Fantastic Four #13

Fantastic Four #13

Originally released in 1963

Written by Stan Lee

Art by Jack Kirby

As the story goes, the Fantastic Four started because Marvel's publisher, Martin Goodman, saw how successful the Justice League of America comics were, and he wanted Marvel to have its own team of superheroes.  However, there was a major difference between the two companies: the Justice League drew from heroes who had been running since the Great Depression (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman), reimaginings of heroes from that era (the Flash, Green Lantern), or new successful heroes (Martian Manhunter).  By contrast, Marvel didn't have any of that - even Spider-Man wouldn't appear until the time that Fantastic Four #5 hit shelves, so any superhero team would have to be made from scratch.

Stan's wife, Joan, convinced him to write a book that he wanted to write - Stan was feeling burned out of writing comics and wanted to move on to more serious writing, so whether it's a success or not, it's a win-win.  Collaborating with artist Jack Kirby, whose work on Challengers Of The Unknown at DC formed a basis for the team, the two men created the Fantastic Four.  Debates have raged for years over who deserves more credit for the book's success, or who really wrote the books, but I feel like they both deserve equal credit - a bit of a cop-out on my part, I know, but it seems like it was a success because their strengths meshed so well together, with Kirby creating these outstanding experimental visuals and Lee's dialogue giving the book the heart that helped it to stand out.

Within the first year, the book reintroduced Namor, a Golden Age hero turned into an aggressive wildcard who was noble but often at odds with humanity.  It gave us villains like the Skrulls, the Puppet Master, and of course Doctor Doom.  This issue introduces... the Communist scientist Ivan Kragoff and his trio of super-powered apes.  They can't all be winners.

It's an early attempt at giving us an evil version of the Fantastic Four, with Kragoff intentionally exposing himself to cosmic radiation to give him similar powers. (I'm sure it was later established that he calculated when a similar type of cosmic radiation would be passing by Earth so his ship could pass through it, but in this issue, it implies that the simple act of going into space without the proper shielding could give anyone similar powers to the Fantastic Four)  Kragoff gains the ability to become intangible, calling himself the Red Ghost, and his apes each gain a separate power - one has super-strength that surpasses the Thing's, one is a shapeshifter, and one has magnetism.

As the apes don't gain any intelligence and can't speak, Kragoff's the only one with any real personality.  In addition to wanting to gain superpowers, Kragoff also intends to be the first man on the moon. (this was back before the Apollo 11 mission where Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon)  Coincidentally, the Fantastic Four also intend to make a mission to the moon and be the first humans to land on it, leading to the panel on the right, which is probably the best summary of 1960s comics that I can think of:

The Red Ghost isn't the most interesting villain, but his presence on the moon introduces a much bigger figure in the Fantastic Four mythos: the Watcher.  Sworn only to watch and never to interfere (a vow that he breaks on a semi-regular basis), the Watcher lives on the moon and keeps an eye on life on Earth, particularly humanity, for reasons unknown.

Throughout this book, the character moments help it to shine.  The Thing can be his usual abrasive self, mocking Johnny and arguing with Reed, but when he goes into space and experiences lower gravity, he's like a kid.  Between that and his reaction to a moon rock turning into a baboon, he's hilarious in this issue.

Reed is baffled by the Red Ghost's motivations - he doesn't see why the race to space should be an extension of the war between America and the U.S.S.R. when it could be something that's simply done for the good of humanity. (also, in a nice character moment, he initially plans to go to the moon alone because he doesn't want to put the rest of the team in danger - what happened to them the first time that they went into space, and what happened to Ben in particular, might also be weighing on him, though the other three members convince him that they should all go)

At this point, Sue doesn't get much to do when it comes to using her superpowers - this is before she got her forcefields, so she was limited to turning invisible.  However, she has a nice character moment where she frees the Red Ghost's apes, realizing that they're suffering under the Red Ghost's tyranny like how the citizens in Russia are suffering under their leaders.  Lee's dialogue can be a bit clunky here, but the sentiment is nice, especially when it would have been easy to paint all Communists as villains.

While this isn't the best that the Lee-Kirby duo has to offer, it's an entertaining issue with a good amount of heart to it.  It's interesting to see how the fears and worries of the time play out in these comics, much like they did in the Superman issues of the 30s (here, it's the concerns about advancing Russian technology).  The dynamics and conflicts within the Fantastic Four help to keep the book feeling fresh, especially when compared to its contemporaries, and even though some aspects may not have aged gracefully, I enjoyed reading it.