It was 2003 and I was wildly obsessed with comic books, especially anything that Marvel made.
While my peers were going gaga over video games, taking summer classes or just plain lounging around, I was doing chores for my grandma to earn money to be able to buy comic books and action figures that Marvel Comics put out that summer.
Washing our grandma’s cars and doing household chores was me and my cousin’s ticket to nerd nirvana. After weeks of hard-ish labor, our efforts paid off. I rushed to my parent’s house in Quezon City and went to the nearest supermarket where a Marvel Legends action figure was available. I bought The Thing, the scraggly behemoth of the Fantastic Four. Accompanying the toy was a reprint of “Fantastic Four” issue #263. Buying the toy brought out pure euphoria. Nothing like cashing in my first “paycheck” to buy something I want. The action figure would join my collection of Marvel Legends’ Wolverine that I received as a Christmas gift.
Not long after that, I set my sights on used “Fantastic Four” comic books. The FF’s motley crew of elastic man Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Girl, Human Torch and the Thing were unlike any other comic book story I had read at that age. I’ve read local Filipino comics depicting Bible stories, Nonoy Marcelo’s “Ikabod Bubwit” and some “Pugad Baboy.” Even Marvel comics stories I’ve been poring over at that time were about the X-Men, a group of mutant misfits trying to fit in the world. The FF is different; they’re Star Trek for kids, they explore multiverses, they use science and their enhanced abilities to solve mundane and otherworldly problems. They even used science as a metaphor to explain the meaning of life. They coined themselves as imaginauts, (imagination astronauts). At that age, it was a dream of mine to become a scientist; imagine my amazement when I learned that FF’s Mr. Fantastic, is one of Marvel Universe’s foremost scientific minds.
Reading Fantastic Four at that age fueled my boyhood fantasies. I wanted to become a superhero, to become “imaginauts” like them and embark on amazingly weird adventures!
A decade and a half later those warm and fuzzy memories came rushing back to the surface. Marvel announced in AsiaPOP ComiCon that it was launching the Fantastic Four in comics after “killing” them in comics back in 2015.
Marvel’s First Family
For starters, Fantastic Four is a long-standing franchise in Marvel Comics and popular culture. They’re considered as Marvel’s First Family because they were the company’s first superhero team. In Sean Howe’s Marvel Comics: The Untold Story, he relates the account of how Stan Lee and Jack Kirby was tasked to create a superhero group to rival the likes of DC’s Justice League. Long story short, the efforts of the two paid off since the Fantastic Four shaped Marvel into one of the most recognizable brands in popular culture.
For noncomic fans, the Fantastic Four’s origins reflected fears of that era, nuclear warfare and the unknown cosmos. The foursome was exposed to cosmic rays when they ventured into space and upon returning home, they discovered they’ve been genetically altered and had become superpowered beings. They’ve fought off intergalactic invaders, mad geniuses and thwarted the efforts of their longtime nemesis, Doctor Doom, since their first appearance in “Fantastic Four” #1 in 1961. Marvel’s First Family has symbolized its early ambitions for the industry. Bold, imaginative and new.
Utter garbage
Despite the coming and going of Marvel’s comics titles, Fantastic Four was supposed to be this franchise that would spearhead Marvel into the silver screen. It didn’t help that all of its movie incarnations in the past decade were all massive flops. Utter garbage. The latest iteration three years back fell short of capturing the ’60s kitsch and imaginative exploration that the Fantastic Four has come to be known. Film studio 20th Century Fox came out with two films in the 2000s, with Jessica Alba and Chris Evans top billing, but failed to capture its comic book grandeur. Marvel’s First Family seemed too hard to capture on the silver screen.
Their return to comic book pages is a long time coming; maybe even a breath of fresh air. Reading Fantastic Four comics is an immersively fun read. Marvel superhero teams like the Avengers and X-Men are always welcome reads but the Fantastic is relatable; they’re revered as heroes in their universe and have no need for alter-egos. They have real-world problems, they struggle with relationships and love, and they’re easy to empathize with.
To prepare for the Fantastic Four’s return to comics, I jumped into a rabbithole of sorts and binge-read the entire Volume Three of their series. It’s hard not to be excited for fans who will pick up the comic books for the first time this August.