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    Fantastic Four #4

    Fantastic Four » Fantastic Four #4 - The Coming of the Sub-Mariner! released by Marvel on May 1962.

    Short summary describing this issue.

    The Coming of the Sub-Mariner! last edited by pikahyper on 06/04/19 10:06AM View full history

    The Sub-Mariner has returned! Calling upon his mighty sea creature army, he will have his revenge on the human race. It's up to the Fantastic Four to stop him.

    Plot Summary

    Picking up where the last issue ends Johnny Storm following an argument with the Thing, and generally feeling under-appreciated by the team, quits the Fantastic Four and flies off. Soon after the other members of the Fantastic Four go in search of him and fearing him to be a threat the military and police set out in hunt of him as well. The Thing finds Johnny working on his hot rod and the two fight before Johnny flees to the Bowery to hide. In a Bowery flophouse the Human Torch then discovers the Sub-Mariner.

    The Sub-Mariner disheveled and suffering from amnesia has his memory restored when Johnny Storm realises it is him and drops him into the sea in an attempt to restore his memory. The Sub-Mariner swims off to his home only to find his home city of Atlantis destroyed by nuclear bomb tests and he swears vengeance upon mankind. Using the Horn of Proteus, the Sub-Mariner summons Giganto, a massive sea monster and the Fantastic Four, once again reunited, defeat the monster by having the Thing carry an atomic bomb into it's stomach.

    Sub-Mariner about to attempt to summon more sea monsters with the Horn of Proteus, is unable to do so when the Invisible Girl steals it from him. As the Sub-Mariner grabs her she becomes visible and the Sub-Mariner instantly falls in love with her and promises to give up his war on humanity if she will be his queen. Sue agrees, but when the other team members try to intervene, he vows to have both Sue and his war!

    Note: This is the first issue to feature the rephrased tagline "The world's greatest comic magazine!" which has appeared on every issue since.

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    User reviews Add new review

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    3.5 stars

    Average score of 3 user reviews

    Best of the Early Fantastic Four stories 0

    From a writing standpoint, the fourth issue (coincidence?) happens to be the most memorable of the early issues. It brings the Sub-Mariner back into the Marvel Universe, and is often reprinted. It's also a little less silly than most of the early issues (especially the last one). Although there's plenty to dislike, like Johnny Storm being able to (and choosing to) create a tornado in downtown NYC (after the team detonated a nuke there), and some of the things listed below, but for all the good r...

    6 out of 6 found this review helpful.

    Fantastic Four #4 0

     This is the return of the Sub-Mariner from the Golden Age of Timely Comics. He returns after being discovered by the Human Torch in the Bowery. There is also another atomic bomb explosion in this issue, showing more repetitive plotting.   Another motif in the early Fantastic Four comics is Susan Storm as the damsel in distress. She usually contributes very little to the fight scenes (well, I mean, all she can do is turn invisible, so I guess what do you expect?) and frequently ends up needing t...

    3 out of 3 found this review helpful.

    The Coming of the... Sub-Mariner! 0

    Drawing a thin line connecting Marvel’s Golden Age with their current age, Lee and Kirby break down more walls and expand the space between their borders once more by infusing backstory from decades prior into its weaving. So not only do we have characters that exist within our real world New York who share a less than perfect relationship with each other that develops over time, but we can look forward to seeing villains and other backing characters in more than just a single issue. Again, it’s...

    0 out of 0 found this review helpful.
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