Distressing Beginnings For The Most Fantastic of Four– Fantastic Four #1 (1961)

by Null -- September 13th, 2024

It is well known by now that the new age of heroes that took over comic books in the sixties were born from the historical events that happened fifteen-ish years prior. The fallout from nuclear radiation in Japan from America’s bombing was inspirational (kind of cruel) for many American media companies, especially in the comic book industry. The Fantastic Four, consisting of Dr. Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, Susan Storm, and Johnny Storm, were some of these inspired creations. Each individual within Marvel’s mutant universe started off as normal, important people, but then were made into beings that held unimaginable powers that changed their human physicality for life. But this transformation was not sunshine and rainbows – it was framed as a tragedy that destroyed the humanity of the four.

Even at the start, when we are first introduced to the characters for their heroic backstory, they were at each other’s throats, fighting over a journey to space to best Communist Russia. Ben is arguing against the mission, saying it’s too dangerous due to cosmic rays (aka… radiation), and Susan calls him a coward, using insults on the already frustrated Ben to force him into doing the mission. 

            So, the group embarks, now all in agreement for what has to be done. Tensions are high, though, and even as they ascend into the atmosphere their chatter is filled with coldness. Each mile closer to the cosmic field has tensions growing and, when things start to go south for the very reason Ben was afraid, everything falls apart. 

            The team argues as they feel immense discomfort from the cosmic radiation, Johnny actually starting to burn alive. They descend back to Earth in a fiery ball, crash landing in a dense forest. More of their abilities start to show as they rage at each other. 

            Ben basically yells about how right he was, Reed argues back, sick of the insulting words being thrown around. Susan makes things worse by, once again, egging Ben on. Johnny is off on the side, boiling… literally. Susan ends up turning invisible, freaking out as she reappears. Ben, engulfed by his rag, becomes a beastly creature of stone and rock, attacking Reed. Reed, in retaliation, captures Ben by stretching out like a string. Johnny lights the entire forest on fire as he bursts into flames, the four of them watching it turn to ash from afar. 

            In this moment, they agree to disguise their abilities and their identities with superhero names and morals, dedicating their abilities to good. But this isn’t the tragedy. Each individual lost a piece of themselves, a piece of humanity. Of course, some abilities are arguably worse to have than others out of the four of them, but they each still gained a monstrous quality. All the while, arguing away into the cosmos. They weren’t even in good company as their lives got ruined. It makes it all the more upsetting to imagine these people, living regular lives and having regular goals and dreams and futures, now stuck in something bonded from trauma. They can never get help. They can never be who they once were. “And so was born ‘The Fantastic Four!!’ And from that moment on, the world would never again be the same!!” (The Fantastic Four #1, 1961).

               It’s upsetting how this parallels the tragedies that befell Japan after the WW2 nuclear bombings by America. People were killed and changed, catastrophic damage done to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These characters, The Fantastic Four, mirror the tragedy of wars with newfound nuclear weapons, but they also parallel the way America viewed the tragedy on the opposite end of the spectrum. They became heroes, using the mutations they sustained from radiation as powers for the greater good. This is unlike the way Japan’s culture reacts to radiation, viewing it as something terrifying and murderous. 

    These parallels are still seen today in modern news stories, because that’s just how the world operates. One person’s tragedy is another person’s muse. One person’s failure is another person’s success. One person’s hero is another person’s villain. The Fantastic Four are indeed fantastic, demonstrating the life altering qualities of radiation as well as the way it feels to be ripped from normality. These parallels are an interesting new concept in this new age of comics, bringing forth more deep thinkers in readers and more possibilities for future heroes. 

-Null