OMU: Fantastic Four -- Year Two

With the third issue of Fantastic Four, Stan Lee & Jack Kirby christened their series “The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine,” and despite the hyperbole, it was an assertion often hard to deny. The nature and personality of the series rapidly took shape, as well as the devotion to continuity—both within this series and amongst their other superhero titles—that came to define the Original Marvel Universe. In that third issue, the Fantastic Four first adopted their familiar blue-and-black costumes, having worn regular street clothes in their first two outings. They also left the fictional setting of “Central City” and set themselves up in the very real town of New York, another innovation that bucked the old conventions of superhero comics. From then on, both in Fantastic Four and a spin-off series of Human Torch solo stories published in Strange Tales, Stan, Jack, and Dick Ayers created a truly bizarre rogue’s gallery of villains, ranging from the ludicrous to the sublime.

The next twelve months in the lives of the characters were extremely busy, as they battled dangerous menaces such as Doctor Doom, the Sub-Mariner, the Skrulls, the Wizard, and the Puppet Master; encountered weird alien beings like the Watcher and the Impossible Man, and met other superheroes inspired by the FF’s example, such as the Avengers, Spider-Man, and the X-Men, as well as the misunderstood Hulk. All the while each member of the team was dealing with his or her own personal issues that often led to quarreling, self-doubt, and lingering misunderstandings. But they also learned to live with each other as a team and as a family.

Note: The following timeline depicts the Original Marvel Universe (anchored to November 1961 as the first appearance of the Fantastic Four and proceeding forward from there. See previous posts for a detailed explanation of my rationale.) Some information presented on the timeline is speculative and some is based on historical accounts. See the Notes section at the end for clarifications.

Now, the Marvel Universe kicks into high gear — The True History of the Fantastic Four!

January 1962 – The Fantastic Four decide to take a break from the media frenzy generated by their debut and rent an isolated hunting lodge in upstate New York. While there, they hear on the radio that they are being blamed for a number of terrorist attacks and have been declared public enemies. An Army squadron surrounds the cabin and places them under arrest. The Fantastic Four are moved to a specially-prepared federal prison, but realizing they have been framed, they break out and track down the imposters. Reed Richards’ greatest fears are realized when the imposters turn out to be the advance team of an alien invasion fleet, a race of shape-changing Skrulls from the Andromeda galaxy. Posing as the imposters, the FF board the fleet’s flagship and convince the Skrulls that Earth’s defenses are too formidable. Returning to New York, the Fantastic Four are able to convince the authorities that the Skrulls committed the crimes, and they are cleared of all charges, although the threat of the alien invasion is never made public. Though one of their number has slipped away, Reed has the remaining captive Skrulls change themselves into cows and then hypnotizes them into forgetting their true nature. The FF leave them grazing in a pasture near King’s Crossing, NY.

February 1962 – Reed uses the money from the sale of Richards Laboratories to lease the top floors of the Baxter Building, located on the East Side of Manhattan not far from the United Nations Building, to serve as their headquarters. Reed and Ben Grimm move into the Baxter Building, where Reed sets up his laboratory equipment. With the help of his teammates, Reed has their headquarters up and running in just a couple of weeks. Intending for an evening’s entertainment, they end up instead battling the powerful illusionist called the Miracle Man. At the conclusion of the battle, Johnny Storm angrily quits the team. Then, wandering through the city, Johnny finds the Sub-Mariner in a Bowery flophouse. The Human Torch flies him out to the harbor and drops him in. The sudden shock partially restores Namor’s memory. Learning of the destruction of Atlantis, the Sub-Mariner attacks New York, but the FF drive him off. This is the team’s first major public victory, and they are hailed as the saviors of the city.

March 1962 – Doctor Doom attacks the Fantastic Four in their own headquarters and kidnaps them, holding Sue Storm hostage. Reed is shocked when he recognizes the voice of his former college colleague. Doom takes them to his private castle hidden in the Adirondack Mountains and sends Mister Fantastic, the Thing, and the Human Torch back in time, to circa 1700. Returning to the present, the FF trick Doom and escape. Realizing he is outmatched, Doom leaves his laboratory in flames and abandons the fight.

April 1962 – Doctor Doom tracks down the Sub-Mariner and enlists his aid in attacking the Fantastic Four. Namor attaches a small device in the basement of the Baxter Building that allows Doom to haul the entire skyscraper into space. However, Doom double-crosses the Sub-Mariner, intending to destroy him as well. Namor helps the FF defeat Doctor Doom, and the villain is left drifting in outer space. The Baxter Building settles back on its foundations and Namor returns to the ocean depths. Sue has developed a crush on the muscular and enigmatic Sub-Mariner, and he finds her attractive as well—none of which sits well with Reed.

May 1962 – The Fantastic Four are invited to a congressional dinner at the Capitol in Washington, DC. However, a riot breaks out as people throughout the city are affected by an alien ray. A flying saucer tails the FF back to their headquarters in New York, where they are coerced into journeying to the planet Xanth. Foiling the schemes of the Xantha dictator, Kurrgo, they return to Earth aboard the Xantha flying saucer. Reed immediately begins studying the alien craft, hoping to crack the secrets of its advanced technology. Still bitter about the government’s treatment of his starship project, Reed refuses to turn the flying saucer over to the military.

Later, the Human Torch goes on his own to capture a masked menace calling himself the Destroyer, who is threatening an amusement park in Glenville. Next, the Torch matches wits with Bentley Wittman, the celebrity genius known as “the Wizard,” who tries to discredit the young hero. After which, the Fantastic Four battle the mysterious Puppet Master and Ben meets the villain’s blind step-daughter, Alicia Masters. Alicia finds herself drawn to Ben and helps the FF win the fight. The Puppet Master is severely injured and must be hospitalized.

June 1962 – While investigating acts of sabotage at a local housing development, the Human Torch encounters the warlord Xemu of the “Fifth Dimension” and meets the beautiful alien Valeria. Upon his return to Earth, Johnny enrolls in summer school to make up for his missed semester. Meanwhile, Reed invests a great deal of their money into the stock market. Unfortunately, the market soon takes a sudden plunge and the team is forced to declare bankruptcy. Tensions run high as they contemplate selling off Reed’s many inventions to ward off their creditors. However, they receive an unexpected offer from a Hollywood movie studio to appear in a documentary film. Desperate for cash, the four adventurers soon find themselves back in California. They are astonished to discover the owner of the studio is none other than Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner, who financed his purchase of the studio with treasures from the ocean floor. Although the team at first enjoys their taste of the Hollywood lifestyle, they soon discover it is all an elaborate trap. The FF overcome Namor’s attacks, and Sue rejects his rather arrogant marriage proposal. Moreover, she shames him into honoring their contract, and he agrees to produce the film. The documentary is made in record time, to feed the public’s growing fascination with super-powered beings like the monstrous Hulk, the heroic Ant-Man, the mighty Thor, the Avenging Angel, and the mysterious television sensation called Spider-Man. Ben celebrates his 37th birthday.

July 1962 – The Fantastic Four is a hit in theaters; the FF become more famous than ever and quickly return to financial solvency. Seeing the film, Spider-Man tries to join the team but changes his mind after meeting them. The Human Torch gets into a fight with a character calling himself Paste-Pot Pete, who manages to escape after the Torch foils his attempt to steal a new missile. Then, Doctor Doom returns and switches bodies with Reed, a trick he learned from the alien Ovoids after they rescued him when he was adrift in space. Despite his best efforts, Doom is defeated and subjected to his own shrinking ray, which actually transports him into a “sub-atomic” realm known as a microverse. Later, the Torch captures a counterfeiter named Wilhelm Van Vile and also battles the Wizard again in his own high-tech house. The Impossible Man comes to Earth for the first time, looking for some fun. He wreaks havoc for a few hours, until the FF trick him into going elsewhere. Sue celebrates her 23rd birthday.

The Torch battles Carl Zante, known as the Acrobat, who tries to trick him into helping commit a bank robbery. Then the Torch picks a fight with the Sub-Mariner to prove himself to his older teammates. Soon after, the Fantastic Four are contacted by General Thaddeus E. “Thunderbolt” Ross, who seeks their aid in capturing the Hulk. Convinced the Hulk is, in fact, real, the FF agree to give it a shot, and they fly General Ross back to New Mexico in their newly-modified Fantasti-Car. Soon, Reed meets Ross’s scientific advisor, Dr. Robert Bruce Banner. After an inconclusive battle with the Hulk, the FF discover the base is actually being sabotaged by a communist agent, who is arrested. The FF receive military honors and are soon back home in New York. Then, the Torch defeats Wilhelm Van Vile again after the two-bit crook finds a reality-warping alien paint-set.

Meanwhile, Reed’s study of the Xantha flying saucer has enabled him to back-engineer a ship that will safely reach the moon, years ahead of the government’s project. He is intent on investigating a mysterious “Blue Area” on the lunar surface he has discovered. Upon arriving, the FF find the remains of a long-dead alien city within a pocket atmosphere, a super-powered cosmonaut calling himself the Red Ghost, his three super-powered apes, and a mysterious entity calling himself the Watcher. The Fantastic Four are the focus of a media frenzy upon their return to Earth, and they are honored as the first people to travel to the moon.

August 1962 – Reed presents a report of their lunar adventure to NASA, but the space administration finds his tales of intangible communists, super-powered primates, and omnipotent giants too outlandish to give credence. They accept his technical reports for study, but they are so advanced and idiosyncratic as to be of little practical use to the Apollo program. A fair amount of resentment begins to grow toward the grandstanding heroes.

Meanwhile, the Puppet Master goads the Sub-Mariner into once more fighting the FF, this time in his own undersea lair. Although defeated, Namor has begun to turn his attention away from the surface word and to become obsessed with finding his lost people. Later, the Human Torch battles a cranky Glenville resident nicknamed “the Sorcerer,” who comes into possession of a box of demons. Paste-Pot Pete busts the Wizard out of jail and they attack the Torch, only to be defeated again.

Then, having gotten on each other’s nerves, the Fantastic Four decide to take a break and pursue separate interests for a little while. Reed takes a position with General Electronics in New England, Sue accepts a role in a low-budget science fiction film in California, Johnny joins the circus, and Ben first tries his hand at professional wrestling. Their opportunities have all come about due to the careful calculations of the criminal genius called the Mad Thinker, who seizes his opportunity to break into the Baxter Building and steal Reed’s most recent genetics research. The Thinker uses Reed’s formulae to create the first of his awesome androids. With the unwitting help of their mailman, Willie Lumpkin, the FF defeat the Thinker and he is arrested. Later, the Torch battles Professor Orson Kasloff, a supervillain wannabe who calls himself the Asbestos Man. Reed celebrates his 40th birthday.

September 1962 – Johnny begins his senior year at Glenville High School and is invited to give a motivational speech at a high school in Queens, where he first meets Peter Parker, a student there. Then, the FF team up with Ant-Man to battle Doctor Doom, who has made himself absolute ruler of a civilization in a microverse. Here they first meet the brave Princess Pearla, who develops a crush on the Human Torch. Having driven Doom back to their home universe, the FF and Ant-Man return as well. Failing to track Doom down, the FF try to go about their daily lives, only to be hounded by silly-looking floating dummies—Doctor Doom’s way of taunting them. Then, Doom begins to act on the global stage, bedeviling President John F. Kennedy and Soviet Premiere Nikita Khrushchev. He holds Alicia Masters hostage, but the FF are nevertheless able to board his flying fortress, escape his diabolical traps, rescue Alicia, and drive Doom to abandon ship in utter defeat.

The FF’s plans to relax over the next week are foiled when a Skrull warrior publicly claims the earth for his alien empire. Going into battle, the FF are stunned to find that this “Super-Skrull” can mimic all their powers. The FF are finally able to weaken the Super-Skrull and trap him within a volcano on a deserted island in the Pacific Ocean. Johnny celebrates his 18th birthday. Soon after, Doctor Doom tries to use Spider-Man against the FF but fails. Then, the Torch fights the Eel and nearly dies when he must absorb the blast of a small nuclear device that the criminal inadvertently activates. Recovering, the Torch then teams up with Spider-Man to capture the thief known as the Fox. Although they don’t exactly get along, the Human Torch and Spider-Man part on relatively friendly terms.

Meanwhile, the Sub-Mariner has been reunited with his people, the Atlanteans, and decides to launch a full-scale invasion of the surface world. Namor and his legions are able to conquer New York City before being driven off by the Fantastic Four. When the Invisible Girl is injured, Namor calls off the attack. Namor’s girlfriend, Lady Dorma, is furious, and seeing it as a betrayal, the Atlanteans desert their prince.

October 1962 – Sue soon recovers from her injuries. Johnny meets Doris Evans at school, then battles her father’s gardener, Samuel Smithers, who discovers the means to become the Plant Man. Then, the FF travel back to ancient Egypt using Doctor Doom’s abandoned time machine. In the past, they battle the renegade time-traveler calling himself Pharaoh Rama-Tut. Later, the Torch again brawls with the Acrobat, who is passing himself off as Captain America. Johnny sees through the ruse and unmasks the crook. Then, the enigmatic Watcher alerts the FF to the menace of Owen Reece, the Molecule Man. Barely able to match the Molecule Man’s seemingly limitless power, the FF are relieved when the Watcher lends a hand. A few days later, the Torch first fights the Sandman after he escapes from jail.

Then, the FF are contacted by CIA agent Nick Fury, whom both Reed and Ben had met during WWII. Fury requests their aid in battling the Hate Monger, who has been causing riots and unrest in major cities. Fury and the FF track the Hate Monger to his headquarters in a small South American country. The villain is killed in the ensuing conflict, and the heroes are stunned when, unmasked, he appears to be none other than Adolf Hitler himself. Soon after, the Torch and the Thing once again fight the Puppet Master, nearly killing each other in the process. On Halloween night, Johnny sees a live TV broadcast during which Doctor Strange makes a “haunted house” disappear.

November 1962 – Sue discovers her force-field powers and, with Reed’s help, develops new applications for her invisibility as well. Tired of being hounded by the public, the FF consider moving their headquarters to a more remote area. Reed decides to investigate purchasing a small island off the coast of New Jersey. However, once there, they encounter the Mole Man again and are forced to destroy the island completely. Then, the Human Torch has a rematch with the Eel. Later, Iron Man contacts the FF while searching for the Hulk. Soon after, the FF battle Doctor Doom again, along with his three scientifically-altered underlings, “Handsome Harry” Phillips, Yogi Dakor, and Bull Brogin. However, Doom outsmarts himself and once again is cast adrift in outer space. The Torch exposes a communist agitator known as the Rabble-Rouser. Then, the FF are called away from a Life magazine photo-shoot to deal with the “Infant Terrible,” a powerful alien toddler lost on Earth. Later, on an evening sightseeing cruise around Manhattan, the Torch meets Iceman, and they fight the modern-day pirate called Captain Barracuda.

When the Hulk goes on a rampage in New York City, the Human Torch and the Thing try to stop him, while Mister Fantastic succumbs to a sudden illness. Although outmatched, the Thing puts up a valiant battle that rages all across the city. Finally, the Fantastic Four and the Avengers join forces to battle the Hulk at a construction site, totally demolishing the partially completed building. The Hulk is driven into the harbor and promptly disappears. The FF and the Avengers part on good terms, vowing to assist each other in battling menaces to mankind. Then, the Avengers mop up while the Torch fights the Plant Man again in the New York Botanical Gardens.

December 1962 – The lovestruck Sub-Mariner kidnaps Sue and takes her to his undersea lair. The Human Torch enlists the aid of Doctor Strange to find her. The FF battle Namor and his Atlantean soldiers, but the fight ends when Sue tells Namor she would never choose him over Reed. Despite this, Reed is plagued by doubts as to where her true feelings lie.

The Human Torch goes after the “Terrible Trio,” Doctor Doom’s former minions whom the FF fought a month ago. Then, the FF travel to Washington, DC to receive the Congressional Gold Medal and to meet with President Kennedy. Reed hires young attorney Matt Murdock to work on their lease while they’re gone. When they return, the FF find their headquarters is a shambles and their long-range passenger missile has been wrecked in a battle between Daredevil and Electro. Worse, Murdock neglected to work on their lease, so Reed fires him. However, Murdock’s partner, Franklin Nelson, soon convinces Reed to give the law firm another chance. Later, the Fantastic Four meet the mysterious X-Men, who lead them into battle with the Puppet Master, the Mad Thinker, and his awesome android. The FF are impressed by the X-Men and are left with a good opinion of the team. Soon after, the Torch and the Thing battle Abner Jenkins, who calls himself the Beetle. Then, the FF secretly return to the moon for a rematch with the Red Ghost. They are again aided by the Watcher. Next, the Torch and the Thing battle Paste-Pot Pete, who has given himself a make-over.

Exhausted, the FF take a Christmas vacation to Transylvania but end up battling the diabolical alchemist Diablo. After returning home, the Torch and Thing have another run-in with the Sub-Mariner when they incorrectly assume he is leading an invasion force toward New York.

Notes:

January 1962 – At the climax of Fantastic Four #2, Reed tricks the Skrulls by showing them pictures of monsters he claims to have clipped from some comic books, specifically Journey Into Mystery and Strange Tales—two titles actually published by Marvel. This is the first mention of a Marvel Universe counterpart of the Marvel Comics Group. It is unlikely a race as advanced as the Skrulls would be fooled by comic book illustrations, but it may be that Reed faked some photos based on what he saw in Johnny’s comics. The four Skrull spies would eventually return in Avengers #92–93, playing a key role in the epic Kree-Skrull War.

February 1962 – The Sub-Mariner was the first “Golden Age” character resurrected for the new Marvel Universe, although the Human Torch was inspired by his 1940s namesake. Coincidentally, Johnny sees one of the other bums in the flophouse reading an old copy of Sub-Mariner Comics. For a more detailed look at Prince Namor during this time period, see my Sub-Mariner chronology.

March 1962 – Doctor Doom, the FF’s greatest nemesis, was introduced in Fantastic Four #5. In the same issue, Johnny is seen reading an Incredible Hulk comic book, the third time the Marvel Universe counterpart of the Marvel Comics Group is referenced. Reportedly, what Johnny has is a fictionalized account, in comic book form, based on the various recent sightings of the mysterious green-skinned menace. For a more detailed look at Doctor Doom during this period, see my Doctor Doom chronology.

April 1962 – Fantastic Four #6 features the first “Super-Villain Team-Up,” which would become a regular feature of the Marvel Universe. Doctor Doom and the Sub-Mariner would eventually even star in their own short-lived series together.

May 1962 – It stands to reason that Reed Richards would bear a grudge against the government for threatening to pull the plug on his starship project a year earlier, and this explains why the team never really cozied up to the military-industrial complex despite Reed’s scientific genius. The Human Torch debuted in his own series of solo stories in Strange Tales #101.

June 1962 – On this timeline, the stock market crash in Fantastic Four #9 coincides with a real stock market crash in late May 1962. It’s possible it took a week or so for the team to feel the full effects of the financial crisis. At this point, Spider-Man was still known as an entertainer, appearing mainly on The Ed Sullivan Show. His career as a crimefighter had yet to begin in earnest. The winged mutant Warren Worthington III spent the early part of the summer fighting crime as the Avenging Angel before being persuaded to join the X-Men.

July 1962 – Spider-Man never acknowledges that seeing the FF’s movie inspired him to try joining their team, but it makes sense. In fact, as far as I know, the FF’s movie was never mentioned again, although it played an important part in establishing their reputations with the general public. (It’s quite possible the film was in black-and-white, and this accounts for its obscurity.) In Fantastic Four #10, the Marvel Universe counterparts of both Stan Lee and Jack Kirby make their first appearance, working on their authorized based-on-true-stories Fantastic Four comic book.

August 1962 – Although the Fantastic Four were the first people on the moon in the Marvel Universe, the government continued the Apollo program anyway, though at an accelerated rate, as seen in Fantastic Four #98.

September 1962 – The Human Torch makes a cameo in Amazing Spider-Man #3, and then Doctor Doom menaces the web-slinger two issues later. Spidey and the Torch defeat the Fox in Strange Tales Annual #2, the first of many such team-ups between them. The Atlantean invasion of New York is depicted in Fantastic Four Annual #1.

October 1962 – Although Johnny’s seeing Doctor Strange on TV on Halloween night is never shown, it is the sorcerer’s most public appearance before the Torch contacts him in Fantastic Four #27, which takes place about a month later. Something must have given Johnny the idea to seek help from such a mysterious and unscientific source. Doctor Strange’s battle with the House of Shadows is depicted in Strange Tales #120.

November 1962 – The epic battle between the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, and the Avengers was the first of many blockbuster crossover events, the like of which would eventually cause the Marvel Universe to collapse under its own weight. But they were a startling innovation and still loads of fun circa Fantastic Four #25–26.

December 1962 – The FF’s trip to Washington occurs in Daredevil #2. This takes us up to Fantastic Four #30 and Strange Tales #125.

Jump To: The Fantastic Four -- Year Three

Previous Issue: The Fantastic Four -- Year One

Next Issue: Sex in the Original Marvel Universe!

OMU: Fantastic Four -- Year One

The publication of Fantastic Four #1 kicked off what writer/editor Stan Lee would come to call the “Marvel Age of Comics” and also introduced readers to the fictional world I have come to call the Original Marvel Universe. A collaboration between Lee and artist Jack Kirby, Fantastic Four set the standard for Marvel Comics and for many years served as the company’s flagship title. The chronology of the Fantastic Four is therefore unusually rich and complex.

However, the sequence of events that led to the fateful trip into orbit that first gave the four heroes their superhuman powers was really never explored in great detail. For example, it was never adequately explained what Sue and Johnny, who were later shown to live in a house on Long Island in New York, were doing in California with Reed and Ben, especially since Johnny was still in high school. Also, piloting a rocket ship into outer space requires at least several months of intensive training. Ben couldn’t possibly just show up one night after work and get behind the controls. And so, by making a careful examination of the stories, including the numerous related flashbacks seen over the years, I have used common sense to construct a simple, straightforward narrative, laid into a particular historical context, that reveals previously hidden details.

Note: The following timeline depicts the Original Marvel Universe (anchored to November 1961 as the first appearance of the Fantastic Four and proceeding forward from there. See previous posts for a detailed explanation of my rationale.) Some information presented on the timeline is speculative and some is based on historical accounts. See the Notes section at the end for clarifications.

And now, the way it began -- The True History of the Fantastic Four!

February 1961 – His starship project nearing completion, Reed Richards contacts Ben Grimm to take him up on his college promise to be the pilot. Impressed by Reed’s tenacity, Ben accepts the job and resigns from the Air Force, taking a position at Richards Laboratories in Central City, California. Ben begins extensive mission training, and he and Reed renew their friendship. Ben continues to date Dr. Linda McGill, whom he had recently met on the Air Force base where he was last posted, though it becomes more of a long-distance relationship.

May 1961 – Susan Storm travels to California to spend the summer with Reed, leaving her brother Johnny with their aunt. Reed quickly realizes he has fallen in love with Sue, and they soon reach an unspoken agreement that they will eventually marry. Driving home one evening, Reed and Sue encounter a flying saucer and its lone occupant, an alien invader calling himself Gormuu. The creature quickly grows to gargantuan size and attacks Central City. Realizing Gormuu is actually expanding rather than gaining mass, Reed is able to feed him enough raw energy to dissipate the alien’s molecules. Convinced that advanced extraterrestrial races may pose a threat to Earth, Reed sees his new starship as more important than ever.

June 1961 – After completing his sophomore year at Glenville High School, Johnny Storm joins his sister Sue in California. He quickly makes a number of new friends, thanks to his interest in hot rods and racecars.

July 1961 – Reed is stunned when he learns from the government that his funding is likely to be cut. His protests fall on deaf ears as the new Kennedy administration has decided his research is too radical. Having already spent his entire inheritance, Reed realizes his only chance of convincing the government to continue its support is to test his ship as soon as possible.

August 1961 – Without time to train another two members of his crew, Reed reluctantly agrees to allow Sue and Johnny to accompany them into space. Ben objects to this suddenly accelerated schedule, fearing safety is being compromised, but Sue goads him into taking up the challenge. Unable to obtain official clearance, Reed, Sue, Ben, and Johnny steal into the complex in the middle of the night and initiate an unauthorized launch. Unfortunately, an unexpected surge in cosmic radiation overwhelms the ship’s shielding, and the four astronauts are bombarded by cosmic rays. The ship crashes to earth near Ithaca, NY. Emerging from the wreckage, the foursome discovers they have undergone a mutagenic change on a fundamental level. Sue fades from sight, having gained the power of invisibility. Ben transforms into a hideous orange-hued brute. Reed’s body develops a bizarre elasticity. Johnny suddenly bursts into flame and rises into the air.

Having tracked the starship’s flight, the military goes into action. An Army helicopter arrives at the crash site and transports the four astronauts to a nearby base, where they are debriefed by government agents. Reed is informed that not only is his funding terminated, but his project has been shut down and his security clearance revoked.

September 1961 – The foursome returns to Reed’s lab in Central City, California, where he begins studying what’s happened to them. He first synthesizes “unstable molecules” based on their irradiated spacesuits. Ben has the most trouble dealing with his transformation, though Johnny’s flame poses a hazard to everyone and Sue seems on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Reed realizes that they all need to find some positive direction to move in, and he suggests they use these strange new powers to help protect and advance the human race. Devising colorful code-names for themselves, they create a new team of super-powered adventurers called the Fantastic Four. Sue decides to call herself the Invisible Girl, Ben names himself the Thing, Johnny adopts the name of his boyhood hero, the Human Torch, and Reed proclaims himself Mister Fantastic.

Ben returns to his apartment in a profound depression and receives an unexpected visit from Linda McGill. The shock of his transformation causes her to panic and run away, which makes Ben lash out in a fit of rage, destroying his apartment. Despondent, he makes his way to a nearby bridge, where he contemplates committing suicide. However, Linda has followed him to apologize and offer comfort. Not wanting Linda to be saddled with a hideous freak, Ben drives her away, but he nevertheless finds the will to go on.

October 1961 – The superhero concept proves therapeutic, as Reed had hoped, as the Fantastic Four throw themselves into learning all they can about their strange new powers. Training constantly, they begin to gain control over their abilities. Reed channels all his research into the project as well, while struggling to raise money for the endeavor through his many inventions and patents. He also draws upon his wartime training in the O.S.S. as he prepares himself to lead the team on its missions.

November 1961 – When the world’s atomic plants come under attack, Reed sees an opportunity for the Fantastic Four to go on their first mission. The team travels to Monster Isle in the Bermuda Triangle, where they discover the Mole Man and his subterranean kingdom. The crisis averted, the Fantastic Four go public following this mission and are hailed as heroes for saving the world’s atomic plants. They are described in various newspaper and television reports, becoming a media sensation. The Fantastic Four themselves quickly become the focus of the story, rather than any threat they may have defeated. Unaccustomed to super-powered adventurers, the public offers the bizarre quartet a wary acceptance.

December 1961 – The foursome decides to move back to New York City when Reed sells Richards Laboratories in order to raise money for the team. He and Ben take apartments in the city while Sue and Johnny move back into their old house in Glenville, Long Island. Johnny returns to high school, having missed the entire first semester of his junior year. Ben becomes increasingly reclusive as his bitterness only seems to grow.

Notes:

February 1961 – For a breakdown of events in the lives of Reed, Sue, Ben, and Johnny up to this point, see OMU: Ancient History 4. Ben’s relationship with Dr. Linda McGill was shown, in abbreviated fashion, in Marvel Fanfare #46.

May 1961 – Reed’s battle with the alien Gormuu was presented in Fantastic Four #271, in John Byrne’s homage to Marvel’s monster comics of the late 1950s–early 1960s. We also see Johnny around this time, being bullied after school by Georgie Munson and his buddy Greg, in a flashback in Fantastic Four #233.

August 1961 – The Fantastic Four’s origin story was revealed primarily in flashbacks in Fantastic Four #1 and The Thing #10, though it was retold numerous times with little variation. August 8, 1961 was the date the first issue of Fantastic Four went on sale and serves as one of the two dates upon which my timeline of the Original Marvel Universe is based.

September-October 1961 – I believe the account of the group’s decision to become a team of superheroes in Fantastic Four #1 involves a fair amount of artistic license for dramatic effect, and the actual process of forming the team was a bit more extended. Clearly, they would need some time to come to terms with their bizarre transformations and to be able to control their powers. The psychological impact of their transformations was never thoroughly examined in any canonical story. In the flashback in The Thing #10, especially, they seem unaccountably blasé about what they’ve just experienced. Danny Fingeroth’s attempt in Marvel Fanfare #46 to show Ben’s depression, though somewhat rushed, was a step in the right direction.

November 1961 – This is the cover date of Fantastic Four #1 and serves as the other date upon which my timeline is based. In those days, comics were routinely cover-dated about three months ahead so they would seem fresher after sitting on the stands for several weeks. After all, a bi-monthly comic could sit on the stands for seven or eight weeks before the new issue came out, and publishers didn’t want to risk losing sales on a magazine thought to be “outdated.”

December 1961 – It is eventually made clear that the team must have moved from California to New York sometime between the first two issues, though they do not establish their headquarters until the third issue.

OMU Note: The final canonical appearance of Mister Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch, and the Thing was in Fantastic Four #354.

Next Issue: The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine -- FF Year Two

OMU: Sub-Mariner -- Part One

Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner was in fact the first Marvel Universe character to see print. He debuted in the ultra-rare 1939 promotional comic book Motion Picture Funnies Weekly some six months before the start of his regular feature in Marvel Mystery Comics. The brainchild of writer/artist Bill Everett, Namor was a violent, hot-headed hero with no love for the world of the surface-dwellers. He remained a fixture of the “Golden Age” comics published by Marvel’s predecessors, Timely and Atlas, until the mid-1950s. He was the first such character revived by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby for their new wave of superhero comics in the early ’60s, and from the start they established a tenuous continuity with his earlier adventures. The Sub-Mariner’s absence from the scene since the Golden Age was explained by showing him living as an amnesiac derelict, a state he had been in for many long years. The full story of how he lost his memory would be revealed much later, after he once again received his own solo title.

Note: The following timeline depicts the Original Marvel Universe (anchored to November 1961 as the first appearance of the Fantastic Four and proceeding forward from there. See previous posts for a detailed explanation of my rationale.) Some information presented on the timeline is speculative. See the Notes section at the end for clarifications.

Let us plumb the depths of... The True History of the Sub-Mariner!

January 1962 – For nearly twelve years, Prince Namor of Atlantis has been living as a bum on New York City’s Lower East Side. His long hair and beard disguise his appearance, and most of the public believes him to be dead. Suffering from total amnesia, he shuffles around with his mind in a fog, given to unpredictable fits of rage and violence. The other bums try to avoid him whenever possible, fearing his incredible strength.

February 1962 – Namor’s memory is partially restored by a chance encounter in a Bowery flophouse with the new Human Torch. Seeing the mumbling bum easily defeat a dozen assailants, the Torch burns away the hair hiding his features and, immediately recognizing the legendary Sub-Mariner, drops him in the harbor. Namor swims to a nearby Atlantean outpost in the North Atlantic Ocean, which is in ruins. There, he learns that the main city of Atlantis, located off the coast of Antarctica, was destroyed over a decade ago in some mysterious catastrophe. Blaming the surface-dwellers, Namor returns to New York bent on revenge. Unearthing the ancient Horn of Proteus, the Sub-Mariner uses it to direct a sea monster known as a Giganto to demolish several buildings on the waterfront. His plans are frustrated when the Giganto is quickly killed by the Human Torch and his teammates, the Thing, Mister Fantastic, and the Invisible Girl, who call themselves the Fantastic Four. When the Invisible Girl becomes visible, Namor is instantly smitten with her and proposes marriage, threatening to destroy civilization if she refuses. However, he is insulted when she treats becoming his wife like a fate worse than death. The Human Torch creates a tornado-like vortex that carries Namor and the Giganto’s body out to sea. Namor loses consciousness within the vortex, and when he comes to, he finds he’s lost the Horn of Proteus in the briny depths. Nevertheless, he vows the surface world will yet know the bitter taste of his vengeance.

Later that night, Namor sneaks back into the city and obtains a magazine with a lot of useful information about the Fantastic Four. He tears out a large, glossy photo of the Invisible Girl, places it in a watertight frame, and takes it with him as he makes his way to see for himself what’s become of Atlantis.

March 1962 – When he reaches his hometown, Namor is shocked to find it completely obliterated. The royal palace he grew up in has been reduced to rubble. Nearby he comes across the tomb of Emperor Thakorr and is saddened to learn that he was killed in the catastrophe. Namor wonders what has become of the Atlantean people with their ruler dead and their homes destroyed. The abandoned site offers no clue as to where the Atlanteans fled to. He is then overwhelmed with grief when he discovers the grave of his mother, Princess Fen, but it only strengthens his resolve to punish the surface-dwellers for all the death and destruction. He establishes a base of operations on the outskirts of the city in a domed structure that’s not too badly damaged. Wanting a place to bring the Invisible Girl, Namor creates a pressurized chamber within the dome containing comfortable living quarters.

April 1962 – Namor sets out to search the oceans for the Atlantean diaspora and soon encounters Doctor Doom, who has come looking for him to propose an alliance against the human race and its defenders, the Fantastic Four. They repair to Namor’s undersea base to discuss the matter. There, seeing the framed photo of the Invisible Girl, Doom chides Namor for taking a holiday from his quest for vengeance and reminds him of the lost glories of Atlantis. Doom speculates that only a hydrogen bomb could have destroyed the city so utterly. Namor is swayed by Doom’s rhetoric, though he draws the line at harming the Invisible Girl. Doom then demonstrates a magnetic “grabber” device of his own invention and suggests that Namor hide it in the basement of their foes’ Manhattan headquarters, the Baxter Building. Once Namor has the Invisible Girl out of the building, Doom will activate the device, hauling the entire structure into orbit. Namor agrees to the plan and sets out for New York City at once. However, while the Sub-Mariner is arguing with the Fantastic Four, Doom activates the device prematurely, trapping all five of them in the building. As Doom’s spaceplane tows the Baxter Building away from Earth, Namor realizes that he’s been double-crossed. Mister Fantastic breaks out some space helmets with oxygen tanks before they die of asphyxiation. Though the Fantastic Four’s super-powers prove ineffective in outer space, the Sub-Mariner is able to take advantage of a passing meteor shower to reach Doom’s spaceplane. Tearing through the hull with his bare hands, Namor rampages through the craft, forcing Doom to bail out. Leaving the villain drifting in space, Namor returns the Baxter Building to its foundations before ditching the spaceplane in the ocean.

May 1962 – Namor continues the search for his missing people but without success. From his undersea base, he also monitors the surface world’s television and radio broadcasts to catch up on world events since he entered his unexplained fugue state. His own memories remain dim, though, with many people and events from his life seemingly lost to him.

June 1962 – Learning the Fantastic Four have gone bankrupt, Namor hatches an elaborate scheme to win the hand of the Invisible Girl. Using treasure salvaged from ancient shipwrecks, he purchases a failing movie studio in Los Angeles and renames it Imperial Studios. The studio then offers the Fantastic Four a million dollars to star in a documentary film about themselves. The team immediately accepts the offer, and when they arrive at the studio, Namor greets them in a palatial office, dressed in a natty business suit. Hoping to impress the Invisible Girl with his wealth, Namor advances each member of the team a thick stack of cash. That evening, he takes the Invisible Girl out to dinner at one of the city’s most fashionable restaurants. He compliments her on her designer gown, which he had sent over to her hotel room. As they get to know each other, Namor is annoyed to learn that she’s in a relationship with Mister Fantastic but dismisses it as unserious given the clear age gap between them. She is curious about his benevolent behavior, and he promises to explain all once the film is completed.

A day or two later, Namor takes Mister Fantastic and the Human Torch to the Mediterranean Sea, ostensibly to film their segments of the movie. He strands Mister Fantastic on a small, uncharted island not far from Greece, which is inhabited by a cyclops straight out of classical mythology. He then drops the Human Torch into a remote village deep in the jungles of Africa, having paid the natives, who possess a magical elixir that makes them immune to fire, to hold him prisoner. Pleased with how his plans are unfolding, Namor returns to Los Angeles. The next day, he battles the Thing on a deserted beach outside the city just as a thunderstorm rolls in. Unexpectedly, the Thing is struck by lightning and temporarily reverts to his normal human form. Namor immediately knocks him out with a punch in the face. Back at the studio, Namor finds the Invisible Girl and informs her that he has triumphed over her teammates. She is confused, so he explains that he did all this to demonstrate his mastery over men so she will submit to be his bride. Furious, she turns invisible and starts throwing things at Namor, berating him for his barbaric attitudes. Undeterred, Namor grabs her, intending to assert his dominance over her, only for Mister Fantastic, the Human Torch, and the Thing to burst into the room and attack him. However, the Invisible Girl stops the fight, chastising her teammates for ganging up on a single opponent. She then shames Namor into honoring the contracts they signed for the movie. Stung by her rejection, Namor leaves orders with his staff that the film be completed and the Fantastic Four receive the money they were promised. He returns to the sea and swims down the west coast of the Americas, returning to his Antarctic haunts.

July 1962 – Several weeks later, the Human Torch picks a fight with the Sub-Mariner. Though reluctant to harm the Invisible Girl’s little brother, Namor sees that he’s intent on belligerence and decides he has no choice but to teach this insolent brat a lesson. As they fight, the Human Torch continues to increase his flame until it reaches “supernova” intensity, allowing him to follow the Sub-Mariner beneath the waves by boiling away the water around him to create a pocket of steam. Namor quickly realizes the Human Torch is far more powerful than he thought and rapidly swims down to the ocean floor to escape the deadly heat. His young foe drives him deep into a cave and then retreats, sealing the entrance behind him and leaving the Sub-Mariner trapped. By the time Namor frees himself, the Human Torch is long gone. Impressed, Namor wonders how formidable the Human Torch will become in a few years when he reaches full maturity. He ponders whether the two of them might even one day become allies.

August 1962 – Somewhere on the ocean floor, Namor finally finds evidence of his lost people—some artificial shelters used sometime in the last decade. Filled with renewed hope that he is at last on the right track, he sets off to continue his search. However, he suddenly finds himself back in his undersea base, which is partially flooded with seawater. To his chagrin, the Fantastic Four are standing around gawking at him. He demands to know what they’re doing in his private sanctum, but they act like he’s gone mad. Noticing the team has brought along a teenaged girl—presumably some sort of lady’s maid—Namor asks the Invisible Girl if she’s come at last to be his bride. She disabuses him of that notion, and bitterly disappointed, Namor rants at them that he has better things to do. Ordering the intruders to leave, Namor wishes Mister Fantastic luck in holding onto such a fickle woman. Watching their submarine depart with a strange sense of relief, Namor wonders why he can’t remember the Fantastic Four’s arrival. Dismissing the mystery from his mind, he returns to his search.

September 1962 – Namor is at last reunited with the Atlantean diaspora and gathers them all together in the ruins of the original city of Atlantis in the North Atlantic Ocean. As the sole legitimate heir to the throne, Namor is accepted as their rightful sovereign. His coronation is carried out amidst much pomp and circumstance, where he is proclaimed Namor the First, Prince of Atlantis, Emperor of the Deep, Lord of the Seven Seas, and Supreme Commander of the Undersea Legions. The Atlanteans praise Neptune for returning their prince to them at long last and swear undying fealty. Namor vows to make the surface-dwellers pay for all the pain and suffering they’ve inflicted on the Atlantean people. He has a joyful reunion with his former fiancée, Lady Dorma, and they renew their engagement despite Namor’s mixed feelings on the matter, which he keeps to himself. He is introduced to Warlord Krang, the highest-ranking remaining military officer, who has distinguished himself with his bravery and daring over the last decade. Namor also has a somewhat tense reunion with his cousin Lord Byrrah, who has been acting as regent for several years under a power-sharing agreement with Krang.

The Atlantean Council of Elders is reconstituted, and they explain to Namor that no one really knows what happened twelve years ago. When the calamity started, Namor set off with six warriors to investigate, but none of them returned. The kingdom was then utterly obliterated by a series of earthquakes and explosions, killing countless people. Emperor Thakorr and Princess Fen died when the royal palace collapsed, and their bodies were recovered in the aftermath and given proper state funerals—or at least as best as could be managed under the circumstances. His cousin Namora, widowed in the catastrophe, was among those who emigrated to the Pacific Ocean, and she hasn’t been heard from since. Bereft of leadership, the Atlanteans migrated north, famine soon driving them to scatter into small, nomadic enclaves. Namor informs them of Doctor Doom’s supposition that the disaster was caused by the surface world’s nuclear weapons and tells them to prepare for war.

Namor sends out a series of sea monsters for close encounters with surface-world submarines, ships, and airplanes, hoping to spur the Fantastic Four to investigate. When they do, Namor captures them and, wearing his crown, welcomes them to the sovereign empire of Atlantis. He then announces that all incursions into Atlantean territory, including its airspace, will no longer be tolerated and instructs the Fantastic Four to pass on his ultimatum to the United Nations. The Invisible Girl warns Namor that he’s risking all-out war. He assures her that no harm will come to her, as she will always be under his royal protection. She rejects the offer, insisting that she stands or falls with the Fantastic Four. Namor then orders the team returned to New York City. The next day, he follows them to the United Nations General Assembly Building, disguised as a Professor G.W. Falton, and takes the podium after Mister Fantastic has relayed his message. In order to convince any skeptical nations that the threat is very real, Namor describes the origin and history of the Homo mermanus race, as he understands such things, and also describes his own origin as the amphibious mutant hybrid offspring of a Homo mermanus mother, Princess Fen, and a Homo sapiens father, American ship captain Leonard McKenzie. Eventually, Mister Fantastic interrupts the lecture to recap how the Sub-Mariner has been wreaking havoc for months, blaming the surface world for the destruction of his kingdom. Mister Fantastic is clearly annoyed that his warnings about the menace of the Sub-Mariner have gone unheeded and insists the Atlanteans must be fought against until they are no longer a danger to the surface world. Having heard enough, Namor removes his disguise and reveals himself, causing a panic in the General Assembly Hall. He declares war on the human race and flies back to the harbor before Mister Fantastic can grab him.

Once there, Namor signals to his submerged flagship to begin the invasion. Immediately, the Atlanteans’ warships surface and disgorge their troops onto the waterfront, wearing liquid-filled helmets that allow them to breathe in the exo-marine environment. Krang leads them into the heart of the city, facing no resistance from the confused citizenry. Caught completely off guard, the police and other officials are imprisoned in their own jails. Within hours, the invaders have complete control over Manhattan. Namor orders the Baxter Building to be encased in an expanding fungus that hardens into a cement-like substance, but the Human Torch is able to burn through it. Despite this, the Fantastic Four offer surprisingly little opposition. The U.S. Army deploys around the perimeter of the city throughout the day but seems hesitant to engage with the invaders directly. The following morning, Namor addresses a crowd in Central Park, declaring martial law in the conquered metropolis, then leads a victory parade through Greenwich Village, drawn by the optics of the Washington Square Arch, which is based on the triumphal arches of the Roman Empire. Suddenly, his troops start to reel and falter as a low hum fills the air. The seawater in their helmets starts rapidly evaporating, and Namor realizes they’re in danger of suffocating. He orders them all to retreat to the sea, and within minutes, the Atlantean legions have evacuated the city, leaving behind their weapons and vehicles.

Enraged, the Sub-Mariner flies to the Baxter Building, convinced that only Mister Fantastic could have accomplished such a feat. When he arrives, Mister Fantastic tells Namor he’s a fool to think he could ever conquer the human race—the Atlanteans are simply too outnumbered. Refusing to listen, Namor roughs up his rival as well as the Human Torch and the Thing and then kidnaps the Invisible Girl, taking her aboard his navy’s flagship, still waiting in the harbor, and orders the ship back to Atlantis. He rallies his troops, insisting that he’s only begun to fight. When Dorma embraces him, pledging her eternal devotion, Namor rebuffs her, saying it’s not the time for romance. She is clearly angered by this, but Namor is distracted when the Human Torch is spotted following them. Exiting the craft, the Sub-Mariner fights with the Human Torch, who is soon joined by Mister Fantastic and the Thing. Namor mocks them, claiming they’ve no hope of defeating him at sea, where they’re out of their element. Indeed, the ensuing brawl does not go well for the Fantastic Four, but while he and the Thing are trading punches underwater, Namor spots the Invisible Girl, her hands tied behind her back, tangled up in some nearby kelp. Both men swim over to free her, whereupon Namor rushes her to his foes’ damaged amphibious vehicle, finding her nearly drowned. Mister Fantastic and the Human Torch are frantic, as they’ve no way to get her to a hospital in time to save her.

Ignoring Mister Fantastic’s snarled threats, Namor dives into the water and catches up with his flagship, which he finds parked on the ocean floor with a repair crew replacing a broken porthole. He surmises that that’s how the Invisible Girl escaped, stunned that she would apparently rather die than be taken hostage. On the bridge, Namor orders everybody off the ship immediately. Dorma is incensed at being ordered around like a commoner when she is of royal blood herself. Krang is flabbergasted to learn that Namor needs the ship to get their former prisoner to a surface-world hospital as quickly as possible. Dorma flies into a jealous rage, claiming that the surface girl has bewitched Namor and made him betray his own people. Namor tells her to shut up and puts them off the ship. Leaving his crew with some emergency provisions, Namor speeds off. He stops just long enough to grab the Invisible Girl and, heedless of her teammates’ protests, leaves them behind on their wrecked vehicle. He delivers her to a hospital emergency room in New York City and waits around for about two hours, long enough to learn that she will recover from her ordeal. Relieved, Namor departs and walks dejectedly back to the waterfront. He is screamed at by irate passers-by who threaten him with bodily harm, though no one dares get too close. Vowing he’ll conquer them yet, Namor boards his flagship and pilots it back to the ruins of ancient Atlantis. When he arrives, though, he finds the place deserted and realizes his people have abandoned him, obviously believing that his heart truly belongs to his father’s race. Namor bitterly concedes that, due to his divided heritage, he will never be fully accepted either on land or under the sea.

October 1962 – Stewing in his involuntary solitude, Namor begins plotting his revenge against the surface world. He deploys a system of drone-based spy cameras around the world to monitor distant events more closely and learns of a new superhero team called the Avengers, which consists of Thor, Iron Man, Ant-Man, the Wasp, and the Hulk. Their presence in New York will certainly make conquering the city more difficult, he realizes, unless he can assert dominance over them first.

November 1962 – When the brutish Hulk turns against the Avengers, Namor thinks the green-skinned behemoth might make a powerful ally against the human race. His spy cameras show the Hulk being picked up by a passing ship while trying to swim across the Atlantic Ocean, so Namor goes to meet with him. After the Hulk jumps overboard, Namor finds him on a lonely island, though the sullen creature is in no mood for company and tries to drive him off. The Sub-Mariner drags the Hulk back into the ocean and defeats him. Half-drowned, the Hulk agrees to listen to what Namor has to say and proves to be intrigued by his offer to join forces against the Avengers. They take Namor’s flagship to the Rock of Gibraltar, whereupon the Sub-Mariner contacts the Avengers by radio and challenges them to a fight. Thor, Iron Man, Giant-Man, and the Wasp show up several hours later and walk right into Namor’s ambush. Things start off well as Namor employs some modified ordnance left over from World War II, but the Hulk turns out to be pretty useless, and after failing to wrest Thor’s magical hammer from him, the jade giant abandons the fight, apparently feeling humiliated. As the Avengers gang up on him, Namor decides to retreat, fuming that his dim-witted partner has deserted him. He smashes through a wall and returns to the sea, resolving to be better prepared next time.

Angry at himself over his recent failures, Namor wanders up into the Arctic. There, he comes across a group of Eskimos worshiping a human figure deeply embedded inside a large chunk of ice. Losing his temper, he confronts them, telling them they should bow down to him instead. As the cultists flee in terror, the Sub-Mariner lifts their idol and hurls it into the sea. As it drifts away, he vents his rage on the ice floe, completely destroying it, but then feels ashamed of himself for losing his self-control. Seeing that the Eskimos have made it to safety, Namor dives into the water and heads south.

While searching for the Atlanteans, Namor stumbles upon an extraterrestrial who’s been marooned on Earth for millennia and is seemingly the basis for the legends of the Medusa who could turn men to stone. In actuality, the alien accomplishes this with the aid of a ray gun. Learning that the alien’s spaceship lies at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, Namor offers to raise it if the alien will turn his petrification ray against the Avengers. Desperate to get home, the alien agrees and sets off for New York City. Namor monitors the alien’s progress via his spy cameras and is gratified when he does indeed turn the Avengers to stone as they are disembarking from their submarine at a pier in Manhattan. Unfortunately, another superhero, Captain America, tracks the alien down and forces him to reverse the process. Frustrated, Namor goes for a swim around the ruins of ancient Atlantis and encounters a squad of his elite guard that’s returned out of a sense of loyalty. He decides to take them to the Mediterranean Sea to fight the Avengers while they’re salvaging the alien’s spaceship. He fares better against the Avengers this time, though Thor proves to be an especially formidable opponent. For some reason, the Avengers have brought along a teenaged boy, Rick Jones, and when Namor orders his men to take Jones hostage, Captain America enters the fray. He fights off Namor’s soldiers singlehandedly, displaying impressive martial skill. No sooner has Namor grabbed Captain American than the island starts breaking apart. Assuming that an earthquake or volcanic eruption is destroying the island, Namor orders his troops to retreat, convinced their foes will perish when the island sinks. Only when he’s back in Atlantis does Namor realize that the upheaval was no natural phenomenon but was caused when the alien’s spaceship launched from beneath the waves. He wonders if he’d met Captain America sometime in the past, as he seemed strangely familiar.

December 1962 – Namor’s obsession with the Invisible Girl soon drives even his elite guard to desert him, as they strenuously object to his plans to make a surface woman his bride. Regardless, Namor returns to the Baxter Building, gasses the Fantastic Four into unconsciousness, and kidnaps the object of his desire. When she comes to in a pressurized chamber in the abandoned ruins of Atlantis, the Invisible Girl is furious with Namor and demands to be released immediately. Instead, he asks for 24 hours to plight his troth, convinced that, deep down, she’s really in love with him. She turns her back on him, and several minutes later, Mister Fantastic storms into the building and attacks the Sub-Mariner with uncharacteristic aggression. Glad to have a chance to face his romantic rival in hand-to-hand combat, Namor retaliates, only to find Mister Fantastic more of a challenge than he expected due to the clever ways he employs his stretching ability. When Namor’s band of loyal soldiers returns, having reconsidered their decision, Mister Fantastic remains defiant, and the Sub-Mariner is grudgingly impressed by his courage and determination. Suddenly, the Human Torch and the Thing appear out of nowhere and join the battle. As the fighting drags on, Namor eventually realizes he’ll have to just kill Mister Fantastic and the Thing to have any kind of life with the Invisible Girl, so he orders his guards to bring up some heavy artillery. When cornered, the pair refuses to surrender, so Namor orders his men to open fire. The Thing leaps in front of Mister Fantastic, taking the full brunt of the deadly blast. Surprisingly, it has absolutely no effect on him. Confused, the Sub-Mariner flies at Mister Fantastic, fists raised, only to collide with some kind of invisible force field. The Invisible Girl then enters the room, having been set free by the Human Torch, and reveals that she generated the force fields that protected her teammates. She insists that she saved their lives out of love, not loyalty, and though she’s sorry Namor misinterpreted what she felt for him as romantic love, she knows now that Mister Fantastic is the only man for her, and nothing will ever change that. Feeling his blood starting to boil, Namor is about to respond when the Fantastic Four abruptly vanish into thin air. The entire building is then uprooted and whisked through the sea for an hour or so before returning to its foundations. His men are terrified, and Namor is astonished that the Fantastic Four are capable of such feats, wondering just how powerful they truly are.

A greedy merchant who’s been following Namor’s band of soldiers around seeks an audience with his prince and suggests he make common cause with the world’s mutants, who are also persecuted by the human race. Namor is intrigued by the idea and surprised that it never occurred to him before. The merchant offers—for a price—the coordinates of the remote island that’s home to one of the most powerful mutants in existence, Magneto. Thus, the Sub-Mariner soon sets out for the island, located elsewhere in the North Atlantic, where he is greeted by the mutant master of magnetism. Haughtily, the Sub-Mariner rebukes Magneto for speaking to a monarch without permission and then surveys the island, coming across a large device powered by magnetism on a hilltop by the shore. While Namor is inspecting the strange device, it unexpectedly shorts out, giving him a nasty jolt. Two costumed teenagers come running up and introduce themselves as the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. The Scarlet Witch apologizes for inadvertently causing the mishap with her mutant “hex” power. Suddenly, they are attacked by another costumed teen, called the Angel due to the large white wings on his back, who represents a rival mutant faction called the X-Men. Magneto pelts the Angel with ferrous rocks, but the boy evades them with impressive aerial maneuverability. Namor decides to intervene and flies up to confront the Angel, roughing him up and driving him off. Magneto then introduces the two other members of his team, a pair of Englishmen called Mastermind and the Toad, and reveals that they call their group the Mutant Brotherhood. As they head into Magneto’s command bunker, he explains that they are mutant supremacists, whereas the X-Men, led by a man called Professor X, are assimilationist fools. Magneto then uses his hilltop device to destroy the X-Men’s ship, which is anchored some ways offshore.

Nevertheless, the Angel soon returns with the rest of the X-Men: Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Iceman, and the Beast, all of whom are, like the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, merely teenagers. Quicksilver is captured when he attempts to stop the X-Men from destroying the hilltop device. The Scarlet Witch begs Magneto to rescue her brother, but he rebukes her and threatens her into silence. Incensed by Magneto’s ungallant behavior, Namor turns on him and demolishes his control panel. Outraged, Magneto causes the wreckage to wrap itself around the Sub-Mariner’s body. Namor struggles to free himself as the X-Men storm into the bunker and force the Mutant Brotherhood to retreat. The Scarlet Witch stays behind, though, unwilling to abandon her brother. The constricting wreckage falls from Namor’s body, and he joins the Scarlet Witch in calling for Quicksilver’s release. The X-Men at first refuse, but then Professor X, who’s confined to a wheelchair, brings their mesmerized captive in. The Scarlet Witch is worried that her brother has been reduced to a mental vegetable, so the Sub-Mariner rips up some of the floor and threatens the X-Men with it. Quicksilver immediately comes to his senses, so Namor throws the chunk of masonry through the wall and storms outside, disgusted that both Magneto and Professor X have enlisted children to fight their war against each other. Magneto tries to stop him from leaving the island with his hilltop device, but the Sub-Mariner generates a shockwave that wrecks it. Without a backward glance, Namor dives into the sea and returns to Atlantis, wanting nothing more to do with mutants.

Invited to the Baxter Building by Mister Fantastic to discuss a truce, Namor reluctantly heads back to New York City. However, he is attacked en route by the Human Torch and the Thing in their team’s amphibious vehicle. Feeling betrayed, the Sub-Mariner wrecks the craft again and fights with the pair, the three of them ultimately beating each other senseless. During a brief respite on a coral reef, the Thing inexplicably demands that Namor send his invasion force back to Atlantis. When the Human Torch insists that an armed force must be following him to New York, Namor realizes he’s dealing with a couple of paranoid idiots. He renews the battle until the Fantasti-Car arrives on the scene, bringing Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Girl. Taking advantage of the distraction, Namor dives into the sea, branding his rival a treacherous liar. He sullenly watches the Fantastic Four depart, vowing never again to be duped by their phony peace overtures.

January 1963 – Some weeks later, Namor is finally reunited with his people and assumes the throne again after assuring them that he’ll pursue no more dalliances with surface women. He and Dorma are reconciled and renew their commitment to each other. As the population settles the ruins of ancient Atlantis, the reign of Namor the First begins in earnest. Unfortunately, a week or so later, the High Priest of Neptune reports that, in fulfillment of prophecy, a barbarian horde has descended on them, intent on conquest. The barbarians, from the Kingdom of Skarka roughly 1,200 miles to the west, are led by the savage Attuma, who clearly believes the Atlanteans are vulnerable while trying to establish their new settlement. Determined to show Attuma how wrong he is, the Sub-Mariner rallies his troops, and using what weapons they have, they manage to halt the barbarians’ advance. However, Attuma proves to be prepared for a long siege.

February 1963 – As the siege drags on, a worried Dorma pleads with Namor to stop needlessly exposing himself to personal danger. He angrily rebuffs her, thinking she’s trying to emasculate him. Hurt and angry, Dorma withdraws and goes into hiding. Soon after, Attuma and his hordes breach a deserted guard post and storm into the city. Realizing there’s a traitor in their midst, the Sub-Mariner leads the counterattack, sparking prolonged close-quarters combat that rages throughout the ancient ruins. Despite Namor’s best efforts, though, Attuma slowly gains the upper hand, bringing in seemingly inexhaustible reinforcements armed with all manner of bizarre weaponry. Finally, Namor realizes he has no choice but to take the fight directly to Attuma and challenges the warlord to single combat. Confident of victory, Attuma accepts. As they begin their duel, Namor and Attuma argue over which of them is the “conqueror of Atlantis” foretold in the prophecies. After brawling for several minutes, Attuma suddenly becomes disoriented and can’t seem to tell where the Sub-Mariner is. This gives Namor the chance to disarm him and beat him into submission, stopping only when Attuma begs for mercy. Namor contemptuously tells Attuma he’s not fit to be a king if he would surrender so easily. With their leader humiliated, the dispirited barbarians retreat to their own territory, leaving the Atlanteans in peace. In the aftermath of the battle, some of Namor’s guards report that Dorma was the traitor, using her status as a high-ranking noblewoman to empty out the guard post. He is enraged at first but soon realizes that people will do terrible things in the name of love. He decides to forgive her, hoping she’s learned her lesson, and informs her that he knows what she did. Overwhelmed with exhaustion, Namor then collapses into bed, praying that no other enemies—such as the Fantastic Four—decide to attack while he’s too tired to fight back.

March–April 1963 – Atlantis recovers from the battle with Attuma’s hordes. The city strengthens its defenses as Namor builds his government and watches as Atlantean society finally begins to flourish again. He also starts training his troops to fight more effectively. Meanwhile, energized by Attuma’s defeat, Warlord Krang badgers Namor to order another invasion of the surface world. Namor is sick of war, however, and wishes to turn his attention to domestic affairs. Also, he has learned that the ambitious Krang was previously engaged to Dorma and is wary of trusting him.

May 1963 – For some unfathomable reason, the Avengers contact the Sub-Mariner with an offer of membership, but he turns them down, interested only in being an effective ruler. Krang continues to beat the drums of war, but Namor now desires to make peace with the surface world. He returns to New York City seeking a forum and decides to file a lawsuit against the human race. He engages the law firm of Nelson and Murdock, but they convince him that his idea is unworkable. Instead, the Sub-Mariner goes on a rampage, thinking a public trial will suit his purposes. He causes extensive property damage until being opposed by the superhero Daredevil. Though a skilled fighter, Daredevil is no match for the Sub-Mariner. Nevertheless, Namor allows himself to be taken into custody, and Matt Murdock agrees to represent him in court. However, as the trial begins, Dorma arrives to tell Namor that Krang has staged a coup in his absence. After a brief delay caused by legal wrangling, the Sub-Mariner breaks out of his jail cell and returns to the sea, despite Daredevil’s best attempts to stop him. Unfortunately, when he reaches Atlantis, Namor is immediately captured by Krang’s forces and imprisoned.

Namor is soon set free by Dorma, and he leaves Atlantis on a quest to find the fabled Neptune’s Trident, possession of which will prove he is the rightful ruler of the realm. Krang is aware of his escape, though, and sends agents to ensure the quest ends in failure. Along the way, Namor meets an elderly Atlantean named Vashti, whose unwavering loyalty to his prince inspires Namor to persevere. The Sub-Mariner faces a giant squid, the monstrous Seaweed Man, and the diabolical Demon of the Diamonds before abandoning his quest in order to rescue Dorma from the murderous Faceless Ones. However, by placing his love for Dorma above his political ambitions, Namor earns Neptune’s favor. Taking the trident, he returns to Atlantis, defeats Krang, and reclaims the throne.

June 1963 – Preparations are made for a celebration of Namor’s rule and the city’s liberation from the tyranny of Krang. Amidst much pomp and circumstance, Dorma is recognized for her devotion to her prince, and Vashti is made Lord Vashti, Grand Vizier of Atlantis. Then, Krang is banished from the realm to wander the oceans in perpetual exile.

July–August 1963 – Namor focuses his attention on domestic affairs and redressing the wrongs committed by Krang during his usurpation. Namor also helps Vashti settle into his new role and spends as much time with Dorma as his schedule will allow.

September 1963 – A series of damaging sub-sea earthquakes leads Namor to a floating research platform that is drilling into the ocean floor. After destroying the drill, the Sub-Mariner confronts the lead scientist, Dr. Henry Pym. In the middle of their argument, though, Namor blacks out and suddenly finds himself in the Hudson River, having just dived off the George Washington Bridge. His shoulder is injured and he feels some evil force besieging his mind. Dorma arrives in a small craft several minutes later and helps Namor onto the riverbank, where he is able to drive the sinister influence from his mind. She then informs him that the earthquakes have awakened the Behemoth, a giant android monster created by the Atlanteans during World War II as a defense against a Nazi invasion of their realm. Returning to the ocean depths, Namor battles the monster until he manages to force it into a bottomless pit of quicksand.

Back in Atlantis, Namor is informed by Lord Vashti that Dorma has fled the city to marry Krang. The news drives Namor to the brink of madness and he becomes a tyrant, branding Dorma a traitor and arresting her family. Learning they have sought refuge on the surface world, Namor sets off to track them down. He catches up to Krang’s high-speed flagship off the coast of Long Island, but it escapes due to the interference of Iron Man. In a rage, the Sub-Mariner follows Iron Man back to Stark Industries and brawls with him. Then, catching a glimpse of Krang’s ship offshore, Namor abandons the fight and sets off in hot pursuit. Unfortunately, Krang escapes again.

October 1963 – The Sub-Mariner finally catches up to Krang and Dorma, who are now traveling in Krang’s gigantic battle cruiser, a heavily-armed dreadnaught that can fight in the sky as well as beneath the waves. Krang manages to defeat Namor with a powerful missile when the exploding warhead induces a case of temporary amnesia. The stunned Sub-Mariner is found by the leader of the subversive organization called the Secret Empire, who convinces Namor he is one of their agents and sends him to track down and kill the Hulk. However, Namor fails to locate the Hulk before his memory returns. He is still in New York when Krang generates a huge tidal wave that inundates Midtown Manhattan. Despite the troops who are trying to capture him, the Sub-Mariner alerts the American military to the location of Krang’s battle cruiser, and it is destroyed by a Navy submarine. Both Krang and Dorma are captured by the Army, but Namor rescues them and returns them to Atlantis.

Once back in their undersea realm, the Sub-Mariner defeats Krang in single combat before the eyes of all Atlantis. The defeated warlord is then taken away to be imprisoned in solitary confinement outside the gates of the city. Dorma is released when Namor learns that she agreed to marry Krang only to save Namor’s life from the Behemoth, which Krang was controlling. All is forgiven, and Namor once again turns his attention to matters of state.

November 1963 – Attuma and his hordes attempt another invasion of Atlantis but are driven back by the Sub-Mariner. However, after discovering an indestructible alien robot which recently crashed to Earth, Attuma unleashes it on Atlantis. The Sub-Mariner manages to contact the spaceship as it returns to search for its lost property and is able to hold off the robot until its owners come to retrieve it. The discouraged Attuma then retreats to Skarka.

December 1963 – Namor’s cousin Lord Byrrah speaks out against the Sub-Mariner, blaming him for the calamities that have befallen the Atlanteans over the last year. Surprisingly, the people soon call for Byrrah to replace Namor as their sovereign. Though incensed by their betrayal, Namor accepts Byrrah’s challenge to single combat. However, Byrrah wins the contest through treachery, and his first act as ruler of Atlantis is to have Namor exiled to Inferno Isle some 8,000 miles away. While receiving his sentence, Namor learns that both Attuma and Krang are Byrrah’s co-conspirators. The outraged Sub-Mariner escapes from the volcano monster on the lonely island and swims back to Atlantis. Upon arriving, he finds the city being damaged by a giant vortex-creating machine. After destroying the weapon, Namor returns to the royal palace, where he learns from Dorma and Vashti that Byrrah had used a hypnotic ray to steal the loyalty of the citizens. His faith restored, the Sub-Mariner reclaims his crown. Krang and Attuma flee from his wrath, while Byrrah is sentenced to permanent exile.

Notes:

January 1962 – For earlier events in Namor’s life, see OMU: Ancient History 4.

February 1962 – The Sub-Mariner is reintroduced in Fantastic Four #4. Coincidentally, the Human Torch is seen reading an old copy of Sub-Mariner Comics. It is established as early as Fantastic Four #2 that the Marvel Universe has its own counterpart of the Marvel Comics Group, which went on to become something of a running gag in various titles.

April 1962 – The first “Super-Villain Team-Up” occurs in Fantastic Four #6.

June 1962 – In the original story in Fantastic Four #9, Namor’s business venture actually has the unlikely name of S-M Studios. This was later changed to Imperial when it was realized that kids might get the wrong impression of what kind of movies Namor was making. It’s doubtful Lee and Kirby realized that S-M could mean “sadomasochism” as well as “Sub-Mariner,” as they didn’t seem to have that sort of sense of humor. Ironically, the documentary film The Fantastic Four is a financial success, and Imperial Studios will continue to operate for many years to come, providing Namor with a hefty income in surface-world currency.

July 1962 – The Human Torch first takes on the Sub-Mariner solo in Strange Tales #107, which at the time was a sort of companion title to Fantastic Four. Namor gives no indication that he remembers the original Human Torch of the 1940s, suggesting he’s still suffering from partial amnesia.

August 1962 – The Sub-Mariner remains unaware that his mind was hijacked by the Puppet Master in Fantastic Four #14. Under the Puppet Master’s influence, Namor kidnapped the Invisible Girl, taking her to his undersea base and threatening her life. When her teammates came to the rescue, the Sub-Mariner engaged them in dishonorable combat before trying to kill them all with poison gas. Namor’s mind was finally freed when the Puppet Master’s submarine was attacked by a giant octopus. The “lady’s maid” is actually the Thing’s girlfriend, Alicia Masters, but Namor has no way to know that.

September 1962 – Namor is first reunited with his people in Fantastic Four Annual #1. Lady Dorma makes her first modern appearance and Warlord Krang is introduced, but Lord Byrrah remains behind the scenes. The original city of Atlantis is located at roughly 55°N by 21°W, whereas Thakorr’s Atlantis (where Namor grew up) is over 8,700 miles away at about 66°S by 10°E. The destruction of Thakorr’s Atlantis is depicted in flashback in Tales to Astonish #96 and Sub-Mariner #1. It was not, in fact, caused by the surface world’s nuclear weapons but by the villain Destiny (Paul Destine) using the power of the Serpent Crown. Namora’s fate is revealed in Sub-Mariner #51. During the Atlantean invasion of New York City, Thor, Iron Man, Ant-Man, and the Wasp are all out west fighting the Hulk (in Avengers #1) while Spider-Man is battling the Lizard in the Florida Everglades (in Amazing Spider-Man #6). Doctor Strange monitors the situation from his Sanctum Sanctorum via the Orb of Agamotto (following Strange Tales #116). Namor apparently remains unaware that it was Dorma who shattered the flagship’s porthole, deliberately trying to drown the Invisible Girl in a fit of jealousy. Though the story suggests this was a global invasion, it’s more likely it was limited to NYC, as the Atlanteans aren’t that numerous.

November 1962 – The Sub-Mariner and the Hulk first team up in Avengers #3. In the following issue, Namor plays his part in the resurrection of Captain America, though both men are suffering from partial amnesia. The real reason the Sub-Mariner and Captain America don’t seem to know each other is that it wasn’t until years later that Roy Thomas had the idea that they had fought side by side during World War II as members of the Invaders. That was the first major “retcon” of the Marvel Universe. The extraterrestrial is evidently a member of the D’Bari race and presumably has a few years to enjoy being home again before his planet gets destroyed by Dark Phoenix. It seems likely that Namor’s squad of loyal soldiers is led by his young cousin Dara, who was just a kid back in the 1940s. The ever-faithful Dara will be introduced much later in Sub-Mariner Limited Series #1.

December 1962 – Namor is unaware of the involvement of Doctor Strange in the mission to rescue the Invisible Girl in Fantastic Four #27. He encounters the X-Men and the Mutant Brotherhood for the first time in Uncanny X-Men #6. His battle with the Human Torch and the Thing occurs in Strange Tales #125.

February 1963 – Namor fights off Attuma and his barbarian hordes for the first time in Fantastic Four #33. Knowing of Namor’s pride, Dorma decides not to tell him that, feeling guilty for her act of treason, she fled to New York City and enlisted the aid of the Fantastic Four. The Invisible Girl made the Sub-Mariner invisible briefly during his duel with Attuma while her teammates prevented Attuma’s men from interfering in the fight. This gave Namor the edge he needed to win the day.

May 1963 – Aware of the Sub-Mariner’s service to the Allied Powers during World War II, the Avengers believe they are offering Namor the chance for redemption in the eyes of the surface world. However, Namor does not yet remember his time with the Invaders and declines, as seen in Avengers #16. The Sub-Mariner will eventually join Earth’s Mightiest Heroes many years later. Namor battles Daredevil in Daredevil #7. The Sub-Mariner’s 15,000-mile journey to find Neptune’s Trident kicks off his solo series in Tales to Astonish #70 and following.

September 1963 – Namor blacks out during his confrontation with Hank Pym due to once again coming under the control of the Puppet Master, who forces him to return to Manhattan and rob a bank, as seen in Tales to Astonish #78–79. The National Guard drives Namor off, and he dives into the river expecting it to restore his strength. He is only dimly aware of the things he did under the Puppet Master’s influence, which he shakes off through sheer willpower. This story also sees the return of the Sub-Mariner’s creator, Bill Everett, to the art team. Namor’s encounter with Iron Man forms an early Marvel crossover event, as the story detours into the “Iron Man” feature in Tales of Suspense #79–80.

December 1963 – Byrrah’s attempted usurpation brings us up to Tales to Astonish #91.

OMU Note: The Sub-Mariner’s final canonical appearance was in Namor #25.

Next Issue: The Way It Began: Fantastic Four -- Year One

OMU: Hulk -- Year Two

After spending the better part of a year as a regular character in The Avengers, the Hulk was again awarded a series of solo stories, this time as part of the split-book Tales to Astonish. As Marvel was phasing out its sci-fi and monster stories, it converted its anthology titles into superhero double features. Hulk was first paired up with stories featuring Giant-Man and the Wasp and later with the Sub-Mariner. During this period, Hulk seemed to finally hit his stride, and important characters such as Glenn Talbot and the Leader were introduced. The “secret identity” facet of the stories was also abandoned, as the dual nature of Bruce Banner and the Hulk was made public knowledge. The series was distinctive in that, rather than telling self-contained stories, or even two- or three-part story arcs, Stan Lee decided to try more of an ongoing “soap opera” approach, allowing each issue to roll into the next for an extended, rambling narrative.

Note: The following timeline depicts the Original Marvel Universe (anchored to November 1961 as the first appearance of the Fantastic Four and proceeding forward from there. See previous posts for a detailed explanation of my rationale.) Some information presented on the timeline is speculative and some is based on historical accounts. See the Notes section at the end for clarifications.

We now continue with... The True History of the Incredible Hulk!

January 1963 – Bruce Banner manages not to turn into the Hulk for two or three weeks by focusing on his research and restocking his hidden underground lab. He also tries to distance himself from Betty Ross, now that his transformations are unpredictable. One day, Giant-Man arrives at Desert Base in search of the Hulk. Feeling persecuted, Bruce’s frustration reaches the boiling point and he loses control, changing into the Hulk. The jeep he was driving is wrecked, and he goes off to attack Giant-Man. Hulk goes on a rampage in a nearby town, terrorizing the locals once again. Then, he encounters a strange spinning man, really the criminal known as the Human Top, who tells Hulk he can find Giant-Man in the next town. Sure enough, Giant-Man is there and Hulk attacks. After a battle in the main street of the evacuated town, Hulk and Giant-Man see a missile coming towards them. Giant-Man learns from the Wasp that the missile carries a low-yield atomic warhead, fired by the military after the Human Top told them the Hulk was alone in the deserted town. Cursing himself, Hulk intercepts the missile and hurls it into the hills outside of town. Although the others are saved, Hulk is caught in the ensuing nuclear explosion and blacks out. He crashes to earth and changes back into Bruce Banner. Betty is overjoyed when Bruce comes staggering out of the desert, and after a long rest, he resumes his research.

February–March 1963 – Bruce buries himself in his research for a few months, making tremendous strides forward in a variety of projects, such as the Orion missile and a device he calls the “Absorbatron,” which will protect a city from atomic attack by absorbing all the radiation. Also, perhaps inspired by Iron Man, Bruce develops a heavy-duty suit of robotic armor to be used for close observation of nuclear tests. Having realized that undue stress triggers his transformation, Bruce only turns into the Hulk a few times in this period, and Hulk, increasingly suspicious of humans, keeps a low profile out in the desert.

April 1963 – Bruce turns into the Hulk when a spy tries to steal his suit of robotic armor, but Hulk just leaps off into the desert, letting the spy get away with the armor. The next morning, as the spy is testing the armor, Hulk attacks him, believing he was sent to destroy him. However, Hulk begins changing back into Bruce during the fight, enabling the spy to escape again. Bruce feels guilty for having unleashed another menace on the world and considers resigning, but Betty convinces him of the value of his work. A day or two later, as Bruce is cobbling together a portable electronic scanner to track the robotic armor, Major Glenn Talbot arrives as the new security chief for Desert Base. Talbot has been suspicious of Bruce for some time and was assigned to the base when General Ross finally made a full report of Bruce’s many disappearances over the last year.

Later, while out in the desert tracking the robotic armor, Bruce changes into the Hulk and battles the spy, knocking him into a deep chasm inside a cavern, where he dies. A missile built by the spy has been launched at Desert Base, however, so Hulk intercepts it, but the resulting blast knocks him unconscious. Talbot finds him, and the jade giant is captured by the military once again. Trapped in restraints provided by Stark Industries, Hulk struggles to break free until the Chameleon, disguised as General Ross, unwittingly helps him escape unobserved. Having changed back into Bruce, he easily slips out of the Hulk-sized shackles and finds that Rick Jones has returned to Desert Base, having heard a report of the Hulk’s capture on the radio. Rick helps Bruce avoid the guards, get back to his quarters, and get some fresh clothing. Bruce then turns up at a late-night emergency meeting and confronts General Ross and Major Talbot. Shortly afterward, the Chameleon ambushes Bruce, ties him up, and assumes his identity. Hearing the Chameleon threatening Betty, Bruce turns into the Hulk again and attacks, causing the impostor to flee. Desperate to escape, the Chameleon throws a gamma grenade he took from Bruce’s lab. Hulk shields the blast with his body, but the gamma radiation changes him back into Bruce Banner. Betty tells General Ross and Major Talbot about the Chameleon, but no sign of the master of disguise can be found.

The next day, the Absorbatron is moved by train to a base on the west coast, accompanied by Bruce, Talbot, and a contingent of soldiers. En route, the train is boarded by a rubbery android that seems intent on stealing the Absorbatron. The stress causes Bruce to change into the Hulk, and he fights the android off, though the Absorbatron falls off the train. That evening, Talbot finds Bruce with the Absorbatron next to the train tracks and places him under arrest on suspicion of espionage.

May 1963 – Several days later, Bruce is transferred from the military prison to Washington D.C., to stand before a congressional investigation. Having been following the story in the newspapers, Rick arrives and uses his Avengers connections to somehow get the charges against Bruce dropped. Before Bruce can ask Rick how he did it, Talbot whisks him off to Astra Island in the Pacific Ocean to test the Absorbatron. Unfortunately, Talbot’s constant harassment soon triggers Bruce’s transformation, convincing the suspicious major that Bruce and the Hulk are working together to undermine America’s national security. An army of rubbery androids then swarms the island and fights with the Hulk while Talbot secures the Absorbatron inside a bunker. U.S. troops soon move in, and a grenade causes a landslide that knocks the Hulk and his android foes into the ocean. Hulk swims off, changes into Bruce Banner, and as luck would have it, is picked up by a Russian submarine. A week later, Bruce arrives in the Soviet Union and is brought to a work-camp for kidnapped scientists. He soon changes into the Hulk and destroys the camp. The Soviet Army attacks, but the Hulk defeats them. He leaps away, finally coming to rest in Mongolia, where he changes back into Bruce again. He is captured by a group of bandits, who contact the American government with their ransom demands.

After a few days, Glenn Talbot arrives at the bandits’ camp to pay the ransom and pick up Bruce. However, rival bandits attack, allowing Bruce and Talbot to slip away in the confusion. When the pair is caught in an avalanche, Bruce turns into the Hulk and saves Talbot, who’s been knocked out. Leaving the major behind, Hulk makes his own way back to the New Mexico desert. After changing back into Bruce Banner, he is arrested once again as a traitor, since an American reconnaissance plane saw him being picked up by the Russian sub. Rick visits Bruce in prison and admits that even he can’t be sure where Bruce’s true loyalties lie, leaving the disgraced scientist on the brink of despair.

Several days later, Major Talbot makes it home to the United States and escorts Bruce back to Astra Island to complete the Absorbatron test. A seemingly numberless horde of rubbery androids attacks again, but this time the Hulk is gassed into unconsciousness. He soon changes back into Bruce and wakes up to find himself in a secret underground lab in Arizona belonging to a green-skinned freak calling himself the Leader. Seeing that the Leader has stolen the Absorbatron as well, Bruce manages to transmit a message to the Air Force in Morse code. The Leader tries to gas Bruce into unconsciousness, only to change him into the Hulk instead. Hulk goes on a rampage and destroys the Absorbatron, but the Leader escapes. As General Ross and his troops storm the base, one soldier shoots the Hulk in the head just as he is changing back into Bruce Banner. Bruce blacks out and crumples to the floor, the bullet lodged in his brain. When he comes to, he finds himself back in his hidden underground lab near Desert Base. Rick is there, having managed to revive him via gamma-ray bombardment. To their mutual astonishment, Bruce is in the body of the Hulk but, apparently due to the bullet in his brain, retains his normal personality. Bruce realizes grimly that, should he regain his ordinary human form, he will die instantly.

The next day, the Leader sends a 500-foot-tall android to attack Desert Base, so Bruce uses the power of the Hulk to fight it off. In the midst of the battle, Rick warns him that the military is about to launch their “Sunday Punch” super-missile at them. Bruce grabs Rick and leaps away as the giant android is destroyed by the missile. However, the soldiers manage to track the Hulk back to his underground lab, where, after Rick is evacuated, they destroy it completely with heavy artillery. During the bombardment, the Leader contacts the Hulk with an offer, whereupon Bruce allows the criminal mastermind to teleport him away, to a hidden base in Italy. That night, the Leader’s rubbery androids, which he refers to as Humanoids, stop Bruce from escaping by knocking him out with a barrage of stun rays. While the Hulk is unconscious, the Leader discovers the bullet in his brain and dissolves it with a special technique. When he regains consciousness, Bruce is relieved to be out of danger but worries that the high dose of gamma rays the Leader exposed him to may have left him trapped in the Hulk’s form permanently.

June 1963 – Over the next few days, the Leader makes a detailed study of the Hulk and puts him through a battery of tests. With the bullet no longer in his brain, Hulk’s personality soon becomes dominant once more. Then, the Leader makes the Hulk honor his part of the bargain and teleports him to a planet inhabited by one of the enigmatic Watchers. Hulk fights off an alien champion and retrieves a globe called “the ultimate machine.” After returning the Hulk to Earth, the Leader puts the globe over his head in order to absorb all the knowledge of the universe. However, it is too much for the villain, and he keels over, apparently dead. Hulk takes the globe and heads into the Alps. He tries it on, whereupon the Watcher allows the Hulk to hear Rick’s thoughts as he sits in military prison. Thus, the Hulk learns that Rick got Bruce out of jail by revealing his secret to President John F. Kennedy. Realizing he owes Rick a debt, Hulk drops the “ultimate machine” and makes his way to Washington, D.C. to seek help at the White House. However, General Ross and his troops are waiting for him by the time he arrives, and they blast the Hulk with a directed-energy weapon of Bruce’s design, code named the “T-gun,” which apparently creates a time displacement wave that transports the Hulk 500 years into the future.

Finding himself in a desolate wasteland, Hulk wanders around the ruins of an extinct civilization. The only recognizable landmark is the statue of Abraham Lincoln in the rubble of the Lincoln Memorial. Suddenly, he is attacked from behind by armored warriors in the service of King Arrkam. They recognize the Hulk as a figure out of legend and hit him with an intense artillery barrage. When the Hulk shrugs off their most powerful weapons, the warriors decide to capture him instead, which they accomplish using a robot that can manipulate gravity. The helpless Hulk is thus transported to a massive stone fortress where he is brought before the king. Hulk is not interested in King Arrkam’s entreaties to aid them against their enemies and fights his way out of the fortress. Suddenly, several robotic tripod fighting machines converge on the fortress, and Hulk realizes that King Arrkam’s enemy is attacking. Wondering if the invaders might have time-travel technology to get him home, Hulk leaps onto the lead tripod. A mighty warrior emerges to confront the Hulk, revealing himself to be an Asgardian known as the Executioner.

Hulk is unimpressed with the Executioner’s boasting and attacks him, their fistfight quickly causing them to tumble off the tripod onto the rocky ground. One of the tripods then fires a stun beam at the Hulk, momentarily giving the Executioner the upper hand. Though he takes a beating, Hulk’s mounting rage makes him stronger and stronger until he is able to drive his foe off. However, seeing the tripods firing on the fortress with devastating heat rays, Hulk realizes he can’t stand idly by and destroys several of the fighting machines, prompting the rest to retreat. King Arrkam’s forces then emerge from the fortress, and Hulk is ready to fight them, too. Instead, he finds himself caught up in a time vortex that returns him to the 20th century. Materializing in the New Mexico desert, Hulk wanders off, lost in his own muddled thoughts.

July–August 1963 – Hulk lurks in his familiar cave systems, nursing his hatred of the human race.

September 1963 – Hulk eventually wanders too close to Desert Base and is captured. That night, though, General Ross’s new chief scientist, Dr. Konrad Zaxon, frees the Hulk in an attempt to use him to conquer the world, but his folly costs him his life. During his escape, Hulk is hit with the Orion missile that Bruce designed, but he recovers quickly and disappears into the darkness. The next morning, the Air Force tracks the Hulk to a remote area. The green behemoth nearly wrecks a train during the confrontation—a train on which Hercules is traveling to Los Angeles. Hercules attacks him, and Hulk finds himself enjoying the battle, glad to be able to let loose on an opponent who gives as good as he gets. Ultimately, the fight is inconclusive, as the Air Force intervenes with a massive artillery barrage. Hulk leaps away, only to be kidnapped that night by Tyrannus, who now needs his old foe’s help in his subterranean war against the Mole Man. Tyrannus reveals that the Mole Man has seized control of the fountain of youth he needs to survive, leaving him a withered old man.

The next day, when the Hulk proves uncooperative, Tyrannus kidnaps Rick, Betty, and Talbot. However, Hulk barely recognizes them and throws a temper tantrum when they badmouth Tyrannus. The Mole Man suddenly attacks, and Hulk leaps into the fray, overcoming the Mole Man’s most advanced weaponry. While fighting a bulky robot called the Octo-Sapien, Hulk tumbles into Tyrannus’s fountain of youth and finally changes back into Bruce Banner for the first time since his encounter with the Leader. With the Octo-Sapien destroyed, Bruce slips away from the war zone and soon comes across the aged Tyrannus, who reports that he’s already returned his three prisoners to the surface. Desperately searching for Tyrannus’s teleportation device, Bruce stumbles upon some of his Subterranean legions, who accuse him of being a spy. Their assault causes Bruce to change into the Hulk again, but he nevertheless manages to transport himself back to the surface, thanks to Bruce’s lingering influence. Hulk materializes in the middle of an artillery test and takes refuge in a cave. He then gets into a fight with a costumed man calling himself Boomerang, who is attempting to kidnap Betty. Hulk manages to rescue Betty, but Boomerang gets away. That night, Hulk brings Rick and General Ross to where Betty is waiting in the desert. Confused by the emotions that Betty stirs in him, Hulk roars at them and leaps off, seeking solitude. His restless wanderings then lead him eastward across the country.

October 1963 – Hulk arrives in New York City, intent on finding the Avengers. Trying to disguise himself with a trenchcoat and flophat, Hulk wanders around the city for a few days, leaving chaos in his wake. At one point, he sees the Sub-Mariner in a crowded movie theater but doesn't quite remember him. Finally, Rick arrives in town while the Hulk is shambling around causing property damage and drives him to an abandoned tenement. To their surprise, a large robot suddenly emerges from the trunk of the car Rick was driving. Hulk destroys the robot, but not before it causes a test of the Orion missile to go awry. The missile changes course and targets New York City. As the missile approaches, Hulk leaps up and grabs it, changing into Bruce Banner just long enough to alter its course so it crash-lands in the ocean. Hulk then swims ashore and meets up with Rick, who finds them a place to lay low inside a closed-down factory. Later, after Rick brings him food, Hulk calms down and changes back into Bruce. Rather sheepishly, Rick admits that he revealed Bruce and the Hulk to be one and the same a few months ago when he believed the Hulk had been vaporized by the “T-gun.” General Ross, Major Talbot, and Betty took some convincing, he explains, but they eventually accepted the truth. Since then, word has gotten out, and now the whole world knows Bruce’s terrible secret. Bruce isn't sure how to feel about this revelation, but he realizes his career as a research scientist is over.

November 1963 – Hulk is still lurking around New York City when Spider-Man comes looking for him one day while Rick is out. Hulk tries to drive the web-slinger away, and their fight takes them into a Gamma Ray Research Center in Manhattan. Hulk destroys an experimental device and is bathed in gamma radiation, which causes him to change back to Bruce Banner for a few minutes. Bruce and Spider-Man have a moment to discuss his situation, and after he changes into the Hulk again, Spider-Man decides to leave him alone.

December 1963 – Shortly after midnight one night, Hulk attacks one of the Leader’s rampaging Humanoids, and their battle rages through the night and into the next morning as General Ross and his troops watch helplessly. After daybreak, Hulk suddenly transforms into Bruce when the Humanoid knocks down Rick with a backhand blow. Bruce quickly devises a plan to stop the android with the full cooperation of the Air Force. Though his plan hinges on him changing back into the Hulk at just the right moment, Bruce pulls it off and the Humanoid is destroyed. Reporters are on the scene, and it seems the Hulk has saved the city a second time. Seeing the coverage on the morning television news, President Lyndon B. Johnson sends a courier to offer the Hulk amnesty, at General Ross’s discretion. However, Boomerang is lurking in the shadows and tricks the Hulk into causing a panic. As the Hulk leaps away, General Ross decides he is still a menace and declines the President’s offer. Boomerang catches up to the Hulk at a dam as the jade giant heads west again. During their fight, Boomerang destroys the dam but is swept away in the ensuing flood. Hulk turns back into Bruce and passes out from exhaustion. Hours later, the enigmatic alien known as the Stranger appears, intending to use the Hulk as his instrument to destroy the human race. He alters the Hulk’s mind with his unearthly technology and sends him on a rampage. All that night, Hulk heads west, wreaking havoc and destruction in his path, such as demolishing a bridge over the Mississippi River.

Finally, the next morning, Hulk reaches Desert Base, where his transformation into Bruce Banner frees him from the Stranger’s influence. Desperate, Bruce realizes his suicide is the only hope for humanity. He steals into his lab and sets the gamma-ray bombardment machine for a lethal overdose. However, the troops discover him and place him under arrest. When another green-skinned monster starts tearing up the base, Bruce realizes someone else must have activated the machine and exposed himself to its gamma rays. He turns into the Hulk and attacks the creature, who is soon dubbed “the Abomination” by the startled onlookers. However, the Abomination proves to be too tough for the Hulk, knocking him out with a crushing blow to the head. When the Hulk comes to, he tries to leave the base, but Rick begs him to stay and help rescue Betty from the Abomination. Remembering Betty, Hulk calms down and becomes Bruce again. After conferring with Rick and General Ross, Bruce quickly devises a strategy to defeat the Abomination. He lures the monster back to the base and subjects him to a ray that weakens him. However, the excitement is too much for Bruce and he turns back into the Hulk, wrecks the machine, and fights the Abomination to a standstill. Suddenly, the Stranger intervenes, having changed his mind about destroying humanity. He teleports the Abomination to his base somewhere in outer space. The danger passed and Betty safe once more, Hulk wanders off into the desert—alone.

Notes:

January 1963 – There was something of a tradition with these Marvel split-books that a character about to be given his own series would guest-star in the lead feature the issue before it started. Thus comes this story from the Giant-Man series in Tales to Astonish #59.

April 1963 – This marks the commencement of the Hulk’s solo stories, by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, in Tales to Astonish #60 and following. Ditko would soon pass the penciling chores on to powerhouse artists such as Jack Kirby, Bill Everett, John Buscema, and Gil Kane. Both the Chameleon and the unnamed spy who steals the suit of robotic armor are working for the Leader.

June 1963 – While it is debatable, I don’t believe the Watcher depicted in Tales to Astonish #73–75 is Uatu, the familiar Watcher who lives on Earth’s moon, despite the listing on the Marvel Chronology Project. The trouble with the Watchers is that they all pretty much look alike. As suggested in Thor #372, Hulk is actually sent to the future by the Time Variance Authority, presumably because the Executioner, as per Hulk #102, is time traveling also.

September–October 1963 – Both Boomerang and the robot that interferes with the Orion missile test are agents of the original incarnation of the Secret Empire. Following the collapse of their plans, the Secret Empire is defeated by S.H.I.E.L.D., and all their surviving members are jailed.

November 1963 – Hulk and Spider-Man fight each other again in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #3. Hulk is still hiding out in New York City when President Kennedy is assassinated. This satisfies my initial research question as far as the Hulk is concerned. It is unclear how much of this time he spent as Bruce Banner and how much as the Hulk, for he was in the city with Rick for a few months, keeping a low profile as best he could.

December 1963 – In Tales to Astonish #88, the President of the United States is drawn to actually look like Lyndon Johnson, courtesy of artist Gil Kane. This is one of the few times in the Original Marvel Universe that the President looks like the man who was in office according to the date on the timeline. As usual, it is pure serendipity. The defeat of the Abomination takes us up to Tales to Astonish #91.

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