Review: Fantastic Four #4 (May 1962)

Fantastic Four #4
"The Fantastic Four in the Coming of... Sub-Mariner!"
Marvel Comics
May, 1962

Writing: Stan Lee
Art: Jack Kirby, Sol Brodsky

A seminal issues of the Fantastic Four!  This issue brings the Golden Age character, the Sub-Mariner, into the modern Marvel Universe, while not discarding his Golden Age past!

The Cover:
I absolutely love this cover!  It tells the whole story in one image:  The sub-mariner is trying to capture Sue, while the rest of the team tries to rescue her...but as he hits the water, he becomes invincible!  This includes an amazing image of the Thing...filled with anguish at what he has become!  I love that image!  One fun note:  it looks like the colorist goofed up, as Reed is just starting to dip his foot in the water, and the Thing looks like he landed on sand...but the colors show water going behind them...it makes them look like they are floating/walking on water! 

The Plot:
This issue continues where last issue left off...the Torch has run away due to the Thing's jealous actions over the young teen-ager.  I like how this issue gives an actual flashback from the prior issue to bring the new reader up to speed.  Then, the team splits up to search for Johnny.   Meanwhile, Johnny ends up re-awakening the Sub-mariner's memories.  Finding out his underwater city was destroyed by human atomic testing, he seeks revenge...

The Rest:
In fabulous Marvel style, many pages of the comics have these great teasers on the top or bottom:  "Who is the Hulk?  The Hulk is Coming!"  I love this kind of excitement generation!  I can't wait to read about this Hulk character!  

I have to wonder about the team in this issue...they seem to not have much regard for others yet, as, in one of the silliest moments, Sue, while searching for Johnny, goes invisible to search.  While invisible, she stops at a soda shop and drinks a soda through a straw, frightening a local.  Heh.  That means she must have stolen someone else's drink, or she went visible, bought a soda, then went invisible to drink.  Either way is quite silly.  Then, Mister Fantastic yanks a motorcyclist of of his moving cycle (which then must have gone on to crash) in order to see if he had seen Johnny.  In another instance of this, The Thing smashes through the wall of Swanson's garage where the torch is burning up next to gasoline...he could have gone through the door.  Then, The Thing uses that fact that Torch can't move because he would kill his friends in order to try to scare him.  He then smashes one of the teens hot-rods through the wall.  Some hero!  I actually like how this humanizes the characters.  On the other side of the coin,Namor comes off beautifully arrogant and imperial, with no cares but his revenge.


This issue also add a welcome letters page with a great editorial voice (I'm assuming written by Stan Lee).  My favorite example, when a fan asks what the encore comic to the Fantastic Four will be:

"That's easy, Shirl! We can always come up with new titles like The Fantastic Five, The Fantastic Six, etc. -- As  long as we don't run out of numbers!"

Or, at the bottom of the letters page:

"It's Impossible for us to answer your letters personally.  So, watch this space for your answer. It may take years, but what else have you got to do??"

 Heh.  Reading comics like these, with strong editorial voices and great salesmanship helps me to understand what really made these comics stand out from the crowd!  I love it!

Also, again, this issue retains its ties to the Marvel Monster books, by introducing Giganto, the enormous undersea monster!  Plus, the book still retains chapter titles, in line with standard comic which is filled with short stories.

Final Thoughts:
 
This is a fun book with flawed characters.  It has action, great art, fun stories, and a strong editorial feel.  While it does have some logic gaps in character behavior, they can mostly be forgiven as they adapt to their powers and new life.  Highly recommended!