Fantastic Four Vol 1 1

Vintage

Fantastic Four Vol 1 #1
Published
Released
November, 1961
11-8-1961

 Editor-in-Chief
Stan Lee

 Cover Artists
Jack Kirby Dick Ayers

 Writers
Stan Lee

 Pencilers
Jack Kirby

 Inkers
George Klein Christopher Rule

 Colourists
Stan Goldberg

 Letterers
Artie Simek

 Editors
Stan Lee

Previous Issue
Next Issue
—
*Fantastic Four*  #2

  *It is the first time I have found it necessary to give the signal! I pray it will be the **last!***
-- **Mister Fantastic** [[Category: Reed Richards (Earth-616)/Quotes
## Appearing in "The Fantastic Four"Edit

**Featured Characters:**

* Fantastic Four ***(1st Appearance and Origin for Entire Team)***
	+ Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards) ***(See chronology)***
	+ Invisible Girl (Susan "Sue" Storm) ***(See chronology)***
	+ Human Torch (Jonathan "Johnny" Storm) ***(See chronology)***
	+ Thing (Benjamin "Ben" Grimm) ***(See chronology)***

**Antagonists:**

* Mole Man (Harvey Elder)  ***(First Appearance)*** Template:Origin
	+ Giganto  ***(First Appearance)***
	+ Tricephalous  ***(First Appearance)***
	+ Rock Monster Guardian (Ugu)  ***(First Appearance)***

**Other Characters:**

* Citizens of Central City
	+ Pete ***(Only appearance)***
* Taxi driver ***(First Appearance)***
* National Guard
* French Soldiers
	+ Pierre ***(Only appearance)***

**Races and Species:**

* Humans
* Subterraneans***(First Appearance)***
	+ inhabitants of Monster Isle ***(First Appearance)***

**Locations:**

* Earth
	+ United States of America
		- California
			* Central City
		- New York
			* Ithaca
	+ Atomic Powerplant In French Africa ***(First Appearance)***
	+ Monster Isle ***(First Appearance)***
	+ Subterranea ***(First Appearance)***
		- Valley of Diamonds ***(First Appearance)***

**Items:**

* Fantasti-Flare ***(First Appearance)***

**Vehicles:**

* Reed Richards' Rocketship ***(First Appearance)*** Template:Destroyed
* Fantastic Four's private jet

## Synopsis for "The Fantastic Four"Edit

### Chapter 1

A shadowy figure fires a flare out of a window. The flare forms the words "The Fantastic Four!"

Susan Storm is having tea with a friend. When she sees the flare, she turns invisible, gets into a cab, and offers the surprised driver a banknote when she reaches her destination.

Ben Grimm is trying to find a coat that fits him. A clerk in the haberdashery sees the flare. Grimm bursts out of the too-small door, rips a manhole out of the street, follows the sewers, and bursts out when he thinks he has reached his destination. He is struck by a taxi which is wrecked.

Johnny Storm is working on his latest hot rod in a service station. The mechanic sees the flare, which turns into the number 4. Johnny bursts into flame and flies away, destroying his car. The authorities treat him as an enemy attack, so he reluctantly melts the jets that come after him. A nuclear heat-seeking missile locks onto him, and, just as Johnny's flame starts to fade, an impossibly long pair of arms grab the missile and throw it out to sea.

Johnny's savior is the same man who fired the flare. He greets Susan, Ben, and Johnny with the words, "There is a task that awaits us ... a fearful task!" But how did these four people become so fantastic?

To beat the Communists into space, scientist Reed Richards, sister and brother Sue and Johnny Storm, and pilot Ben Grimm sneak off into space in a rocket. In space, the four are bombarded by cosmic rays. The auto-pilot lands the ship back on Earth,
where they find themselves physically transformed and possessing remarkable new abilities. Sue can turn invisible. Ben has transformed into an orange, muscular "thing" with super-strength. Reed's body became highly malleable, allowing him to stretch into any shape. Johnny's body bursts into flame, and he can fly. They decide to use their abilities to become the super-team known as the Fantastic Four. They give themselves the individual names Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Girl, Human Torch, and the Thing.

### (Chapter 2) The Fantastic Four Meet the Mole Man!

Atomic plants in the Soviet Union, Australia, and South America have been mysteriously attacked by cave-ins. Another attack occurs in Africa, where a huge monster burrows out of the ground but is recalled by a human figure. The Fantastic Four travel aboard their private jet to Monster Isle, which Reed has deduced is the same distance from each attack. There, they are attacked by a giant three-headed monster. Reed stops the monster, but a cave-in separates Reed and Johnny from Ben and Sue. Beneath the island Reed and Johnny land in the Valley of Diamonds, which temporarily blinds them. The Mole Man appears, revealing he is responsible for the attacks.

### (Chapter 3) The Mole Man's Secret!

The Mole Man explains his origin. Having been ridiculed by humanity, he went off alone in search of the legendary land at the center of the earth. Eventually, he washed ashore on Monster Isle. Making his way through a cavern, he was caught in an avalanche and rendered almost blind. However, due to his other heightened senses taking over, he mastered the subterranean creatures and built himself an underground empire.

Meanwhile, on the surface, Ben wrestles a rock monster. Ben and Sue find their teammates listening to the Mole Man's plan to invade the surface world. He sends his monster army against the Fantastic Four. Whilst Johnny distracts the biggest one, the team flees through a tunnel, which Johnny seals shut behind them. After the Fantastic Four escape in their jet, Mole Man destroys the island so the surface world cannot trouble him again.

## Notes

### Continuity Notes

1. ↑ This issue is considered the start of the Marvel Universe. It was first coined as Earth-616 in ***Daredevils*  #7**, however as Marvel began incorporating super-hero stories from their predecessors Timely and Atlas Comics, the first appearance of Earth-616 has been retconned back to ***Motion Picture Funnies Weekly*  #1** which feature the first appearance of the Sub-Mariner.
2. ↑ The cab driver that drives Sue early on in this story is seen again in ***Fantastic Four*  #160**.
3. ↑ Prior to their rocket flight, Reed and Sue were pulled forward in time to the future of Earth-60166 where they met numerous versions of their future selves who were gathered by their Earth-60166 counterparts to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary as seen in ***Fantastic Four: The Wedding Special*  #1**. When Reed and Sue are returned to the exact moment that they were taken from, they retained no memory of the festivities.
4. ↑ As Marvel has continued to publish stories eventually they had to institute a Sliding Timescale as a means of slowing down the advance of time in the Marvel Universe over the length of publications in real time. This was to prevent aging their characters quickly as well as updating dated plot concepts, generalizing real-life events or dates that are mentioned in various stories. Thus all such references should be considered topical references. When Fantastic Four #1 was published in 1961, Reed's spaceship is specifically referred to as a rocket, and his intentions for his mission is to beat the Soviet Union in the space race. Contextually, the story was published during the height of the US/Soviet Space Race, which saw both countries competing to see which one could develop manned space flights. Since then, many retellings of the Fantastic Four's origin have changed the details of Reed Richards' space flight, updating concepts so that they were not considered dated more modern readers. Such as:
***Fantastic Four*  #2** states that Reed was attempting to reach Mars. Other stories since then have generalized where his destination was supposed to be. Later in ***Fantastic Four*  #236**, the origin of the Fantastic Four was updated, it was stated that Reed's experimental ship was intended to travel to the edge of the solar system and while it needed a rocket booster to reach escape velocity from Earth's atmosphere it relied on a Star Drive to reach its destination. This tale also goes on to expand on how the quartet was mutated. ***Fantastic Four*  #358** published in 1991 states that the "Star Drive" was intended to bring them into hyperspace in order to visit other solar systems. ***Fantastic Four*  #543** stated that Richards was testing faster-than-light space travel.
5. ↑ There are conflicting accounts as to where the Fantastic Four's ship crashed. First it is stated that the crash site of Reeds' Rocket is identified as North of Ithaca, New York in ***Fantastic Four*  #245** and ***Thing*  #10**. ***Fantastic Four*  #296** states that the ship crashed in Stockton, New York. ***Fantastic Four*  Vol 3 #13** depicts the Fantastic Four crash landing on an island out on an unspecified ocean, while ***Fantastic Four*  Vol 3 #60** states that they crashed outside of Central City, California.
6. ↑ The Thing is depicted here with dinosaur-like skin, he maintains this appearance until he eventually he developed his trademark rocky appearance by ***Fantastic Four*  #10**. ***Marvel Two-In-One*  #50** went on to explain that the Thing's form continued to mutate after his initial transformation.
7. ↑ What caused the Fantastic Four to mutate and gain their powers has also been expanded upon over time. Fantastic Four #1 simply states that it was cosmic rays that caused the mutations. Other interpretations are: ***Fantastic Four*  #197** goes on to state that it was not just cosmic rays that caused the Fantastic Four to get their powers. It states that sunspot activity caused flaring through the Van Allen Belts causing an increase in neuron activity. The combination of this and the cosmic rays caused the mutations. ***Fantastic Four*  #529**-**532** posits that the cause of the cosmic ray storm was actually a message being transmitted by a creature called the Entity who was seeking out those who seek universal truths as he did. This same storyline also shows Reed Richards going back to the dawn of the universe and his views of himself and his teammates were ingrained on the original cosmic rays that would eventually imprint the Fantastic Four's unique abilities.
8. ↑ Events surrounding this issue have also been expanded outside of retelling how the Fantastic Four got their powers. ***Fantastic Four: First Family*  #1** tells what happened to the Fantastic Four from the moment they crash landed and were taken into government custody to Reed Richards beginning to set up the Fantastic Four prior to their battle with the Mole Man. The rest of the series happens between ***Fantastic Four*  #2** and **3**
9. ↑ The Mole Man's origins were expended in ***Daredevil*  Vol 3 #10** and ***Marvel Universe*  #4**-**7**.
10. ↑ The monsters of Monster Isle were revealed as having been created by the Deviants as per ***Marvel Universe*  #7**.
11. ↑ Although Monster Island appears to be destroyed in this story, it actually endured the blast as it was later visited by the X-Men on three occasions thereafter in ***X-Men First Class*  Vol 2 #2**-**3** and ***X-Men First Class Special*  #1**, and ***X-Men: The Hidden Years*  #22**. ***Marvel Universe*  #7** specifies that the monsters that live here were also created by the Deviants centuries earlier.

### Chronology Notes

The origins of the Fantastic Four have been revisited many times. Each instance has added additional material or told stories in-between the events in this issue. This all effects the chronology of the following characters:

**Mister Fantastic:**

* Page 9 Panel 1 to 4  - Reed Richards is warned by Ben Grimm about the dangers of cosmic rays
* Page 9 Panel 5 to Page 10  - Reed and his friends sneak onto his rocket and fly into space, get exposed to cosmic rays.
* Page 11 to Page 13 Panel 8  - Reed's ship crash lands on Earth, everyone gets powers, they decide to use their powers for the good of humanity.
* Page 1-8, 14-25  - Reed Summons the Fantastic Four for the first time, they battle the Mole Man.

**Invisible Girl:**

* Page 9 Panel 1 to 4  - Sue guilt trips Ben Grimm into piloting Reed's ship.
* Page 9 Panel 5 to Page 10  - Sue and her friends sneak onto his rocket and fly into space, get exposed to cosmic rays.
* Page 11 to Page 13 Panel 8  - Reed's ship crash lands on Earth, everyone gets powers, they decide to use their powers for the good of humanity.
* Page 1-8, 14-25  - Reed Summons the Fantastic Four for the first time, they battle the Mole Man.

**Human Torch:**

* Page 9 Panel 1 to 4  - Johnny is present when Reed debates with Ben about flying the ship.
* Page 9 Panel 5 to Page 10  - Johnny and his friends sneak onto his rocket and fly into space, get exposed to cosmic rays.
* Page 11 to Page 13 Panel 8  - Reed's ship crash lands on Earth, everyone gets powers, they decide to use their powers for the good of humanity.
* Page 1-8, 14-25  - Reed Summons the Fantastic Four for the first time, they battle the Mole Man.

**Thing:**

* Page 9 Panel 1 to 4  -Ben protests flying Reed's ship due to cosmic rays.
* Page 9 Panel 5 to Page 10  - Ben and his friends sneak onto his rocket and fly into space, get exposed to cosmic rays.
* Page 11 to Page 13 Panel 8  - Reed's ship crash lands on Earth, everyone gets powers, they decide to use their powers for the good of humanity.
* Page 1-8, 14-25  - Reed Summons the Fantastic Four for the first time, they battle the Mole Man.

### Publication Notes

* The letters page of ***Fantastic Four*  #281** credits Art Simek as the inker for this issue. The theories on who actually inked *****Fantastic Four*  #1**** (and ***Fantastic Four*  #2** for that matter) continue to be debated, and will probably never be definitively answered. Many scoff that Art Simek could not have inked either issue, and dismiss the editor's reference in ***Fantastic Four*  #281** as Jack Kirby's faulty memory of years gone by. Though it was also backed up by Roz Kirby and Steve Leialoha on the same letters page.

### Reprints

* This issue is reprinted in other comics and books, see references for more info.

## Trivia

* Marvel and many Marvel fans have often referred to this issue as the start of "the Marvel age of Comics".
* In late 1961, no one in the US really knew how conditions in space would affect a human being, since the first man in space was a Russian, Yuri Gagarin, in April 1961. (The first American, Alan Sheppard, went into space in February 1962.)

## See AlsoEdit

* Write your own review of this comic!
* Discuss Fantastic Four Vol 1 1 on the forums

## Links and ReferencesEdit

* **The Grand Comics Database: Fantastic Four Vol 1** [1]
* ***Marvel Comics Index*  #4**
* ***Official Marvel Index to the Fantastic Four*  #1**

### Footnotes

1. ↑ The first story is reprinted in the following comics/TPB's:

	* ***100 Greatest Marvels of All Time*  #9** - 1st story
	* Best of the Fantastic Four Vol 1 1 - 1st story
	* Essential Series Vol 1 Fantastic Four 1 - 1st story
	* Fantastic Firsts Vol 1 1 - 1st story
	* *Fantastic Four* - 1st story
	* ***Fantastic Four Annual*  #1** - 3rd story
	* Fantastic Four Omnibus Vol 1 1 - 1st story
	* Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four #1 - 1st story
	* Marvel Milestone Edition: Fantastic Four Vol 1 1 - 1st story
	* Maximum Fantastic Four Vol 1 1 - 1st story
	* *Origins of Marvel Comics* - 1st story
	* Fantastic Four Epic Collection: The World's Greatest Comic Magazine
	* Official Marvel Graphic Novel Collection: Marvel Origins - The 1960's
	* ***Fantastic Four Legends*  Vol 1: Unstable Molecules TPB #1** - 5th story
	* ***Startling Stories TPB: Fantastic Four - Unstable Molecules*  #1** - 1st story
	* ***Target Fantastic Four Classic: Fantastic Firsts*  #1** - 1st story
	* ***USPS Marvel Comics Limited Edition Comic Book and Stamps Set*  #1** - 3rd story
	* Creepy Worlds Vol 1 32
	* Golden Record Vol 1 Fantastic Four 1
	* Fantastic Four: Extended Family Vol 1 1
	* Fantastic Four Winter Special #1981
	* Marvel Saga Vol 1 1
2. ↑ The second story is reprinted in the following comics/TPB's:

	* ***100 Greatest Marvels of All Time*  #9** - 2nd story
	* Essential Series Vol 1 Fantastic Four 1 - 2nd story
	* Fantastic Firsts Vol 1 1 - 2nd story
	* ***Fantastic Four Annual*  #7** - 1st story
	* Fantastic Four Omnibus Vol 1 1 - 2nd story
	* Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four #1 - 2nd story
	* Marvel Milestone Edition: Fantastic Four Vol 1 1 - 2nd story
	* Maximum Fantastic Four Vol 1 1 - 2nd story
	* Fantastic Four Epic Collection: The World's Greatest Comic Magazine
	* Official Marvel Graphic Novel Collection: Marvel Origins - The 1960's
	* ***Origins of Marvel Comics*  #1** - 2nd story
	* ***Fantastic Four Legends*  Vol 1: Unstable Molecules TPB #1** - 5th story
	* ***Target Fantastic Four Classic: Fantastic Firsts*  #1** - 2nd story
	* ***USPS Marvel Comics Limited Edition Comic Book and Stamps Set*  #1** - 4th story
	* Creepy Worlds Vol 1 32
	* Golden Record Vol 1 Fantastic Four 1
	* Marvel Saga Vol 1 1

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