Fantastic Four #29
Fantastic Four #29 (August 1964) is a direct sequel to FF #13 — the issue that introduced both the Red Ghost and Uatu the Watcher — making it the first time Uatu appeared on an FF cover and cementing his recurring role as a cosmic presence who actively, if reluctantly, aids Marvel's First Family. The story's Cold War backdrop (a Soviet super-scientist using cosmic-ray-empowered apes against American heroes) tapped into the same cultural anxieties that had made the Space Race a national obsession, grounding pulpy science fiction in real geopolitical tension. By having the FF use the Watcher's own lunar technology to defeat the Red Ghost, Lee and Kirby further developed the rule-bending dynamic of Uatu's "non-interference" oath that would later become one of Marvel's defining cosmic conceits, ultimately threading through decades of stories up to the Original Sin event. The issue also carries a back-matter advertisement spotlighting Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos and Spider-Man, a snapshot of Marvel's rapid expansion into a shared universe during one of the most creatively fertile years in the company's history.
In "It Started on Yancy Street!", the Fantastic Four face off against the Red Ghost and his Super-Apes in a high-stakes rematch, with the mysterious Watcher observing from the shadows. Written by Stan Lee and brought to life by Jack Kirby’s dynamic pencils and Chic Stone’s sharp inks, this 1964 classic captures the team at their most heroic—complete with Stan Goldberg’s vibrant colors and Artie Simek’s crisp lettering. The cover by Jack Kirby and Chic Stone perfectly encapsulates the action, setting the tone for a story rooted in the heroes’ origins.
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Written by Stan Lee and pencilled by Jack Kirby with inks by Chic Stone, Fantastic Four #29 was produced under the Marvel Method that had become the studio's standard creative workflow: Kirby plotted and drew full pages from a loose premise, and Lee then scripted dialogue and captions over the finished art. The issue carries job number X-713 per Grand Comics Database records derived from Library of Congress on-sale date filings, and was distributed by Canam Publishers Sales Corp., the newsstand arm Marvel used throughout this period. It functioned as a deliberate sequel to Fantastic Four #13 (April 1963), revisiting the Red Ghost and his Super-Apes at a moment when Lee and Kirby were consciously building serialized continuity — a still-novel practice in American comics.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published August 1964 (on-sale date confirmed via Library of Congress 1964 Periodicals records); written by Stan Lee, pencilled by Jack Kirby, inked by Chic Stone, lettered by Sam Rosen.
- Story title: 'It Started on Yancy Street!' — the Yancy Street Gang's pranks on the Thing are revealed to be a trap engineered by the Red Ghost (Ivan Kragoff) and his Super-Apes.
- First cover appearance of Uatu the Watcher; Uatu had debuted in FF #13 (April 1963) but this is the issue most commonly cited as his first prominent cover feature.
- Uatu the Watcher was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and first appeared without a name in Fantastic Four #13 (April 1963); his name 'Uatu' was not formally revealed until Captain Marvel #39 (July 1975).
- Red Ghost (Ivan Kragoff) and his Super-Apes — Mikhlo the gorilla, Igor the baboon, and Peotr the orangutan — return as the main villains; their debut was also in FF #13.
- The back-matter 'Two More Triumphs for Marvel' house ad promotes Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos and Spider-Man, reflecting Marvel's aggressive cross-title promotion during 1964.
- The issue has been reprinted at least 14 times in various formats, including Marvel Collectors' Item Classics #21 (June 1969), the Fantastic Four Omnibus Vol. 1 (2005), and Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four Vol. 3 (multiple editions including a 2024 third edition).
- Characters indexed from the issue's back-matter/house ad include several Howling Commandos members (Nick Fury, Dum Dum Dugan, Gabe Jones, Dino Manelli, Izzy Cohen, Percival Pinkerton, Robert Ralston) and Spider-Man/Peter Parker — none of whom appear in the main story.