FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #3 October 1965
Reprinted in Fantastic Four Annual #9
Reprinted in Fantastic Four Annual #10
Reprinted in Fantastic Four Omnibus #2
Reprinted in Essential Fantastic Four #3
Reprinted in Fantastic Four 40th Wedding Anniversary Special
The oft-reprinted tale of Reed and Sue’s wedding featured just about every Marvel hero and villain of the era. The splash page touted it as “The most sensational super-spectacular ever witnessed by human eye!!” With the line-up in this book, it was easily the biggest single- issue Silver Age event Marvel had produced to that point. I was only one when this story was first published, and read it for the first time in its second reprint, but it has always stuck with me as a work of incredible complexity. I guarantee if you gave this assignment to a modern writer-artist team, they would make it an eight-part mini-series (at least) and only get six of the eight issues (at most) out on time!
Let’s review the guest list, starting with the good guys. Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben are obviously the stars of the show, but they don’t hog the pages by any means. Also in attendance are Tony Stark (who later dons his Iron Man armor) and an unnamed but lovely date-du-jour, ingenues Patsy Walker and Hedy Wolfe, a pack of SHIELD agents including Nick Fury, Gabe Jones, and Dum Dum Dugan, Professor Xavier, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Iceman, Beast and Angel, Alicia Masters, Doctor Strange, Thor, Daredevil, Foggy Nelson, Karen Page, Captain America, Hawkeye, Spider-Man, Quicksilver, the Watcher, and no less than Stan “The Man” Lee and Jack “King” Kirby!
Wow! With that many heroes in one 23-page story, it may have been easier to just list the Marvel stars of that era who weren’t there! For the record. the major characters who didn’t put in an appearance were the Wasp and Giant Man, Hulk, Namor, and the Scarlet Witch. Now, Subby and Hulk got the equivalent of a written excuse by virtue of footnotes on pages 18 and 19, explaining that both of them were otherwise occupied with their own adventures in Tales to Astonish #72. And Giant Man and the Wasp were effectively in limbo for the last part of that year, having left the Avengers in Avengers #16, May 1965, and having been ousted from the pages of Tales to Astonish in #70, August 1965. The most curious absence is the Scarlet Witch’s…all of her Avengers teammates got in some good licks against the villain horde, but she was nowhere to be seen! (At least until Marvels #2 in 1994, and the cover of the 40th Wedding Anniversary Special in January 2006.)
Of course, the book’s cover is another matter altogether. Several characters not appearing in the actual story manage to make a cover appearance, including the aforementioned Hulk, Sub-Mariner, Wasp, and Scarlet Witch. Also on the cover but not in the story were the Leader, Kid Colt, Crimson Dynamo, the Red Skull, Medusa, the Wizard, Loki, and a WWII-era Sergeant Fury!
The book’s villain line-up is equally impressive. Needless to say, the main man behind the wedding crashing madness is Doctor Doom, who causes the others baddies to attack en masse with his “Emotion Charger”. His “veritable army of the most deadly villains alive” included the Puppet Master, the Red Ghost and his Super-Apes, the Mole Man and a few dozen Moloids, the Mandarin, the Black Knight, Kang, the Mad Thinker and his Awesome Android, Grey Gargoyle, Super Skrull, a Hydra attack squad, Cobra, the Executioner, the Enchantress, Mr. Hyde, Electro, Unicorn, the Melter, Diablo, the Beetle, the Eel, the Human Top, Attuma and a full-scale Atlantean invasion force!
With the multitude of characters involved, there were some unfortunate but forgivable coloring issues. Kang, for example, is shown wearing an orange tunic instead of his usual green, and Mr. Hyde’s usually green suit is depicted as blue and brown. But all in all, this book is an artistic and story-telling triumph. (In retrospect, it’s conceivable that the coloring changes were intentional. With the plentitude of green-clad villains that were a hallmark of Marvel’s early Silver Age all appearing in one story, maybe the colorist just decided to make a few of ‘em not so green, just for variety’s sake.)
Reprinted in Fantastic Four Annual #9
Reprinted in Fantastic Four Annual #10
Reprinted in Fantastic Four Omnibus #2
Reprinted in Essential Fantastic Four #3
Reprinted in Fantastic Four 40th Wedding Anniversary Special
The oft-reprinted tale of Reed and Sue’s wedding featured just about every Marvel hero and villain of the era. The splash page touted it as “The most sensational super-spectacular ever witnessed by human eye!!” With the line-up in this book, it was easily the biggest single- issue Silver Age event Marvel had produced to that point. I was only one when this story was first published, and read it for the first time in its second reprint, but it has always stuck with me as a work of incredible complexity. I guarantee if you gave this assignment to a modern writer-artist team, they would make it an eight-part mini-series (at least) and only get six of the eight issues (at most) out on time!
Let’s review the guest list, starting with the good guys. Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben are obviously the stars of the show, but they don’t hog the pages by any means. Also in attendance are Tony Stark (who later dons his Iron Man armor) and an unnamed but lovely date-du-jour, ingenues Patsy Walker and Hedy Wolfe, a pack of SHIELD agents including Nick Fury, Gabe Jones, and Dum Dum Dugan, Professor Xavier, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Iceman, Beast and Angel, Alicia Masters, Doctor Strange, Thor, Daredevil, Foggy Nelson, Karen Page, Captain America, Hawkeye, Spider-Man, Quicksilver, the Watcher, and no less than Stan “The Man” Lee and Jack “King” Kirby!
Wow! With that many heroes in one 23-page story, it may have been easier to just list the Marvel stars of that era who weren’t there! For the record. the major characters who didn’t put in an appearance were the Wasp and Giant Man, Hulk, Namor, and the Scarlet Witch. Now, Subby and Hulk got the equivalent of a written excuse by virtue of footnotes on pages 18 and 19, explaining that both of them were otherwise occupied with their own adventures in Tales to Astonish #72. And Giant Man and the Wasp were effectively in limbo for the last part of that year, having left the Avengers in Avengers #16, May 1965, and having been ousted from the pages of Tales to Astonish in #70, August 1965. The most curious absence is the Scarlet Witch’s…all of her Avengers teammates got in some good licks against the villain horde, but she was nowhere to be seen! (At least until Marvels #2 in 1994, and the cover of the 40th Wedding Anniversary Special in January 2006.)
Of course, the book’s cover is another matter altogether. Several characters not appearing in the actual story manage to make a cover appearance, including the aforementioned Hulk, Sub-Mariner, Wasp, and Scarlet Witch. Also on the cover but not in the story were the Leader, Kid Colt, Crimson Dynamo, the Red Skull, Medusa, the Wizard, Loki, and a WWII-era Sergeant Fury!
The book’s villain line-up is equally impressive. Needless to say, the main man behind the wedding crashing madness is Doctor Doom, who causes the others baddies to attack en masse with his “Emotion Charger”. His “veritable army of the most deadly villains alive” included the Puppet Master, the Red Ghost and his Super-Apes, the Mole Man and a few dozen Moloids, the Mandarin, the Black Knight, Kang, the Mad Thinker and his Awesome Android, Grey Gargoyle, Super Skrull, a Hydra attack squad, Cobra, the Executioner, the Enchantress, Mr. Hyde, Electro, Unicorn, the Melter, Diablo, the Beetle, the Eel, the Human Top, Attuma and a full-scale Atlantean invasion force!
With the multitude of characters involved, there were some unfortunate but forgivable coloring issues. Kang, for example, is shown wearing an orange tunic instead of his usual green, and Mr. Hyde’s usually green suit is depicted as blue and brown. But all in all, this book is an artistic and story-telling triumph. (In retrospect, it’s conceivable that the coloring changes were intentional. With the plentitude of green-clad villains that were a hallmark of Marvel’s early Silver Age all appearing in one story, maybe the colorist just decided to make a few of ‘em not so green, just for variety’s sake.)
Wow! I remember that cover very well! My husband made me memorize the names of all the characters on it before he would marry me! Lucky for him, I have a high tolerance for his addiction. LOL!
ReplyDeleteBelieve it or not, I don't recall ever reading the comic, even in reprints. Of course, I can't remember what I ate for supper, so it doesn't mean I haven't read it, just can't remember reading it. It sounds great!
ReplyDelete