Here's the Thing…

The issue opens with three pages of the individual members of the Fantastic Four using their powers to commit crimes. What’s most interesting about this is that all four are recognized, having apparently become very well known since their first public appearance in the last issue, suggesting that they have had adventures in between the issues (or else a very good publicist).

In fact, when the four meet after their crime spree and reveal they are actually Skrulls, the one impersonating Reed refers to the “famous Fantastic Four,” whom the four Skrulls are setting up for defeat at the hands of their fellow humans so the rest of them can invade (as they are wont to do).

Thanks to the Skrulls, the famous Fantastic Four are now infamous, having become “the most dangerous menace we have ever faced” (the “we” presumably meaning humanity). This is an early sign that superheroes are not automatically going to be welcomed and trusted in the Marvel Universe, as opposed to the Distinguished Competition, with the term menace foreshadowing J. Jonah Jameson’s later characterization of the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. (I think the real menace below would be the teenage hothead caressing a rifle and talking about “taking care” of somebody.)

Here’s Ben, again with the “bah” I noted in the first issue, before he loses his temper at being treated like a monster and threatens to confirm the public’s fears.

After Ben reminds the others that he’s the only one of the four who can’t pass as “normal”—which still doesn’t explain why he’s disguised in their cabin hideaway—he leaves to “smash” (long before the green fella adopts that word as his own). This leaves the others to discuss his anger issues, for which Reed takes responsibility…

…as he does with regard to the accident itself and the resulting transformations of all four of them. (That’s a lot of responsibility, which may not be deserved, as I discuss in chapter 2 of my book)

Johnny’s question is answered by the United States Army, who take the four into custody, after which one soldier, intentionally or not, makes a challenge…

…that each of them is more than willing to accept. (And this, after submitting to arrest so easily!) Note how confident Sue is below; hardly the simpering victim or hostage she is so often written off as at this early stage. (The many facets of Sue’s strength is the theme of chapter 3 in my book.)

Also, Johnny ain’t so dumb (as pointed out in chapter 4 in you-know-what).

As for the Two Non-Blondes, Ben is applying repeated pressure to a single spot while the original “Living Weapon” searches for a flaw in his cell.

Not aware yet of her forcefield powers, Sue uses her invisibility to simply sneak out when the guards open the door…

…while the other three’s gambits worked more directly (with Reed implying he stretched his head through that tiny hole before envisioning a future in prison breaks).

“They spotted me! Stupid cosmic rays! Why couldn’t I have gotten the cool invisibility powers?”

After escaping military custody, our heroes steal an army helicopter. (Ironically, Ben’s idea might have been better if it had led to discussion and understanding.)

It seems the group can afford “many secret apartment hideouts”—one benefit of Central City over New York, I guess. But more seriously, we see Johnny step up, out of either heroism or thrill-seeking, and also devise a plan to draw out the Skrulls. (At least Reed had the idea to look in the paper.)

Ben challenges Johnny’s claim, and Johnny makes it brightly clear. (Their playful teasing is still to come.)

Sue takes a turn to reprimand Ben, who reacts very darkly. (Ben is well-known for his self-loathing and despair, but it rarely sinks to the level of pondering suicide. This could, however, explain his insistence above that he go on the mission, if he thinks it would end poorly.)

Johnny’s plan works: After carefully attacking an unstaffed part of the launch complex, two of the Skrulls pick Johnny up and take him to Reed’s (main) apartment, where he launches a “4” flare to summon the rest of the group, who FIGHT BACK!

Sue appears to use a bit of judo above—taught to her by none other than Reed, as we’ll learn in a few issues—while the captured Skrulls confirm the Fantastic Four’s already fierce reputation throughout the universe.

Reed barely has time to play “1930s movie gangster” before Ben loses it again and the others are forced to restrain him, which gives Reed the opportunity to use him as “bad cop” to get the rats to squeal… and tell them again how all would-be world conquerors fear the Fantastic Four. (Note how Sue and Reed both call Ben “Thing”—if they want him to feel better about the state of his life, that might not be the best idea.)

The four realize they still need to do something about the Skrull battle fleet in space, so Reed comes up with the clever idea: returning to the Skrull ship pretending to be the Skrulls impersonating them. But that’s not the best part…

Reed shows them pages from some of the Lee/Kirby monster comics at the time (before they became superhero books after the success of Fantastic Four) and claims they are Earth’s true protectors, whom the Skrulls find even more formidable than the four themselves. (This is but the first mention of Marvel Comics in the Marvel Universe, and more are coming very soon, including a Fantastic Four title chronicling their adventures.)

On their way home, the group passes through the cosmic rays again, which makes Ben panic out of the fear that he could be affected even more. Surprisingly, the second exposure has the opposite effect…

…which he doesn’t fully appreciate by the time they land and are greeted by a welcoming party of the local police.

Tragically, in what will become a pattern, Ben thrills to his fleshy form before he soon reverts to the Thing. (Just look at the progression of his despair in the second row.)

Now addressing him as Ben, Sue and Johnny try to put a positive spin on it, suggesting that now they know his transformation can be reversed.

Note Reed says nothing, perhaps somehow aware that his repeated attempts to cure Ben in the coming years will end in failure… or maybe he was distracted by a fascinating insect, who knows.

The group explains to the police what happened, and once they arrive at Reed’s apartment, Reed obstinately presents three of the Skrulls who impersonated them (the fourth having returned home), which leads the police chief to eat crow—so much so that he agrees to let Reed and the others handle the Skrull trio themselves.

After the police leave, vowing to always trust the Fantastic Four from now on (and hoping the public does the same), Reed wonders what they’ll do next. When he mentions one thing that will ensure they’ll never escape, the Skrulls assume he means death, but their expression of dissatisfaction with being Skrulls gives him another idea.

These Skrull-cows go on to have significant impact on the Marvel Universe, including infecting the milk supply with Skrull DNA, leading to disastrous effects, and getting roped into the Kree-Skrull War (due to the fourth that got away).

Many years later, when Reed does the same thing in front of he and Sue’s daughter Valeria during a trip to 1776, after discovering Skrulls trying to influence the American Revolution, she’s flabbergasted, asking who gave him the right to decide what Skrulls are allowed to be. The Skrulls in issue #2 may have wanted this outcome, after Reed guaranteed they’d be content (despite what John Stuart Mill said about a satisfied pig being a lesser existence than a dissatisfied Socrates), but in the later case, it was clearly meant as a form of punishment or incapacitation, which Valeria (understandably) found inhumane.

We couldn’t leave this issue without showing the first of Jack Kirby’s famous pin-ups, the honor of which goes to the idol o’ millions (albeit in his original “muddy” form, which would gradually be depicted as closer to the rocks we know and love).

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Resources for this issue:

• Marvel Comics (to read the issue online; free if you have Marvel Unlimited)
• Marvel wiki at Fandom (with detailed annotations and links to related comics)
• Fantastic Four: The Great American Novel (an amazing website with fascinating annotations)
• The Fantasticast (a wonderful podcast covering each issue one at a time)
• Tom Brevoort, longtime Marvel editor and tremendous comics fan and historian, discusses the composition of this issue at his blog. (He also answers the question of the missing fourth Skrull.)
• Print options:
  • Fantastic Four Epic Collection: The World’s Greatest Comics Magazine (paperback collection containing issues #1-18)
  • Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Volume 1 (hardcover collection containing issues #1-10, also in paperback if you can find it)
  • Mighty Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Volume 1 – The World’s Greatest Heroes (same thing as above, in paperback and smaller trim size)
  • Marvel Comics Library: Fantastic Four Volume 1, 1961-1963 (oversized hardcover containing issues #1-20 and extensive background notes, essays, and pictures)
  • Fantastic Four: Penguin Classics Marvel Collection (faux literary collection containing assorted issues with a scholarly introduction)