FANTASTIC FOUR #10 (1963)
by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
This is one of the goofiest Marvel covers of the era.
Leaving aside Reed’s crazy face: where are the others? Are they floating or what?
The perspective of Lee & Kirby’s placement is weird: it looks like they’re tiny and standing next to a much bigger Reed Richards.
Oh, and yes, that’s Stan Lee & Jack Kirby on the cover. Kinda.
We open with Reed taking a picture of the Invisible Girl. Ostensibly to get some insight on how her power works; I hope she’s not posing for his personal collection, giving that her brother is right there. And on fire, for no reason.
What is the Human Torch doing there? Taking notes about Reed’s experiment? That really doesn’t sound like him.
By the way, Reed’s contraption managed to take a picture of Susan even if she’s invisible. Wow, her power to create force fields cant’ come soon enough: it’s been just 10 issues and already they’ve found a way to get around her power.
They try to rush out of the Baxter Building for an emergency, but they’re delayed because Reed locked himself out of a door which has a nuclear-power lock that could explode if heated.
The smartest man on the planet, people.
Once they leave the Invisible Girl is harassed by a creepy fan, and she runs into traffic forgetting that people can’t see her when she’s invisible.
So yeah, Reed being the most intelligent person in the team doesn’t mean much.
But what’s the emergency? There isn’t one: the Thing sent the emergency signal because he wanted the team to see the neat sculptures that his girlfriend made.
Couldn’t he just call them on the phone!?
Now that this incredibly important scene is over, we cut to Stan Lee and Jack Kirby at Marvel comics, who are struggling to create a new super villain now that Doctor Doom is gone after the events of Fantastic Four #6.
It was probably meant to be a throwaway gag, but the fact that Marvel Comics exists within the Marvel universe will be used many times over the years.
Mostly for comic relief (pun intended), although Captain America once worked as the artist for the Captain America comics.
That’s when Doctor Doom returns!
Doom then removes his mask for no reason. He looks at his reflection, but sadly he doesn’t smash the mirror.
Doom’s remark about needing to remove the mask from time to time is interesting. It won’t come up much; I wonder if he just grew accustomed to the mask or if he just stopped admitting he needs to remove it. Very nice touch.
Doom then lures Reed into the Marvel Comics office, where he ambushes him with “sleeping gas” (I don’t know why he uses the air quotes, it looks exactly like sleeping gas).
And weirdly enough he leaves his calling card to Lee & Kirby so that they can lure the rest of the Fantastic Four to his address, which is… well a little pedestrian for Doom.
But how did Doctor Doom survive being thrown into space? He was obviously rescued by aliens.
As an act of gratitude for saving his life, Doom acts like a dick.
Doom’s gotta Doom.
The aliens are not only comically trusting, but they also teach him their greatest secret: the ability to switch bodies at will. And so, after learning the secret to immortality, Doom decides to use it for revenge.
This leads to Doom switching bodies with Reed:
And he wastes no time learning how to use the powers of Mr. Fantastic to defeat himself.
I mean, how to defeat his body currently inhabited by Reed’s mind.
When the rest of the Fantastic Four arrive (Doom sent them to his address, remember), Reed tries to tell about the team about the body switch, but they don’t believe it.
Reed is left trapped inside Doom’s body, which is inside Doom’s armor, which is inside a glass prison, which is inside Doom’s hideout. And he has only one hour of air left.
So, needless to say, Reed is pretty much screwed.
What an opening act, right? The villains’ plan was meticulously planned, the heroes fell for his trap without looking like morons, and the only big cliché is Doom not making sure Reed is dead.
All in all, a very nice start.
So now is when the story becomes ridiculous, starting with tiny animals invading the Fantastic Four’s headquarters.
So, get this: Doom has created a shrinking ray, and he’s selling to the Fantastic Four the idea that it can be used to increase their powers.
By talking about how the dinosaurs could’ve been space conquerers.
Wait, what? How is that supposed to make the Fantastic Four more powerful!?
WHAT!?
ARE YOU SERIOUS!?
THEY ARE SERIOUSLY BELIEVING HIM.
“If I shrink you and then un-shrink you, you will get everything you want”.
Doom’s plan is actually to shrink them out of existence:
Which, considering how stupid the Fantastic Four are in this story, wouldn’t be such a big loss.
Meanwhile Reed manages to escape his prison by using Doom’s mask (nice touch):
And SOMEHOW manages to reach New York City without anyone noticing, sneaking into the aparment of the Thing’s blind girlfriend Alicia.
Where the Invisible Girl knocks him out with a vase.
Despite him wearing Doom’s armor.
They bring Reed (in Doom’s body) to the Baxter Building, where Doom (in Reed’s body) tricks the Fantastic Four into being exposed to his shriking ray in order to get enough power to defeat Doom.
I guess they don’t own another vase.
Anyway Reed (in Doom’s body) rushes to help them, but he’s stopped by Doom (in Reed’s body).
This is getting confusing. Can we lighten the mood with something stupid, please?
Ah, yes, a mirage of something outside of the building, down on the street.
Sounds legit.
Did they really use dynamite sticks in construction sites in the middle of New York, in 1961?
Reed (in Doom’s body) reacts by trying to save the Fantastic Four, while Doom (in Reed’s body) tires to escape, which makes the team realize what’s going on.
The shock is enough to switch Doom and Reed back to their real bodies.
Doom ends up being zapped with the reducing ray, shrinking him out of existence.
Is the menace of Doctor Doom finally over?
Spoiler alert: we’ll see him again in 6 issues.
Historical significance: 5/10
This establishes that Marvel Comics exists inside Marvel Comics, which has rarely risen above making inside jokes.
Doom significance: 8/10
Doom’s power to switch bodies will be used many times over the years, although it will be forgotten for a LONG time. We also get the first hint at characterization (beyond “is evil”).
Silver Age-ness: 7/10
The Fantastic Four’s fantastic stupidity in believing whatever Doom tells them, Reed’s ability to go unnoticed when dressed like Doom, and Susan knocking him unconscious with a vase are all things that could only happen in the “just go with it” era of comics.
Does it stand the test of time? 6/10
The first half of the story, until the body switch, could easily fit into a modern comic.
The sheer stupidity of the second half, not so much.
It was a Doombot all along
No Doombots are seen. Considering Doom will keep his power to switch bodies, this is 100% the real Doom.
Doom always keeps his word
Considering Doom’s fascination for manipulating people by telling the truth in his own way, it’s weird watching him just straight up telling lies for the entire issue.
Take over the world
For the second time in a row, Doom doesn’t show interest in this.
Destroy the FF
Doom tries to kill the Fantastic Four for the second time. Shrinking them out of existence is a step down from throwing them into the Sun.
Crazy tech
The shrinking ray, though it will be revealed that Doom had the help of a crazy scientist in Incredible Hulk #155
Mirror smash!
Sadly the mirror remains intact, but this is the first time Doom removes his mask. In front of Lee & Kirby, of all people.
