As a small boy, the FF was my favourite Marvel comic, just ahead of the original X-Men and Thor and eventually overtaken by the Avengers. For the sixth birthday of my friend Jason's wee boy, two weeks ago, I bought a copy of this annual which I had owned at that age.
In the early 70s, after glimpsing an ad in another kid's comic, I coveted Fantastic Four King-Size Special 5 from 1967; I believe it was that year's summer annual. I snapped up any appearance of the Inhumans in the FF during the late Sixties but I wouldn't see this story until reprinted in UK Marvel in August, 1975, with the pages in the wrong order!
Divide- and Conquer probably takes place just before Alicia is abducted by the Beehive scientists in order to sculpt their cocooned creation. It also predates the Thing's three-issue rampage.
The mysterious Psycho-Man has developed a ray device to manipulate emotions and he demonstrates it on his trio of lackeys, Live Wire, Bombshell and, er, Ivan. The big news, of course, is that Sue Richards is pregnant -a delightful return to the domestic FF of old.
Meanwhile, two regents of the MU encounter each other for the first time as Black Bolt and the Inhumans meet the Black Panther (coloured grey in this issue and in his 1968 team-up with Cap in Tales of Suspense). It "just happens" that they've all dropped in "by coincidence" on Psycho-Man's island lair. The subsequent arrival of Ben, Johnny, Triton and Lockjaw, the teleporting canine Inhuman leads to a free-for-all in which no-one gets much of the spotlight.
I've read suggestions that this story was intended to launch a series for the Inhumans. I rather think that, like Barda's Female Furies, the Royal Family of Attilan just took over the parent strip and derailed it for a while. The material intended for the Inhumans comic would form a back-up in Thor.
Psycho-Man is revealed to be a microscopic being from Sub-Atomica, who becomes trapped in his human-sized suit. One of the last major villains Kirby created for the FF, Psycho-Man would return the following year as Reed, Ben and Johnny tracked the Silver Surfer down in the Microverse. Live Wire had a short engagement with the Circus of Crime in the mid-70s.
I finally bought a copy of the original Special in Glasgow in the Nineties. Here's the remainder of the contents:
This is a Plot?: a three-page humour strip, drawn and written by Kirby. His bombastic style and visual/ verbal non sequiturs would not be unfettered on this scale until the Fourth World books. He also includes a rather mean-spirited caricature of Roy Thomas- although not as cruel as Funky Flashman's "Houseroy".
Pin-Up Section: More evidence of an Inhumans comic? Seven images of the Royal Family do seem to be part of one project, while a poster of Galactus, the Watcher, et al and a double-page spread of the FF look unrelated.
The Peerless Power of the Silver Surfer: this is the Surfer's first solo adventure and also a sequel to 1966's FF Special "The Torch That Was". The compassionate Surfer creates a body for the Mad Thinker's toadying Living Computer, Quasimodo. However, like his namesake, the hulking creature takes to the rooftops and rains down destruction until the Surfer turns him into a statue.
The Surfer comes across as naive and irresponsible. Quasimodo doesn't appear to have been a very popular creation: Stan and Jack never returned to him. It was Arnold Drake who revived him in Captain Marvel. It would be another year before Stan launched his introspective Surfer series- without Kirby.
Although my personal FF Golden Age doesn't begin until Crystal joins at the end of 1968, this issue is a riot of creativity.
Meanwhile, back in August 1975, the b/w adventures of Doc Savage began in the UK, probably to cash in on the Ron Ely movie. The weekly Avengers reached its 100th issue, with Conan and Dr. Strange strips by Barry Smith, if memory serves.
For more Inhuman-action, check out the 'optikon this weekend.
All images are presumed copyright of their respective owners
Dougie, if you look at the last panel in "This is a Plot?", you'll see that Stan is Jack and Jack is Stan. Confused? Look at the picture and you'll see what I'm talking about. It demonstrates that Stan often had his own ideas about what was going on.
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