Fantastic Four #55 Review

by jfpj1991, CMRO User

Fantastic Four

Issue #55

Written by Stan Lee, Art by Jack Kirby

Published: October 1966

This issue was the best I read in awhile. I honestly didn’t expect much. Ben, pure strength, battling a cosmic entity. It sounded like a one sided battle that would just prove to be mostly filler. Boy was I wrong.

To start I will say that the battle was mostly one sided, but Ben got in a few good shots because the Silver Surfer was only trying to defend himself. The battle isn’t what made this a great comic.

The best thing about this comic was the character development regarding the Silver Surfer. He was a character that has only briefly appeared before in the Fantastic Four comics, similar to Namor the Sub-Mariner.

Personally, I never liked Namor’s guest appearances. The Silver Surfer on the other hand proved to be a different story. He believes he has humans figured out when he returns to Alicia. Humans are barbaric for greed or power, and they kill without warrant. However, though he is able to beat Ben Grimm in battle, he sees that not all actions are driven by such base emotions. He sees that there are some emotions that are so complex that they will require deeper study.

It is also great to see Mr. Fantastic set Ben straight. It seems like I have been reading forever about Ben feeling sorry for himself. He has been thinking Alicia only loves him out of pity, or that he’s not good looking enough for her. It was good to see a comic character tell him exactly how I have been feeling. He’s as stupid as he looks when he acts like that.

We also get a bonus in just a few pages of Johnny Storm. While I’m not a fan of Johnny fighting tooth and nail for a woman he barely even knows, it was nice to see the hope instilled in the story by Lockjaw’s appearance.