Fantastic Four Annual #1: Flamin' 'Eck 26

Written by: Stan Lee

Drawn by: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

More Johnny today, as he continues to use his flaming powers in ways that defy belief, credibility, and science.

He's on the search for Namor, who has kidnapped Sue. Needing to locate a submersible device beneath the ocean, Johnny remembers how Reed had showed him how to create a probing device with his flame. Presumably, the idea is to use his heat in a similar fashion to the use of sound in sonar and radar devices.

This sort of makes sense - both heat and sound radiate outwards from their point of origin. Both react to the presence of objects in their path, either reducing their passage or obstructing it totally. And both reflect off various surfaces. So, initially, this doesn't seem like such a bad idea. Johnny could be detecting the reflection of his own heat to identify where Namor's sub is.

But what is he using to detect those reflections? I see no measuring equipment, and Johnny's yet to display any evidence of being able to sense heat, especially when the reflected heat, through water, is going to be less intense than the heat being emitted.

No, sorry Johnny, even with Reed backing you up there, it just doesn't make sense.

Don't forget to let us know your feel-good Fantastic Four reading experiences!

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four Annual #1 on our sixteenth episode: The Best Of Annuals, The Worst Of Annuals.

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_16.mp3]

Fantastic Four Annual #1 Flame On 44

Written by: Stan Lee

Drawn by: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

Another superb Flame On today as Johnny gives chase to Namor to rescue his sister. This panel encapsulates so much that is great about Kirby and Ayers working together - it's a small panel (one of eight on this page) and yet it's bursting with detail, from the insinuation of Johnny's physique beneath his flame to the richly rendered building in the background.

At the same time, it shows the frustrations of these small panels - Kirby designs this panel to be a feature moment, yet it feels lost on the page, tucked away in the top corner to allow space to be given to the soapy Namor/Dorma/Sue love triangle. If this annual had come two years later, this moment would have been given more space to breathe, and would have had been more impactful.

Don't forget to let us know your feel-good Fantastic Four reading experiences!

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four Annual #1 on our sixteenth episode: The Best Of Annuals, The Worst Of Annuals.

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_16.mp3]

Fantastic Four Annual #1: Flamin' 'Eck 25

Written by: Stan Lee

Drawn by: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

We're shifting the focus to Johnny again today, as he joins in with the fight against Namor. And his brilliant idea is to throw a number of fireballs at Namor, presumably so that they hover around him, prevent movement.  Unless, as the illustration shows, he decides to step forward.

Other than Johnny's lack of perception regarding three dimensions, what bugs me the most about this is the idea that he can control over a dozen individual fireballs, holding them in place and causing them to burn for a sustained period of time. And by bugs, I clearly mean 'annoys me for the purposes of writing this post, but will never be thought of again once I hit the publish button.'

Don't forget to let us know your feel-good Fantastic Four reading experiences!

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four Annual #1 on our sixteenth episode: The Best Of Annuals, The Worst Of Annuals.

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_16.mp3]

Fantastic Four Annual #1: Reed's Stretchy Body 34

Written by: Stan Lee

Drawn by: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

It's a two-fer today. I didn't include any panels of Reed bouncing around the room as a giant ball, as we've seen that before. But he's never done that move in front of someone as powerful and as resourceful as Namor, so he's never had this done to him before...

I love this gag, as Namor stretches Reed into a punching bag and wails on him. It doesn't come at the expense of the narrative reality of the fight, and visually it's superb. One could wonder where Namor had experienced a boxing gym to gain inspiration for this move, but that would be unnecessarily nitpicky...

Don't forget to let us know your feel-good Fantastic Four reading experiences!

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four Annual #1 on our sixteenth episode: The Best Of Annuals, The Worst Of Annuals.

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_16.mp3]

Fantastic Four Annual #1: Reed's Stretchy Body 33

Written by: Stan Lee

Drawn by: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

I guess this was a little inevitable considering exactly what Namor did to Reed in the previous panel. Despite the predictability, I don't think Reed's Jack-in-the-Box-esque springing has ever been done so well.

This is turning into a fun, dynamic fight between these two, and it seems clear that Kirby is enjoying drawing the heck out of this.

Don't forget to let us know your feel-good Fantastic Four reading experiences!

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four Annual #1 on our sixteenth episode: The Best Of Annuals, The Worst Of Annuals.

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_16.mp3]

Thought Bubble: David Wynne Is Fantastic

David Wynne is a lovely, lovely man. Not only did he join us back in October for episode 21 of the show (featuring Hitler The Hate Monger), he's also the wonderfully talented writer and artist of various projects, including Particle Fiction, Hypergirl, and the new webcomic Spacescape. He was also exhibiting at the Thought Bubble convention in Leeds. Last year, he did an on-the-spot commission for me, featuring The Thing, in a tutu, dancing. Check it out here. This year, I had something a bit more special in mind.

Like many people, I'm a huge fan of Calvin and Hobbes, and one of the most enduring and heartwarming images of the strip is the trope of both characters speeding downhill in a sledge, or cart. So, a couple of weeks out from the show, I asked Dave if he could come up with a Fantastic Four/Calvin and Hobbes mashup, with Johnny and Ben done in a Watterson-esque style.

Dave took this concept and ran with it, far further than I could have dreamed. I think it's absolutely wonderful.

Cheers Dave!

Fantastic Four Annual #1: Reed's Stretchy Body 32

Written by: Stan Lee

Drawn by: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

The forces of Atlantis have been repelled thanks to the kind of handy one-stop science that Russell T. Davies would happily use time and time again. Now it's time for things to get personal.

Considering their mutual animosity towards each other, and their admiration for Sue, it's a little surprising that the number of one-on-one fights between Reed Richards and Namor the Sub-Mariner are quite small. Reed has never truly been a two-fisted man of action. He's often involved in fights, but his particular brand of attack normally involves exploiting  his stretchy body to disable and incapacitate, rather than getting directly involved.

Here, Namor decides to cut loose, and Reed isn't backing off. This small panel heralds a full-page of Reed and Namor going at it, and we'll have a few choice panels from this fight over the next few days.

Don't forget to let us know your feel-good Fantastic Four reading experiences!

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four Annual #1 on our sixteenth episode: The Best Of Annuals, The Worst Of Annuals.

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_16.mp3]

Fantastic Four Annual #1: Property Damage 18

Written by: Stan Lee

Drawn by: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

Should I really include this? The cannon gun is not public property, nor is it privately-owned individual property. It's a weapon, a tool of war, placed in the streets by an invading force. Surely destroying the enemy's weapons during war is par for the course.

Well... yes. But it gets included here, because it's an utterly gorgeous panel of The Thing ramming his arm down the barrel and causing the cannon to blow itself up. How could I not?

Don't forget to let us know your feel-good Fantastic Four reading experiences!

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four Annual #1 on our sixteenth episode: The Best Of Annuals, The Worst Of Annuals.

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_16.mp3]

Fantastic Four Annual #1: Flame On 43

Written by: Stan Lee

Drawn by: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

Goodness me, we've jumped a fair few pages. Sadly, the lack of trope material means that we won't be covering the team's holiday, their abduction by Namor, or the history of Atlantis given at the UN (although I'll be doing a Bollocksfish post at the end of the coverage of this annual).

Instead, we jump right to the opening shots of the Atlantis/Earth war, where Namor invades New York (and other cities off-panel). One of his initial shots is to encase the top floors of the Baxter Building in a fast-drying cement, but thankfully, this cement isn't enough to stop a speeding, flying, flaming teenager.

Don't forget to let us know your feel-good Fantastic Four reading experiences!

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four Annual #1 on our sixteenth episode: The Best Of Annuals, The Worst Of Annuals.

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_16.mp3]

Fantastic Four Annual #1: It's... ASBESTOS 16

Written by: Stan Lee

Drawn by: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

This isn't just any old asbestos netting.

With fibres hand-woven in a tradition stretching back generations, strengthened with the cutting edge technology of unstable molecules, and absolutely not carcinogenic in any way, this is the finest asbestos netting.

Asbestos netting. Reassuringly expensive.

And with that obscure reference to 1990s beer adverts shown in the United Kingdom out of the way, let's take a look at some of the alarming suggestions thrown out by this scene. Not that Reed has spent time devising various pulley-mounted restraining devices for his young friend. More that he appears to have installed theses pulley-mounted restraining devices in Sue's bedroom (as evidenced by the water damage to Sue's wardrobe later on the page).

That's pretty presumptuous!

Don't forget to let us know your feel-good Fantastic Four reading experiences!

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four Annual #1 on our sixteenth episode: The Best Of Annuals, The Worst Of Annuals.

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_16.mp3]

LQOTM: Your Feel-Good Fantastic Four Reading Experiences

On our latest episode (which has had its sound synchronisation fixed now - if you're listening to us and we keep talking over each other, head on over and replace your episode) we launched our latest Listener Question Of The Month. The Fantastic Four is a good comic. And I don't just mean in terms of quality - I mean in terms of its heart. At its very core, it's a book about a family, overcoming obstacles both domestic and, uh, intergalactic (and beyond). The best runs on the book remember this, and although dark things may happen, the heart of the book is never lost.

Speaking personally, I was thought that the Jonathan Hickman run had lost sight of this, especially in the immediate aftermath of Johnny's return in Fantastic Four #600. Both titles were wrapped up in Hickman's epic storytelling, and for a while, it felt like the story was more important than the characters. Hickman completely turned this around, and the final issues of both Fantastic Four and FF before the Marvel NOW relaunch were great reads that took the books back to their core.

A well-written, positive Fantastic Four book warms my heart, and there are several issues that I find very easy to return to when I need to feel good. So, my question to is this:

What are you feel-good Fantastic Four reading experiences?

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

Fantastic Four Annual #1: Property Damage 17

Written by: Stan Lee

Drawn by: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

We've arrived at one of the most important comics published in the early years of the Fantastic Four, the first Annual. This huge comic is probably the largest-scale Fantastic Four adventure published before the Galactus Saga (currently being covered by the podcast - check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #49 here, and we'll be covering Fantastic Four #50 this weekend), and is truly deserving of the description 'epic'.

It starts as a good Fantastic Four story should do, with Ben and Johnny having a spat, and destroying bits of the Baxter Building in the course of their fight. In this case, it's a fire-proof (not asbestos, sadly) vault door, that Ben rather cheekily suggests could be put onto a credit card to cover the costs.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four Annual #1 on our sixteenth episode: The Best Of Annuals, The Worst Of Annuals.

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_16.mp3]

Strange Tales #111: Flame On 42

Plot: Stan Lee

Story: H. Huntley

Art: Dick Ayers

Lettering: S. Harold

I've been sitting here for ages, trying to work out how to use the fact that this is the 42nd Flame On to contrive a link between this panel, and The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. I haven't been able to do so.

So, instead, just enjoy the rare sub-belt ignition from Johnny as he decides to use his head as well as his flame to defeat the Asbestos Man. Based on past form, this probably isn't going to help all that much...

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #111 on our fifteenth episode: Whence Came The Man of Asbestos

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

Strange Tales #111: It's... ASBESTOS 15

Plot: Stan Lee

Story: H. Huntley

Art: Dick Ayers

Lettering: S. Harold

Earlier in the issue, the Asbestos Man claimed that his shield was made of iron, with no mention of asbestos. I guess someone re-thought this, as an iron shield would most likely have been melted into slag under an attack like this. So, we get the far more unlikely explanation that his shield is made of asbestos. Good at stopping fire, but probably fairly easy to punch into dust, which the Asbestos Man can inhale...

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #111 on our fifteenth episode: Whence Came The Man of Asbestos

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

Strange Tales #111: It's... ASBESTOS 14

Plot: Stan Lee

Story: H. Huntley

Art: Dick Ayers

Lettering: S. Harold

It's an issue featuring the Asbestos Man. I'd be very disappointed if we didn't add a fair few panels of ridiculous uses of asbestos over the next few days...

Like this asbestos letter. It looks and feels like paper, and clearly shares many of the same properties, allowing ink to stain it, or taking the markings of a pencil without ripping. And yet, it resists the hottest fire of the Human Torch. Marvellous! Now, if only he could do something about making it a bit less lethal, then he could make a fortune in the indestructible paper market. And not need to rob safes to fulfil his desire to be recognised for his works.

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #111 on our fifteenth episode: Whence Came The Man of Asbestos

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

Strange Tales #111: It's... ASBESTOS!!! 13

Plot: Stan Lee

Story: H. Huntley

Art: Dick Ayers

Lettering: S. Harold

We're back to Strange Tales today, in a story that features the debut of a villain that seems completely natural to appear in this strip, and one who really should have gone on to be the Human Torch's greatest nemesis: The Asbestos Man!

A brilliant scientist who felt his talents were going unappreciated, the Asbestos Man attempted to steal from the company's safe, only to overlook the presence of an alarm.  A chance encounter on the street made him realise that if he were to defeat the Human Torch, criminals might want to share their expertise with him.

Thus, he takes normal sheets of asbestos and chemically treats them to make them extra... asbestos-y... Clad in the material, he prepares to do battle with the Torch.

Of course, he's a completely ridiculous villain, encased in a suit that is far more likely to do him harm than anything the Human Torch could do to him, and stupid enough to not even consider the presence of an alarm on a safe. It's not surprising he barely resurfaced following this issue...

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #111 on our fifteenth episode: Whence Came The Man of Asbestos

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

Fantastic Four #17: Flamin' 'Eck 24

 

Story: Stan Lee

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

After a couple of weeks break from the show and the blog, I'm back, ready to pick up where I left off. Sadly, it looks like I get to pick up with one of the most ridiculous uses of Johnny's flame powers ever seen.

Flame duplicates, sadly, are not a new thing at this point. They've been used before, sometimes as mirages, sometimes as homing devices, sometimes as seemingly sentient duplicates. But here they get completely out of control: Johnny reveals that when Doctor Doom thought he had obliterated the male members of the team with his power spheres, he had in fact only destroyed three flame replicas. Who moved individually, didn't show any sign of being comprised of fire, and most of all, who managed to fool Doctor Doom.

I'm not buying this at all, and it's a damn good thing that Johnny's flame duplicates are soon going to flicker away into the darkness, (almost) never to return.

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]

LQotM Reminder:

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 #17: Reed's Stretchy Body 31

Story: Stan Lee

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

This is such a lovely panel, even if pretty much nothing about it makes sense.

On board Doom's flying airbase, the Four split up and are faced with deadly traps. Reed is trapped in a room that is filling with quick-setting cement, and survives only by threading himself through the air pockets until he is able to squeeze his way out from under the door.

We'll ignore the aerodynamic possibilities of any flying vehicle having a cement-filled compartment, naturally, and focus on the air pockets. As we all know, cement is well-know for being riddled with air pockets - it's this very lack of structural integrity that make is such a good construction material. Why does Reed need to stretch through them? There's plenty of air in the part of the room not filled with cement, and surely if the cement hardens, he'll have a harder time extracting his over-stretched body from it...

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: The Humanity of Benjamin J. Grimm 7

Story: Stan Lee

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

Now, this is more like it. Doctor Doom is causing worldwide chaos, and the Fantastic Four are powerless to stop him, thanks to the giant floaty marshmallow men things, which recorded the Fantastic Four's... er... something, and made his ship invulnerable to them.

Reed comes up with a loophole - the human form of Benjamin J. Grimm, which should be able to pass the shields and lower them, allowing the rest of the team to board the skyship. Unlike last issue, where Ben's transformation felt like nothing more than a cheap gag and a space-filler, here it serves a valid plot function, getting the team into a direct confrontation with their nemesis.

Much better!

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]