Fantastic Four #36 (March 1965)

It is no secret to Marvelites that the Fantastic Four is the team that gave birth to the modern Marvel Universe as we know it today. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, in their over 100-issue run on the FF's book laid the foundation for many of the concepts that still exist within the Marvel Universe today. One of them was the Inhumans.

While Marvel has pretty much adopted the mentality that the Inhumans no longer exist these days (to the point that when they brought over one of the most popular Inhuman characters to the MCU, they erased her connections to them), they still have a fanbase. And they still have a long history with Earth's heroes, having been given features and appearing in various books over the years. 

The comic we're going to be looking at here is part of Lee and Kirby's classic run and is the introduction of one of the characters that would later be established as not only an Inhuman, but also a member of its Royal Family: Medusa. Did this comic give Medusa a strong introduction, or did it turn out to be a royal disaster? Let's take a look at Fantastic Four #36!

The cover is a Jack Kirby, Chic Stone, Stan Goldberg, and Sam Rosen piece. It's pretty good, showing our debuting team of villains about to siege the FF in their own home. I suppose some may find an issue with the top third of the cover being so covered by text. It doesn't bother me so much here. Maybe the announcement of the Frightful Four could have been put on the bottom? WOuld have helped frame the action on the cover.

"The Frightful Four!"
Writer: Stan Lee
Penciler: Jack Kirby
Inker: Chic Stone
Colorist: Unknown
Letterer: Artie Simek
Editor: Stan Lee
Editor-in-Chief: Stan Lee

The story begins with the titular heroes being swarmed by the press. Why? Well, the elastic scientist Reed Richards and the mistress of invisibility, Sue Storm, have announced their engagement. 

It's a joyous day indeed! A delivery boy arrives with a gift for the FF. Ben Grimm, the ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing, opens it and finds...a bomb. And not the bad movie kind.

Naturally, it causes a bit of a panic. Being the heroic powerhouse he is, Ben uses his big rocky hands to smother it. 

"ROSE BOMB, BABY! WHOOOOO!"

Yeah, it was a gag gift. The "bomb" just spews flowers everywhere. Angry and humiliated as he realizes it's one of the Yancy Street Gang's typical pranks (They were Ben Grimm's old childhood gang, and they supposedly loved playing pranks and tormenting him. It would later be retconned that Johnny Storm was behind the pranks), he stomps off.

Meanwhile, at a dock, the supervillain known as the Trapster (at the time going by Paste-Pot Pete. Yes, that was his name) is waiting for the Spider-Man rogue known as the Sandman to show up. And he does: in style. 

"And now...I shall eat you."

Another villain floats down to meet them: Bentley Whittman, the Wizard. He was last seen in Strange Tales #118 floating in space towards his doom. Well, it turned out the Sandman and Pete had found him when they were breaking out of jail. They rescued him and as they fled, the Wizard had an idea.

What if we formed our own version of the Fantastic Four? All they needed was a woman. Wizard knows of a powerful woman they can recruit. He tells of her of a time he went to an island in the Mediterranean Sea. There, he saw her fight some cops...with her hair.

Medusa does not approve of police brutality.

Yes, everyone! Meet Medusalith Amaquelin, the future Mrs. Black Bolt, and queen of the Inhumans. At this time, she was amnesiac, thanks to injuries she suffered thanks to Maximus taking the throne of Attilan. 

The FF are unaware of this villainous plot, as they're getting ready for the engagement party. The Frightful Four are also preparing, getting themselves some spiffy new outfits.

"Sandman, you lazy jerk!"

Well, okay. Not quite so spiffy in Medusa's case. I love that Sandman just changes the colors of his shirt and pants. The FF hold their engagement party. The X-Men and the Avengers are the guests. Spider-Man also makes an appearance to get some cake. He thinks he wasn't invited. I can imagine that the FF did, but in the typical Parker luck, a dog ate the invitation. Unknown to the heroes there, the Frightful Four land their craft on the Baxter Building. They wait for the party to end to launch their attack. Considering how hard superheroes party, it could be a while.

They ambush a sleeping Ben Grimm, using a bit of Pete's adhesives and Wizard's sleeping gas to make sure the Idol o' Millions stays in dreamland. Sue and Reed try to fight Pete, Sandman and the Wizard, but the three manage to overcome them. The Wizard wants to make sure that Ben, Reed, and Sue won't be able to bother him ever again. He attaches his anti-gravity discs to the three heroes. Unknown to them, Alicia Masters was in the kitchen. She's able to make her way to the unconscious Sue Storm...and to her flare gun. 

In a garage some blocks away, Johnny Storm is working on a car. He spots a flare forming a "4" in the sky. He flies off to check it out. Medusa manages to catch Alicia and restrains her with her prehensile hair. The Wizard attaches Alicia to the other three FF members and lets them float off into the sky. The Torch swoops down, and grabs the Wizard, taking him into his craft.

Johnny forces the Wizard to take off and get the other members of the FF. As for the rest of the FF, well, they're in a bit of a pickle. Reed stretches his body and envelops Sue, Ben, and Alicia, creating a temporary air pocket for them. However, this leaves Reed vulnerable. The group are going higher in the air, the air thinning and the temperature going down.

You know, this makes me think of something. The Wizard built these little anti-gravity discs that can take a person to orbit. That mean they're capable of reaching escape velocity a lot faster and more energy-efficiently than a big ol' rocket could. He should have patented this and leased it to NASA. He'd have made a legit mint!

Reed sees the Wizard's ship heading towards him and stretches desperately for it. Johnny is able to get the others on board. The other members of the Frightful Four pursue Johnny using the FF's Pogo Plane. The Sandman jumps on board the Wizard's golden saucer and hardens his body to be like rock, hoping the extra weight will force the saucer down, but it doesn't work.

Sue uses her forcefields to force the Pogo Plane to stall and spin out of control. She then uses her forcefields to make the Pogo Plane land safely. The FF engage the Frightful Four, and curbstomp their evil counterparts. The Wizard makes his saucer self-destruct, covering the Frightful Four's escape. 

I enjoyed this comic. It's a fun action-packed adventure supported by Jack Kirby providing great art. What I found cool was the party that was attended by many of the active superheroes of the era. It helps show the idea that the Fantastic Four have brought the Marvel heroes together into a community, like they are the center of the Marvel Universe. It's especially interesting that the X-Men of the era are enjoying the party as well, considering how far they've distanced themselves from humanity sixty years later. 

What I also found interesting about this comic is that it really doesn't establish or even hint that Medusa is an Inhuman yet. Nor was it explained how she ended up amnesiac on the island the Wizard spotted her in. She would battle the FF a couple more times until Gorgon was introduced in Fantastic Four #44 (November 1965). This led to her reuniting with the rest of the Attilianian Royal Family, and the rest is history.

The Frightful Four themselves would go on to appear numerous times since, and like the FF themselves, the roster would be fluid. Characters such as Thundra, She-Hulk villain Titania, and Spider-Man villain Hydro-Man would be members. The Wizard would be a mainstay of the group. being part of almost every incarnation. The group would also appear in the 1978 and 1994 Fantastic Four cartoons, as well as the 2000s animated series Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes and in the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series. The latter three are watchable on Disney+.

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2013 trade paperback Inhumans: The Origin of the Inhumans. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get your vaccine/booster! See you next time!