Let’s begin the Fantastic Four part of the retrospective with something different from the previous entries.
As I explained at the beginning, this retrospective covers the books that I had before becoming a regular reader.
Everything else was already in my house before I even learned how to read, but this one is different: it’s the only case where I actually KNOW how I got the comic.
It was when my family was visiting relative in Venice: this comic belonged to a distant relative, perhaps a cousin twice removed or something, and this book was just there.
At the time all I had were the other books in the retrospective and MAYBE one or two issues from Star Comics, but I wasn’t a regular reader yet.
Since I basically spent the vacation reading this thing over and over and that relative didn’t even live at the place anymore, I got to keep it.
And that is the story of when I discovered Doctor Doom.
Raccolta Super-Eroi #30 (1974)
This is a reprint of the main series. It’s literally 3 issues of that, stapled with a new cover.
This series is quite frustrating to research because, as far as I can tell, the books stapled inside the cover are completely at random! So I’m going to talk about the reprinted issues I had in my copy, but from my understanding a different copy could have the same cover with different stories inside.
I absolutely HAD to bring up this specific cover because I have no idea whatsoever WHY Crystal was re-colored with a red costume!
There’s also a variant of this when she has her blue costume but her legs are skin-colored.
None of this happens in any other Crystal appearance I’ve seen in the Corno books: her costume is not re-colored there.
As for what exactly it’s reprinting… we’ll take a look at each of the three issues, individually.
Fantastici Quattro #54 (1973)
Published by: Corno
The book’s title is the literal translation of Fantastic Four: among Italian fans they’re not the FF, they’re the FQ.
The three books included in the reprint are the ONLY Doctor Doom stories I had!!!
As I’ve previously mentioned, the regular translation is Dottor Destino, literally meaning “Doctor Destiny” because there isn’t a direct equivalent to “doom” in Italian. At least they kept the alliteration!
Curiously, his name tends to NOT be translated and it typically remains Victor Von Doom… although there are some early translations that go a bit silly calling him Victor Von Destino.
Which honestly isn’t THAT much sillier than Von Doom, now that I think about it!
Fantastic Four #57 (1966)
by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
At this point you probably expected Corno to remove the words on the cover, which they did.
But they also changed the title, calling it “The rage of Doctor Doom” instead of “Enter… Doctor Doom!” for some reason.
Obviously I’m not going through the entire thing since I already reviewed this one.
But considering the special place this book has for me, I will mention the lasting impressions that some moments had for me.
Already from the first page I was immediately awe-struck by the artwork. In my opinion, to this day nobody has EVER drawn a better Sandman that what Kirby does in this issue… not even Kirby himself topped it.
Wizard has a tiny part in this story, but I bring him up to discuss naming translations… specifically, how Corno’s decisions on what and how to translate.
Because Wizard… is not translated, and he’s called just Wizard in the Corno years.
Sandman is translated, with the literal translation of Uomo Sabbia.
The translations of the FF’s names are understandable: Invisible Girl, Human Torch and the Thing are all literally translated (Ragazza Invisibile, Torcia Umana, Cosa)… standard stuff, although it is kind of unusual that both the Torch and the Thing are stuck with words that are feminine in Italian.
But Mister Fantastic… is also not translated. I guess because everyone would’ve understood the word Mister anyway?
But of course my main focus was for Doctor Doom himself.
To give you an idea of how little I knew at the time and how young I was… I distinctly remember being confused about why Iceman was so much different here.
Yes. Took me a while to understand this was not Iceman but a completely different character!
Which is particularly embarrassing because I actually DID own a comic where Silver Surfer appears briefly, and which will be part of the retrospective.
I was like seven when I read this, but still… d’oh!
Even though this book secured my interest in Doctor Doom, I wouldn’t become a superfan until later. I already thought some of this was a bit too silly.
But at the same time… this was THE FREAKING COOLEST THING I HAD EVER SEEN.
I already reviewed this one, so… what did it score?
Historical significance: 10/10
Silver Age-ness: 6/10
Does it stand the test of time? 7/10
If I were to review it today, I think I would bump up the “test of time” score to 8/10.
Personal significance: 10/10
It’s my introduction to Doctor Doom, how could I give it any less?
Tales To Astonish #94 (1967)
by Roy Thomas & Bill Everett
cover by Dan Atkins
Later in the series, Fantastic Four will get through some baffling decisions for who gets to be the backup feature. But having Namor is a no brainer.
The book didn’t include the FULL story, but I’m reviewing it in its entirety anyway.
Namor and the Atlanteans are discussing whether to attack the surface for what is probably the hundredth time already.
There’s a reason why we rarely see Namor wearing his crown and cape… he looks ridiculous.
Also, in this period he has no nipples.
Why is Namor listening to ANYONE in Atlantis? Has anyone EVER given him a good idea?
Atlantis really, REALLY needs to update its communications system.
Namor is then challenged to a duel by the dictator of a nation from the surface world, a man whose name starts with D.
We’ll see Dragorr in a moment, but please appreciate Gnome.
How thoughtful of him to punt on a ridiculous helmet to make Namor less self-conscious about his goofy crown!
THIS is actually where the story starts in the book I had, by the way.
Namor is then escorted to Dragorr by his minions. He doesn’t seem THAT bothered by all those “electro-blasts”.
And here is Dragorr, ladies and gentlemen.
Yeah maybe allowing yourself to be repeatedly blasted with energy weapons wasn’t the best strategy, Namor.
Dragorr sent Namor to deal with some rebels, and naturally they stand absolutely no chance.
Not really sure why Dragorr really needs him, though, since his Electro-Blasts© are able to reach Namor in the battle whenever he wants. Wouldn’t regular people be MORE susceptible to this?
Lady Dorma was already around in the first Namor story, but she’s WAY more badass now!
So she’s helping the rebels now. Unlike the Golden Age where she could breathe air naturally, in the Silver Age she can only do so for an hour.
This allows her to complete the vital mission of throwing water at Namor.
That’s when Dragorr decides to fight him directly…
…only to be revealed to just being a suit of armor for Gnome.
As of 2024, Gnome/Dragorr has not made a second appearance. In my headcanon he’s brutally murdered by the rebels.
We never even learn the name of the country he took over!
Historical significance: 0/10
This has no impact on the rest of Namor’s adventures.
Personal significance: 0/10
I completely forgot this one. And considering it came directly after THE FREAKING COOLEST THING I HAD EVER SEEN, can you really blame me?
Silver Age-ness: 10/10
We have a dictator we’ve never heard of, from a country we’ve never heard of, who decides to antagonize Namor and use him as a pawn to crush a rebellion… despite having the means to subdue Namor. And that’s even before the goofy dwarf-in-a-giant-robot thing.
Does it stand the test of time? 1/10
Saved from a 0/10 only because of how impressively drawn some of Dorma’s scene are: whenever she’s underwater or coming out of the water, nobody like Bill Everett can sell the effect.
Everything else… oof, this is rough stuff. The story makes as much sense as a Golden Age one, the villain is pathetic and overall this is a huge waste of everyone’s time.
Tales To Astonish #95 (1967)
written by Roy Thomas & Raymond Marais
pencils by Bill Everett
In an unusual move, the following issue is also included in the same book.
Let’s see if adding a second writer with Raymond Marais helps. I couldn’t find much about him, he has 5 credited stories at Marvel and 4 at DC.
We begin with Namor and Dorma discovering an underwater city that is NOT Atlantis, and is currently under attack.
It may not be Atlantis, but Namor doesn’t like surface people attacking underwater cities so he beats up some goons.
But not all “surface dwellers” have evil intention: a different guy shows up. And while you wouldn’t tell from this, he’s actually an important part of Namor’s mythos.
I completely forgot THIS guy was Walter Newell, better known as the occasional superhero Stingray.
I’ve always had a soft spot for Stingray, ever since I discovered him in Stern’s Avengers.
He DOES show up in the retrospective, but he’s not THAT impressive there.
He’s a very minor character… basically he exists when you have to do an underwater story and either Namor isn’t available or would be too powerful for the action… but he has potential.
Plus while he doesn’t get his suit in this story, I still believe it’s one of THE best designs ever.
The goons attacking the underwater city are followers of The Plunderer, who of all people is the evil brother of Ka-Zar. We’ll talk more about him later.
Maybe, just maybe, building an underwater city under a giant plastic dome wasn’t the best idea.
But SOMEHOW this doesn’t result in killing everybody.
Plunderer’s gimmick is that he’s a pirate with a gun that shoots vibrations that can destroy metals.
This is the second appearance of Plunderer after an extended Daredevil storyline. Who could’ve guessed that a guy who has fought only Daredevil and Ka-Zar would have trouble against Namor?
Meanwhile, the future Stingray concentrates on saving Dorma. So the seeds of him becoming a superhero were already there.
The dialogue makes it sound like Plunderer ejected Namor from the ship, but the way the scene is drawn suggests that Namor just left because he couldn’t be bothered.
Which sounds the most plausible?
HOW ARE THESE PEOPLE STILL ALIVE???
Yeah I don’t care how fast they were able to contact the ship, even if we assume the city wasn’t built very deep beneath the surface THESE PEOPLE SHOULD BE DEAD!!!
The story will continue next time, where I’ll also discuss Plunderer.
Historical significance: 6/10
I wouldn’t even call Stingray a C-lister when it comes to importance to the Marvel Universe at large, but he IS one of the few recurring characters from Namor who stick around.
Personal significance: 0/10
Not only I forgot this one, but I had NO IDEA this was Stingray’s first appearance!!!
Silver Age-ness: 10/10
How did Dr. Newell get enough money to build a city under the sea? How did he do that without it being referenced anywhere else? How could he find enough people to agree living there?
Does it stand the test of time? 2/10
Slightly more memorable than the previous story, but just in concept alone… the execution leaves much to be desired.
Plunderer isn’t sold as a legitimate threat, and I’m sorry to say that the artwork really fails at adequately portray what is SUPPOSED to be an epic battle.
Tales of Suspense #51 (1964)
by Stan Lee & Larry Lieber
This was the Iron Man book at the time…
…so naturally the backup feature was a serial about the Watcher.
In the Italian translation, the Watcher is colored with a sickly yellow skin.
Was he like this in the original book as well?
I could only find modern reprints that have been recolored, so I wonder: is this a change from the modern reprints to have him match his classic look, or was this a Corno thing?
This is a little science fiction story set in the future twenty-first century, following a guy obsessed with money and his idealistic brother.
The brother becomes an explorer, but he’s bummed by the fact that humanity can only find planets with no intelligent life or with more primitive civilizations.
“Look at my pathetic astronaut brother, wasting time exploring the universe and discovering new civilizations! What a loser!”
Honestly the most realistic part of this story is the authorities pulling the money when the scientific expedition doesn’t immediately prove to be profitable. *sigh*
Sure enough, this is also a primitive civilization.
The twist is that this is a post-apocalyptic civilization: they WERE more advanced than humans, but nearly blew themselves up.
If you’re feeling particularly pessimistic… one of the real world solutions given by scientists to the Fermi paradox by real scientists is that all sufficiently advanced civilizations eventually blow themselves up without leaving trace.
Historical significance: 0/10
This is basically a What If.
Personal significance: 8/10
I’m a huge science fiction fan so of course this one stuck with me.
Silver Age-ness: ???
Can we even apply the rules here? Even when, in the Silver Age, there are no rules?
Does it stand the test of time? 9/10
A neat short story. The old-fashioned artwork is the only thing holding it back, but otherwise you can do the exact same story today.