FANTASTIC FOUR #5 (1962)
by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
In case there were doubts Doctor Doom would be the team’s main villain, he appears again in the following issue.
What is your reaction if you see THIS in your city?
Apparently, you think it must be a natural phenomenon.
You know, one of those naturally occurring flying men.
The Human Torch is looking for Doctor Doom. Naturally, since they last saw him on a castle in another part of the country, he’s trying to find him flying randomly over New York.
Meanwhile, at the Baxter Building, the Invisible Girl uses the secret elevator that only the Fantastic Four can use, as she demonstrates to an easily impressed mailman.
Seriously, I get being starstruck by a celebrity, but she’s just using a remote!
We get a nice cutout of the interior of the Baxter Building. Note that the special elevator doesn’t seem to be connected to a cable; I wouldn’t put it past Reed to invent antigravity and use it for an elevator ride.
Notable sights include:
-Projection room closed circuit TV control
-Conference room information files: useful when you need to have a meeting with the only 4 people who live here
-Ammo room: separated from the weapon collection room for some reason
-Computers: small enough to fit into just one room!
And of course, the best named one: Giant Map Room. Perfect to display all of your giant maps.
Also notable: the Fantastic Four have an ICBM in New York City.
Sounds legit.
We have some downtime: Reed talks to a sick kid, with possibly the first mention of unstable molecules:
If you’re not familiar with them, they’re Marvel’s solution to keep intact the clothes of characters whose powers should probably leave them permanently naked.
In another first, we get a mention of the notorious Yancy Street Gang, which will be a very important thing in the past of, ehm, the Thing, and source of occasional comic relief.
Meanwhile, Doctor Doom recruits former hero and current anti-hero, Namor the Sub-Mariner:
By the way, Doom has now added his famous cape to his attire:
Doom figures out what makes Namor tick extremely fast, noticing he has a thing for the Invisible Girl and that he’s motivated by revenge against surface people for what happened to Atlantis:
And in an AWESOME trio of panels, his monologue convinces Namor to join forces:
Namor then shows up at the Baxter Building. Before he can say anything the guys try to attack him, but the Invisible Girl is on his side:
They suspect Namor has put some sort of trap, but checking the building doesn’t show anything:
They definitely missed something, though, because Doom’s little gadget LIFTS THE ENTIRE SKYSCRAPER:
In case you’re curious about what kind of device can do this, here’s Doom showing it to Namor in an earlier scene. Magneto, eat your heart out!
How powerful is that little thing? The building is FLYING INTO SPACE!
When you want a crazy visual, Jack Kirby is your guy!
And it’s going pretty fast: when the Human Torch tries to fly into space and he falls (apparently forgetting there’s no air in space), look how far they are:
Doom isn’t just content with throwing his enemies into space, though. He’s piloting a spaceship pulling the building to THROW IT INTO THE SUN:
Who says Doom doesn’t have a sense of humor?
But Namor doesn’t like the idea of the Invisible Girl dying in the Sun (possibly because Namor is also going to die there), so he goes in pursuit of Doom:
Yes, Namor had fish powers at the time. Don’t think about it too hard.
Doom is caught by a passing “meteor swarm”, which carries him into outer space. Is the menace of Doctor Doom finally over?
Spoiler alert: we’ll see him again in 4 issues.
Historical significance: 6/10
First Doom/Namor alliance, first mention of unstable molecules and of the Yancy Street.
Doom significance: 8/10
Doom launching the Baxter Building into space is one of his most famous plans during the Silver Age, although strangely enough he’ll never use the magnetic device again. It’s also his first alliance with Namor, starting their weird friendship/bromance.
And Doom gets his cape.
Silver Age-ness: 7/10
This is definitely the most famous use of Namor’s fish powers. The utter lack of collateral damage done by launching a skyscraper into space is a little silly, even for this series.
Does it stand the test of time? 7/10
Comic book science and simplistic characterization aside, it’s not bad.
It was a Doombot all along: no Doombots are seen. And considering what happens with his next appearance, this is one of the few times we’re 100% sure this is the real Doom.
Doom always keeps his word: quite the opposite. He promised that the Invisible Girl would not be harmed, but his plan included her crashing into the Sun.
Take over the world: This might be one of the few cases when Doom doesn’t care about taking over the world.
Destroy the FF: There’s trying to get rid of a pesky rival, and then there’s throwing them into the Sun by your second appearance!
Crazy tech: Doom’s flying submarine and spaceship are cool, but come on, Magnetic Skyscaper Lifter obviously wins.
Though I suspect it wasn’t used more often because there aren’t a lot of guys confortable with the idea of shoving it down your pants.
