Fantastic Four #20
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeFantastic Four #20 is the debut of Owen Reece, the Molecule Man, one of Marvel's most conceptually durable villains — a meek nuclear technician whose near-omnipotent command over matter is undercut entirely by crippling self-doubt, making him an unusually psychological creation for 1963. That origin blueprint proved so elastic that the character became a linchpin of two landmark Secret Wars events (1984 and 2015), ultimately serving as the literal power source for the reconstruction of the Marvel Multiverse in Jonathan Hickman's run. The issue also marks only the second appearance of Uatu the Watcher, the moment when Lee and Kirby begin codifying his 'oath of non-interference' as a recurring narrative device the series would exploit for decades. Beyond the story itself, the letters page preserves what George R. R. Martin has identified as his first ever piece of published writing — a teenage fan letter to Lee and Kirby — giving the issue an unexpected footnote in literary history.
In "The Mysterious Molecule Man!", the Watcher summons the Fantastic Four to confront a cosmic threat whose power lies in manipulating matter at the molecular level—posing a danger that could unravel reality itself. Written by Stan Lee and brought to life with dynamic art by Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, this classic 1963 issue features Kirby’s bold cover pencils and George Roussos’s sharp inks, all rendered in Stan Goldberg’s vibrant colors.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
The issue was produced via the Marvel Method: Stan Lee scripted over Jack Kirby's full penciled pages, with inking by Dick Ayers — notably his last issue on the title before George Roussos took over. Colorist Stan Goldberg and letterer Artie Simek rounded out the regular production team of the era. The story's internal code number is X-419, and it carried a twelve-cent cover price; the release date logged in reading-order databases is August 1963 against the November cover date, consistent with the era's standard three-month newsstand lead time. One panel (page 17, third panel) was later identified as having been redrawn by Steve Ditko, an unusual production note that distinguishes this issue from surrounding issues in the run.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance and full origin of Owen Reece, the Molecule Man (Earth-616), created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
- Second appearance of Uatu the Watcher (first appearance: Fantastic Four #13); he again breaks his non-interference oath to enlist the FF against Molecule Man.
- Written by Stan Lee, penciled by Jack Kirby, inked by Dick Ayers (his final issue on the series), colored by Stan Goldberg, lettered by Artie Simek; cover artists Jack Kirby and George Roussos.
- One panel on page 17 was redrawn by Steve Ditko, per Grand Comics Database documentation.
- The letters page ('Fantastic Four Fan Page') contains a published letter from a teenage George R. R. Martin — which Martin has identified as his first published work — as well as a letter from future Marvel writer and editor Mark Gruenwald, who wrote in his capacity as Fantastic Four Fan Club secretary.
- Molecule Man's self-imposed limitation (inability to affect organic molecules, belief that his power resides in a wand) is established here and became a recurring character trait exploited in later stories.
- The villain was originally conceived as a one-shot antagonist but returned in the 1970s and became a major figure in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars (1984–1985) and Jonathan Hickman's 2015 Secret Wars, where he was retroactively positioned as the living bomb of the Beyonders and the power source used to rebuild the Marvel Multiverse.
- Reprinted in Marvel Collectors' Item Classics #14 (April 1968); also collected in the Fantastic Four by Lee & Kirby Omnibus, Vol. 1 (multiple printings, collecting #1–30 and Annual #1).
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Reprints
Reprinted in Marvel Collectors' Item Classics #14 (1968), Marvel #2 (1970), I Fantastici Quattro #16 (1971), The Mighty World of Marvel #43 (1973), The Mighty World of Marvel #44 (1973), Die Fantastischen Vier #1 (1979), Fantastiska fyran album (Superseriealbum) #1 (1979), Fantastiske Fire album #1 (1979), Los Cuatro Fantásticos #17 (1980), Une Aventure des Fantastiques #28 (1982), Marvel Masterworks #6 (1988), Essential Fantastic Four #1 (1998), Biblioteca Marvel: Los 4 Fantásticos #03 (1999), Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four #2 (2003), Fantastic Four Omnibus #1 (2005), Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four #2 (2009), Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars: Battleworld #[1] (2015), Marvel Gold. Los 4 Fantásticos #1 (2016), Fantastic Four Epic Collection #2 (2017), True Believers: Fantastic Four - Molecule Man #1 (2019), Mighty Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four #2 (2021), Biblioteca Marvel: Los Cuatro Fantásticos #4 (2023), Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four #2 [Third Edition] (2023), Fantastic Four Omnibus #1 [Fourth Edition] (2024) + 3 more
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