Fantask #6
Fantask #6 sits near the close of the very first sustained publication of Marvel Comics in France, making it part of a seven-issue run that introduced French readers to the Fantastic Four, the Silver Surfer, and Spider-Man for the first time in a continuous format. Within its pages, French audiences encountered the debut of the Vulture (Adrian Toomes), the Mad Thinker, and the Awesome Android — characters whose first appearances were already embedded in the translated American material being serialised here. The magazine's forced shutdown by the French censorship commission shortly after this issue, on the grounds that its science fiction and monster imagery were harmful to youth, became one of the most discussed episodes in French comics publishing history, and paradoxically helped cement Fantask's long-term cultural significance.
In "Le cerveau fou et son terrible androïde," the Mad Thinker launches a cunning scheme to seize control of New York by manipulating the Four Fantasticos, luring each with tempting offers while secretly using the Baxter Building to forge a super-powered android. Written by Stan Lee and brought to life with dynamic energy by Jack Kirby, with inks by Dick Ayers and colors by Stan Goldberg, this 1969 issue pulses with suspense and inventive menace. The cover, penciled by Kirby and inked by Ayers, captures the chilling moment of the android’s emergence.
In "Le cerveau fou et son terrible androïde," the Penseur Fou manipulates New York’s criminal underworld by luring the Four Fantastiques with tempting offers, knowing their separation will leave them vulnerable. While they’re distracted, he uses the Baxter Building to forge a terrifyingly powerful android, setting the stage for a clash of minds and might.
In "Le micro-monde du Docteur Fatalis," the Four Fantastic respond to a mysterious distress call from a being too small to be seen, only to find themselves plunged into a hidden microscopic realm ruled by the enigmatic Doctor Fatalis. The story unfolds as they navigate this strange, scaled-down world, where danger and wonder exist on a tiny, uncharted scale.
In "Duel avec le Vautour," the arrogant Vautour brazenly announces his plan to steal a shipment of diamonds, confident no one can stop him. When the Spider learns of the threat, he moves to intercept the thief in a high-stakes showdown.
In "Mondes sans fin…", the Silver Surfer pushes beyond the speed of light in a desperate bid to flee Galactus’s relentless pursuit—only to awaken in a future where time itself seems endless. The journey leaves him adrift in a world reshaped by forces beyond his understanding, where the boundaries of reality stretch far beyond what he once knew.
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Fantask was conceived after Claude Vistel — editor at Éditions Lug and daughter of company co-founder Auguste Vistel — returned from a 1968 trip to New York and negotiated with Transworld Features, a syndication firm representing Stan Lee and Marvel, to publish the Fantastic Four, Silver Surfer, and Amazing Spider-Man in France. Éditions Lug, a Lyon-based publisher best known for digest-format adventure comics like Zembla, launched the title in February 1969 in the small 'petit format' size. Fantask #6 appeared in July 1969, and the series was shut down by the Commission de surveillance et de contrôle des publications destinées à l'enfance et à l'adolescence — which condemned its 'terrifying science fiction,' 'traumatising monster battles,' and 'violent colours' — before a seventh issue could complete the run normally. The abrupt censure forced Lug to relaunch Marvel material the following year under the title Strange, this time in a more cautious black-and-white-adjacent bichrome format to avoid further regulatory trouble.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Fantask #6 was published by Éditions Lug (Lyon, France) with a cover date of July 15, 1969, edited by Claude Vistel, and ran in the small 'petit format' (15 × 21 cm) used throughout the series.
- The issue reprints Amazing Spider-Man #2 (May 1963, script Stan Lee, art Steve Ditko), marking the French-language debut of the Vulture (Adrian Toomes) — who is explicitly flagged as an introduction in the Grand Comics Database entry for this issue.
- It also contains material from Fantastic Four #15 (June 1963, Lee/Kirby/Ayers), which introduces the Mad Thinker (Le Cerveau / Le Penseur Fou) and his Awesome Android (L'Androïde du Penseur Fou) to French readers.
- Fantastic Four #16 (July 1963, Lee/Kirby/Ayers) also appears, featuring a crossover with Ant-Man (Hank Pym) and a cameo by the Wasp (Janet Van Dyne) in the Micro-World of Doctor Doom story.
- The Silver Surfer segment reprints the first 19.5 pages of Silver Surfer #6 (June 1969, 'Worlds Without End!', Lee/Buscema/Buscema), with the story's conclusion serialised across the next issue — consistent with Lug's practice of splitting longer American stories across multiple French instalments.
- Fantask was the first vehicle to publish Marvel Comics in France on a continuous basis, with the Fantastic Four, Silver Surfer, and Amazing Spider-Man all appearing in its pages across the seven-issue run (February–August 1969).
- The series also ran alongside Wampus, an original Éditions Lug superhero creation launched the same year, establishing Lug's dual strategy of translated Marvel content alongside homegrown French superheroes.
- Fantask #6 is one of the final two issues before the French censorship board's ruling halted the series; Lug subsequently relaunched Marvel material in 1970 under Strange, which ran for 28 years.
Cast · 34 characters
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Reprints
↩ Reprints Fantastic Four #11 (1963), The Amazing Spider-Man #2 (1963), Fantastic Four #15 (1963), Fantastic Four #16 (1963), The Amazing Spider-Man #8 (1964), The Silver Surfer #6 (1969), Wampus #5 (1969), Fantask #7 (1969)
Reprinted in Fantask #5 (1969)
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