Obsessively putting our comics in chronological order since 1985.
| 1972-06-01 00:06:10 |
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Fantastic Four #124-125
Issue(s): Fantastic Four #124, Fantastic Four #125
Cover Date:
Title: "The return of the monster!" / "The monster's secret!"
Credits:
Stan Lee - Writer
John Buscema - Penciler
Joe Sinnott - Inker
Review/plot:
This two part story rather inexcusably repeats the Monster From The Lost Lagoon story from FF #97...
...which itself was a pretty lame story. This one doesn't add anything to the original story and we don't learn anything new about the aliens. It has returned to Earth because it's wife got sick the last time it was here and now it needs Earth medicine.
At least the original was only a single issue; this is stretched out into two.
The Invisible Girl is a prisoner for most of the arc.
The story starts with Mr. Fantastic collapsing from exhaustion, causing massive property damage since he was flying the bathtub at the time...
...and he spends much of these issues in a hospital.
It doesn't seem to be leading up to anything, though.
Something was nagging me about the Human Torch's appearance, and then i realized it's that John Buscema has been drawing Johnny's hair while he's flamed on. Get a haircut, hippie.
Issue #125 prints a letter complaining about the overall quality of Marvel's line (addressed to the FF since it's Marvel's premiere book). Marvel responds by printing a letter from someone else who's happy with the current Marvel books, but i don't think there's really any doubt that Marvel's expansion as well as the loss of Kirby and the additional demands on Stan Lee's time have hurt the company's output at this time.
Quality Rating: D+
Historical Significance Rating: 1
Chronological Placement Considerations: This begins soon after the end of the last FF arc, with the FF returning home.
References:
- The Monster and his wife previously appeared in Fantastic Four #97.
Crossover: N/A
Continuity Insert? N
My Reprint: N/A
Inbound References (1): showCharacters Appearing: Bride of the Lost Lagoon, Human Torch, Invisible Woman, Monster From The Lost Lagoon, Mr. Fantastic, Thing 1972 / Box 6 / EiC: Roy Thomas Previous:
Astonishing Tales #12-13Up:
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Marvel Spotlight #4
Werewolf By Night #1
Comments
There seems little doubt but what Stan Lee based this monster upon on the 1954 science-fiction film, The Creature from the Black Lagoon.
I forgot to add that if it wasn't obvious to anyone up to this arc (and it should have been), these two issues certainly demonstrate that Stan Lee loved to see Sue Storm in the hostage/victim role.
Thus without great fanfare ends Stan Lee's 125 issue run as titular head writer on Fantastic Four. Next issue blurb: "Next> A New Beginning!"
Next writer up: Roy Thomas
