Fantastic Four #4

 "One side, woman! I got me an idea!"

It's weird to think that this is the Sub-Mariner's first Silver Age appearance... yet his last Golden Age appearance was only in 1955, seven years previously. But it's amusing to think how Marvel opted for nostalgia at such an early point. Indeed, it did that with the character of the Human Torch, and it's amusing to see how the cover has the modern Torch without a face, much like his 1939 predecessor.

Anyway, we begin in the FF's "secret skyscraper hideout", and once again I look forward to an explanation of how they can afford this, as well as such gadgets as the Fantast-car which, we now learn, can split up into four individual parts. Nice. And events follow on from the end of last issue, but Torch is missing, having flounced out after a dramatic argy-bargy with the Thing- and, yet again, it's striking how much real vitriol there is between the two of them at this stage. This is more than just banter, and it seems the Torch genuinely intended to leave the FF for good,

Anyway, it's Ben who finally finds Johnny, but Johnny gets away when the Thing (very) briefly turns human again, a nice little running sub-plot... and, beneath the panels, we get questions like "What is the Hulk?", a very nice teaser for a new comic which will be arriving very soon.

By an incredible coincidence, the hotel Johnny ends up in happens to be the one containing a bearded, amnesiac Sub-Mariner. And it's Johnny who deliberately restores his memory by, er, dropping him in the sea, as though that was certain to work. It does, though... and Namor finds out that his kingdom has been destroyed by (what else?) atomic experiments, so it's time to destroy humanity... with a massive monster which is called Giganto, because of course it is. Yet again Marvel's existing monster genre bleeds into the new stuff.

But the best bit is where, I kid you not, the Thing straps an actual nuke to his back, lets Giganto swallow him, dumps the bomb and escapes through the monster's gob, which is a whole other level of bonkers. And then the threat is basically resolved by the fact that Namor suddenly fancies Sue... and wants to marry her. Well, that escalated quickly, and now the Torch can apparently create tornadoes somehow because the plot requires it...

This issue is magnificently bonkers.

Fantastic Four #3

 " I'm disappointed in you, Reed! You almost had him, and then he slipped through your fingers!"

This issue begins to feel a bit more Marvel from the start, with the cover showcasing the Fantasti-car and the new costumes, which are introduced halfway through, designed by Sue... although Ben won't end up wearing the whole thing. We're also introduced to the FF's huge and expensive-looking secret HQ, crammed with Batcave type stuff. The question must again be asked- how are the FF paying for all this?

The opening scene is a nice little set piece as the four of them see a show by Miracle Man, a stage magician and (very) minor Marvel villain for future years, who is nevertheless destined to get his own Top Trumps card in the late '80s. Hilariously, the Thing is making a token attempt to disguise himself in the audience, and it's fun to see the character humiliate the FF, and Ben especially.

Reed tempts fate by musing that it would be unfortunate if the Miracle Man should turn to crime, while Sue, in giving out the team's new costume, speaks of "crime fighting". At this point, then, the team are being envisaged as crimefighters as opposed to explorers.

The best thing about this issue is the unreasonably critical police commissioner, who is hilariously rude to Reed. I certainly hope to see him again. We then round out the issue, after yet another origin recap and some basic character stuff with Ben and Johnny, with Reed revealing that Miracle Man was just a hypnotist all along, and his powers were just illusions... well ok. Best not to look too closely at the details of that.

Still, this is a pretty good issue and we're starting to see the team slowly morph into becoming the FF we know.

Tales to Astonish #27

 "I won't tell you yet! You would only laugh at me as you've done before! But when I've finished it, I'll show you! You shall know I'm a greater scientist than any of you!"

This is such a fascinating time capsule- entirely a product of Marvel pre-Fantastic Four with the slight detail that it happens to introduce Henry Pym. But it seems likely, from reading this, that it would never have been intended as anything more than a one-off tale, very much in the monster genre that Tales to Astonish and the other anthology comics had been doing.

It's interesting to see that this is just one of multiple tales in a comic that also includes text stories, and is a very short story of just a few pages. The cover and splash page, it must be said, are both excellent- I believe the former is Jack Kirby and the latter Steve Ditko? Ditko, I have to say, does a much more impressive job as penciller than Kirby has thus far, although I know Kirby's best work lies ahead.

Initial observations are that Hank Pym doesn't exactly come across as a hero here. Indeed, he seems to be a bit of a prat, much as he shows sense at the end, following his lucky escape. His deciding to destroy his shrinking serum seems to indicate no intention of a return.... but the loose thread of that one mysteriously friendly ant may suggest otherwise!

The less said about the science the better, although I may point the reader to look up J.B.S. Haldane's "On Being the Right Size". Still, this is a pleasingly amusing little tale. Still very early days though.

Fantastic Four #2

 "No wonder our leaders dare not invade Earth until the Fantastic Four are stopped!"

Issue #2, and we have Skrulls! But, well, they're drawn by Kirby in a very cartoonish fashion, and they're very silly to boot. 

Like the first issue, this is very much rooted in the monster books Marvel had been producing, and doesn't yet feel fully like a superhero title. There are still no costumes, and Reed is still dressing like Don Draper from Mad Men. Indeed, given is apparent age (about 45?) and pipe smoking ways, it's likely that the character would have fought in the Second World War, an odd thought.

We begin with Skrulls framing the Fantastic Four for various crimes, in order to get them imprisoned and out of the way so their orbiting fleet can conquer the planet, which at least makes sense. Interestingly, the FF are very much known to the general public.

We get a recap of last week's origin, and... well, not much characterisation as yet. Ben is still very bitter and anti-social, quite reasonably, as his so-called friends address him not as "Ben" but "Thing"!

The art is still very functional, and the pages feel crowded with lots of panels in this multi-part story in which rather a lot happens. The FF are attacked by the US army, captured... and Johnny is rather alarmingly put into an asbestos cell! Of course, they all promptly and entertainingly escape, and head to "one of the Fantastic Four's many secret apartment hideouts"- wow. They seem to have an awful lot of resources, especially while being fugitives. What's their source of income, then...?

The FF's defeat of the Skrull is... well, as absurd, ridiculous and over the top as one could possibly imagine, involving panels from Strange Tales and Journey into Mystery- both still monster books at this point- among other things. 

We end with the Thing, for the first time, very briefly becoming Ben Grimm again, as the FF now prove their innocence with utterly ridiculous ease. And... the three remaining Skrulls are hypnotised and forced to spend the rest of their lives on Earth as cows. Er, perhaps a bit harsh...?

All in all, very silly indeed. Marvel isn't Marvel yet. But strangely compelling in its silliness!

Fantastic Four #1

 "You've turned into monsters... both of you! It's those rays! Those terrible cosmic rays!"

Yes, it's a bit of a sudden change of direction to start reviewing comics. So... why am I doing this?

Simply put, I've had a temporary but rather unpleasant medical condition for the last year and a bit, meaning physical discomfort . This is making it increasingly hard to concentrate on TV and film, the main focus of this blog. The good news is that I should be right as rain after surgery next month, followed by a few weeks to recover, and I'll be watching and blogging all the usual stuff.

But what to do in the meantime? Well, I can still read well enough, and will still be blogging novels. I will try to keep blogging TV and film as much as I can. But I could do with something that will allow me to blog with relative frequency... so I'll be reading all Marvel comics, online, according to the Complete Marvel Reading Order (fellow Brits, you may need a VPN), starting with this issue! I may not go beyond the early '90s but... we'll see.

So... it's August 1961. The same time period as Season One as Mad Men. The Sixties won't start swinging for a while yet. It's still very much the Atomic Age, the Cold War is in full swing, between the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Both the USSR and the USA put a man in space earlier this year.

And, in terms of comics, it's the Silver Age. And... well, we'll say "Marvel" for clarity, but this is really Timely Comics, known for its pulp-style stories of monsters, aliens and mad scientists- certainly not superheroes for the most part, not since they went out of fashion just over a decade ago. Captain America, the original Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner have, it seems, had their day.

Yet a certain Distinguished Competition has had great success, after years of retreating to just Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, of expanding its roster of superhero titles... and Marvel needs to do something. Things are not going great.

Enter two men in their forties, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Much has been said over the years over how Kirby's contribution to the plots has been underappreciated, but we must be careful not to dismiss Lee as a mere hype merchant, either. This thread I will, I'm sure, keep returning to, but Lee is very much on record of saying that, at this point, he was thinking of leaving the comics industry and this was a last throw of the dice, him finally doing a comic exactly the way he wanted. And, well, that clearly worked.

I'm very much aware that the Fantastic Four, being essentially explorers, owe much to Challengers of the Unknown, which Kirby had recently done at DC. Indeed... this issue in many ways seems and feels more like an Atomic Age monster comic than a superhero comic- there are, for example, no costumes at this point. And this is very much baby steps for Marvel- Kirby's art, while very good for what this is, is by no means anywhere close to being as sublime as it will eventually become, great though the cover is. And the dialogue is... melodramatic, and also wordy. The narration, while poetic at times, is surprisingly foregrounded: there's certainly an authorial voice to this.

The narrative, perhaps reflecting the pre-existing style, is split into four. The first is... odd, with Reed Richards summoning the others with some weird signal thing. Sue Storm is with "society friends" when she hears the signal, reacting to her "vow" and leading to some hi-jinks with a taxi. Ben Grimm, at this point, looks much less rocky, and is far more grumpy and anti-social, saying "bah" a lot. The events seem to take place in "Central City", a DC-esque fictional location, not New York. And... the FF are very much treated as hostile by those in authority, with the US government trying to get Johnny. This sequence showcases the characters' powers, but... it's odd, it's uneven, it feels experimental, and the characters are far from fleshed out at this point.

The second part of the narrative is the familiar origin story, with the cosmic rays. Even this has some unexpectedly fascinating little details, though. Reed was rushing the rocket and cutting corners on safety in order to beat "the Commies"- you can really feel the sudden urgency of the space race in 1961, the year the US quickly rushed Alan Shephard into space in order to keep up with the Soviets. And Sue goads Ben by calling him "a coward" despite his very reasonable safety concerns. The love triangle over Sue between Reed and Ben is surprisingly raw.

Part three gives us actual plot, with atomic plants (this being the Atomic Age) being targeted from underground, including in French Equatorial Africa, reminding us how long ago this is! "Monster Island" is from right out of pulp and B-movies, the monsters (one with three heads!) being pure Ray Harryhausen. Mole Man is... well, not the most classic of villains, basically an incel who flounces, self-pityingly, to the centre of the earth, losing much of his sight... and then gaining supernatural senses and mastery over the monsters for reasons which are in no way explained. And yes, he explains his rather rubbish plan to the FF "before I slay you".

This is by no means the finished article. It certainly doesn't feel like Marvel at this point. And yet... the fundamentals of the key characters have real potential, and I can see why this was such a success.

An Update... and a Plan

 Firstly, fear not: everything I've been blogging- Dexter, Gen V, films, other new telly that may arise- will continue. This blog isn't going anywhere.

However, the medical condition I've had for over a year now has been gradually worsening, and at this point it's becoming harder to focus on TV and film. Fortunately I have surgery scheduled for the middle of next month which should have me completely back to normal. I'll need a few weeks to recover from the surgery, but after that the blog will continue.

So, ideally, I need an idea to keep this blog sort of going in the short term. Part of that will be filled by the novels; I can concentrate more easily on a book, and I'm still going to blog those.

But I need something else... so here goes: the Complete Marvel Reading Order! I'm going to start with Fantastic Four #1 and go on and on until, well, at least the early '90s. I'm in my late forties, so a project like this is a pleasing way of giving the finger to mortality.

For my fellow Brits, you'll need a VPN if you fancy following along, but I assume we all have those since the passing of the Online Safety Act. 

Ghostwatch

 "You don't know, do you?"

"..........No. I don't."

I haven't seen this since... well, 31st October, 1992, so reluctant was the BBC to admit to it until recent years. A drama that (despite the opening and closing making it clear that it is indeed such) apes Orson Welles' famed 1938 broadcast of The War of the Worlds and convinces much of the nation that this is in fact a real live broadcast, with actual, well-known presenters, was... well, bound to be controversial, and the BBC got cold feet very soon after broadcast.

All of which, of course, is an ironic consequence of just how bloody good it is. Yes, some criticise the early parts for being slow and meandering, but that's the point: if it's to convince as a real drama, it has to do precisely that, warts and all. And it does so well. Michael Parkinson and Sarah Greene, in particular, are utterly convincing as themselves, which is not as easy a feat as it seems, both being absolutely convincing at moments that have to feel spontaneous. And Craig Charles, too, is not only convincing but rather a good sport in allowing himself to come across as a bit of an arse during scenes when he "thinks" he's off camera.

Yet the family themselves, none of them known faces for obvious reasons and including two child actors, are utterly convincing with, necessarily, very naturalistic acting. The whole thing progresses perfectly and the ending is utterly chilling. I'm surprised how dark the themes are, with hints of past child abuse and child murder, and the terrifying use of nursery rhymes.

Watching it in 2025, though, one is ruefully reminded that this is a bygone age of tape recorders, where deepfakes and AI were undreamt of, as I wish they had remained. And the one obvious hint that this isn't actually real is the merely token inclusion of a sceptic, made to be unlikeable, the BBC certainly not being likely to have dared to seem so biased in reality... at least back then. 

Still, this is not only one of the earliest examples of this kind of more metatextual take on horror, leading to genres such as "found footage" becoming more prevalent and therefore important to film history, but also one of the very best,

Update

Fear not; I haven't gone anywhere and will continue with Dexter, Gen V and other stuff as much as I can. Just bear with me in advance of my upcoming surgery and recovery, with my condition it's becoming increasingly different to watch serious telly and concentrate most days. But I should be back to normal after the op.

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

Yes, I know: I've seen the television series based upon this novel and its sequels, and I usually arrange to read the novel first. But it matters little here- this is well-trodden history and spoilers hardly apply. Moreover, the two are not particularly alike. Plot is one thing; interiority is another. Yes, this novel may be a truly magnificent feat of making us truly feel the England of the 1520s and '30s, but it is more than that.

The novel is told entirely through the thoughts and impressions of Thomas Cromwell. The various familiar figures from the reign of Henry VIII very much appear, but we see all of them as Cromwell does. And we come to understand him- his kindness to children, his hard-headed bruiser side, his workaholism, his deeply cultured nature.

The novel truly communicates the nuances and paradoxes of its age, an age in which the line between Catholic and Protestant is blurred in ways which would soon not be true, and an age in which judicial murder coexists with the primacy of legal propriety, in which a famously tyrannical king nonetheless respects that he is constrained by Parliament.

The novel takes a notably sympathetic approach to Cromwell himself, as well as to the future Queen Mary I and the seemingly kindly Cardinal Wolsey. Others, notably Thomas More, the king himself, and Anne Boleyn, get damning portraits, particularly More, a torturing zealot and abusive husband. Others, such as the Duke of Norfolk and the young Christophe, are simply fun.

This is a novel that's all about the nuance, the texture, the reimagined history. It's a truly dizzying experience.

Stranger Things: Season 5, Chapter 8- The Rightside Up

 "Oh, I was planning on carelessness...!"

I saw this finale last night, and I'm glad I've let it sink in a little before articulating my thoughts. There is, of course, one rather large plot hole- the gang, having destroyed the Upside Down and saved the world, end up in the custody of Sarah Connor and her toy soldiers. Why aren't they all arrested, prosecuted and sentenced to those absurdly harsh prison sentences of which America, with its extraordinarily huge prison population, is so fond? Regardless of morality, they've all surely broken several important laws. But I think we can safely forgive and handwave this. Because the episode is a masterpiece,

The way the threat is resolved is superb. We have two hours of run time, plenty of time for each character to breathe, with lots of nice little scenes between pairs of characters- especially the reconciliation between Jonathan and Steve. It's fitting that Vecna, whatever he may think, is ultimately just another vessel and the real Big Bad is a freaking massive CGI monster. And the whole gang work together to destroy it before Sarah Connor ruins everything... and yes, there's no hope for Eleven after all. There never could have been. Those waterfalls always were a pipe dream.

This is, of course, very bleak. But by the end of the episode we nevertheless haven't turned to despair. Because Stranger Things never really was about the supernatural threat- it's about the characters, about growing up, about how we all deal with adversity together. About how, yes, the world is full of suffering, unfairness and death, but how we can nevertheless find joy and make our own meaning. 

Which is why we need this long coda for the characters to be seen to be getting on with their lives, pursuing their dreams and friendships, dealing with their grief. Life goes on. The proposal scene with Joyce and Hopper is so very wonderful, as is Hopper's speech to Mike on healthy and unhealthy ways of grieving, lessons we will all need at some point.

But there is also fun. It's 1989, the end of the decade. We have the Pixies! Dustin gives a wonderful valedictorian speech, including a tribute to Eddie. And we end, of course, with D&D (or rather, I assume, 2nd edition AD&D!), with a beautiful imagined happy ending for El. It's just Mike's fantasy, of course. But sometimes we need to believe in comforting fictions, and that's ok.

The perfect finale.