I: Feature Story: "The End of the Fantastic Four!"
Part 2: "Sub-Mariner Gives the Orders!"
Part 3: "The Fury of Mr. Fantastic"
Part 4: "The Flame of Battle"
Part 5: "Vengeance is Ours!"
Pages: 23
Script: Stan Lee
Pencils: Jack Kirby
Inks: Dick Ayers
Letters: Artie Simek
First Appearance: Cyclops (mythological monster)
Villain: Sub-Mariner, Cyclops (mythological monster)
Guest Appearance: Alicia Masters
Cameo Appearance: James Arness, "Miss Kitty", Charles Bronson,
Alfred Hitchcock, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin, Jack Benny
Marvel Milestones: Super-heroes with
financial difficulties, first Marvel comic with full creator credits, "SM Productions", Namor's radar sense
Setting: Hidden Isle
Synopsis: The Sub-Mariner is watching
his underwater television when he hears news that the Fantastic Four are
bankrupt! He muses, "This may just be the opportunity I've been waiting for!"
Reed is staving off creditors at the Baxter Building, as it seems apparent
that though Reed may be a brilliant
scientist, he's a lousy businessman. Their investments have sunk and the
FF have lost everything, including the pogo plane, which repo men are
attempting to dismantle.
Thing shakes down the repo men but, realizing there's nothing he can do, sulks
off. A taxi driver refuses to pick him up (he's heard the news that the
FF is broke) so Thing
spins the cab around and leaves it on a clock tower. He sends up a flare and
hitches a ride with Johnny to Alicia Masters' apartment. Alicia encourages him
to quit sulking and be a "white knight" of heroism, and it inspires him to rejoin
his teammates.
At the depths of their despair, Reed receives a telegram from SM Studios in
Hollywood offering them one million dollars to star in a movie! Thing returns
and grabs them all in a bear hug. They
decide to go to Hollywood, but since they're broke, they're forced to
hitchhike!
The Fantastic Four arrives at SM studios a few days later, and after
passing through a cavalcade of stars on their way to their production meeting,
they find out their
producer is none other than the Sub-Mariner! Plundering the wealth from
sunken ships, he has
enough money to buy his own studio and pay the Fantastic Four one million
dollars for the movie.
The Fantastic Four start enjoying their money. Johnny buys a new sports
car and takes
some groupies into the desert, where he paves the roads with his fireballs.
Thing heads down to muscle beach and pushes the big guys around. Reed buys a
new suit while Namor takes Sue out to dinner.
Monday morning, with no script, Namor takes Reed out to Hidden Isle where he
must battle the mythical Cyclops. Once Reed reaches the island he finds the
Cyclops is real, and Namor deserts him! The Cyclops squishes Reed with a
boulder but Mr. Fantastic
simply slides his pliable body out from underneath it. The Cyclops tosses the
boulder at Reed, but he catches it with his outstretched form, hurtling it
back like a slingshot. He then trips the Cyclops, sending the creature down a deep
hole.
Meanwhile, Namor takes Johnny into the jungles of Africa to fight
a group of natives for his scene in the movie.
Johnny parachutes out of the helicopter and immediately runs into the tribe,
who all happen to be immune to fire. He flies high above them but eventually
his flame
dies out and he falls into their clutches. The natives show off the magic
potion which protects them from fire by waltzing through a barbecue pit and
practicing their fire-eating skills. Johnny burns through his wooden cage and
creates flame doubles of himself so the natives do not know whom to attack. He
then flies into a volcano and causes an eruption that buries the village.
Namor now takes the Thing to the beach. His plan this time is to simply beat
the Thing up. The
fight is an even match until Thing realizes Namor is deriving his power from
the ocean. He drags Namor away from the shore and prepares his final blow.
Suddenly Thing is truck by lightning and transforms into Ben Grimm. Namor
doesn't notice the change in the dark and plows into Grimm with full force,
knocking him unconscious.
Namor returns to Sue and announces that he has triumphed over the Fantastic
Four, and that now, nothing stands in his way from marrying her. Sue is
appalled that he has "courted" her in this manner. She becomes
invisible and throws the furniture in the room at him. Namor uses the power of
the electric eel to subdue her but the dense carpeting she tosses at him
blocks that power. Now the sense of the cave fish helps him identify her
invisible form and he grabs her.
Just then, the rest of the team bursts through the door. They gang up on Namor
but Sue breaks it up. They've each fulfilled their end of the bargain by
appearing in his movie, plus she says it would be wrong for the FF to gang
up on someone in a fight. Namor promises he will pay them for their
services in the movie, and he silently leaves and returns to the sea.
A few weeks later, the Fantastic Four movie is released to huge box office
receipts. The
Fantastic Four's financial troubles are behind them.
II: Fantastic Four Feature Page:
Pages: 1
The Human Torch tells reader how he is able to fly.
--synopsis by Jonathan Clarke, aka doesitmatter, with Gormuu
Issues Reprinted
Fantastic Four #1-10
Click on cover image to learn more about each issue.