Fantastic Four #3 (Dec 1961) comes with some more world-building with Marvel’s new set of super-heroes given some snazzy uniforms (reminiscent of the Challengers of the Unknown), a Fantasticar, and an official headquarters (though the building is not yet named).
This issue, the FF are up against “The Miracle Man”, who (spoiler alert) turns out to be a simple hypnotist who cannot, in fact, perform miracles. Sue sneaks off to try and defeat Miracle Man on her own after the three other members are defeated.
But a dud villain is ok if they focus a bit on character development. We see Reed Richards admonishing poor ol’ Ben Grimm for acting like the self-loathing jerk that he is.
And we get some super-powered battles, where Mister Fantastic dodges some machine gun bullets, then The Thing heroically steps in front and takes the barrage. So he’s bullet-proof, but not indestructible.
And we get Johnny Storm flaming around and then doing some hot-rodding. Oops – a tire blows and Mister Fantastic has to sub in for a tire. Already in the third issue, it seems like they are struggling to tell stories with Reed Richard’s silly powers.
I think it’s about time that Stan and Jack try a cliff-hanger. What do y’all think? This time it’s that hot-headed Human Torch who has threatened to quit the team, just three issues in. And that’s where we leave our weird Marvel family for this month… will Johnny Storm return to the team next ish? Dude, we just got uniforms with big 4s on them!
Some other things are new this issue: 1) The Fantastic Four get a letters column. I imagine some of these (at least) were fictional to drum up interest, since readers have only seen two issues, but it’s clear that Stan Lee understood the value DC was getting out of generating a sense of community around its characters. 2) This issue is the first time that the comic toots its own horn on the cover as “The Greatest Comic Magazine in the World!!” Stan was nothing, if not a hustler. 3) Johnny Storm’s flame-on mode is much better drawn starting this issue with those classic lines and flame outline.
Frankly, I can’t really stomach the Fantastic Four right now. The artwork is ugly and inter-team dynamics are already tiring, but I can understand how heroes who act more like regular humans would have been a refreshing change of pace for readers used to DC’s characters – who always get along. I know that the FF’s stories, characterization, and artwork all get better and I’m excited to see that.