FANTASTIC FOUR #1
Writer: Stan Lee
Artist: Jack Kirby
Inker: George Klein

It was on this day 61 years ago that the Marvel Universe began as four people climbed into a rocket and were transformed by cosmic radiation. The Fantastic Four was born. It still is a thrill to read that first issue so many years later and in many respects, it’s so simplistic a story that it’s hard to believe that Hollywood has still not managed to create a movie that captures the feeling of it. (Actually, they have if you count Roger Corman’s Fantastic Four movie from the 90s, but that’s on the hard-to-find list.)

But also in reading it, there is the arguable logic of how it all comes about in terms of the origin story. When you think about it, Reed Richards wants to test his rocket out and beat the Russians in the race to outer space in 1961. That’s fine. He’s willing to do it though at any cost because he allows his fiancé and her little brother to tag along with a reluctant pilot and himself. The only ones who have had any training in space flight, presumably, are Ben Grimm and Reed Richards and that’s assuming space flight training was a thing at that point. There is also the irony that the Russians had already beaten the US into space. Yuri Gargarin would orbit the planet in April of 1961 while the first issue of The Fantastic Four hit newsstands on August 8th, 1961.

Mind you, one could argue that Reed and the others did beat the Russians as the story opens with our heroes already in possession of their powers being summoned for their first mission by Reed. We are told their origin as sometime in the past, but not exactly when. And when Reed summons them, he does it in such a fashion that it causes panic among the general population of Central City (Yes, you read that right, True Believers.) that the mayor calls in the armed forces to deal with the situation as an invisible person, a hulking thing, and a flying human torch barrel their way through the city to their destined meeting with their leader, a man who can stretch any part of his body as though it were elastic. All four were affected by their journey into space by the cosmic rays their poorly shielded ship endured.

And just like any normal human who has had their body altered by some cosmic force beyond their control, the four decide to use their abilities to help mankind. They unite as Mister Fantastic, Thing, Invisible Girl (eventually to become the Invisible Woman, but boy is that going to take time), and the Human Torch.

And sure, while reading it, one can wonder how the Thing entered a clothing shop in the first place if he manages to tear the doorway apart trying to get out and then why when he is with his friends, he goes back into his clandestine outfit complete with shades. Or why if the Human Torch cares about cars so much, he allows the one he is working on to be wrecked as he “Flames On” and takes off from within. Or for that matter, how the armed forces response to a flying human target is to send a missile at him with a nuclear warhead. I mean, it’s not like this is New York City, right? No harm, no foul and we take out the flying freak, right?

It’s funny how we get so caught up in the origin story from this issue, we also forget there is an actual mission for the Fantastic Four in the form of their first enemy, the Mole Man, a being who lives under the surface and is lord and master to a race of mole creatures and rock monsters. One thing this comic book does smartly is that it is a superhero comic, but it falls right in line with a number of the adventure comics Marvel was publishing at the time in that it has a clear science fiction bent. And that’s when the Fantastic Four is at its best, when the stories are based in science fiction.

I have not read an issue in years, but I’ll always remember my favorite run of the series, besides the original Lee/Kirby issues were the ones written and drawn by John Byrne. He really got it when it came to telling stories that dealt with the human condition and the issues these four were going through while facing enemies that clearly could appear on Star Trek. If you are ever looking to get into the series, Byrne’s run in collected form is the way to go if you can’t get your hands on the early stuff.

With the MCU getting ready to present their version of the Fantastic Four after three mixed results movies from Fox, I hope they remember that while, yes, these characters, as with all the MCU characters are part of a bigger universe, they are also a family and as such will deal with things like a family, both good and bad. Happy anniversary to the Fantastic Four!