Creature Comforts From Home VII: Fantastic Four

After wrapping up Starman, James Robinson moved on to other things. He wrote JSA (Justice Society of America) and Hawkman; he wrote Justice League: Cry For Justice; He wrote Batman and Detective Comics; he wrote the War of the Supermen and New Krypton storylines in Superman. He had a brief run on Justice League before The New 52 reboot relaunch in 2011. His League could be described as Justice Titans; it featured Dick (Robin) Grayson as The Batman, Donna (Wonder Girl) Troy as Wonder Woman, Mon-El as Superman, and Supergirl, just to name a few. I picked up a few issues of that, and I enjoyed it. What I would have enjoyed more, is Robinson's take on the original Magnificent Seven. With The New 52 reboot relaunch in 2011, Robinson re-imagined the Golden Age heroes of the Justice Society of America in Earth-2. You may have seen the news that his new Alan Scott was gay.

Robinson left Earth-2 and DC abruptly. He went across the street to the competition, Marvel, where he is now writing and updated The Invaders and Fantastic Four. I still believe that James Robinson has something in common with Roy Thomas. A Golden Age spirit. The Invaders was a World War II team book that Roy Thomas wrote when he was at Marvel in the mid-1970's. Captain America and Bucky, The Human Torch and Toro with Namor, the Sub-Mariner.

 

I'm sure that it is no co-incidence that Robinson was attracted to The Invaders, having worked on The Golden Age four-issue mini-series for DC; then Starman, which spent a great deal of time in the Golden Age; and finally writing both Justice Society and Earth-2. It is probably no co-incidence either that he is working with two teams that have a Human Torch; Jim Hammond, the original, Golden Age Human Torch, and Johnny Storm, Human Torch with the Fantastic Four.

 

Robinson's The Invaders is a little different from what I might have anticipated. It is hard to see these characters updated and contemporary from their wartime adventures. The same was true with the re-imagined Earth-2 heroes. The first story-arc puts these veteran heroes in a cosmic setting; which I would see as more suitable to the Fantastic Four. The Fantastic Four is a more cosmic team. They got their powers from a cosmic event. Reed Richards, Mister Fantastic is a cosmic scientist. He discovered the Negative Zone, which is cosmic. I see The Invaders as more of a Batman and The Outsiders team. Somewhat more political in nature. That might not work these days, it being such a small world. I see The Invaders as the original The A-Team. Only super-heroes.

 

 

I'm leaning more toward really enjoying his run on Fantastic Four. His Starman was about relationships; father-and-son, brothers, family. I believe that makes him a perfect fit for Marvel's First Family. I enjoyed Mark Waid and Mark Weringo's run on the book and their approach to the team as "Imaginauts". So far, Robinson is a few issues into his run and is deconstructing the team to define and rebuild them. As always, I'm interested to see where he is going with things.

 

To get ready for his relaunch, I went to the library and I picked up a copy of Essential Fantastic Four, Volume 1. It is a soft cover trade paperback collecting the first twenty issues, plus the first annual. One of the stories is the often reprinted Fantastic Four #5, featuring the first appearance of Doctor Doom.

 

 

This was re-imagined by Marc Sumerak and Dax Gordine in the All-Ages, Marvel Age Fantastic Four #5. Doom traps the Fantastic Four in the Baxter Building and takes them captive. He then enlists them to go back in time through his Time Platform to bring back Blackbeard's Treasure Chest. And, wackiness ensues. He holds Sue hostage while Reed, Johnny and Ben make the journey into the past. It is one of the greatest Fantastic Four stories by the original creators Jack Kirby and Stan Lee.

 

 

In 1996, around the time Doctor Doom and Reed Richards seemingly died like Sherlock Holmes and Professor Moriarty, Marvel launched a ninety-nine cent comic book line. One of the many titles was Fantastic Four Unplugged. It lasted all of six issues before it was cancelled ended. One of the issues featured Johnny Storm on a date. While on this date he encounters a group of Moloids carrying out an operation for The Mole Man. He is the Fantastic Four's first villain. It is very much a companion piece to the main Fantastic Four book; and, it is also interconnected to other Marvel books. You can't just pick up an issue and jump right into the story without knowing what else is going on in the Marvel Universe. Still, it is a pretty fun story. Except for the stuff that might not make sense unless you already know what's going on.

 

 

Marvel and DC have had a long love-hate relationship. Over the years they have produced some great cross-company team-ups; Superman and Spider-Man and Batman and The Incredible Hulk. In 1996, the two companies came up with DC Versus Marvel. It was a contest with fan involvement to see which characters would best each other. During the course of this and future encounters, the DC and Marvel characters were amalgamated, producing new characters from each publisher. Batman and Wolverine became Dark Claw; Iron Man and Green Lantern became Iron Lantern. The Fantastic Four were combined with the Challengers of the Unknown to become the Challengers of the Fantastic. Doctor Doom was combined with the Superman villain Doomsday to become Doctor Doomsday. The Watcher was melded with the Guardians of the Universe to become Uatu, the Guardian. Galactus and Brainiac became Galactiac. The Silver Surfer and The Back Racer became - you guessed it - The Silver Racer. It was all very '60's Silver Age and fun, in an Elseworlds/What If? alternate reality sort of way.

 

Robinson's Fantastic Four feels grand, epic and serious. At the end of issue #2, Johnny loses his Human Torch powers. The storyline is called "The Fall of the Fantastic Four". It should be interesting to see where Robinson takes the team. The most interesting development is that they are now wearing red uniforms.

 

Kinda like this...

Since my wife, Cathy, and I are building our family through adoption - we are on our third trip to Kiev, bringing home our daughter, Masha - and Marvel's First Family is the Fantastic Four, I brought along the first two issues of James Robinson's Fantastic Four and a couple of other FF comics as creature comforts from home.

 

I can wait to get back home to my favorite run of FF comics -

 

I have the entire 49 issues of Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four. A number of issues were written by Batman '66 writer Jeff Parker. They are all done-in-one stories. They are a lot of fun to re-read! I hope the same is true of Robinson's FF.  

 

 

   

All-New Invaders...?

I enjoy James Robinson's writing.  I just picked up the first two issues of All-New Invaders that he's written. I like The Invaders. Captain America and Bucky, The Human Torch and Toro and Namor, The Sub-Mariner. These five heroes fighting the Axis in World War II. After Batman and Spider-Man had introduced me to comic books, I started reading "history" through The Invaders and found I enjoyed World War II stories. That was the '70's. In the '80's, I followed Invaders writer Roy Thomas over to DC where he wrote All-Star Squadron, which was about every Golden-Age DC character together during World War II. In the '90's Robinson picked up where Thomas left off with his mini-series The Golden Age, Starman and Justice Society of America. Robinson built up so much on the foundation that Thomas laid.

I am cautious not to use the word "fan". As much as I would like to say that I am a "fan", I'm more likely to pause, take a deep breath and confess that I like both Robinson's and Thomas' writing. I once said I was a fan, when I was a boy in school and it was pointed out to me that I wasn't much of a fan because I didn't have the bed-sheets to prove it. I've always had a limit to my obsession, where others have gone the whole nine yards with either cos-play or a tattoo.    

I put James Robinson alongside New Teen Titans writer, Marv Wolfman; Kurt Busiek, known for Marvels, Astro City and Untold Tales of Spider-Man; Kingdom Come, The Flash and Fantastic Four writer Mark Waid; and, Paul Dini, who with Bruce Timm created the DC animated universe starting with Batman, then Superman and finally the Justice League. Dini then collaborated with artist Alex Ross to create a rich Bronze Age tribute through a number of stand-alone over-size graphic novels, Peace on Earth, War on Crime, Power of Hope, Spirit of Truth, JLA: Secret Origins and JLA: Liberty and Justice. I like reading these five writers. I put them together, and I would group them with Stephen King, Michael Crichton, Peter David - as a Star Trek novelist - Eoin Colfer, creator of Artemis Fowl; and Kinsey Millhone creator Sue Grafton.

When I say that there is a limit to my obsession, that means that there is a point where I draw a line. I like Marv Wolfman for his work on New Teen Titans. I'm not sure I would pick up anything else he's written. James Robinson has a unique voice as a writer when it comes to The Golden Age of comic books. But, I was never compelled to pick up his Superman or Action Comics. I read his Justice League: Cry For Justice and felt a little disappointed. When he took over from the late Dwayne McDuffie on the regular monthly Justice League, I wanted to like it. Unfortunately, it was a hybrid of the Justice League and Teen Titans; it was a Justice Titans. Dick Grayson had taken over as Batman; Diana Prince's younger sister Donna Troy was Wonder Woman; Mon-El was standing in for Superman along with Supergirl. I really wanted to like it. I still do.

That's the feeling I'm having after two issues of All-New Invaders. I want to like it. It's the characters I enjoy by the writer I enjoy. It just doesn't feel like a story I'd enjoy.

What Robinson has done is pretty similar to what he was doing on Earth-2 before he left DC. DC launched a reboot of it's entire comic book like branded The New 52. Robinson was re-imagining the Justice Society. As newer, younger characters. With no connection at all to World War II. Instead, the team came together in the wake and aftermath of a cosmic event involving Jack Kirby's New God's and Darkseid. Robinson left Earth-2 with issue #16, and now launches both All-New Invaders and Fantastic Four.

Here's what I'm thinking. Both teams have a Human Torch. Jim Hammond is the original Human Torch; Johnny Storm is the modern age version. I'm wondering if Robinson is planning an Invaders-Fantastic Four team-up crossover. I wouldn't be surprised. The first two issues of the new Invaders comic are cosmic in nature. An alien race called the Kree have come to Earth in search of something called God's Whisper. The Invaders dismantled it and hid the pieces to keep it from ever being used. They first encountered God's Whisper fighting Hela, during World War II.  It's a bit of a stretch, but that doesn't seem to fit the team. The most common Invaders stories have been against Axis despots. Like The Red Skull or Baron Blood. Now they are fighting aliens. That seems more within the Fantastic Four's wheelhouse. The Fantastic Four are more cosmic in nature.

I have to admit, I haven't read The Invaders since the '70's. The team was brought back not to long ago in an Avengers/Invaders team-up, and an Invaders Now! series.

I'm wondering why James Robinson is writing The Invaders like they are the Fantastic Four. Because, I'd like to see them fighting bad guys like the ones they faced before. Like The Red Skull, Baron Zemo, Von Strucker, or maybe Doctor Doom. They could be working with aliens. The Invaders are more soldiers. I have a hard time seeing soldiers fighting aliens. 

Timeless And Ageless

In June 1938, Superman, created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster made his debut in Action Comics #1. What followed was an explosion of colorful, costumed "Mystery Men".

In October 1939, Jim Hammond, The Human Torch - the original, "Golden-Age" Human Torch - not to be confused with the Fantastic Four's Johnny Storm, created by Carl Burgos, made his debut in Marvel Comics #1. The same issue that featured the debut of Bill Everett's Namor, the Sub-Mariner. In March of 1941, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby's Captain America debuted in Captain America Comics #1. The legendary Bill Finger, who worked with artist Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson on Batman, brought these three heroes together to fight the Axis during World War II as part of The All-Winners Squad in 1946.

Roy Thomas later brought The Invaders together in the pages of The Avengers in 1969. They later graduated to their own title in August 1975 and ran for 41 issues until September of 1979. Afterward, Thomas moved from Marvel to DC to write the World War II exploits of DC's Golden-Age pantheon of heroes dubbed the All-Star Squadron, or Super Squad.

The Invaders have had a number of revivals. Most notably a 2008 twelve-issue crossover with The Avengers that brought the war-time heroes forward in time, and a 2010 Invaders Now! reunion.

The Invaders return again in a new ongoing series by Eisner Award winning writer James Robinson. Robinson is known for his Golden Age inclination. He wrote the four issue mini-series, The Golden Age, focusing on the wartime period through the 1950's for DC; followed by Starman, which featured several Tales of Times Past stories, as well as fleshing out a rich and full history for his Jack Knight Starman. Starman led to a run on Justice Society of America and finally Earth-2.

There will probably be a lot of comparisons between Robinson's Earth-2 and All-New Invaders. Both feature updates of Classic, Golden-Age concepts and characters for a new generation. Notably, Robinson was part of re-imagining Green Lantern Alan Scott as homosexual.

At rival Marvel Comics, Robinson brings Jim Hammond, Namor, Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes into a new century. Time has not been kind to The Invaders. Namor, The Sub-Mariner, has been more or less the original anti-hero, in the sense that he has been antagonistic toward "surface-dwellers". For a time, he was actively a super-villain; adversary to the Fantastic Four and The Avengers. More at home with Magneto and Doctor Doom than Captain America and The Human Torch. Jim Hammond suffered pretty much the same fate. As a synthetic android, he was reanimated to fight the Fantastic Four by the villain the Mad Thinker; and later by Ultron as The Vision to fight The Avengers.

Captain America's sidekick, Bucky was one of the three Classic Marvel deaths. "With great power comes great responsibility", Ben Parker told his nephew Peter, before he was fatally shot by a robber Peter had encountered earlier as Spider-Man. Thinking a single, loner Spider-Man was better than one with a girlfriend, Gwen Stacy was murdered by the Green Goblin. Bucky died in an explosion toward the end of World War II. It was the same explosion that caused Captain America to be frozen in ice. Steve Rogers was later found by The Avengers. He mourned Bucky for many years. Until, it was revealed that Bucky was found by the Russians and trained to become the Winter Soldier.

Robinson and artist Steve Pugh bring The Invaders back together to face larger, more intergalactic threat in the first chapter, "Gods And Soldiers".

   

The Kree race are looking for something The Invaders came across during World War II. A villain called Tanalth tracks down Jim Hammond to probe his memory for information on finding it.

The story opens with the prologue of three Kree warriors finding a part hidden in the African desert by Namor.

Next, we see Jim Hammond working as a mechanic at a gas station in Blaketon, Illinois. His boss, Roger, tells him to take a lunch break and get something to eat at the diner. Roger tells him to have a burger, but all Jim has is a few bites off a slice of pie and a few sips of a cup of coffee. He is away from the gas station long enough to establish that he's been in Blaketon about six months and that he is well-liked in town. He gets back to the gas station in time to find his boss murdered by Tanalth. This is when the town of Blaketon discovers that Jim Hammond is really The Human Torch.

Tanalth opens up a forgotten memory for Hammond of The War. It's a vivid memory that he relives, where he, Namor, Bucky and Major Liberty encounter Hela. Captain America and Hammond's sidekick Toro are noticeably absent from the encounter. It is this memory that helps Tanalth learn where to find what she is looking for. Just as she is about to deliver a death blow to Hammond, Captain America and Winter Solider intervene.

Hammond, Rogers and Barnes will soon discover that Namor is a prisoner on the Kree home-world.

Robinson is an incredibly talented story-teller as evidenced in his work on WildC.A.T.s,e Leave It To Chance and Starman. He's only had a few misfires, such as the controversial Justice League: Cry For Justice storyline; his short run on Justice League, which featured a number of former Teen Titans; and his equally short run on Earth-2. His New Krypton Superman storyline may just have been ill-timed. The Superman Grounded storyline by J. Michael Straczynski that followed was widely derided. It seems nearly impossible to make Superman relevant and cool in this modern age.

Readers don't need any history or background to read All-New Invaders #1, although it is great to catch up again with old friends. Some comics rely heavily on a comics knowledge. Picking up The Invaders for the first time, Jim Hammond is revealed as The Human Torch and part of a World War II era super-hero team. There is a front-page breakdown of just who The Invaders are and where they've been. It is interesting that they are described as a "band of brothers".

James Robinson and Marvel certainly are striking while the iron is hot: Captain America: The First Avenger was part of the excitement leading up to the blockbuster The Avengers film. Captain America: The Winter Soldier featuring the legendary Robert Redford, as well as Black Widow an The Falcon looks to be another smash ahead of The Avengers 2: Age of Ultron.

All-New Invaders looks like a re-purposing of a classic concept. This could be what he intended for DC's The New 52 Earth-2.