Fantastic Four in 1969
Welp, Maximus had threatened for years that he’d return to usurp the Inhuman throne, and he ended up following through on it. Then there was a multiple issue arc where the team went to Latveria and were made hostage “guests” by Doom. Factoid: it appears Doom’s Latvia is the result of an annexation of parts of Hungary and Serbia (former Yugoslavia).
All in all, there were four main stories this year: Inhumans, Doom, Mole Man, and the Skrulls. The Inhumans are always fun, Doom had his best story thus far, I just have zero interest in Mole Man, and the Skrulls haven’t yet been used to their potential.
I think the best part of Fantastic Four is that there are multiple dominant threads that intertwine. It rarely gets boring because there are so many simmering elements: the Inhumans, Galactus, Namor, Doom, and several other things occurring further out.
One interesting thing I noticed about the Doom arc: when he’s in his control room, manipulating the population of Latveria, Kirby illustrates Doom sitting very casually. Doom is sitting in a bucket chair with one leg casually askew. Interesting character element… he treats life and death for whole populations like it’s board game night. Magneto wouldn’t have ever positioned himself like that, because he wasn’t a fleshed-out character during the 60s.
One day, I should do a comparison of Doom vs. Namor as sovereigns. While there’s definitely a command element to both, Namor rules with the people behind him, which gives him additional strength. Once Doom hits a moment of weakness where the scale potentially shifts to the population of Latveria, he’s done-for. Why would you ever craft a state that precariously — especially as a proclaimed genius.
Side-question: Is it just me, or do Marvel’s women have more nebulous and/or conceptual powers, while the men’s powers are more concrete? Check out X-men and Fantastic Four for examples. Fire guy, stretch guy, and rock man vs. invisible/barrier woman. Laser eyes, flying man, ice man, beast guy vs. telepathic/telekinetic woman.
