Quick Thoughts On Fantastic Four #5

Comic Quick Thoughts

It’s been almost a year since I started trying to work through the history of the Marvel Comics Universe and I haven’t gotten too far. Needless to say, I’ve done more reading of comics during the year but have held off on commenting about my thoughts on them because of a block to get past Fantastic Four #5. It’s a pretty essential issue with the introduction of Doctor Doom, but I just haven’t been able to get the process flowing to put together a full post for it so far…too much procrastination.

With that in mind, I’m just going to put together some quick thoughts on the issue and leave the “more in depth review” for another time when I can get past my inability to write it.

Fantastic Four #5, written by Stan Lee and drawn by Jack Kirby, contains the first appearance of one of the most important villains in the Marvel Universe. Doctor Doom has been involved in so many different conflicts that he was voted Marvel’s All-Time Hall of Fame Villain of the Year (20th Century) by ComicBookHerald for the My Marvelous Year reading club.

This issue is where he starts and he proves to be a formidable foe for the Fantastic Four. His mix of science and magic gives him the ability to send the FF back into time where he demands they obtain Blackbeard’s treasure for him. If they fail, he will keep the Invisible Girl hostage. So he sends Johnny, Ben, and Reed back to the past where they overcome a bunch of pirates so resoundingly that they start to honor the Thing as “Blackbeard”…yes, it turns out Ben is Blackbeard and he likes the idea so much, he actually wants to stay back in the past. Nature and history have another idea and shipwrecks them before Doctor Doom pulls them back to the present where Doom tricks the team with a robot impersonator. Fortunately, Sue is able to free them from the deadly trap and they escape Doom’s castle. Of course Doom escapes to fight another day as well.

This was a fun issue and I think a good introduction to Doctor Doom as a villain at least the equal of the Fantastic Four.

I’d give this issue an A, definitely worth a read.