#1: The Fantastic Four was Marvel's answer to D.C.'s Justice League of America. It seems that comic book afficionados were dying to see lesser D.C. heroes riding the coattails of Superman and Batman in a team format. Sales of Justice League comics rose beyond expectations. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby of Marvel Comics were charged with copying the superteam format, and the Fantastic Four were born.
FYI: The Superfriends were a cartoon iteration of Superman and company many years later. The Avengers were a Marvel creation after the Fantasic Four, in 1963. The Squadron Supreme were a pretty lame Marvel superteam created in 1971.
#2: This one was tricky, especially if you've seen the Fantastic Four movie, but the Fantastic Four actually formed in California. Their disastrous space flight and Reed's laboratory were both based in the Golden State. At some not-very-well-described point between the first and second issues, the team moved to New York and set up HQ in the Baxter Building. But not before forming the team in California.
#3: The correct one here is that there was already a Human Torch before the inception of the Fantastic Four. First appearing in 1939, the original Human Torch was an android named Jim Hammond. He fell into obscurity, along with most comic superheroes, in the 1950s.
FYI: The Thing was not based on the Hulk; the Hulk was created several months after the Fantastic Four. Elastic Man was an existing D.C. superhero who no doubt provided some inspiration for Marvel's creation of Mr. Fantastic.
#4: This one was surprising to me, but the supervillain given the honor of first squaring off against the Fantastic Four was....Mole Man? Yep. From his dark, underground caves, he raised monsters to do his bidding.
FYI: The Puppet Master was another early villain. Perhaps not well known as a villain, his most important contribution to the world of the Fantastic Four was his daughter, Alicia Masters, who serves as Ben Grimm's on-again-off-again love interest. And I'm tickled that one person voted for "Mr. Doom" -- even if it was a pity vote. I thought it was clever.
#5: Another tricky one, since all of the choices had been "resurrected" in some way. The right answer is none other than Prince Namor of Atlantis, the Sub-Mariner. Like the Human Torch mentioned above, and Captain America, there was an impressive lineup of superheroes in the late 1930s to mid-1940s. However, after the war, the demand for comic books went way down. The creation of the Fantastic Four in 1961 really ushered in a new era of comics. In this sense, the Fantastic Four serves as the "beginning" of the Marvel Universe, even though Marvel characters had been around for years.
FYI: Captain America did debut in 1941 -- he even fought in WWII (see the picture of Captain America punching Hitler right in his Nazi face) -- however, he was not resurrected in the Fantastic Four. He was resurrected to join the Avengers in 1963. Thor was co-opted out of Norse mythology. Captain Marvel has an interesting history. I'll spare you the long version, but at one time, D.C. owned the rights to the name Captain Marvel, which of course made Marvel Comics a little upset. After some interesting copyright battles, Marvel was able to win the name back, but D.C. was able to keep the character's likeness, history, and catchphrase ("Kazaam!")
So there you have it. Comic book nerdiness for your enjoyment. I'm excited to see how the Iron Man movies, the Hulk movie, and the upcoming Thor and Captain America movies set the stage for the upcoming Avengers movie. For a sneak peak, fast forward to the end of the credits of Iron Man, Iron Man 2, and the Hulk (Edward Norton version, not Eric Bana version) for some very short scenes. Samuel Jackson is playing Nick Fury, another Marvel character, and hinting at the creation of a team -- the Avengers.
For more nerdiness, visit these sites:
http://thewastebasket.blogspot.com/2004/12/omu-fantastic-four-year-one.html
(The Fantastic Four Chronology)
http://superheroshows.blogspot.com/
(Everything TV/Movie related)
Lauralee
(Okay, just kidding. It's Quinn)
1 comment:
I was dying to know....
Post a Comment