Fantastic Four in 1968

After several excellent years of Fantastic Four, I felt 1967 ended on a relatively mediocre note. Unfortunately, the same story thread continued into 1968. 

Some credit to Jack Kirby here: he was absolutely the right artist for the early years of this series. Some additional credit to Stan Lee too: there’s seemingly no pressure to turn the characters into curios yet: Sue Richards is pregnant. This development effectively turns the Fantastic Four into a temporary trio, as this sidelines the Invisible Girl. But it’s all good, as Crystal of the Inhumans temporarily joins the group with her elemental powers. She’s not a bad addition, frankly. Her powers are interesting, and her personality is naive but frank.

In terms of story, we’re looking at quite a bit of thematic retread. Silver Surfer briefly goes mad, and is severely weakened as a result. There’s a giant single-issue crossover that includes Daredevil, Spider-Man and Thor. Galactus is hungry and decides to renege on his promise to spare Earth. (Fantastic Four 75 is an all-time great cover, though)

Then, they do one of my least favorite things in fiction: they battle clones of themselves. Grimm temporarily becomes human again, and then is forced to become the Thing again. The Wizard returns, and his gloves mimic all the powers of the Fantastic Four. In other words, two clone battle issues in a single year. 

But, hey, Wyatt Wingfoot finally becomes relevant! Unfortunately, it’s a battle against the endlessly cheesy Living Totem… a reminder that this is still the silver age of comics.