Fantastic Four #26: Hulk vs The Thing Round 4

Fantastic Four #26, page 1

fantastic four #26: hulk vs the thing round 4

Unforgettably Written In The Grand Manner by: Stan Lee

Powerfully Drawn In The Heroic Manner by: Jack Kirby

Inked by: George Roussos

Lettered by: Art Simek

Putting Strange Tales to one side (a wise thing to do with any issue of Strange Tales!), we're back to the Thing/Hulk fight. It's round 2 of this battle, round 4 in total, and it's a rather lovely splash page as well.

I'm hesitant to call this round for The Thing, as he really only wins when he's got the rest of the Fantastic Four, the entirety of the Avengers, and Rick Jones popping pills, helping him. But the Hulk ends this issue defeated, and the heroes survive, which makes it a victory, of sorts, for Ben Grimm.

As with the previous issue, I'll devote a few pages to the best Hulk/Thing moments from this battle.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #26 on our twenty-seventh episode: Hulk Goes Home And Plays With His Trains with special guest-host Michael Bailey

Strange Tales #119: Flame On 63

Strange Tales #119, page 11, panel 6

strange tales #119: flame on 63

Written by: Stan Lee

Drawn by: Dick Ayers

Lettered by: S. Rosen

It's a rare moment of unfulfilled promise for Johnny, as his triumphant cry of 'Flame on!' yields naught when he realises that his flame hasn't recharged.

Or, if you're going to extend the metaphor from yesterday, he's unable to get his flame up so soon after a big burst.

Yes, well... You've listened to the show, right? We draw these sort of parallels all the time...

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #119 on our twenty-sixth episode: Ha! Not So Different After All! with special guest-host Michael Bailey

Strange Tales #119: Flame On 62

Strange Tales #119, page 9, panel 5

strange tales #119: flame on 62

Written by: Stan Lee

Drawn by: Dick Ayers

Lettered by: S. Rosen

It's a late first-panel from this issue of Strange Tales, and upon reading the issue looking for panels to take, I'm rather surprised to see that I found any. Strange Tales #119 is the only appearance of The Rabble Rouser, a Communist agent armed with some kind of mesmerising wand and a truly terrible moustache, whose only mission appears to be to discredit a teenage boy within the confines of his home town. As if this wasn't bad enough, he also makes use of Adolf Hitler's reverse-thrust subterranean rocket, from Fantastic Four #21. Taken in by this frankly ridiculous plan, the Mayor bans Johnny from igniting within the town limits.

So, for ten pages, we have Johnny struggling to contain his urges, in a fairly unfortunate metaphor for being a teenage boy. And then he decides that he just doesn't care, and lets it all go in the middle of the town.

Yes. An unfortunate metaphor indeed. I'm sure it won't get worse tomorrow...

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #119 on our twenty-sixth episode: Ha! Not So Different After All! with special guest-host Michael Bailey

Fantastic Four #25: Hulk vs The Thing Round 3.6

Fantastic Four #25, page 21, panel 2

fantasticast four #25:

hulk vs the thing round 3.6

Sensational Story by: Stan Lee

Astonishing Art by: Jack Kirby

Incredible Inking by: George Roussos

Lighthearted Lettering by: S. Rosen

This is it. The final blow in this near-issue-length fight between the two biggest brawlers in the Marvel Universe at this time. It's a slightly disappointing panel - Kirby saves the big moment for the Hulk storming away, looking for the Avengers, giving it a full 2/3-page panel.

However, there is no doubt about it in Fantastic Four #25 - the Thing is beaten thoroughly, and it's only the Hulk's true aim - to track down and destroy the Avengers - that keeps him from being killed. This then feeds the first true cliffhanger in the Fantastic Four, where a battered and beaten Ben hauls himself to his feet, vowing to stop the Hulk, even if it means his death. It's a phenomenal note to end the book on, and one of the greatest cliffhangers in Marvel's history.

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

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

Fantastic Four #25: Hulk vs The Thing Round 3.4

Fantastic Four #25, page 17, panel 3

Fantastic Four #25: Hulk vs The Thing Round 3.4

Sensational Story by: Stan Lee

Astonishing Art by: Jack Kirby

Incredible Inking by: George Roussos

Lighthearted Lettering by: S. Rosen

How could I resist posting a panel featuring the Hulk bouncing across the water to chase the Thing, who is driving a speedboat?

I also get to talk about Stan and/or Jack's rather liberal and unorthodox interpretation of the concept of surface tension. I'm sure we're all aware of this concept, caused by the water molecules on the surface being pulled downwards by bonds with other molecules, causing some internal pressure and resulting in the water pushing against any force levied against it. Small insects are able to use this pressure to 'walk on water', their low body mass able to be counteracted by the surface tension.

The Hulk, however, is not a small insect, and certainly does not have low body mass. He is, therefore, very unlikely to be able to hop across the water as shown above.

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

Fantastic Four #25: Hulk vs The Thing Round 3.3/Yancy Street Pranks 5

Fantastic Four #25, page 16, panel 3

Fantastic Four #25:

Hulk vs The Thing Round 3.3 / Yancy Street Pranks 5

Sensational Story by: Stan Lee

Astonishing Art by: Jack Kirby

Incredible Inking by: George Roussos

Lighthearted Lettering by: S. Rosen

This is a very important panel, and not just because it features The Thing and The Hulk brawling in the back of a speeding pickup truck, although that would surely place it in any list of top panels.

What makes this important is that it fundamentally changes the nature of the Yancy Street Gang. Prior to this, they had been unseen practical jokers, setting up a quick visual gag and helping redefine The Thing as a loveable curmudgeon rather than a raging monster. Here, we are introduced to the idea that as far as they're concerned, no-one but them gets to have a go at The Thing. We're twenty years away from John Byrne fleshing out Ben's relationship with the gang, but by positioning them somewhere between ally and antagonist, a whole world of depth and potential is opened up. I'd argue that it's this two-panel sequence that truly cements the Yancy Streeters in the hearts of fans.

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

Fantastic Four #25: Hulk vs Thing Round 3.2

Fantastic Four #25, page 15, panel 2

Fantastic Four #25: Hulk vs The Thing Round 3.2

Sensational Story by: Stan Lee

Astonishing Art by: Jack Kirby

Incredible Inking by: George Roussos

Lighthearted Lettering by: S. Rosen

The battle continues, with Hulk being tricked into somehow mistaking a six-foot tall man made of rock for a bunch of electrical cables. Knowing how inconsistent the Hulk was in his early stories, maybe this was during his 'unable to correctly parse basic visual and tactile information' phase... HULK SMASH PUNY BLURRY OBJECT THAT IS FURTHER AWAY THAN IT APPEARS! HULK MOURN INABILITY TO TELL WHEN SHOWER IS CORRECT TEMPERATURE!

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

Fantastic Four #25: Hulk vs The Thing Round 3.1

Fantastic Four #25, page 14, panel 6

fantastic four #25: hulk vs the thing round 3.1

Sensational Story by: Stan Lee

Astonishing Art by: Jack Kirby

Incredible Inking by: George Roussos

Lighthearted Lettering by: S. Rosen

The fight continues throughout New York, leading to this wonderful panel where the Hulk picks the Thing up and forces him head-first into a manhole. It's always fun when characters get hammered into the street, but it's what's under the street that really makes this panel for me.

Most people would expect the road to be a thick layer of asphalt, on top of a prepared surface of gravel. But not Kirby's roads. Kirby's roads are built directly on top of wonderful, futuristic machinery. Who knows what function these machines perform, but it's clear that in New York, dark things are happening just below the surface...

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

Fantastic Four #25: Hulk vs The Thing Round 3

Fantastic Four #25, page 11, panel 5

fantastic four #25: hulk vs the thing round 3

Sensational Story by: Stan Lee

Astonishing Art by: Jack Kirby

Incredible Inking by: George Roussos

Lighthearted Lettering by: S. Rosen

And it's on. Their brief clashes in Fantastic Four #12 were merely a warm-up to this two-issue, two-part smack down. I'm going to go ahead and spoil the result of the fight - the Hulk wins, rather convincingly. However, I'll be grabbing panels from the fight showcasing some awesome moments, as the fight is the centrepiece of the second half of this issue.

The Hulk/Thing rivalry has become something rather iconic over the years - it played a part of Ben's grieving process when Johnny temporarily died, and Sam Kieth did a great miniseries under the Marvel Knights banner devoted to the two character knocking the crap out of each other - but this story is their last fight for seven years. Let's enjoy it over the next few days.

The result: Hulk wins, although it takes him ten pages to bring the Thing down. 2-1 to ol' jade jaws!

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

Fantastic Four #25: Sue's Force Fields Of Awesome 10

Fantastic Four #25, page 10, panel 6

fantastic four #25: sue's force fields

of awesome 10

Sensational Story by: Stan Lee

Astonishing Art by: Jack Kirby

Incredible Inking by: George Roussos

Lighthearted Lettering by: S. Rosen

We're only four issues into Sue having her force-fields, and already they're having their strength put to the test. Sue gets to hold off the Hulk, resisting his strength and power to save Johnny's life.

Andy and I were big fans of George Roussos when he joined the title, but this panel is an example of why he didn't stick around for more than a few issues. Roussos's inking can be rather heavy, and by all accounts, his speed became an issue. Any backgrounds drawn in by Kirby in this panel are not present in the finished product, a technique that would become more and more common across his issues. When Chic Stone, and later Joe Sinnott, arrive on the book, these panels become rarer and rarer, and the detail in Kirby's pencils increases. This isn't all to be laid at Roussos's door - at this time, Kirby was pencilling Thor's adventures and backup strips in Journey Into Mystery, Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, and more. He was heavily worked, and the artwork over the next few issues highlights both Roussos's flaws as an inker and the compromises Kirby would make to manage his workload.

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

Fantastic Four #25: Flame On 61

Fantastic Four #25, page 7, panel 7

fantastic four #25: flame on 61

Sensational Story by: Stan Lee

Astonishing Art by: Jack Kirby

Incredible Inking by: George Roussos

Lighthearted Lettering by: S. Rosen

After such a long time, I'm finally starting to hit panels from the final comics covered in our first year. Fantastic Four #25 is the first of a two-part story pitting the Incredible (and title-less) Hulk against pretty much the entire Marvel universe that exists at this point. The plot involves the Hulk deciding to travel to New York to seek revenge on The Avengers for fighting him in the early issues of their title, and drawing the attention of the Fantastic Four along the way.

It all starts here as Johnny, flying Reed in the Fantasticar across town to a hospital, notices the Hulk's path of destruction, and heroically dives into battle with a glorious and selfless 'Flame On'.

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 #118: Flamin' 'Eck 41

Strange Tales #118, page 13, panel 1

strange tales #118: Flamin' 'Eck 41

Story: Stan Lee

Art: Dick Ayers

Lettering: S. Rosen

With the Wizard making his escape into the skies, Johnny decides to use a flame lasso to try to catch him. We'll leave aside the physical logistics of using a lasso comprised of flame, and instead look at the logistics of using a lasso in this situation. Based on the relative size of the Wizard, he must be at least a quarter of a mile away from Johnny. Even if Johnny had the skill to successfully land a lasso, could he do so over such a distance?

Well, of course the plan fails - he misses, and the Wizard floats helplessly into the sky, where he'll suffer a horrific Silver Age death. Meaning that we'll assume he dies but find out in a flashback in a different title the unusual coincidences that led to his survival.

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #118 on our twenty-fourth episode: An Enfant Terrible Is Not Literally A Terrible Infant

Strange Tales #118: Nova Time 7

Strange Tales #118, page 11, panel 6

strange tales #118: nova time 7

Story: Stan Lee

Art: Dick Ayers

Lettering: S. Rosen

This is quite possibly the low point for The Wizard in the 1960s. Lower than his chin pubes, lower than his appearance in the awful Strange Tales Annual. He goes for Johnny with a special gun, but before he can explain what makes it special beyond the fact that he believes that it can't be melted... it gets melted.

The image of him standing there, crying petulantly over his melted gun is really pathetic and, as I've said before, it's really hard to see why Stan felt that there was more mileage to this character.

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #118 on our twenty-fourth episode: An Enfant Terrible Is Not Literally A Terrible Infant

Mike McKone's Thing

Mike McKone Thing

Isn't this just beautiful?

This past weekend, Andy and I visited the London Film And Comic Convention. In amongst the ridiculous overcrowding and, frankly, piss-poor organisation, I found time to track down the wonderful Mike McKone. McKone has had a long a varied career, including a spell as penciller on Fantastic Four during J Michael Straczynski's run on the book. As well as getting several comics signed, I also got my name on his sketch list for a head-sketch of The Thing.

And it's amazing. There's so much I love about this, but it's the eyes that do it. There's such a sadness in the eyes, and the line of the jaw just brings to mind a moment where Ben's decided to commit to Alicia, only to find out that she's finally moved on. Thank you, Mike!

Normal blogging will resume tomorrow - but why not check out our latest episode before then?

Strange Tales #118: Flamin' 'Eck 40 / It's... ASBESTOS 21

Strange Tales #118, page 9, panel 3

strange tales #118: flamin' 'eck 40 / it's... asbestos!!! 21

Story: Stan Lee

Art: Dick Ayers

Lettering: S. Rosen

It's a two-fer, which is always fun. Kidnapped by The Wizard, Johnny and Sue find themselves trapped in a cell. Johnny manifests a guided fireball to orbit the room, looking for an air opening. Not only is this fairly silly, but the fireball exposes the fact that they are trapped in The Wizard's asbestos cell, previously seen in Strange Tales #102. Of course, in that comic, Johnny burst his way out of there, seemingly wrecking the joint, but I guess Bentley's been using some of his time since escaping from prison to rebuild and reinforce.

If you're wondering why Sue has a plastic bag over head, it's actually her force-field to protect her from the heat of the fireball. Of course, if there was no suitable air supply and the fireball was burning hotly enough to harm Sue, then the available oxygen in the room would have been consumed pretty quickly...

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #118 on our twenty-fourth episode: An Enfant Terrible Is Not Literally A Terrible Infant

Listener Question: Are You Reading Fantastic Four?

We've now hit volume 5 of the Fantastic Four, thanks to two relaunches in the last couple of years. Matt Fraction's run on both Fantastic Four and FF may have left many readers cold - personally speaking, whilst FF was an absolute riot, Fantastic Four alienated me around the time it revealed Skrulls infiltrating the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and never really got me back - but James Robinson and Leonard Kirk seem to have got their run off to a great start. Issue 6 is the current issue on the stands right now, beginning to tie-in with Original Sin and, if you believe certain rumours on the internet, setting up the removal of the Fantastic Four as a concept from the Marvel universe. With all of this in mind, we'd like to ask every single one of our listeners: Are you currently reading Fantastic Four? Is it in your pull list? If you just want to submit a yes/no answer, please do so, but if you would be able to expand on your reasons for buying or not buying the series, that would be great.

Send your responses to fantastic4podcast@gmail.com or leave them in the comments below.

Strange Tales #118: Flamin' 'Eck 39

Strange Tales #118, page 1, panel 3

strange tales #118: flamin' 'eck 39

Story: Stan Lee

Art: Dick Ayers

Lettering: S. Rosen

The flaming nuttiness continues, as Johnny spins a flaming bullseye target in the sky, and flies right through it. It's at times like this that I'm very glad I'm not one of Johnny's neighbours in Glendale. I really don't think I could afford to coat every flammable item in asbestos, yet not having done that and seeing Johnny pull stunts like this would hardly give me peace of mind.

Johnny's paraphrasing the old maxim that old soldiers never die, they just fade away. What a wonderful coincidence that he should come up with such wisdom the page before the Wizard returns, in a story promoted as featuring the return of the Wizard. It's almost like he's reading his own comics...

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #118 on our twenty-fourth episode: An Enfant Terrible Is Not Literally A Terrible Infant

Strange Tales #118: Flamin' Eck 38

Strange Tales #118, page 1, panel 1

strange tales #118: flamin' 'eck 38

Story: Stan Lee

Art: Dick Ayers

Lettering: S. Rosen

It's another first page/panel from Strange Tales, somewhere that is becoming the natural place to showcase the Human Torch in all of his glory. I rather like this one, Ayers' depiction of Johnny Storm has something elfin about him, both in the face and in the way he holds his body. There's a lot of energy to this panel, and it's one of the best examples of Ayers both pencilling and inking.

What's less great is the way Johnny's fire balls are bouncing off the target. Either that target should be in flames, or, more sensibly, the target should have a hole for a bullseye for the fireballs to pass through.

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #118 on our twenty-fourth episode: An Enfant Terrible Is Not Literally A Terrible Infant

Fantastic Four #24: Flame On 60

Fantastic Four #24, page 22, panel 4

fantastic four #24: flame on 60

Lovingly written by Stan Lee

Tenderly drawn by Jack Kirby

Heroically inked by George Roussos

Neatly lettered by Sam Rosen

22 pages, eh? Almost unheard of today, at least without adding another dollar to the cover price. This is one of the longest regular issue Fantastic Four stories, clocking in at an astonishing 23 pages. Our current issues (late 70s) are 20 pages each, and it won't be long before we drop down to 19 pages, and have to deal with those awful half-pages thrown in to increase the amount of advertising that could be sold in the issue.

Here, the three members of the team in combat manage to break free of an airtight bubble that the Infant had entrapped them in. Johnny immediately ignites, having extinguished his flame to conserve the oxygen available to the heroes. Note once again, the catchphrase rendered as a sound effect, rather than a speech bubble.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #24 on our twenty-fourth episode: An Enfant Terrible Is Not Literally A Terrible Infant