One of the greatest guides to the concept of continuity in a specific series is The DisContinuity Guide: The Unofficial Doctor Who Companion by Paul Cornell, Martin Day and Keith Topping, first put out in 1995. From my point of view the genius of this work is in the way the authors peel back the layers of a complex text like Doctor Who, and start back at the beginning, when we didn’t know anything about the series or what it would eventually evolve into.
This allows us to see the ways in which the universe was expanded, sometimes carefully, often times not. We get to see undeveloped themes and the earliest examples of new themes.
Like an evolutionary biologist studying our small, brown furred burrowing human ancestors, we get a look at the way things were without the baggage of the way things are.
This is the third of a series of posts in which I hope to look at Marvel Comics the same way.
Marvel Comics Silver Age DisContinuity 003
Title(s) :
The Menace of the Miracle Man
The Monster Lives!
The Flame That Died!
In the Shadow of Defeat!
The Final Challenge!
Publication Date/On Sale Date :
March 1962/December 1961
Writer/Artists :
Sources :
Note that on the cover above, the
Human Torch has two left hands.
If the
Miracle Man‘s powers are to be explained by hypnosis, including the part where he brought a giant monster to life, then how did his hypnosis work on a television audience watching from home?
If the monster did not come to life, but was simply a product of hypnosis, how did it smash a jewelry store and teleport across town to attack the new atomic tank?
The New York police have a bazooka handy? Actually, this makes sense, as this is a world plagued with giant monsters.
At one point the Miracle Man hits
Reed with a brick, which somehow stops a man made of rubber.
Even though the
Thing ripped off his uniform in Chapter III, he’s got it on again at the beginning of Chapter IV.
Quotes :
Reed: Fate has been good to us, Ben! We’ve been able to use our powers to help mankind… To Fight evil and injustice!
Ben: Sure! It’s been great for you! But what about me! I’m just a walkin’ fright! An ugly, gruesome Thing!
Reed: Why can’t you control yourself, Thing? Why must we always fight among ourselves? What’s wrong with us?
Johnny: Where the Human Torch goes, he goes alone!
Continuity :
The
Fantasticar is introduced. This amazing vehicle is “air-powered,” can land itself automatically and can separate into four sections so each member can go in different directions.
The team adopts new uniforms, designed by
Sue Storm. Sue gives Ben a metal helmet, which he throws away almost immediately when jumping into battle, along with the rest of his uniform. Reed thinks the costumes are so good he suggests that Sue work for
Dior, a fashion house in New York.
We are introduced to the Fantastic Four’s Secret Headquarters, which has a note that says to the reader, “Save this for future reference.” Consider it saved.
The villain is the Miracle Man, a stage magician with seemingly unlimited powers. While attending the performance the FF are introduced by The Miracle Man as celebrities. Johnny is among those publicly identified.
There is the world premiere of the movie
The Monster from Mars being televised. Reed notes “That huge exhibit of the monster on display outside the theater must have cost a small fortune!” There is a full scale mock-up of the giant monster from the movie outside the Bijou Theater, made of “wood and plaster.” The movie seems similar to the 1957 movie
20 Million Miles to Earth, about a giant monster from Venus.
The FF carry communicators with them, described as “portable short-wave” transmitters.
Ben confesses that he wants Sue to look at him like she looks at Reed. This is the beginning of a love triangle that ultimately goes nowhere after Ben gets a girlfriend in
Alicia Masters.
A junkyard dog has no trouble cornering the Invisible Girl, detecting her by scent. The Miracle Man hypnotizes her.
Reed and Ben respond to Sue’s signal in the Fantasticopter.
At a corner Soda Fountain, Johnny hangs out with friends, all of whom know his secret identity.
Reed dodges a machine gun by bouncing around like a rubber ball, but the Thing storms in and shows himself to be bullet proof. Later Reed forms himself into a temporary rubber tire as they pursue the Miracle Man. I think such a feat qualifies Mr. Fantastic as being bulletproof as well, but perhaps Reed hasn’t had the nerve to test that yet.
Links :
Location :
The entire story takes place in the city, presumably the “Central City” named in the first issue.
Bottom line :
Reed comes off as a complete bummer in this issue. Upon seeing the Miracle Man doing stage magic, he immediately ponders what will happen if the magician were to use his powers for evil. Later, he wonders the same thing about the Human Torch, when Johnny flies away in a huff after a fight with the Thing.
After being hit with a brick and letting the Miracle Man escape, Reed can do no better than apologize to the Police Commissioner, saying, “I– I’m sorry, Commissioner!” And then there’s that conversation he has with Ben, which I’ve included in the “Quotes” section above. How insensitive can the guy be? “Our lives are great now, Ben, what’s your problem?” “Oh, I don’t know Reed, maybe I’m a giant scab?”
This issue also features the first “Fantastic 4 Fan Page,” a letters page. All the letters refer to Fantastic Four #1. One letter of interest from Bill Sarill says that Lee & Kirby are capable of better work, and concludes, “The story also suffers from ‘Creeping Monsterism’ to paraphrase Jean Shepherd, that has dominated most if all of [Marvel] comics for some time.'” I mentioned that the first issue of the series could be seen as just another monster book, and not really a superhero comics at all. With this issue, however, the Fantastic Four has finally declared itself as a superhero book, albeit one very different from the rest in the genre.
One other addition to this landmark issue: The cover announces the book as being “The Greatest Comic Magazine in the World!” which would eventually morph into the line at the top of every Fantastic Four comic for decades, “The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!”
I’d love additional insights and comments.
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