This weekend’s escapist and light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog will look at the early stories about the Fantastic Four in the 1960s.
THE FANTASTIC FOUR – There can be no over-stating the importance of the Fantastic Four to Marvel Comics and by extension to much of pop culture the last several years regarding superhero movies and television programs. Though the Fantastic Four are now considered as dull as any b&w sitcom family of long ago, the team’s success convinced Marvel the market was right to recommit to superhero comic books.
As Timely Comics in 1939 and throughout the 1940s Marvel had participated in the massive superhero boom of the era. Many of their signature characters were introduced, like Captain America, Sub-Mariner, and many, many others.
As Atlas Comics in the 1950s Marvel abandoned superhero stories as that market had dropped out. They briefly revived some of their Golden Age characters and tried launching new ones, but sales were poor enough to get canceled, so they focused on monster and sci-fi comic books instead.
As Marvel Comics in 1961 the company decided to dabble in superhero comic books again, with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, two veteran comic book hands since the 1940s, putting together a brand-new team of superheroes. That team was, of course, the Fantastic Four.
The first issue was scheduled to hit the stands late in the year, but June of 1961 was when the bulk of the work was done and the approach finalized. The vaunted “616 Universe” was established, based on 61 as in the calendar year, and 6 as in the month of June. Continue reading
HULK Vol 1 #150 (April 1972) 
NOTE: Thanks to sorcerers on Jarella’s home planet in the Microverse, Hulk was able to retain Bruce Banner’s mind there even when he was the Hulk, so she technically loved both his personae. 
This weekend’s light-hearted and escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at the Marvel Comics run in which Hercules and Thor fought side by side against assorted menaces. 
THOR Vol 1 #221 (March 1974) 
SILVER SURFER Vol 1 #1 (August 1968) 
LEOPARD GIRL 
Powers: Leopard Girl employed her supernatural “cry of the leopards” to use a small army of leopards to help her fight the forces of evil in Africa. She could interact with the Dark Continent’s ghosts, who saw her as an ally. 
Comment: In her secret identity as “Gwen”, Leopard Girl worked with research scientist Dr. Hans Kreitzer. Her fellow assistant was named Peter, whom she once carried with one arm while swinging through the jungle. 
MARVEL PREMIERE Vol 1 15 (May 1974) 
NOTE: This K’un-Lun is not THE K’un-Lun from Chinese mythology but it uses the same name and many of the inhabitants go by names corresponding to Chinese gods. Yu-Ti is one of them, Lei Kung the Thunderer is another. This K’un-Lun is an enchanted city that appears on Earth only once every ten years before returning to its pocket dimension home for another ten.
FANTASTIC FOUR Vol 1 #58 (January 1967) 
TALES OF SUSPENSE Vol 1 #97 (January 1968) 
Jasper Sitwell, S.H.I.E.L.D. liaison to Stark Industries, tries to revive the fallen hero while a crowd gathers. Iron Man (believed back then to simply be “Tony Stark’s high-tech bodyguard”) has a sleazy cousin named Morgan Stark. Morgan ran up a huge gambling debt with the Maggia (Marvel Comics’ version of the Mafia) and, to save himself from harm at the hands of their thugs, betrays Iron Man into their clutches by transporting the nearly motionless hero to where he told Sitwell that Tony Stark was waiting to repair the armor. 
JOHN CARTER, WARLORD OF MARS Vol 1 #1 (June 1977) 
This weekend’s light-hearted, escapist superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog looks at some of the early stories during the time when Daredevil and the Black Widow were a team, like 
DAREDEVIL & THE BLACK WIDOW Vol 1 #92 (October 1972) 
Balladeer's Blog 