city of Attilan. John Buscema took over with FF #107, as Ben Grimm is given the ability to change back and forth into the Thing. Fantastic Four #108 (Mar. 1971) used portions of an uncompleted Lee/Kirby story, introducing the character of Janus the Nega-Man. Kirby’s original intentions were reconstructed and documented by John Morrow in Fantastic Four: The Lost Adventure #1 (Apr. 2008). Buscema depicted the return of Annihilus in issues #109–110, followed by the rampage of the Thing—driven insane by his latest “cure” in issue #111. A crazed Thing is confronted by the Hulk, in one of their classic slugfests, in FF #112. The next four issues depicted the threat of the Overmind. Stan Lee plotted the whole story but Archie Goodwin scripted issues #115–116, becoming the first person besides Stan to write Fantastic Four. Roy Thomas explained the situation in Tom DeFalco’s book, Comics Creators on Fantastic Four (Titan Books, 2005): “Stan was going to do a movie project with Alain Resnais and he needed to get rid of the few remaining books on his plate. I wanted to write Fantastic Four [but] I took [Amazing] Spider-Man because that’s what Stan wanted me to do.” With Reed possessed by the seemingly limitless mental powers of the alien Overmind and the entire Earth about to be destroyed, Sue turns to an unexpected ally—after all, it’s Dr. Doom’s world, too. Doom initially refuses to help and Sue laments that, despite their past differences, she had always thought him noble. In one of his characterdefining speeches, Doom replies, “Many demons rule Victor von Doom, but not those of pettiness or fear. Very well, I am with you.” With Doom’s (and the Stranger’s)

The World’s Greatest Comic Makers!

stan lee

jack kirby

Stan “The Man” Lee and Jack “King” Kirby, co-creators of the Fantastic Four, were winding down their collaboration by the time issue #100 (July 1970) arrived in the early Bronze Age. Fans wondered, would the FF survive without them? Cover by Kirby and Joe Sinnott. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

FF in the Bronze Age Issue

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Bad Ben and Bad Guy by Big John (left) Original art page from “The Thing Amok,” from Fantastic Four #111 (June 1971), by Stan Lee, John Buscema, and Joe Sinnott. Courtesy of Anthony Snyder (www.anthonyscomicbookart.com). (right) The same art team on the cover to issue #120 (Mar. 1972). Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com). TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

help, the Overmind is defeated in issue #116 (Nov. white supremacy upon our continent.” Therein, 1971)—the tenth anniversary of the book’s debut. This T’Challa announces that he has changed his alias to was also the month that Marvel briefly flirted with the Black Leopard. When Ben inquires about the increasing the size of its comics from 36 to 52 pages, change, T’Challa replies: “I contemplate a return to making this issue an extra-sized spectacular. your country, Ben Grimm, where the latter term has … Goodwin also wrote the following two political connotations.” issues as Johnny attempts to reunite with The change didn’t last long, as T’Challa Crystal—only to find her under the reclaimed the Panther title in Avengers hypnotic control of Diablo. The conclusion #105 (Nov. 1972). “Stan insisted that in issue #118 (Jan. 1972) was only ‘Panther’ become ‘Leopard,’ to avoid 15 pages long. The comic included confusion with the Black Panthers a six-page backup story where Ben group,” explains Thomas. “I didn’t and Lockjaw travel to an Alternatelike the idea, but saw his point. Stan Earth, meeting a Reed Richards who soon saw that ‘Black Leopard’ didn’t became the Thing. Thomas was work as well, so he wanted it asked if he had any insights into the changed back.” origin of this short story: “That was Stan returned for a four-part the time when the books had Galactus story—which also introduced jumped to 52 pages for one or two his newest herald, Air-Walker—in roy thomas issues … then publisher Goodman issues #120–123, followed by the suddenly decreed that we go back two-part return of the Monster from to 36 pages. That left us having to split stories in two the Lost Lagoon. His duties calling him elsewhere, Stan and fill the back-end of the second issues with other left the title for good—handing it over to Thomas who, material. I did a King Kull poem in Conan and a short in issue #126 (Sept. 1972), retold the FF’s origin and first story in Hulk. Archie came up with this one. I think all adventure. This progressed into a three-way subterthese things turned out rather well, considering they ranean conflict between Mole Man (from FF), Tyrannus were emergency fill-ins.” (from Incredible Hulk), and Kala (from the Iron Man Thomas wrote issue #119 (Feb. 1972), depicting story in Tales of Suspense #43, July 1963). “As you the Black Panther imprisoned in a neighboring African probably know, I’ve always enjoyed tying together country: “One of the last remaining strongholds of threads of the Marvel Universe,” confirms Thomas.

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commence his run: “It was fun for a couple of reasons. BATTLEGROUND: THE BAXTER BUILDING Injecting some cosmetic changes, Thomas changed First of all, I was taking over from Roy, who had plotted Johnny’s costume to red and asked Buscema to draw the issue. My job was basically just to come in and write Johnny’s flame a little more realistically. Sue is also the dialogue, which made it much easier for me to depicted more three-dimensionally—chafing when start off on the book because I wasn’t required to come Reed suggests she ‘stay home with the baby.’ This up with my own idea right off the bat. But the two comes to a head in issue #130. After defeating the things that made it really special for me was, one, writing Frightful Four, Sue snaps, “In the heat of battle, you a character like Thundra, who is a very powerful female didn’t think of me as a member of the team—not even figure. The second, and probably more fanboyish element for me, was the opportunity to work with [artist] as a wife—only as the ‘mother of your child!’” Ramona Fradon, who was also a powerful Sue leaves with Franklin, but Medusa, female, whose work I had really loved who helped against the villains, stays for years on Metamorpho. She was such with the team. Part one of this story, an interesting stylist and so different in issue #129 (Dec. 1972), introduced from anything than any artist that Thundra—initially as a new member had been working at Marvel at that of the Frightful Four, but someone time. It was a lot of fun.” who would soon become an ally of our Immediately from issue #134, heroes. Still pining over his girlfriend, Conway exhibits his penchant for Johnny gatecrashes Attilan in issue subplots and Marvel history. Having #131—discovering that Crystal has lost Crystal, Johnny decides to visit fallen in love with Quicksilver! old girlfriend Dorrie Evans, staple of Thomas told DeFalco: “I was trying to shake things up a little bit. I had gerry conway no great feelings for Crystal as a character. I thought it would be fun to get rid of her and I liked the idea of bringing in Quicksilver.” Everyone must put aside their differences in issue #132 to battle Omega, an artificial being powered by the racial prejudice of the Inhumans toward their sub-caste Alpha Primitives. Did Thomas want to highlight the plight of the Alpha Primitives? “I guess so. I didn’t think of it that way … just as a reasonably good story idea that made a point.” Gerry Conway became the regular writer of Fantastic Four with issue #133 (Apr. 1973), featuring the return of Thundra. Conway admits a liking for strong female characters and was asked if this was a fun issue to

FF in the Bronze Age Issue

Ladies Welcome! (left) Buscema/Sinnott cover to FF #133 (Apr. 1973), with Thundra (and FF member Medusa). (right) Interior art page from that issue (courtesy of Heritage) penciled and signed by the artist best known for DC’s Aquaman and Metamorpho, Ramona Fradon. Inks by Sinnott. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

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Just Sketchin’ Things (left) From a mid1970s sketchbook, John Byrne’s roughs for Bashful Benjy Grimm, a character he’d soon draw many, many times. Courtesy of Anthony Snyder. (right) A 1974 FF pinup by Byrne from a series of tryout pages. In just a few years, Byrne would take over FF, first as its penciler, then as its writer/artist. Courtesy of Heritage Comics Auctions. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

THE LEGEND As creative teams changed across the decade there was one constant. Of the 119 original issues discussed above, 100 were inked by Joe Sinnott. An undisputed legend of the industry, and one of the nicest guys in comics, Mr. Sinnott very kindly answered a few questions for BACK ISSUE. Asked about his role across the years, he explains, “I didn’t consider my finished art or inking role as providing consistency from one penciler to another after Jack left the FF. I just continued to ink in my own style no matter who I was working with. This is what Stan wanted.” Sinnott also inked 57 issues during the Kirby era. “Joltin’ Joe” asks, “Who could top stories with the likes of Dr. Doom, the Silver Surfer, Galactus, the Inhumans, and on and on? I’ve always felt that this was the greatest period in comic history, because of the incomparable characters. Plus the outstanding art. I may be thinking of the late ’60s, but some of my favorite stories that I worked on involved Johnny Storm when he was in college, and Wyatt Wingfoot and his people. It was just a nice change of pace and offered the opportunity to do some interesting and reader-enjoyable art. A lot of the writers of the ’70s like Roy, Gerry, Len, Marv, etc., turned out some interesting things, with diverse subject matter that was more relevant to the stresses and changes of the modern world.” When asked about replacements in the team, Sinnott offers, “I was never one for accepting change—in other words, ‘Don’t rock the boat,’ ‘Leave well enough alone,’ etc. A good example was when Herbie joined the FF and took over for Johnny—I never liked the character! Also, I never liked it when uniforms

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were changed, hairstyles, etc. I guess I’m from the old school. Of course, Franklin did have to grow. Although, I must admit, the Thing did evolve over time into the character we are now familiar with.” On a personal note, Sinnott was asked if he had any favorite characters and, speaking of the Thing, whether he’s difficult to draw. “The Thing is easy to draw,” he says. “It’s just that he takes time. The shading-in of his rocks is time-consuming. By the way, I’ll always believe that he was meant to be made out of orange rock and not alligator skin, plastic, or whatever. The Silver Surfer really pleased me when he appeared—he was fun to draw. My favorite to draw, however, was the Mole Man. I just love his face and baggy clothes and cape!” The importance of the Fantastic Four in the 1960s can never be overstated. The 1980s are also revered as John Byrne crafted some truly entertaining stories. “The ’70s probably don’t deserve as much celebration as the ’60s and perhaps some of the later eras, but I think we carried the torch fairly well,” summarizes Roy Thomas. Quite correct. The Fantastic Four in the 1970s explored both cosmic drama and the human condition in stories worthy of the World’s Greatest Comic Magazine! The author would like to express his sincere gratitude to Rich Buckler, Gerry Conway, Joe Sinnott, Roy Thomas, Len Wein, and Marv Wolfman. JARROD BUTTERY lives in Western Australia and has written several articles for BACK ISSUE. His first ever superhero comic was a black-and-white Australian reprint of Fantastic Four #5. From that point on, he was Doomed.

A Johnny Storm/Human Torch solo series has never sparked into a blaze. While there have been attempts to stoke the fire, this member of the Fantastic Four has never been able to ignite a solo book of his own. (Okay, enough with the fire puns…)

JOHNNY STORM’S STRANGE TALES TM

Jonathan Rikard Brown with assistance from Robert Brown

The first attempt to spin off Johnny into a solo series was from Marvel megastars and Fantastic Four co-creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, at the behest of publisher Martin Goodman, who purportedly wished to emulate the success of former Marvel headliner the Golden Age Human Torch. In 1962, the Lee/Kirby duo—originally with Larry Lieber scripting over Lee’s plots and Dick Ayers inking Kirby’s pencils—launched a series of Human Torch short stories (originally 13 pages, but over time varying in length from 12 to 14 pages) in the anthology comic book Strange Tales, starting with issue #101 (Oct. 1962). These stories attempted to create a connection between the (young) reader and the star of the comic, with Johnny Storm experiencing the negative side of his powers and the isolation felt when one has abilities that creates a secret life. On page one of the Torch’s first solo tale, titled “The Human Torch,” we see that Johnny lives in a quiet suburban town, and while the locals know that his sister has taken on the persona of Invisible Girl, Johnny’s ability to burst into flame is shielded from other citizens. (There is an editor’s note about some graduates from Johnny’s school knowing his status, but they have moved on with their lives.) The story shows how our hero’s everyday life has been altered as we are given the layout of his room, which Mr. Fantastic has outfitted with asbestos (!) to keep Johnny from burning down the house when he has a bad dream. The story continues to show an isolated Johnny’s entanglement with a new villain known simply as the Destroyer. As the Human Torch engages this new foe in an amusement park, we see him struggle to keep his FF identity a secret while building meaningful relationships as Johnny. At one point, Johnny ducks into a cabin to flame off and is confronted by his friends. In a very Clark Kent-ish moment, Johnny simply replies, “I spotted [the Torch] in the woods and followed him to the cabin! I wanted to discover his real identity! He got away!!” Strange Tales would develop a supporting cast for the Torch that included his sister, Sue Storm, and love interest Doris (Dorrie) Evans. The series attempted to develop a rogues’ gallery for the young protagonist, though none of these villains achieved the iconic status like Dr. Doom or Namor. As the series progressed it became clear that readers and Johnny were have a hard time connecting. By issue #123 (July 1964), the

Great Balls of Fire! Bronze Age-era fans remember this short-lived reprint series starring the FF’s hotheaded member. Cover to The Human Torch #1 (Sept. 1974) by Sal Buscema and John Romita, Sr. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

FF in the Bronze Age Issue

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Snuffed Out (left) Splash page to the final issue of The Human Torch, #8 (Nov. 1975). (right) The cover to The Human Torch #6. Art by Gil Kane and Vince Colletta. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

could have been found to make the Torch work as a solo act in the ’60s, but it didn’t.” The Human Torch reprint series was the only Bronze Age attempt to entitle a series with the character’s name.

THE TORCH, TV STAR? In 1978, NBC premiered the animated show entitled The New Fantastic Four [see article following]. From the show’s opening it was clear to every comic-book reader that something was missing. This version of the Fantastic Four existed without the Human Torch! In his place was a new robot character named Herbie (H.E.R.B.I.E.). Many questioned what had befallen Johnny, and this led to an urban legend. The rumor began to pop up that NBC executives had asked Marvel to remove the character from the show for safety concerns; it was said that NBC was afraid that children would light themselves on fire to emulate the character. This led to removal of the Human Torch and the addition of a robot, en vogue thanks to Star Wars, so that the number of the team would remain four. This story is completely false. The real reason for Johnny Storm’s absence from the cartoon disproves this urban

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legend—instead, it is due to one more failed attempt at lighting the fuse for a Human Torch solo gig. A year earlier, in 1977, Universal Studios had purchased the film/TV rights to the Human Torch, but not the entire Fantastic Four. Several sources say that the company had hoped to develop a show around the Torch in a format akin to The Incredible Hulk starring Bill Bixby. There are reports of a screenplay being written, but no show was ever produced. Most cite specialeffects budgeting as the major drawback. The show went nowhere, and the Human Torch rights reverted back to Marvel, where the character would eventually be packaged alongside his Fantastic Four teammates. When asked why attempts to make the Human Torch a solo star were all snuffed out (last fire pun, I promise), Roy Thomas reflects, “Such a title was always in the back of our minds, but he just never seemed to quite have the firepower for it … so to speak.” One has to wonder why. In my opinion, the fact that the Human Torch’s origin is the same as the Thing’s is off-putting. This hothead, Johnny Storm, got superpowers that came with no price. This point is exacerbated by the fact that Johnny also wondered if simply his love for a superhero is what made his power manifest in a certain way. When you look at Ben Grimm, you see a hardworking average Joe who is presented with opportunity of a lifetime, to go into space. Yet in the same accident he is permanently transformed into a monster. For me, a character that is cursed by his powers is far more intriguing than one who simply gets to turn his on and off. I think this lack of sympathy is why Johnny Storm has failed to attain full headliner status. JONATHAN BROWN attended Young Harris College and Brevard College for his undergrad. He completed his B.A. in 2007. He finished his Master of Arts in Religion with an emphasis on New Testament and a minor in Religion in Literature at the University of Georgia. He has published work in The Jack Kirby Collector and International Journal of Comic Art.

It’s Your Thing

Stuart Fischer

(left) A publicity cel for the 1979 Fred and Barney Meet the Thing cartoon. According to Heritage Comics Auctions (www.ha.com), this cel originally came from the collection of an unnamed former Hanna-Barbera executive. (below) Title card from 1967’s Fantastic Four cartoon. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

The Fantastic Four is Marvel’s oldest continuing comic book (despite its reboots during recent years). In 1961, when Stan Lee and Jack Kirby brought this terrific team into the American popular culture, little did anybody ever guess how significant this comic book would become, not only in the comics medium, but beyond. Just six years after The Fantastic Four was introduced to the world as a comic book, it became the basis for a Saturday morning television weekly cartoon series, airing on ABC-TV and produced by HannaBarbera Productions. The story of how this comic book became a television show is nothing short of … fantastic.

ANIMATED FF 1967 In the fall of 1966, Sy Fischer, a television agent who at the time worked at the powerful Ashley Famous Agency (which would later merge with another large agency to form what is known today as International Creative Management—ICM, for short), noticed his son, Stuart (the author of this article), reading a Fantastic Four comic book. Hanna-Barbera, who was Sy Fischer’s client, was in the business of selling and making shows for the youth audience and became a goliath in that field by giving the world The Flintstones, Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear, The Adventures of Jonny Quest, and many others,

and who would also look at other properties created by anybody who had a good idea for future television use. Sy Fischer, whose job it was to sell shows on behalf of his clients, Hanna-Barbera being one of them, saw potential in the Fantastic Four when he asked his son if he thought that this comic book could be a good cartoon. Naturally, his son said, “Yes!” very enthusiastically, and the wheels at that point began to turn. The very next day, the senior Fischer got on the phone with Joseph Barbera, the co-founder and head of Hanna-Barbera and told him of this wonderful comic book published by Marvel Comics and recommended that Hanna-Barbera get the rights to develop it for Saturday morning. Barbera then took a look at the FF and agreed with both his agent and his agent’s son that this super-team could be a good show, and that it ought to be pitched to the networks as a weekly animated program. Both Joe Barbera and Sy Fischer then contacted Stan Lee and asked if the rights were available, and luckily enough, they were. A deal was quickly made between the two companies and HannaBarbera put the show into development and then pitched to ABC, and quickly, it was on the ABC Saturday morning schedule for the Fall of 1967. Marvel at this time was emerging as a solid force to observe. They already were selling a lot of comics, and the year before had a show

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Quite a Stretch (top left) Image from the 1994 FF toon, and (bottom left) a cel from its “Return of the Silver Surfer” episode (courtesy of Heritage). (right) Promo for 2006’s Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes. Fantastic Four TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

separate shows under the Action Hour umbrella title. The voice cast in this new FF was quite good, with Beau Weaver playing Mr. Fantastic, Lori Alan playing Invisible Woman, and Quinton Flynn portraying the Torch. Chuck McCann, a seasoned voice artist and actor, played the Thing. Earlier in his career, McCann hosted a few local New York kids shows and was also the voice behind Cool McCool, a Saturday morning cartoon from the late 1960s that was created by Bob Kane and produced by King Features Syndicate. McCann also voiced Sonny the Cuckoo Bird from the Cocoa Puffs TV commercials for General Mills. An admirable piece of work all around, but it did not last as long as fans would have liked, running 26 episodes spanning two seasons.

ANIMATED FF 2K AND BEYOND It was a little over a decade before the next Fantastic Four TV show would begin, and this most recent show was very different from previous efforts. At this time this show was in production, Marvel was under new ownership and the Marvel Productions, Ltd. outfit was no more. Instead, Marvel formed a new division devoted to animation, now being more of a supervisor than an actual animation studio as Marvel Productions had been when Cadence Industries owned Marvel. The company acted as a co-producer with other animation studios to bring the Marvel characters to life in animated form. Moonscope, a French animation studio, co-produced this series with Marvel Animation. Moonscope used different animation techniques for this series that had not been used in previous FF shows. They mixed two-dimensional computer animation with three-dimensional computer animation, giving the show a different look from previous FF shows and from previous Marvel-based animated shows as well. On September 2, 2006, Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes began on the Cartoon Network. This was a year after the live-action Fantastic Four motion picture from 20th Century Fox, and the show reflected aspects of the movie as well as some basic characteristics from the comic book. Alicia Masters was featured as a regular in this new cartoon and was portrayed as an African American, rather than the Caucasian as she is seen in the comics, mirroring the casting of actress Kerry Washington in the motion picture. The producers wanted to be loyal

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to the motion picture because they thought that the movie would remain in the audience’s mind. The FF stories were dramatic, with little or no humor involved. In the past, the Thing and often the Torch would show comedic characteristics, but in this new cartoon they were rather dull, as were Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman. The team confronted characters straight from the comics, such as the Mole Man, Puppet Master, Impossible Man, Ronan the Accuser, the Skrulls, Dragon Man, Klaw, and the Frightful Four, but the action seemed subdued. Other Marvel heroes guest-starred in this show, such as SubMariner, She-Hulk, Hulk, Iron Man, and Ant-Man, adding colorful diversity to the show and giving some other Marvel characters some television exposure. Regular voices included Hiro Kanagawa as Mr. Fantastic, Laura Gilchrist as Invisible Woman, Christopher Jacot as the Human Torch, Brian Dobson as the Thing, Sunita Prasad as Alicia Masters, Samuel Vincent as Herbie, and Paul Dobson as Dr. Doom. The characters here resembled their movie versions more so than their comic-book incarnations or the previous animated TV incarnations; this took away a lot of the charm that made this team so popular. The only FF character that resembled his comic-book counterpart was the Thing, and even he looked different because he had a “4” symbol that appears on the FF members’ costumes on his chest in the form of a tattoo, rather than as part of a costume or even a shirt. This removed some of the innocence of the Thing as well as some of his warmth. Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes began on Cartoon Network, but fumbled to the Boomerang Network, a sister cable network of Cartoon Network (both which are owned by Time Warner), and then wound up on Nicktoons, which is part of the Nickelodeon Network. The show ended on February 25, 2010, after being juggled between different cable networks. Frankly, in this writer’s opinion, it was the least inspiring of all Fantastic Four TV endeavors. In the immortal words of Fantastic Four co-creator, Stan Lee, “’Nuff Said!” STUART FISCHER is the author of The Hanna-Barbera Story: The Life and Times of TV’s Greatest Animation Studio (PublishAmerica, 2011).

Dewey Cassell

Dial FF for Fantastic Four Album cover for an LP (that’s “Long-Playing record” for those born in the post-vinyl era) containing episodes of The Adventures of the Fantastic Four— a.k.a. The Fantastic Four Radio Show. Scan courtesy of Peter B. Lewis. Fantastic Four TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

The mid-1970s was a time of expanding horizons for Marvel Comics. In 1973, Marvel launched an in-house fan club called FOOM (Friends of Ol’ Marvel). In 1974, Marvel introduced a series of trade paperbacks published by Fireside, beginning with Origins of Marvel Comics. In 1975, Marvel hosted its own comic-book convention at the Hotel Commodore in New York City. And that same year, seeking to reach a new audience, Marvel took advantage of the latest in “modern” technology—radio. The notion of cartoon characters on radio was not new. One of the best examples would be Dick Tracy, which began as a comic strip in 1931 and was adapted for radio beginning in 1934. The Dick Tracy episodes were 15 minutes in length (or 30 in later years) and ran until 1948. Terry and the Pirates enjoyed a similar successful run. Numerous pulp characters were also adapted to radio, including The Shadow. And the Adventures of Superman radio series began in 1940 and ran 11 years. Common to them all was strong sponsorship. Audio dramatization of comic books was also not new. In fact, in 1974, Power Records had begun producing “Book and Record Sets” that featured popular Marvel comics, including the Fantastic Four, accompanied by seven-inch vinyl records.

The Fantastic Four Radio Show debuted in the fall of 1975. Not many people remember the show, much less that it was originally envisioned as the first part of a Marvel Comics Radio Series, but there were several noteworthy aspects of the program, particularly the cast, which included a 25-year-old future star of the television show, Saturday Night Live, as well as Marvel’s own Stan Lee. As was the case with many radio shows, the main cast voiced leads and supporting characters, which included Ant-Man, the Sub-Mariner, and the Hulk. The storylines for the shows, originally each five minutes in length, were adapted from early Fantastic Four comic books. The Marvel Comics Radio Series was the brainchild of Richard Clorfene and Peter B. Lewis. Lewis had worked at several West Coast radio stations prior to moving to New York in 1964. Clorfene moved to New York after serving as head creative writer and producer at Mel Blanc and Associates in Los Angeles. Clorfene and Lewis met while working on a pilot for a radio drama series called Tales of the Energy. What follows are excerpts from an interview with Peter B. Lewis by Sean Kleefeld on December 16, 1999. – Dewey Cassell FF in the Bronze Age Issue

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The FF Cast The back cover art (with meat and cheese!) of the FF Radio Show album, revealing its voice cast. Inset into the upper right is an LP’s label. Scans courtesy of Peter B. Lewis. Fantastic Four TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

END NOTES, BY DEWEY CASSELL In early 2014, I had the opportunity to correspond with Peter B. Lewis and gained additional understanding and appreciation of The Fantastic Four Radio Show (a.k.a. The Adventures of the Fantastic Four). With such a great cast working on a momentous project, I wondered if pictures were taken at the rehearsals or recording sessions. Lewis explains, “We never took any pictures of the cast recordings—sadly, not even the wonderful sessions I had with Stan. And we actually never had ‘rehearsals.’ The actors all came in for their sessions and did their stuff as pros do. Everyone got scripts in advance of the sessions, so we mostly did sight-readings and second takes. We did a few pickups and then all went our separate ways.” Lewis also sets the record straight, so to speak, on the approach to distributing the recordings to radio stations, noting “The series was released on LP because I insisted they be broadcast in stereo and, at the time, the only way to get on the air as a stereo program was on LP! There are 13 sides on seven LPs, packaged as double-disc sets for the 70 stations which aired them in 1975.” The album cover art included some inside jokes, as Lewis describes: “Bill Kuhns, the artist, visited the production studio one of the days we were experimenting with sounds. For a fistfight, I brought a hunk of cheap meat from the butcher shop. It was in the control room when Bill visited. He laughed when he saw it and it wound up on the cover art. The cheese is a symbol for the fella who worked the ARP 2600 synthesizer making so many of the sounds. His nickname was ‘Cheese Rat’ because he had a reputation for eating all the cheese at parties! Note the radio is set to 102.5—

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that’s the station we aired on in Seattle. And look more closely at the wood grain of the radio!” (The grain on the radio includes the names of the Fantastic Four, as well as Peter, his wife Cyndy, and others.)” Comic books are a visual medium, and translating the Fantastic Four to radio presented a challenge, but the results were very effective and entertaining. Lewis notes, “My intention from the outset was to bring the books to life in audio. I recently re-listened to some of my favorite episodes, prepared to cringe, as many artists will. Instead, I was quite pleased with the scripts, acting and (for the most part) the postproduction. We did remarkably well, under the circumstances. The script adaptations really are fun to listen to!” Had The Marvel Comics Radio Series continued, Lewis planned to give the Silver Surfer a similar treatment, as he elaborates: “We would have done Silver Surfer just like the Fantastic Four, using the actual Silver Surfer issues with respect for the writer and illustrator (and fans). Probably starting with early issues and working our way through the series. Silver Surfer also lends itself to music and music spin-offs, which the Fantastic Four totally lacked (except Alicia’s piano!).” It is a shame that The Fantastic Four Radio Show could not gain a foothold (or a sponsor). Perhaps it was an idea past its time, although Star Wars was later adapted for radio. The Fantastic Four Radio Show was advertised in the Bullpen Bulletin that appeared in Marvel’s comics. The show was extremely well written and produced, remaining largely true to the comics, although some plot points and dialogue were changed, often to make them less dated. Some of the sound effects were not ideal, such as Mr. Fantastic stretching, but Lewis had a finite effects library to work with. The actors were very credible and Stan did a great job of narrating the stories in his usual dynamic style, which is not surprising, since he wrote much of it originally. And each show began with Lewis announcing, in the spirit of The Lone Ranger: “Attention! All True Believers! Marvel Comics is on the air! Out of the pages of the World’s Greatest Comic Magazine come the adventures of the Fantastic Four.” You can hear the Fantastic Four radio episodes, in weekly format, on several Internet websites such as http://archive.org/details/FantasticFour-10Episodes. The sidebar provides a list of the episodes and the issues of The Fantastic Four on which they were based. As Bill Murray would say, “Flame On!” Sincere thanks to Sean Kleefeld for permission to reprint the interview and Peter B. Lewis for sharing his tremendous insight (and the album covers). DEWEY CASSELL is the author of over 30 articles and two books, including Marie Severin: The Mirthful Mistress of Comics, which was nominated for an Eisner Award. He is currently wrapping up a book about Herb Trimpe.

“At last the Fantastic Four meet a foe whose power is even greater than theirs! Here is: IMPOSSIBLE MAN.”

Andy Smith

He was never supposed to come back. His first appearance, in the pages of Fantastic Four #11 (Feb. 1963, inset), would seemingly seal his fate as the comics medium pressed on. Even from the start, the zaniness of this nameless alien from “the planet Poppup in the Tenth Galaxy” is qualified with editor notes and character commentary. In fact, the story’s fifth panel carries such a warning for readers: “Editor’s Note: By now, you’re probably thinking that Stan and Jack have flipped their lids! But wait— things may even get wackier!” Yet, the story continues. “The Impossible Man,” as dubbed by the Thing, proceeds to terrorize the Fantastic Four and citizens of Earth with lighthearted fare. A signature “POP” would denote a transformation into a giant buzzsaw, a movie monster, or a piece of cake. Even by Silver Age standards, it was a goofy—and admittedly humorous—tale of a bored alien with all of the power in the universe. He tries to make friends through transformations and pop-culture references, but his presence brought destruction. In the end, the team simply had to ignore him to make him go away. And his debut was not met with overwhelming praise. In fact, the term “hate mail” is often used to describe his reception. His creators, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, moved on to a popular tale guest-starring the Hulk, and the little green man was barred from further use as the Silver Age continued. Perhaps the pest-like nature of the character was realized too fully, as some fans had a similar reaction as the Fantastic Four did. They wanted him to go away. And he did. But the Impossible Man, quite appropriately, did the impossible. He came back—13 years later. You can blame that on Roy Thomas.

“IMPROBABLE AS IT MAY SEEM—THE IMPOSSIBLE MAN IS BACK IN TOWN!” “I really liked the first story when it came out in Fantastic Four #11,” Thomas tells BACK ISSUE. “The younger readers in particular disliked it, so much so that when I came to work there, somewhere along the line, when I talked to Stan about it, he

Improbable Return Writer Roy Thomas did the impossible, the unthinkable, in Fantastic Four #176 (Nov. 1976) by reviving the Impossible Man. Cover art by Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

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The first mention of Galactus comes from the mouth of a Skrull space commander as his crew encounters the Silver Surfer in deep space (The Fantastic Four #48, Mar. 1966): “It is not merely him, you fool!! Have you not studied your cosmic history? Wherever he appears, it is certain that Galactus cannot be very far behind!” From that introduction, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby boldly set up a universal presence for this new cosmic character, harvesting a sense of fear and grandeur. The story of Galan of Taa isn’t your typical “Bring on the Bad Guys” article. Galactus rises above the archetypal definition of a villain, as he can’t be pinned down as evil. Galactus acts as a dynamic force that compels protagonists to reevaluate their place in the universe, putting perspective on their goals and their existence. Through this mysterious and complex character, creators for decades have explored the vast cosmic unknown and populated it with their own ideas and constructs.

THE GALACTUS TRILOGY In the classic Galactus Trilogy (Fantastic Four #48–50, Mar.–May 1966), the Silver Surfer leads his master to Earth, despite the efforts of the usually passive and stoic Watcher. Lee and Kirby took the “World’s Greatest Comic Magazine” to a new level—our heroes had repelled alien invasions and defeated every Earth-based threat, but now they faced a new cosmic antagonist that would put them in their place. From his conception, Galactus was meant to be more than just another villain. Lee wanted a character who broke their supervillain mold. “We didn’t want to use the tired old cliché about him wanting to conquer the world,” recalled Stan Lee in his introduction to Marvel Masterworks vol. 25 (Oct. 1993). “There were enough would-be world conquerors in the Marvel Universe and in all the other comic-book galaxies. That was when inspiration struck. Why not have him not be a really evil person? After all, a demi-god should be beyond mere good and evil. He’d just be (don’t laugh!) hungry. And the nourishment he’d require is the life force and energy from living planets!” Galactus arrives in dramatic fashion and doesn’t acknowledge the existence of our heroes, but instead confronts Uatu the Watcher, who he treats as an equal. Uatu, who has been assigned by his advanced race to observe the Earth, argues that Galactus should spare the Earth because of the potential of humankind. Galactus isn’t moved by the Watcher’s pleas: “It is not my intention to injure any living being! But … I must replenish my by

Jason Shayer

Not Your Routine Rogue We salute the Jack Kirby/George Klein cover of The Mighty Thor #169 (Oct. 1969) with a montage of Galactus cover appearances. All covers and characters TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc., except Darkseid and Orion, TM & © DC Comics.

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Beyond the Bronze Age Writer Louise Simonson was joined by the art team supreme John Buscema and Bill Sienkiewicz in 1999 for the six-issue miniseries Galactus the Devourer. Shown here, from the Heritage archives, are Big John’s cover rough for issue #2 and the finished cover art. TM & © Marvel Chracters, Inc.

Sinnott in their prime, so I’ve always seen [Galactus] as the most majestic creature in the Marvel Universe. Writing Galactus was an extension of my approach to Dr. Strange. When I started writing Dr. Strange in his own book, I had to write a guy who was more knowledgeable and cosmic than I was, so I set out to comprehend that kind of mind. Later, writing the Silver Surfer or Galactus or any cosmic being, I was pretty comfortable with minds larger than my own.”

THE BIG COSMIC CRUNCH Galactus was born in 1966 from the fountainhead of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s creativity. Forty-eight years later, he’s still an intriguing, popular character that has once made it to the big screen (albeit radically altered, in 2007’s Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer) and will probably been seen again in the expanding Marvel movie franchise. Why do we find Galactus so compelling? Why hasn’t Galactus faded into limbo? Is it his god-like symbolism, or his incomprehensibility, or is it because he transcends good and evil unlike the majority of Marvel villains? In a universe of superheroes who are superior to humans, cosmic entities like Galactus humble those heroes while at the same time capture our imaginations. Galactus was created and continues to be used as a primal human response to understand and conceptualize the universe. “Galactus should stand outside the Marvel Universe, beyond it, and be an existential threat rather than a personal one,” explains Gerry Conway. “Like the weather,

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Galactus should be something you try to anticipate, but know you can’t affect. You should just endure.” When I asked Roy Thomas where he thinks Galactus fits into the Marvel Universe, he simply and succinctly replies: “I think the Marvel Universe fits into him. He could consume it all.” Creators have used and continue to use Galactus as a means to explore an almost-spiritual or mythological aspect of the Marvel Universe. Comic books can be viewed as modern-day myths, and these creators are the ones who are shaping and exploring these myths. Consider some of the conceptual ideas about Galactus: Byrne’s view that all beings see Galactus in their own image, or Englehart’s view that Galactus is the link between the Alpha and the Omega. How is this exploration any different from the many myths and religions attempting to understand the universe in which we exist? We live with so many questions, and this grand, cosmic being exists as a way for us to begin to formulate answers. This exploration is what fascinates us all and has made Galactus such an inspiring and compelling character. JASON SHAYER is a frequent contributor to BACK ISSUE and is known as the Marvel 1980s guy. You can find him nostalgically revisiting the 1980s at marvel1980s.blogspot.com.

Franck Martini

The names of the creators who worked on The Fantastic Four during this decade would be enough to let you envision how great the 1980s were for Reed, Sue, Johnny, Ben, and the short-term members of the team: Wolfman, Byrne, Pollard, Englehart, Stern, Buscema (both!), and Sienkiewicz … and Sinnott, of course—do you really need more as an intro? Imagine entering a comic shop (or more likely a newsstand) in late 1979 and discovering the Marvel comics bearing a January 1980 cover date… Many of those issues feature storylines that are frequently featured in Top Ten lists: Tony Stark was recovering from his battle with alcoholism in Iron Man #130 (by Michelinie and Layton); The Amazing Spider-Man was celebrating its 200th issue (by Wolfman and Pollard), with Spidey settling an old score with the burglar who killed Uncle Ben; Daredevil had a fill-in issue by Steve Ditko (#162), but that was just a breather between two Miller/Janson issues; the Avengers were fighting the Grey Gargoyle in #191 (by Stern, Michelinie, and Byrne); the X-Men were about to fight for their lives against a new group of villains you may have heard of— the Hellfire Club—in issue #129 (by Claremont and Byrne); and Johnny Storm was the only remaining living member of the FF while Ben, Sue, and Reed lay dead of old age at his feet in Fantastic Four #214 (by Wolfman and Byrne—yes, Byrne again, providing art for the top three team books of Marvel that month!). The early ’80s showcase Marvel Comics at one of its finest periods ever, and a very large chunk of the decade would follow in the same vein. Fantastic Four follows this trend: classic stories, some of the best creators in the field, major turning points, epic sagas, romance, death, new characters—this decade had it all!

REFRESHED FOR THE ’80s BY WOLFMAN As it is frequently the case, the ’80s do not really start in January 1980 for the FF. The real beginning of a new era of the Fantastic Four takes place 18 months before, as Marv Wolfman takes over the writing chores of the book. Simply put, it is a team book with a split team. And truth to be told, those splits were quite commonplace for the FF during the ’70s. Departures from the team, power losses, new members, alternate versions of characters—it really felt like a lot of the ’70s was spent deconstructing the classic vision of the Fantastic Four. Such was the feeling for Wolfman: “As a fan, I was tired of seeing the FF split up time and again. It felt old in the been-there/done-that sort of way. So my idea

Dynamic Decade While Fantastic Four was graced by numerous A-list creators during the 1980s, standing at the top of the heap was writer/artist John Byrne, who instituted change—while maintaining a “back to basics” approach. Cover to FF’s 20th Anniversary issue, #236 (Nov. 1981), inked by Terry Austin. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

FF in the Bronze Age Issue

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Wolfman Winds Down Among Marv’s contributions to the FF canon: (left) an aged FF in issue #214 (Jan. 1980, cover by John Byrne and Joe Sinnott) and (right) a crossover with Spectacular Spider-Man #42 in issue #218 (May 1980, cover art by Al Milgrom and Sinnott); the latter issue heralded the return of the original Fantastic Four logo. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

was to keep them together and just have adventures quite a new take on the Torch: “I forget why I wrote it the way Stan and Jack had done.” like this, but I think it had to do with not using him Focusing on the “Stan and Jack way” would be a that much in a positive way before,” Marv says. frequent motto throughout Wolfman’s run. He would Wolfman’s run concludes after a final two-parter create epic storylines, with two major highlights, involving a scientist turned into a god, the intervention starting with the Dr. Doom story that spans from issue of Blaastar, and quite an impressive display of power #195 to 200 (June–Nov. 1978). “I wanted to do by Franklin Richards: “I definitely wanted a massive, emotional battle between them,” Franklin’s powers to be worrisome. In fiction, he reveals. “As a fan, I hated the idea that everything needs to be a dramatic every confrontation between hero and problem until it’s not.” villain was indecisive. I wanted a real This was a run that Marv Wolfman confrontation with a real climax and never really enjoyed: “I loved The I wanted it to be personal and Fantastic Four, but felt as a writer, emotional.” Then the team would be except for issue #200, I never did the embarked in a major story involving job on the title I wanted to. Stan and the Skrulls, the Nova Corps (ending Jack had left huge footprints and I some plots leftover in the Nova book didn’t feel that I filled them at all.” also written by Wolfman), and Galactus Amazingly, Wolfman is one of and the creation of his herald Terrax. the rare writers who kept the classic Wolfman realized that “Galactus was roster throughout his run: “I think marv wolfman using elemental characters as his the FF works only when the main heralds.” The story finishes in the four are there and not when there aforementioned issue #214 (Jan. 1980), where Ben, are substitutes,” he said in BACK ISSUE #7 (Nov. 2004). Sue, and Reed are all dying of old age as they were shot Issue #218 (May 1980) is a crossover issue with by an aging ray by Skrulls a few issues before. This issue Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man, and is notable is essentially a solo Torch story, as Johnny tries to find a because of the return of the classic FF logo—which way to reverse the effects of the gun and save his would stay for the rest of the decade. teammates. With the aid of a dying Reed, the Torch Following Marv Wolfman, an odd two-part manages to save the day, albeit after a few pages of inventory story written and drawn by John Byrne self-deprecation as he believes he has failed. It was appeared in FF #220–221 (July–Aug. 1980). Recalled

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Byrne in Tom DeFalco’s Comics Creators on Fantastic Four (Titan Books, 2004): “Ah, the Coca-Cola story! … [Coke] wanted to use the FF [for a story they would distribute], so I came up with a self-contained, very innocuous kind of story. … It was less than a doublesized issue, and when it was finished, Coca-Cola said it was too violent … and they rejected it. [Editor] Jim Salicrup suggested we cut it in half, add a couple of pages, and turn it into two issues of Fantastic Four. They are the two dullest issues of the FF ever published.”

A VISUAL SHAKE-UP WITH BILL SIENKIEWICZ Doug Moench became the next FF writer, for a relatively short run on the Negative Zone after fighting a issues #219 (June 1980), and 222–231, living black hole (#228–231). plus one Annual (#15). It’s quite a Moench describes the FF as “a surprising run, and was appreciated family unit under a lot of stress and by readers, according to the letters bill sienkiewicz constantly bickering, but they really page. Sub-Mariner appears in the love one another.” What is striking Photo by Luigin Novi. first issue (#219), then none of the “classic” FF foes will appear until after Moench’s departure. about his run on FF is how much the family aspect of “I was told to stay away from the established guys for the book is emphasized. Just view how much Franklin at least a year,” Moench reflected in Comics Creators on Richards is used during those issues. He is involved in Fantastic Four. “I remember looking forward to using most of the stories and central in two of them (Salem the classic villains, but I ended up leaving the book Seven’s and Shogun Warriors). It is quite a fresh approach on the character, and it definitely changes before I ever had a chance to use any of them.” Moench brings back the Salem Seven for a three- the tone of the book and the stories. Visually, those issues are drawn by Bill Sienkiewicz parter focusing on Franklin’s powers (#221–223); the FF fight a Norse God crying tears of crimson, and inked by regular Joe Sinnott and some guest inkers with a little help from a familiar God of Thunder (Pablo Marcos, Bruce Patterson). Obviously, this talented (#224–225); they team up with the Shogun Warriors artist had to bring his touch to Fantastic Four, albeit a style against a giant “mecha” (#226); fight against Body quite influenced by other artists at the time: “The Neal Snatchers-like creatures called the Brain Parasites in Adams influence was a major and most obvious aspect to an horrific tale (#227); and the last three issues my work,” said Sienkiewicz in The Jack Kirby Collector #33 become more cosmic, as the FF are transported into (Nov. 2001). “When I was asked to do the book, I turned FF in the Bronze Age Issue

Franklin Under Siege (left) Bill Sienkiewicz’s startling cover to FF #222 (Sept. 1980); inked by Joe Sinnott. (right) Courtesy of Heritage, the George Roussos color guide to the splash page of #225, the issue featuring a Thor cameo. TM & © Marvel Characters, Inc.

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Back Issue #74