It is the first time I have found it necessary to give the signal! I pray it will be the last!

-- Mister Fantastic

Appearing in "The Fantastic Four!"Edit

Featured Characters:

• The Fantastic Four (First appearance) (Origin revealed)
  •  Human Torch (Johnny Storm)  (First appearance) (Origin revealed)
  •  Invisible Girl (Sue Storm)  (First appearance) (Origin revealed)
  •  Mr. Fantastic (Reed Richards)  (First appearance) (Origin revealed)
  •  The Thing (Ben Grimm)  (First appearance) (Origin revealed)

Villains:

• Subterraneans (First appearance)
  • Mole Man (Harvey Elder)  (First appearance) (Origin revealed)
  • Giganto  (First appearance)
  • Tricephalous  (First appearance)
  • Rock Monster Guardian (Only Appearance)^[1]
  • various inhabitants (First appearance) of Monster Isle

Other Characters:

• Citizens of Central City
  • Pete (First appearance)
• Cab driver
• National Guard
• French Soldiers
  • Pierre (First appearance)

Locations:

• California
  • Central City
• New York
  • Ithaca
• atomic power plant in French Africa (First appearance)
• Monster Isle
• Subterranea
  • Valley of Diamonds

Items:

• Fantasti-Flare (First appearance)
• Mole Man's Staff (First appearance)

Vehicles:

• Reed Richard's Rocketship (First appearance) (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.

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. 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 grabs the missile and throws 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." 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.

NotesEdit

• This story has been designated as the official beginning of the Earth-616 Marvel Universe.
• The monsters of Monster Isle were later retconned into Deviant Mutates.
• The crash site of Reeds' Rocket is identified as North of Ithaca, New York in Fantastic Four #245.
• The Cab Driver appears next in Tales of the Marvel Universe #1.
• 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.
• This issue is reprinted in other comics and books, see references for more info.^[2][3]
  

TriviaEdit

• The Fantastic Four wore blue and white flight suits in the first printing of Fantastic Four #1. All subsequent reprints and flashbacks feature the more familiar purple and blue flight suits.
• 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, John Glenn, went into space in February 1962.) At the time 'gamma rays' were a real concern that later proved groundless. The 'cosmic rays' in this story were later retconned into a freak confluence of gamma rays, sunspots, and other phenomena.

See AlsoEdit

• Write your own review of this comic!
• Discuss Fantastic Four Vol 1 1 on the forums
• Cover gallery for the Fantastic Four series
• Images from Fantastic Four Vol 1 1
• Reviews about Fantastic Four Vol 1 1

Recommended ReadingEdit

• Story retold in more detail in Fantastic Four: Season One #1.
• Mole Man is shown discovering Monster Isle in Marvel Universe #7.

Links and ReferencesEdit

• The Fantastic Four at Wikipedia
• The Fantastic Four at Marvel Subscriptions
• The Fantastic Four series index at Comicbookdb.com
• The Fantastic Four series index at the Grand Comics Database Project
• Related Fantastic Four comics on this site
• Marveling Comics
• Marvel Comics Index #4
• Official Marvel Index to the Fantastic Four #1

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Reviews

By Duck2ducks
http://www.marvelgenesis.com/2009/12/1-fantastic-four-1.html

By M1shawhan

Alright, the first issue of the Fantastic Four. Not TOO fantastic, but it was definitely interesting and overall great story-writing. I was actually surprised how this really covered a lot in about 24 pages. You get the introduction, a super team that is called together by its leader, Mister Fantastic. You see the characters, each with special powers join together to fight their first battle. Then, you have a flashback of the origin of the team before they hit the ground running off to the first mission. I did find a few things odd though. With first issues you sometimes lose what is happening by cramming a bunch of story into so little. The good thing is that it makes you ask questions. Some that will eventually be answered in future issues. I did have questions though. One question I had was, why the Mole Man? Kind of a silly character and pretty determined ugly man. He crashes on Monster Isle and suddenly they all follow him? Whatever. Why did the team have to be called together with a signal flare? Why did the National Guard fire a nuclear missile at the Torch without question? I also thought it odd that for being an amazing scientist, Mister Fantastic wasted no time in researching the consequences of "cosmic ray" exposure before subjecting his fiancée, future brother-in-law, and friend to follow him in space. No wonder the Thing hated him for dragging him along. Luckily, they had the drive to beat those "commies" into space first to learn about the rays. Too bad, it came at a cost. Fortunately though, they turned out to use their powers for good. They must truly be... fantastic. --M1shawhan 03:30, May 18, 2010 (UTC)

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