Issue(s): Fantastic Four #31
Cover Date: Oct 64
Title: "The Mad Menace of the Macabre Mole Man!
Credits:
Stan Lee - Writer
Jack Kirby - Penciler
Chic Stone - Inker

Review/plot: The Mole Man lowers a random NY city block into his subterranean kingdom in his first step towards world domination. It doesn't seem like a really good plan. What happened to the hydraulic lifts he had under every major city in the world from issue #22? Seems that bringing down all of NYC and swarming it with moloids would have been a much better start.

Here's a good shot of the new improved Fantasti-car surveying the sunken city block:

After the earthquake, Sue sees in the paper that someone has escaped from jail. She heads off to a police station to get more information. I think it's funny that Reed, who is a good number of years older than Sue, sees the picture of Sue's father and assumes that the man is an old flame of hers.

After realizing that what he did will get the FF to come after him, the Mole Man locates Sue and drops the city block she's in, and holds her hostage.

It's really a shame. After seeing her gain powers and become a full fledged member of the team in the last Mole Man story, here she's back to being the team's resident hostage. She doesn't dare use her force fields on the Mole Man because "It would have been useless... With his uncanny scientific powers, he could have easily overcome it!". Lame.

The Avengers show up and want to attack the Mole Man but the FF stop them because Sue (oh, and also the residents of 2 city blocks, but no one seems to care about that) is held hostage.

Thor gives them 24 hours to sort out their own problems, and then the Avengers are gonna glass everything mole-related. Reed builds some gizmo and uses it to find Sue. Sue gets to redeem herself by using her powers offensively for a change.

There's also some weirdness about zeta particles.

Then Reed raises the city blocks. The Mole Man seems to have bugged out.

As the FF leave the underworld, an explosion catches up with them and Sue is injured. No doctor can perform the surgery necessary to save her... except one man. He just happens to be the man who escaped from prison this very day, and he also just happens to be Sue and Johnny's father. He performs the surgery and is arrested.

In the earliest issues of the FF the Thing was truly menacing. It was clear how full of hatred he was. He didn't like himself or the other members of his team. By now, he is mainly played for laughs. Which is fine but it's a dramatic shift. The transition started in issue #9 when Alicia called the Thing a white knight, and he started being less of a villain, but i think he turned more and more into a buffoon as he started co-starring in Strange Tales.

Quality Rating: D

Historical Significance Rating: 2

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References:

• The Mole Man previously appeared in Fantastic Four #1 and Fantasic Four #22.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: Marvel's Greatest Comics #29

Here is yet another example of why Sue Storm got to be known as "a professional hostage".