• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Top 5 Fantastic Four key issues?

Started by SECollector,

66 posts in this topic

thehumantorch

thehumantorch

Posted
Posted
Not much love for 25 as a big key, one of my all-time most favorite comic books...

 

Ish 12 is cool for the Hulk cross-over, but the titanic first Hulk-Thing battle is in 25.

 

Synopsis of FF25 from Wiki:

 

"I'll tear the city apart, brick by brick if I have to, to find the Avengers!! And now ... there's nothing that can stop me!!

-- The Hulk

 

Appearing in "The Hulk Vs. the Thing"

Featured Characters:

Fantastic Four

Mr. Fantastic (Reed Richards)

Invisible Girl (Sue Storm)

Thing (Ben Grimm)

Human Torch (Johnny Storm)

 

Supporting Characters:

Avengers

Captain America

Iron Man

Thor

Giant Man

Wasp

Rick Jones

Alicia Masters

Villains:

Hulk (Bruce Banner)

 

Other Characters:

New York policemen

United States Army

Aunt Petunia (Mentioned) (First Mentioned)

 

Locations:

New York State

New York City

Manhattan

Baxter Building

George Washington Bridge

Hudson River

New Mexico

Hulk's Cave

 

Synopsis for "The Hulk Vs. the Thing"

Reed Richards has once again created a formula he believes will cure the Thing. However this time Ben is uninterested in a cure because his girlfriend Alicia Masters loves him the way he is. When Reed presses the issue, the Thing destroys the beaker containing the cure, much to Reed's frustration. When Alicia later arrives she informs the group of the latest news about the Avengers' manhunt for the Hulk.

 

Meanwhile, in New Mexico, the Hulk flees from the authorities. With a cordon surrounding the area the Hulk forces some truck drivers to stow him in the back of their truck. As he sleeps the Hulk reverts back to Bruce Banner and when the truck is later stopped at a check point Banner flees into the desert. Banner seeks shelter in a nearby cave, hoping that he can find Rick and get some help. Unfortunately the stress causes him to transform into the Hulk once again who then seeks shelter in his cave. Elsewhere the Avengers and their ally Rick Jones search nearby wreckage for clues to the Hulk's whereabouts. As their search turns up nothing, the Hulk learns that the Avengers have replaced him with Captain America[1] and decides to get revenge against them, the Hulk then bounds off to New York City to face them.

 

Back at the Baxter Building, Reed suddenly collapses while working on an experiment and Johnny is sent out in the Fantasticar to fetch a doctor. Along the way he spots the Hulk trashing the streets and flames on to face the gamma spawned monster. The Torch is no match for the Hulk, and is quickly defeated and his flame smothered. As the news of the Hulk reaches the Baxter Building, Reed tells Ben and Sue to deal with the Hulk instead of him, leaving them to worry that his sudden illness is grim and their leader might die. When they arrive at the scene Johnny is still fighting a losing battle against the Hulk. Sue protects her brother with her invisible force field, but soon passes out from the strain. That's when the Thing steps in for a rematch against the Hulk. As the Thing and the Hulk battle it out through the city, Reed tries to leave his bed to help the team, but finds that his malady has made him too weak to do anything. Ben and the Hulk's battle take them out into the Hudson River and onto the George Washington Bridge. The ongoing battle exhausting him, Ben tries to get a reprieve by trying to bind the Hulk in one of the bridge's tension cables.

 

Meanwhile, Sue returns to the Baxter Building with a doctor and the prognosis is grim: Reed has been afflicted by an unknown virus, likely from his own experiments and all the doctor can recommend is bed rest. Meanwhile, the Hulk defeats the Thing in battle and moves on, seeking to get his revenge against the Avengers. Left behind, the Thing picks himself up and follows after the Hulk, intent on stopping him.

 

This story is continued next issue....

 

:cool:

25 and 26 are great books but I just can't put them above FF12 and it's amazing cover.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
tth2

tth2

Posted
Posted

#4 should be on everyone's list. Besides reintroducing Namor, it indicated that there was going to be continuity between the new Marvel characters and Timely's GA characters--i.e., this wasn't a separate or alternate universe.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
thehumantorch

thehumantorch

Posted
Posted
#4 should be on everyone's list. Besides reintroducing Namor, it indicated that there was going to be continuity between the new Marvel characters and Timely's GA characters--i.e., this wasn't a separate or alternate universe.
Great point, it was a commitment to their past and anyone who remembered the GA characters would start clamoring for Cap etc.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
RockMyAmadeus

RockMyAmadeus

Posted
Posted
#4 should be on everyone's list. Besides reintroducing Namor, it indicated that there was going to be continuity between the new Marvel characters and Timely's GA characters--i.e., this wasn't a separate or alternate universe.

 

 

That's important now, but it wasn't at all important then.

 

As you know, for the first 30 years of comics, in general, people simply didn't collect them. They red them, and then, usually, tossed them. Keeping them would have been very unusual, and referencing them even moreso.

 

And, after WWII, readership shifted dramatically towards children, usually boys between the ages of 7 and 12. Once they were past that age, they almost universally moved on, and new readers were being constantly cycled in and then out. Turnover was 99% or more.

 

If there were 50 people in the country who bought FF #4 off the stands who also bought Submariner #42 off the stands, much less earlier issues, I'd be very surprised.

 

Sure, FF #4 references a "1940's Sub-Mariner comic", but it's just a passing reference.

 

In other words, I think the only people who cared that it was a bridge between Timely, Atlas, and Marvel were Martin, Stan, Jack, and the other yahoos in the bullpen. I'm sure the readership at large neither knew nor cared, this being the last years before the "collecting" phase of comics history began in earnest.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
tth2

tth2

Posted
Posted
#4 should be on everyone's list. Besides reintroducing Namor, it indicated that there was going to be continuity between the new Marvel characters and Timely's GA characters--i.e., this wasn't a separate or alternate universe.

 

 

That's important now, but it wasn't at all important then.

 

As you know, for the first 30 years of comics, in general, people simply didn't collect them. They red them, and then, usually, tossed them. Keeping them would have been very unusual, and referencing them even moreso.

 

And, after WWII, readership shifted dramatically towards children, usually boys between the ages of 7 and 12. Once they were past that age, they almost universally moved on, and new readers were being constantly cycled in and then out. Turnover was 99% or more.

 

If there were 50 people in the country who bought FF #4 off the stands who also bought Submariner #42 off the stands, much less earlier issues, I'd be very surprised.

 

Sure, FF #4 references a "1940's Sub-Mariner comic", but it's just a passing reference.

 

In other words, I think the only people who cared that it was a bridge between Timely, Atlas, and Marvel were Martin, Stan, Jack, and the other yahoos in the bullpen. I'm sure the readership at large neither knew nor cared, this being the last years before the "collecting" phase of comics history began in earnest.

I don't think that's right. DC had already started this trend with Flash 123, and my understanding is that the SA readers were familiar with and quite thrilled with the reappearance of the GA characters. Which is why DC started bringing back more GA characters and made the team ups with the JSA an annual occurrence in JLA.

 

There was clearly familiarity and nostalgia for the Timely characters, hence the excitement when Captain America returned. I don't think Marvel readers were going "Who's this guy?" when Avengers 4 came out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Straw-Man

Straw-Man

Posted
Posted
#4 should be on everyone's list. Besides reintroducing Namor, it indicated that there was going to be continuity between the new Marvel characters and Timely's GA characters--i.e., this wasn't a separate or alternate universe.

 

true.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
VintageComics

VintageComics

Posted
Posted
#4 should be on everyone's list. Besides reintroducing Namor, it indicated that there was going to be continuity between the new Marvel characters and Timely's GA characters--i.e., this wasn't a separate or alternate universe.

 

 

That's important now, but it wasn't at all important then.

 

As you know, for the first 30 years of comics, in general, people simply didn't collect them. They red them, and then, usually, tossed them. Keeping them would have been very unusual, and referencing them even moreso.

 

And, after WWII, readership shifted dramatically towards children, usually boys between the ages of 7 and 12. Once they were past that age, they almost universally moved on, and new readers were being constantly cycled in and then out. Turnover was 99% or more.

 

If there were 50 people in the country who bought FF #4 off the stands who also bought Submariner #42 off the stands, much less earlier issues, I'd be very surprised.

 

Sure, FF #4 references a "1940's Sub-Mariner comic", but it's just a passing reference.

 

In other words, I think the only people who cared that it was a bridge between Timely, Atlas, and Marvel were Martin, Stan, Jack, and the other yahoos in the bullpen. I'm sure the readership at large neither knew nor cared, this being the last years before the "collecting" phase of comics history began in earnest.

I don't think that's right. DC had already started this trend with Flash 123, and my understanding is that the SA readers were familiar with and quite thrilled with the reappearance of the GA characters. Which is why DC started bringing back more GA characters and made the team ups with the JSA an annual occurrence in JLA.

 

There was clearly familiarity and nostalgia for the Timely characters, hence the excitement when Captain America returned. I don't think Marvel readers were going "Who's this guy?" when Avengers 4 came out.

 

I tend to agree. There may not have been a TON of longtime readers who remembered the 40's and 50's but there would have been more than 50 IMO.

 

Kids who were 5 and 10 reading about Namor in 1942 would have been 25 and 30 in 1961.

 

Sci Fi had a monstrous following pre Marvel Comics #1 and reading was a common pastime. Not television, internet or cell phones and Pokemon. Following certain readers and characters would have appealed to a great many readers. It's one reason why television drew from Sci Fi for material later. Instant fan base.

 

I think that Stan's appeal to the past was like a good movie -script nowadays. It appealed to first time readers as well as long time followers.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
VintageComics

VintageComics

Posted
Posted

For me it's hard to pick issues in order of importance (with #1 being the most obvious important book in the Marvel universe).

 

#2, 3, 4, 5, 6 (villain team up), #10 (Stan and Jack appearing in the book), #12, #13, #45 (I've always loved the Inhumans since the 70's - "What, an entire race of Superhumans living secretly among us?"), #48-50 #52 all having such monster importance.

 

#5 would have to be in there.

#12 is one of my fave SA books of all time.

I'd probably have to go with #48 as my top 4.

 

After that it's a toss up between several issues but would probably go with #4 for reasons stated above.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
AGGIEZ

AGGIEZ

Posted
Posted

Times, they a-change'n....

 

#1 (Fantastic Four)

#5 (Dr. Doom)

#48 (Silver Surfer, Galactus)

#52 (Black Panther) - Johnny come lately or not, he done came and after the movie he'll remain on the A-list...

#4 (reintroduction of Sub-Mariner)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
TSwift25

TSwift25

Posted
Posted

In terms of what? Over all significance to the Marvel U / hobby? In terms of their place in FF mythos?

 

The top-5 FF "only" keys are, to me:

 

FF 1 - no explanation needed.

 

FF 3 - costumes introduced. Shift from sci-fi / strange fiction to super hero. This is when the "Marvel Age" truly begins.

 

FF 5 - Doom.

 

FF 48 - 50 (counted as one) the real intro of the space angles that defined so much of what makes the FF so unique.

 

FF 25 - the first Hulk / Thing fight sets the Thing up as a true heavyweight in the Marvel U and also becomes a driving subplot from this point forward.

 

Honorable mention FF 4 - if only because Namor has been increasingly minimized (and I think he's currently 'dead').

 

In terms of the Marvel U - it might include 52, 45-46 (again, treated as one), in place of 3 and 25, but even then probably not. Also 66 - 67 because of how important Adam Warlock is to Marvel Cosmic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
vaillant

vaillant

Posted
Posted
#4 should be on everyone's list. Besides reintroducing Namor, it indicated that there was going to be continuity between the new Marvel characters and Timely's GA characters--i.e., this wasn't a separate or alternate universe.

 

 

That's important now, but it wasn't at all important then.

 

As you know, for the first 30 years of comics, in general, people simply didn't collect them. They red them, and then, usually, tossed them. Keeping them would have been very unusual, and referencing them even moreso.

 

And, after WWII, readership shifted dramatically towards children, usually boys between the ages of 7 and 12. Once they were past that age, they almost universally moved on, and new readers were being constantly cycled in and then out. Turnover was 99% or more.

 

If there were 50 people in the country who bought FF #4 off the stands who also bought Submariner #42 off the stands, much less earlier issues, I'd be very surprised.

 

Sure, FF #4 references a "1940's Sub-Mariner comic", but it's just a passing reference.

 

In other words, I think the only people who cared that it was a bridge between Timely, Atlas, and Marvel were Martin, Stan, Jack, and the other yahoos in the bullpen. I'm sure the readership at large neither knew nor cared, this being the last years before the "collecting" phase of comics history began in earnest.

And why you think so? Just because the very concept of continuity was just building, it does not mean there was not an implicit care for the characters, for those which enjoyed them a pair of decades earlier.

Although I never liked much the cover, tth2 makes a very good point about the greatness of this book. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Knightsofold

Knightsofold

Posted
Posted

#1

#5

#48-50

#4

#12 -tied with ASM#1 for first Marvel SA crossovers.

 

The reintroduction of subby, torch (both), and Cap might also have had something to do with their copywrite expiring. I saw something about that when skimming the book: Marvel the untold story today. (I just bought it) I saw the part where in the early 60s, the creator of the OG torch was so mad at marvel he destroyed every trace of it's history from his house... So sad.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
vaillant

vaillant

Posted
Posted
#1

#5

#48-50

#4

#12 -tied with ASM#1 for first Marvel SA crossovers.

 

The reintroduction of subby, torch (both), and Cap might also have had something to do with their copywrite expiring. I saw something about that when skimming the book: Marvel the untold story today. (I just bought it) I saw the part where in the early 60s, the creator of the OG torch was so mad at marvel he destroyed every trace of it's history from his house... So sad.

Get back to our PM when you have time… I’d love to chat more about the GA period publications in general. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Go to topic listing