Fantastic Four #17: Flame On 41

Story: Stan Lee

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

You remember how Walt Simonson, in Fantastic Four #350, revealed that many of Doctor Doom's appearances had actually been Doombots when the real Doctor Doom showed up? And how a rumour grew that he had a master list of Doom's appearances, detailing which ones were Doctor Doom and which ones were just Doombots? (That rumour was false by the way) Well, I really wish Doom's appearance in this book was just a Doombot.

Why? Because his plan, certainly at this stage, is just really weird and strange. He creates these cloud-like, insubstantial robots to follow the team around, obstensibly to scan them and their powers. However, there is absolutely nothing subtle about these robots at all, instantly alerting the team to the fact that something clearly isn't right. The visual also looks as goofy as hell, meaning that this story looks as weird as it sounds.

Don't forget to let us know your favourite under-rated Fantastic Four stories!

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #17 on our fifteenth episode: Whence Came The Man of Asbestos

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/Episode_15.mp3]

Fantastic Four #17: Property Damage 16

Story: Stan Lee

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

Ah, the endless hilarity of searching for one of the most brutal dictators on the planet.

A couple of panels earlier, whilst pounding the streets looking for Doctor Doom, Ben had suddenly fallen through an open manhole. Instead of doing the sensible thing of looking for the nearest ladder and safely emerging back onto the street, Ben decided the best thing to do would be smash his way to the street without knowing who or what is standing directly above him.

As luck would have it, he stops a careless driver from running down a careless pedestrian. Which makes it all OK.

Except that it doesn't.

Don't forget to let us know your favourite under-rated Fantastic Four stories!

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #17 on our fifteenth episode: Whence Came The Man of Asbestos

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/Episode_15.mp3]

Fantastic Four #17: Flamin' 'Eck 23

Story: Stan Lee

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

Thankfully, the comic-reading malaise lasts as long as it takes for a flashback scene to recap recent events, and then the team are off to look for Doom. Strangely enough, they decide that the only place he can be is in New York, so they head off to partake in some highly ineffective searching.

Heat Sonar is Johnny's useless contribution to the search. Forgetting that Doom's metallic armour is far more likely to absorb the heat than reflect it, that the temperature of his heat rays will drop the further they get from his body, and that he has no process or ability to distinguish the heat reflection of one person from the next, Johnny effectively wastes his time  and power floating uselessly above the streets of New York.

Don't forget to let us know your favourite under-rated Fantastic Four stories!

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #17 on our fifteenth episode: Whence Came The Man of Asbestos

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/Episode_15.mp3]

Fantastic Four #17: It's A Marvel Comic 12

Story: Stan Lee

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

Picture yourself recently returned from a minute world hidden inside an atom. You've helped overthrow the rule of Doctor Doom, restoring the rightful monarchy. You've returned home, fully aware that Doctor Doom is free and on the loose in your world. Do you jump into the Fantasticar and start hunting for the incredibly dangerous villain, or do you flop into an armchair and read an issue of Tales to Astonish, starring Giant Man?

I think almost everyone would choose danger and death over early 1960s Giant Man stories (sorry Abel).

Don't forget to let us know your favourite under-rated Fantastic Four stories!

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #17 on our fifteenth episode: Whence Came The Man of Asbestos

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/Episode_15.mp3]

Strange Tales #110: Flamin' 'Eck 22

Plot: Stan Lee

Script: HE Huntley (Ernie Hart)

Art: Dick Ayers

Letterer: John Duffy

Well, that was fast.

We close on a flaming lasso as Johnny apprehends the Wizard and Paste-Pot Pete. Sadly, as they couldn't be categorised, we had no way of looking at the four pages of flashback that padded out this story. Or the bit where the Wizard decided that the best thing to use to defeat a teenager whose power is to ignite himself is a concentrated blast of pure oxygen. Or the other crazy bit where he claims that he can dissolve oxygen from the atmosphere.

Don't forget to let us know your favourite under-rated Fantastic Four stories!

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #110 on our fourteenth episode: The Return of Doctor Doom

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/Episode_14.mp3]

Strange Tales #110: Flame On 40

Plot: Stan Lee

Script: HE Huntley (Ernie Hart)

Art: Dick Ayers

Letterer: John Duffy

It's back to Strange Tales, a place neither Andy or myself ever really want to go again. But if I can bear to trawl through these uninspiring early appearances of The Wizard and Paste Pot Pete to ensure that nary a Flame On is missed, then you can come along with me.

Ernie Hart is the man behind the pseudonym behind the script today. Best known as the creator of the Marvel Comics funny animal character Super Rabbit, this issue of Strange Tales is one of only a very small handful of Silver Age superhero comics that Ernie was involved in the creation of.

Anyway, it's had to context this 'Flame On', as it is the first thing to happen in the comic. Johnny's exercising in his backyard, as the caption tells us. Which is good, as not a single panel in the first page detailing this sequence ever manages to depict that backyard.

Don't forget to let us know your favourite under-rated Fantastic Four stories!

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #110 on our fourteenth episode: The Return of Doctor Doom

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/Episode_14.mp3]

LQotM: What Are Your Favourite Under-Rated Fantastic Four Stories?

On our latest episode, we launched our first Listener Question of the Month. We rightly laud certain runs on the title - Lee/Kirby, Byrne, Waid/Wieringo, Hickman. But there are plenty of creators, stories and mini-series that don't necessarily get the attention that they deserve.

So, this month, we're asking you to give us your favourite FF stories that you think may have not got the attention that they deserve. You might be a fan of Len Wein and George Perez. You may think that there's something rarely seen in Tom DeFalco and Paul Ryan's time on the book. You might be a fan of Heroes Reborn, or feel that Paul Cornell's Fantastic Four: True Story mini-series somehow escaped attention.

Whatever your favourites are, do let us know. On one of our November episodes, we'll run down what's been nominated and the reasons why, and see if we can't put a bit of focus onto these stories.

E-mail the show at fantastic4podcast@gmail.com, leave your comments over at our facebook page, or in the comments below.

Fantastic Four #16: Property Damage 15

Script: Stan Lee

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

I guess I'm stretching the bounds of this category a little. The idea of Property Damage is to catalogue the sheer volume of destruction caused by The Thing to parts of New York,  both public and private. It's the kind of category I would never apply to The Man Of Steel...

Right now, Ben is smashing up the runway of a nameless planet in the microverse. It doesn't have any effect on our world at all. And yet it's incredibly fun to look at, with Kirby's exaggerated perspective resulting in a barely-visible Thing, but one who is completely animated in his poses. It's absolutely wonderful, which is why it's included here.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #16 on our fourteenth episode: The Return of Doctor Doom

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/Episode_14.mp3]

Fantastic Four #16: Flame On 39

Script: Stan Lee

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

This landmark 201st post features a lovely image of the three currently-visible members of the team running towards the camera, with a catchphrase used to unite the team. You could easily replace Reed, Ben and Johnny with Thor, Cap and Iron Man, Flame On substituted for Avengers Assemble. It's a wonderfully iconic shot, one that would surely have been given greater prominence a few years down the road, where the pacing of the stories over multiple issues allowed Kirby to let moments like this shine in the form of a half-page panel.

The three members of the Four are charging to beat up Doctor Doom, although the fact that it's page 21 of a 22 page comic suggests that either the fight will be brief, or Doom will make an improbably easy escape. As it's the first part of the title's first two-part story, my money's on the latter.

And as for Sue... she's busy freeing Ant-Man.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #16 on our fourteenth episode: The Return of Doctor Doom

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/Episode_14.mp3]

Fantastic Four #16: Reed's Stretchy Body 28-30

Script: Stan Lee

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

It's a bit of a different panel today. For a short time in 1963, Marvel devoted a page of their books to pin-up pages like this. (They'd repeat this in a year or so, with post pages). So, for your enjoyment, I present the pin-up page from Fantastic Four #16, with three different examples of Reed being all stretchy.

The parachute, I'm fine with. The bulletproof stretchy bullet catching thing hasn't been seen in a while, and I like it. But the wheel? What the hell is making up the spokes? His toes? His fingers? Did he suddenly perforate his stomach?

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #16 on our fourteenth episode: The Return of Doctor Doom

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/Episode_14.mp3]

Fantastic Four #16: Reed's Stretchy Body 27

Script: Stan Lee

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

We joke on the show about Reed's paranoia, concerned every few minutes with how his latest creation and/or best friend might just turn against humanity. But today's awesome piece of hyperbolic paranoia comes from Princess Pearla, the heir to the throne of a microscopic kingdom that has been taken over by Doctor Doom.

Pearla knows that the Lizard Men of Tok have been summoned to take over her land, and she explains how the evil lizards will utilise the Fantastic Four to aid their invasion. I guess that the Lizard Men of Tok are ferocious warriors, feared throughout the Microverse, yet they have never mastered the art of chopping down a tree to bridge a narrow ravine.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #16 on our fourteenth episode: The Return of Doctor Doom

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/Episode_14.mp3]

Fantastic Four #16: Flame On 38

Script: Stan Lee

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

Today's Flame On is redundant. Completely and utterly.

In the preceding panels, Johnny has set fire to the wieners of his friends, and done fiery sky-writing. Just how much of him at this point is not alight and thus would ignite with a flourish when he cries his catchphrase?

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #16 on our fourteenth episode: The Return of Doctor Doom

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/Episode_14.mp3]

Fantastic Four #16: Property Damage 14

Script: Stan Lee

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

I may have forgotten to mention in Friday's post that Reed forces his potion onto Ben whilst he's doing some spring cleaning, holding a piano a couple of feet into the air. Well, it turns out that when you turn Ben back to his human form, he loses a lot of his strength. And the Fantastic Four lose their pianoforte.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #16 on our fourteenth episode: The Return of Doctor Doom

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/Episode_14.mp3]

Fantastic Four #16: The Humanity of Benjamin J. Grimm 6

Script: Stan Lee

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

It's been a very long time since we've seen Ben pop back to human form. I wonder if he's forgotten what his regular face looks like?

Today's transformation comes in the middle of a spot of spring cleaning. It's probably the most typical sort of transformation for Ben. Reed has concocted a potion or serum that he happily feeds Ben without any concerns as to its side-effects, carcinogenic contents, any allergies Ben may have, etc.

As we all know by now, these transformations rarely stick, although it's a full three pages before we see Ben as The Thing again. Rather unusually, the transformation back happens off panel, and not a single member of the team comments on it.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #16 on our fourteenth episode: The Return of Doctor Doom

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/Episode_14.mp3]

Fantastic Four #16: Flame On 38

Script: Stan Lee

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

Another new issue of Fantastic Four, another fiery Flame On from Johnny Storm. We've reached the first two part story in the Fantastic Four, a moment of real change not only for the title but for Marvel comics. So many of the classic stories of the 1960s are multi-part epics. The Sleepers, The Eternity Saga, Spider-Man No More, The Master Planner, The Galactus Trilogy. The history of Marvel comics would have been very different if Stan and his collaborators hadn't wanted to push stories beyond the 22 pages of a single issue.

Appropriately enough, the first multi-part story for the Fantastic Four features the team being menaced by Doctor Doom, who starts his campaign of terror by randomly shrinking members of the team. OK, it's a very different form of terror from any that he might have used in the future. But when an issue opens with Johnny almost falling into an engine fan and getting chopped to pieces, it's certainly a high-stakes start to the adventure.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #16 on our fourteenth episode: The Return of Doctor Doom

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/Episode_14.mp3]

Strange Tales #109: Flame On 37

Plot: Stan Lee

Script: R. Berns

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Marty Epp

Gosh, that didn't take long at all. This story was so dull that I couldn't even drag any of the normal tropes out of it, apart from this brief fiery moment from the final page.

That's a fire demon from Pandora's Box there, but I'm not going to tell you why it's out of the box as that would require re-reading an issue of Strange Tales that I had completely forgotten about.

And I'd like it to stay that way.

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #109 on our thirteenth episode: The Thinker's Fantastical Predictions!

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/Episode_13.mp3]

Strange Tales #109: Flame On 36

Plot: Stan Lee

Script: R. Berns

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Marty Epp

Is it me or does Johnny look... different? I'm pretty sure it's not me.

This is the last issue of Strange Tales to be drawn by Jack Kirby for a little while, and I think, looking at the art across this story, that he was providing little more than layouts at this point. A lot of the faces look very un-Kirby, and it seems fairly clear to me that Ayers is shouldering the lion's share of the work for this issue.

Anyway, it's another Flame On, and it comes in one of the most forgettable issues of Strange Tales ever. The story of the Sorceror and Pandora's Box (insert New 52 joke here) is so bland that I'm going to try and not mention it at all during the panels from this issue.

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #109 on our thirteenth episode: The Thinker's Fantastical Predictions!

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/Episode_13.mp3]

Fantastic Four #15: Reed's Stretchy Body 26

Script: Stan Lee

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

Now, this is more like it. We're leapfrogging through to story somewhat, but suffice to say, the Four have abandoned their plans for solo stardom and success and have reunited, only to find that the Thinker has taken over the Baxter Building and turned it into a deathtrap. Climbing  to the top of an elevator shaft, the team find themselves subjected to a gas attack.

Lacking even a simple battery-operated fan to disperse the gas, Sue, Ben and Reed Macguyver their way out using only their bodies. Hey, it's better than Jack and Gwen doing something similar on an aeroplane in the second episode of Torchwood: Miracle Day!

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #15 on our thirteenth episode: The Thinker's Fantastical Predictions!

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/Episode_13.mp3]

Fantastic Four #15: Reed's Stretchy Body 25

Script: Stan Lee

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

So, the Fantastic Four have split up. And whilst The Think takes advantage of a meteor strike to break into the Baxter Building, Reed is busy doing a spot of mechanical engineering... from the inside-out! (Yes, I know the caption tells us that it's an electronics lab, but that really looks like an engine). It's a throwaway gag visual, but it nicely sells us on the idea that Reed's time with his powers has moved his behaviour away from the conventional, socially acceptable norm. It doesn't bother him at all, or course, but it does reinforce the idea that Reed has moved beyond the idea of holding down a 'normal' job.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #15 on our thirteenth episode: The Thinker's Fantastical Predictions!

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/Episode_13.mp3]

Fantastic Four #15: It's A Marvel Comic 11

Script: Stan Lee

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

So, the conceit behind this panel is that the Mad Thinker is orchestrating the break-up of the Fantastic Four by playing on their own desires. So, Johnny goes and joins the circus where he can show-off to his heart's content, Sue becomes a model, and Ben is offered the chance to put one over on the Yancy Street Gang. Here, we see the moment where a big company decides to hire Reed away, based on the CEO happening to pick up a copy of Fantastic Four that was left in the board room by a janitor. It's one way to do some headhunting, I suppose...

What irks me about this is the way The Thinker claims credit for this, simply because he knew it was going to happen. He does nothing to influence the event by, say giving the janitor a copy of the comic, or distracting him so that he leaves it in the right place. If The Thinker hadn't come up with this plan, the CEO would still have decided to try and hire Reed, and Reed would still have accepted his offer.

It's not quite as crazy as knowing that a monkey would set fire to a shack containing important documents, or endlessly proclaiming what will happen in 11 seconds time, but it's still pretty crazy.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #15 on our thirteenth episode: The Thinker's Fantastical Predictions!

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/Episode_13.mp3]