Fantastic Four #34: Property Damage 41

Fantastic Four #34, page 11, panel 2

Fantastic Four #34: Property Damage 41

Rapturously Written by Stan Lee

Deliciously Drawn by Jack Kirby

Impeccably Inked by Chic Stone

Lavishly Lettered by Artie Simek

If you thought taking a Reed/Ben fight outside wouldn't result in a load of property damage to the city of New York, then I'd have to ask if you've ever read a 1960s Marvel comic before...

Ben goes pinballing down the side of two facing buildings to control his fall to street level. I'd love to look at the conservation of momentum, and ask how gravity doesn't take over almost immediately? It's presented as Ben bouncing without much control between the two buildings, but surely after a couple of impacts, all of that energy is lost, and gravity can just do its job?

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #34 on our thirty-eighth episode: Two Not-That-Fat Men On Fantastic Four

Fantastic Four #32: Property Damage 40

Fantastic Four #32, page 16, panels 4-6

Fantastic Four #31: Property Damage 40

Story by: Stan Lee (Who has never been more dramatic!)

Illustrations by: Jack Kirby (Who has never been more thrilling!)

Inking by: Chic Stone (Who has never been more realistic!)

Lettering by: S. Rosen (Who has never been more than an hour late!!)

The fight continues, this time at the 1964 New York World's Fair, where the Invincible Man starts ripping apart chunks of exhibits and hurling them at the team. Reed seems particularly unconcerned by the destruction, directing Ben to hurl everything right back at the Invincible Man. The exhibits go unnamed, but it would make for a nice thematic fit, both for this story and for the Fantastic Four, for them to be part of the United States Space Park.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #32 on our thirty-sixth episode: John Byrne Quits Comics

Strange Tales #125: Property Damage 39/It's... ASBESTOS!!! 31

Strange Tales #125, page 1

Strange Tales #125: Property Damage 39

Written by Word-Slingin' Stan Lee

Drawn by Picture-Sketchin' Dick Ayers

Inked by Ink-Splatterin' Paul Reinman

Lettered by Pen-Pushin' S. Rosen

Oh, hey, it's an issue of Strange Tales. It's been... some time... (one post in the best part of two years).

Oh, hey, it's Dick Ayers and Paul Reinman on artwork. And boy, does it show that they're not Jack Kirby and Chic Stone. The Thing looks crude, Johnny looks incredibly stiff. Ayers, at this stage a workhorse for Marvel, would go on to far better things on the Sgt Fury title, whilst Reinman was nearing the end of his tenure with Marvel.

Oh, hey, it's an issue starting with The Thing and the Human Torch smashing stuff up for no real reason to provide a vaguely-interesting image to start the story with.

Oh, hey, it's an asbestos rug. At least something interesting here.

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #125 on our thirty-fifth episode: House of the Fallen Storm

Fantastic Four #31: Property Damage 38

Fantastic Four #31, page 11, panels 1-4

Fantastic Four #31: Property Damage 38

Written by: Stan Lee, The Man With The Talented Typewriter!

Illustrated by: Jack Kirby, The Man With The Power-Packed Pencil!

Inked by: Chic Stone, The Man With The Panoramic Paint-Brush!

Lettered by: S. Rosen - The Man With The Leaky Lettering Pen!

I normally try not to show more than a couple of panels at once, but I couldn't resist this sequence in which Ben Grimm saves the Pogo Plane from crashing into a building by... er... completely destroying the Pogo Plane. The hilarity of Ben kicking his leg through the hull so that he takes the impact, as if that would stop the plummeting plane from destroying the building below, is wonderful. And as for Ben's aversion to doors... well, there's no excuse for ripping the plane to pieces just to get outside.

Also, lots of great colour bleed here. I love it!

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #31 on our thirty-fifth episode: House of the Fallen Storm

Fantastic Four #31: Property Damage 37

Fantastic Four #31, page 2, panel 4

Fantastic Four #31: Property Damage 37

Written by: Stan Lee, The Man With The Talented Typewriter!

Illustrated by: Jack Kirby, The Man With The Power-Packed Pencil!

Inked by: Chic Stone, The Man With The Panoramic Paint-Brush!

Lettered by: S. Rosen - The Man With The Leaky Lettering Pen!

Well, if you're going to have an earthquake powerful enough to hurl The Thing around, you've got to expect that there's some damage. Following a very specific trail of destruction, Johnny finds a winded Ben sitting in a damaged shower cubicle.

Kirby understands what he needs to show and what he doesn't in order to sell the gag. I have no doubt that he would have drawn a great splash page of Ben, reclining against the cracked tiles, as water cascades from the shower head and pipes onto his head. We don't need to see that - it's far funnier to see his feet protruding from the cubicle.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #31 on our thirty-fifth episode: House of the Fallen Storm

Fantastic Four Annual #2: Property Damage 36

Fantastic Four Annual #2, page 13, panels 3-4

Fantastic Four Annual #2: Property Damage 36

A Stan Lee Story Spectacular

A Jack Kirby Illustrative Idyll

A Chic Stone Delineation Delight

A Sam Rosen Lettering Landmark

'm a little unsure if this should be included in the Property Damage count. On the one hand, the wall is the same wall that Johnny had already burst through, but on the other hand, Ben is a lot bigger, and he certainly damaged fresh bits of the wall that were previously mildly-singed at best.

I threw in the second panel, as Ben seems to recognise the general bad-ideaness of burning through other-people's walls. Of course, at this point, neither of them knows that Doctor Doom is in charge of Latveria. That piece of knowledge might just have tempered their wall-destroying tempers...

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four Annual #2 on our thirty-fourth episode: The Doomcast, with special guest host Alan Middleton

Fantastic Four Annual #2: Property Damage 35

Fantastic Four Annual #2, page 13, panel 2

Fantastic Four Annual #2: Property Damage 35

A Stan Lee Story Spectacular

A Jack Kirby Illustrative Idyll

A Chic Stone Delineation Delight

A Sam Rosen Lettering Landmark

It has to be said, Johnny has no idea how to behave at a party. Normal etiquette informs us that, when invited to a society event hosted by a foreign dignitary at a sovereign embassy, one should not self-immolate then burst through a wall to get even with someone for an insult and a little bit of pushing. It's just rude.

Normal etiquette also informs us that one should not attend any formal gathering wearing only a pair of tight, blue underpants. Sorry Ben - no shirt, no shoes, no service.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four Annual #2 on our thirty-fourth episode: The Doomcast, with special guest host Alan Middleton

Fantastic Four Annual #2: Property Damage 34

Fantastic Four Annual #2, page 3, panels 4-5 

Fantastic Four Annual #2: Property Damage 34

A Stan Lee Story Spectacular

A Jack Kirby Illustrative Idyll

A Chic Stone Delineation Delight

A Sam Rosen Lettering Landmark

It's almost inconceivable that we're still spending time looking at Ben smashing up old cars, but  Jack and Stan are milking this situation for all it's worth, providing an unusual twist. It turns out, one of the people caught in the traffic created by the unexpected Fantasticar landing is a modern art dealer, who pops up to purchase what remains of the car, before paying Ben to have a go at his.

I suspect that this art dealer, with his dreams of flogging "Clobber Creations" may be a little divorced from reality. What really works, though, is Ben's resigned reaction to the situation - "It's your dough!".

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four Annual #2 on our thirty-fourth episode: The Doomcast, with special guest host Alan Middleton

Fantastic Four Annual #2: Property Damage 33

Fantastic Four Annual #2, page 2, panel 5

Fantastic Four Annual #2: Property Damage 33

A Stan Lee Story Spectacular

A Jack Kirby Illustrative Idyll

A Chic Stone Delineation Delight

A Sam Rosen Lettering Landmark

Escalation is a great concept in drama. He pulls a knife, you pull a gun. We start carrying semi-automatics, they buy automatics. It's also a great concept in comedy and, judging by today's panel, in auto insurance claims.

At least this piece of antique automobile destructions comes from a good intention. A completely misguided good intention, but a good one nonetheless. In a nice piece of character work, Johnny, with a history of working in auto repair and with a love of cars, can only look on and cringe as Ben bashes away at the classic car.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four Annual #2 on our thirty-fourth episode: The Doomcast, with special guest host Alan Middleton

Fantastic Four Annual #2: Property Damage 32

Fantastic Four Annual #2, page 2, panels 2-3

Fantastic Four Annual #2: Property Damage 32

A Stan Lee Story Spectacular

A Jack Kirby Illustrative Idyll

A Chic Stone Delineation Delight

A Sam Rosen Lettering Landmark

There are times when the format of this blog means that we skip a lot of very god content. In this case, the good content is the origin of Doctor Doom story that opened Fantastic Four Annual #2. It's a great story, easily one of the highlights of Stan and Jack's collaborations, but with no elements of that story confirming to the categories of the blog, we're forced to skip to the concluding story of the annual.

We open with a random case of jeopardy as the Fantastical starts dropping from the sky because Ben forgot to re-bore the jet exhausts, which we've all neglected to do at one time or another. The team swing into action to clear some room on the highway for landing, but despite their effort, Ben still manages to rear-end an antique car. Just look at what he did to the fender...

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four Annual #2 on our thirty-fourth episode: The Doomcast, with special guest host Alan Middleton

Strange Tales #124: Property Damage 31 / Flamin' 'Eck 49

Strange Tales 124, page 1, panel 4

Strange Tales #124: Property Damage 31 / Flamin' 'Eck 49

Written by: Smilin' Stan Lee

Illustrated by: Darlin' Dick Ayers

Inked by: Peerless P. Reinman

Lettered by: Adorable Art Simek

Our streak of The Thing destroying everything in his wake continues as we return to our favourite Silver Age punching bag, Strange Tales. This opening sequence sees Ben decide to give Johnny a wake-up call by... er... lifting a side of his house off its foundations, presumably destroying the structural stability of the house. Judging by the way that rear wall doesn't change angle, there has to be a massive gaping crack somewhere along the side of the house as well. As Andy most likely said at the time, this makes no sense. And it still doesn't.

We've also got yet another flaming lasso, easily my least-favourite thing in the entirety of Strange Tales (and beyond, as evidenced by its appearance in the comic covered on this week's episode). At least this is 1964, and we can pretty much guarantee that the walls are lined with asbestos, explaining why Johnny can throw his flame around in such a cavalier fashion.

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #124 on our thirty-third episode: Bad Horse, Bad Horse, with special guest host David Walker

Fantastic Four #30: Property Damage 30

Fantastic Four #30, page 21, panel 5

Fantasticast Four #30: Property Damage 30

Written by: Stan Lee (A rather nice writer)

Illustrated by: Jack Kirby (A quite noteworthy artist)

Inked by: Chic Stone (A somewhat nifty inker)

Lettered by: Art Simek (An occasionally neat letterer)

This is why I should read ahead... It turns out that a suit of armour is a fairly minor piece of property damage when compared to the completely accidental loss of an entire artefact-filled castle. I really wish I had the ability to put a conjectural price on the loss of the castle, much as people have done with the destruction to Metropolis and New York in Man of Steel and Avengers. So many one-of-a-kind antiques lost forever, as well as the unique alchemical knowledge of Diablo.

Talking of Diablo, he really is one of the lesser Lee/Kirby villains to have gone on and feature within the Marvel universe. He's one of my least-favourite, even though his origin story far outweighed my expectations. It's not that the gimmick of the villain doesn't work for, it's that it's so horribly mis-applied. Instead of being a genuine and rare mystical villain for the team, he often gets reduced to an unlikely potion master, with coloured liquids causing all sorts of strange things to happen. He's not a villain I look forward to returning.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #30 on our thirty-third episode: Bad Horse, Bad Horse, with special guest host David Walker

Fantastic Four #30: Property Damage 29

Fantastic Four 30, page 20, panel 2

Fantasticast Four #30: Property Damage 29

Written by: Stan Lee (A rather nice writer)

Illustrated by: Jack Kirby (A quite noteworthy artist)

Inked by: Chic Stone (A somewhat nifty inker)

Lettered by: Art Simek (An occasionally neat letterer)

Steady on, Ben. You may be angry with Diablo for partially restoring your humanity, deceiving the world, enslaving his neighbours, and all sorts of dodgy stuff that would make the CIA look on with envious eyes, but that's an antique suit of armour you're crushing up like aluminium foil. Those things are worth a decent penny, and as we know, the Fantastic Four have their fair share of cash flow issues. You're literally crushing financial security in your giant, rocky fists. This is the road that leads to having to deal with Collins on a monthly basis!

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #30 on our thirty-third episode: Bad Horse, Bad Horse, with special guest host David Walker

Strange Tales #123: Property Damage 28

Strange Tales 123 Property Damage 28

strange tales #123: property damage 28

Written by: Stan Lee ('Nuff Said)

Illustrated by: Carl Burgos (Who was first to draw The Torch, way back in the Golden Age of Comics)

Inked by: Darlin' Dick Ayers

Lettered by: Smilin' Sam Rosen

There's so much to talk about today. First of all, this issue of Strange Tales heralds the very brief return of Carl Burgos to the Marvel fold. It wasn't to be a happy reunion. Lee and Burgos did not work well together, and a couple of years down the line, Burgos would see his hopes of owning the Human Torch dashed when Marvel featured him in Fantastic Four Annual #4 just before the copyright expired.

This issue also marks the point where the Thing started appearing consistently in the book, sharing the plots and actions with the Human Torch. Perhaps this was a move by Marvel to rejuvenate the troubled strip, perhaps this was an admission that the Human Torch wasn't the breakout character. Either way, from here to the end, this strip is a two-hander.

There's almost to space for me to mention that The Beetle has broken into a shop to steal the cash register, a loss of a day's takings, whilst The Thing arrived by destroying one of the exterior walls, causing the loss of the entire business to the owner.

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #123 on our thirty-second episode: Now With Genuine People Personalities

Fantastic Four #29: Property Damage 27

Fantastic Four #29, page 6, panel 2

Fantastic Four #29: Property Damage 27

Written with a dash of greatness by: Stan Lee

Drawn with a hint of glory by: Jack Kirby

Inked with a touch of drama by: Chic Stone

Lettered with a bottle of india ink by: S. Rosen

Hi, Ben. we need to talk. We understand that it's been difficult for you in the past few years, what with the transformation, the fact that it's my fault, that my wifefianceegirlfriend whatever this is goaded you into flying the ship, the endless teasing of regaining of your human form. We get that you can't walk down the street without attracting attention, that you'll only truly be good at hide and seek in the Colorado desert, and the only clothing that really fits is your trunks.

But that was a really nice table, man. Really nice. It was well-varnished, it was over a hundred years old, and it was blue. Do you know just how difficult it was to find a blue, antique table? About as hard as finding yellow paint that makes the walls and floor seem like one depth-less plane! You need to do something about your anger...

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #29 on our thirty-second episode: Now With Genuine People Personalities

Fantastic Four #29: Property Damage 26

Fantastic Four #29, page page 4, panel 4

Fantastic Four #29: Property Damage 26

Written with a dash of greatness by: Stan Lee

Drawn with a hint of glory by: Jack Kirby

Inked with a touch of drama by: Chic Stone

Lettered with a bottle of india ink by: S. Rosen

Does the Fantastic Four get more classic than this? An angry, emotionally fraught Ben Grimm causes unintentional property damage in a pique of self-pity. The drama crosses the line into melodrama, but it's broadly drawn emotional dilemmas like this that encapsulate the appeal of Marvel Comics in the 1960s.

Talking of broadly drawn... the standard convention is draw The Thing with many small rocky elements. The larger plates, as seen across his back here, are a great example of how he was envisioned by Kirby before he settled on the greater detail a couple of years down the line. I rather like it, as it plays to the strengths of Chic Stone, allowing for some great detail on the shading to suggest variations in depth.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #29 on our thirty-second episode: Now With Genuine People Personalities

Fantastic Four #25: Hulk vs The Thing Round 3.5 / Property Damage 25

Fantastic Four #25, page 19, panel 1

Fantastic Four #25:

Hulk vs The Thing Round 3.5 / Property Damage 25

Sensational Story by: Stan Lee

Astonishing Art by: Jack Kirby

Incredible Inking by: George Roussos

Lighthearted Lettering by: S. Rosen

I'm currently in Nantes (hashtag holiday brag) but, thanks to the wonder of pre-scheduled posts, I'm also apparently blogging on a daily basis about mid-1960s Fantastic Four. We'll see how long I manage before I mess something up with the scheduling...

This lengthy Thing/Hulk brawl continues, moving from the speedboat onto the Washington Bridge itself. As if this tussle wasn't causing enough havoc and devastation to New York, here Ben decides to destroy the infrastructure of the bridge to keep the Hulk at bay. I'm assuming he managed to clear the bridge of civilians, rather than just destroying it in a Man Of Steel-esque rage of pique. This actually manages to hold the Hulk for an entire two pages, although if most of those pages hadn't been devoted to Reed and Sue, I'm sure it wouldn't have lasted that long.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #25 on our twenty-fifth episode: It'll Be Our Little Secret, with special guest-host Michael Bailey

Strange Tales #116: Property Damage 24

Written by: Stan Lee

Drawn by: Dick Ayers

Inked by: George Roussos

Lettered by: R. Holloway

The fight moves outside, presumably because they've managed to destroy everything Alicia owns and indoor fighting seems a lot less fun when you can't wantonly destroy the property of your loved ones. Still, they manage to knock a great big hole in the ceiling on their way out.

For most people, having your boyfriend brawling like this with his close friend, doing this much damage, would be a definite deal breaker. Certainly for insurance reasons, even if you did believe the story about your evil mind-controlling stepfather being ultimately responsible. But I guess Alicia has more character than this.

Or, indeed, less...

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #116 on our twenty-second episode: Going Underground.

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_22.mp3]

Strange Tales #116: Property Damage 23

Written by: Stan Lee

Drawn by: Dick Ayers

Inked by: George Roussos

Lettered by: R. Holloway

It's back to Strange Tales today, and we find ourselves in the interesting position of having the previous Fantastic Four inker (Dick Ayers) providing pencils, whilst the current inker (George Roussos) provides the inks. It's an interesting mix. I think the Human Torch comes out pretty well, but The Thing seems very off for this point in the 1960s, a strange mix of the rocky exterior with the more organic face from the very early Fantastic Four issues.

The plot (such as it is) involves the Puppet Master compelling Johnny to go and hit on Alicia, and Ben walking in on this. The two heroes fight, causing some fairly major damage to the apartment of a blind woman, whilst she presumably spends most of the time hoping she won't accidentally get hit by something.

As much as Ben loves Alicia, and as short-tempered as he is, surely even he would stop before ripping the door right out of Alicia's wall...

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #116 on our twenty-second episode: Going Underground.

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_22.mp3]

Strange Tales #114: Property Damage 22

Written by: Stan Lee

Drawn by: Jack Kirby

Inked by: Dick Ayers

Lettered by: S. Rosen

Johnny's first encounter with 'Cap' does not go well. The two end up tussling, and 'Cap' ends up getting all the credit. As Dorrie Evans starts to fawn over the WWII hero, Johnny accidentally ignites, spilling soda and melting linoleum.

Even funnier than the inadvertent flaming-on-as-teenage-sexual-anxiety parallels is the almost casual way that Dorrie resolves the linoleum damage. Barely has Johnny scampered out of the door and she's on the phone demanding that someone send round some linoleum immediately. No details as to size, colour or pattern... just... some...

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #114 on our twentieth episode: The (Pre-Emptive) Return of Captain America (Secret Wars II Continues In This Episode)

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_20.mp3]