I do have one problem, of course. I have always liked Marvel comics over DC. And I have never really read any of the original Fantastic Four comics. So I was a little amazed at how much they were bashing the Russians. I realize this stuff was first printed in 1963, but jesus the Russians were are allies in W.W.II. So let me show you what I mean.

First we have a panel from Fantastic Four number 12 which we have Rick Jones then partner of the Hulk coming to a terrible conclusion.

The bad guy of this issue was framing Bruce Banner and the Hulk as saboteurs. But thanks to nosy Rick Jones and the Fantastic Four he was captured and exposed as a card carrying commie who would never find a job again in his field.

Then we come to Fantastic Four number 13 in which they fight a super powered commie bad guy called the Red Ghost. The cover blurb says it all: more than two-hundred thousand miles from earth the Fantastic Four face the menace of…. THE RED GHOST! And I’m not making this shit up.

Which brings to this issues bad guy. Meet Ivan Kragoff AKA the Red Ghost. By the end of the issue he’s not happy with only claiming the moon for the communist empire he sets his sights on the the whole universe. Bad commie!!

Now we come to the good guys. First we have Reed Richards supposed genius. He is known as Mr Fantastic. He is the leader of the Fantastic Four. He is shown here with the lack of taste to refer to the Russians as “reds”. Oh yeah what a smart guy.

Then we come to Sue Storm who is known as the Invisible Girl. She is Reed’s sweetheart. She isn’t supposed to be smart so its ok for her to spout this shit. Her power by the way is being able to turn herself invisible. I suppose that’s a crack from the writers about how women felt in the sixties.

Next is my favorite from the group, Ben Grimm AKA the Thing. He is a pilot who acts like a lame brained idiot. He is also supposed to act like this. “Claim the moon for the commies” that cracks me up every time.

Last but not least we have Johnny Storm who is known as the Human Torch. He is Sue’s little brother. Johnny is a punk kid so its ok for him to talk like that too.

So here is what I asking. Great heroes or people with super powers who are afraid of their own shadow? I of course am being hard on the poor Fantastic Four, they really are not that bad. Wait till Marvel puts out a couple more of these Fantastic Four collection and then we can discuss how Galactus was really god. And all the art is copyright marvel Comics.

And if your interested its Stan Lee writing. And you have Jack “the King” Kirby on pencils. With Dick Ayers inking the first panel, and Steve Ditko on the rest.