Maybe I am a monster! I look like one—and sometimes I feel like one!

-- The Thing

Appearing in "The Fantastic Four Meet the Skrulls from Outer Space!"Edit

Featured Characters:

• The Fantastic Four
  •  Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards) 
  •  Invisible Girl (Sue Storm) 
  •  Human Torch (Johnny Storm) 
  •  The Thing (Ben Grimm) 

Supporting Characters:

• United States Army
• The Central City Police Chief

Villains:

• The Fantastic Four (First appearance) (Skrulls)^[1]
  • The Thing (First appearance) - (changed into Cow)
  • Invisible Girl (First appearance) - (escaped)
  • Human Torch (First appearance) - (changed into Cow)
  • Mister Fantastic (First appearance) - (changed into Cow)
• The Skrullian mother ship Captain

Other Characters:

• oil rig workers
• jewellery store employees
• a power plant Worker
• various citizens of Central City

Locations:

• an oil rig off the coast of Texas
• Central City, California
  • a jewellery store
  • a power plant in the heart of the city
• King's Crossing, New York
  • a hunting lodge
• specially-constructed private Cells in a federal prison
• FF's secret apartment hideout
• an experimental rocket test site

Items:

• a priceless marble statue - (Melted)
• a Skrullian concealed electronic detonator
• Skrullian anti-gravity gear and low velocity thermal bomb
• Johnny's rifle
• a mounted, stuffed bear head
• Fantasti-Flare
• The Daily Bugle - (First appearance)
• The Daily Globe - (First appearance)
• Skrullian weapons
• Skrullian medal, "Highest Award of Bravery"

Vehicles:

• oil rig life-boats
• Skrull ship - (First appearance)
• Skrull mother ship
• an Army helicopter - (Stolen)
• an experimental rocket
• police cars
  
  

Synopsis for "The Fantastic Four Meet the Skrulls from Outer Space!"Edit

The Thing attacks an oil platform off the Texas shore. The Invisible Girl steals a valuable gem from a jewellery store. The Human Torch melts a statue when a town unveils it. Mister Fantastic shuts down a power plant. These impostors meet afterwards and reveal how they used their shape-shifting abilities and alien technology to perpetrate their misdeeds. They are Skrulls and they plan on invading Earth. Fearing the Fantastic Four will stand in their way, these four agents want to ruin their reputation. The real Fantastic Four, in "an isolated hunting lodge," hear the news with dismay.

Part 2: Prisoner of the Skrulls

The United States Army surrounds the lodge. Wanted for the Skrulls' crimes, the Fantastic Four surrender. They escape from cells specifically designed to hold them and hole up in one of their "many secret apartment hideouts" in order to clear their names. They set a trap for the Skrulls by sending Johnny to sabotage a rocket launch, hoping it will draw them out. He melts through an unused gantry, avoids the army's artillery, and flames off behind a hangar. "Reed" and "Susan" pick him up and take him back to their hideout. A Fantasti-Flare out the window brings the rest of the team.

(Part 3) The Fantastic Four Fight Back!

A fight ensues and the Skrulls are taken prisoner. The Fantastic Four steal the Skrulls' rocket ship and find their mother-ship in Earth orbit. Posing as the Skrull agents, they trick the captain into believing that Earth is too dangerous to invade by passing off images from Journey into Mystery and Strange Tales as real. Reed volunteers to stay behind and remove any trace of the Skrulls' presence on Earth. Convinced his army would be slaughtered, the captain calls off the invasion and awards Reed a medal for bravery. On the way home the Fantastic Four pass through the cosmic rays again, causing the Thing to briefly return to human form.

(Part 4) The Fantastic Four ... Captured!

Once back on Earth the Fantastic Four clear their names by proving the existence of Skrulls to the military. The remaining three Skrulls transform into cows, and then Reed hypnotises them into believing they are real cows. They are left in a field where they can live out their lives.

NotesEdit

• At the end of the issue is a bonus pin-up, featuring (click on image for larger size):

"The Thing", drawn by Jack Kirby and lettered by John Duffy

Add a photo to this galleryAdd a photo to this gallery

• In a flashback to the FF's origin, Reed specifically states that the rocket in Fantastic Four #1 was meant to go to Mars.
• The inker on this issue is not given beyond Lee and Kirby's signatures, although Steve Leialoha and Roz & Jack Kirby stated in the letters page, 'Fantastic Forum' in Fantastic Four #272 & #281, that Sol Brodsky inked the issue.
• This is the first issue where the Human Torch uses his catchphrase "Flame on!"
• The first appearance of the Skrull race. The Skrull "cows" appear next in Avengers #92, the Skrulls themselves appear next in Fantastic Four #18
• The disappearance of the fourth Skrull (most likely a Kirby mistake) has been a topic of much debate in later Marvel stories. In at least one printing, Reed states that the fourth one went home with the mother-ship.
• This story does not give a specific location for where Reed left the cows. Fantastic Four Annual #17, however, places them in King's Crossing, New York, and looks at the consequences of transforming the Skrulls into cows and their effect on the town.
• This issue is reprinted in other comics and books, see references for more info.^[2]
  

TriviaEdit

• No trivia.

See AlsoEdit

• Write your own review of this comic!
• Discuss Fantastic Four Vol 1 2 on the forums
• Cover gallery for the Fantastic Four series
• Images from Fantastic Four Vol 1 2
• Reviews about Fantastic Four Vol 1 2

Recommended ReadingEdit

• None.

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
• Marvel Comics Index #4
• Official Marvel Index to the Fantastic Four #1

Reviews

By Duck2ducks
http://www.marvelgenesis.com/2009/12/2-fantastic-four-2.html

By M1shawhan

I actually thought this one had a 1950's feel to it. I think that Stan Lee tried to think outside the box in having to deal with a new alien species and how to integrate the Skrulls into a storyline. Not sure if the "Skrull Invasion" was going to be so extreme back then as it is in later issues when the entire armada arrives, but it made it's point in this issue. I found it kind of funny though that the Skrulls came all this way and they too had heard of this "Fantastic Four" even by their second issue. It was also funny that they were almost terrified of the Fantastic Four's powers... really? I mean, the Thing, I understand, but really??? I also found it funny that the rest of society act as idiots and don't question some powers and then are amazed at the morphing powers of aliens? Oh well. Turning the Skrulls into cows at the end was classic in any comic book though. Anyway, it was worth the read... at least once. --M1shawhan 04:15, May 19, 2010 (UTC)