Fantastic Four #4
Fantastic Four #4 (May 1962) accomplished something no Silver Age Marvel comic had yet attempted: it reached back across two decades to reclaim a genuine Golden Age star, Namor the Sub-Mariner, who had been one of Timely Comics' three flagship characters alongside Captain America and the original Human Torch. By placing him in continuity with Lee and Kirby's nascent Marvel Universe—amnesiac and destitute, then vengeful and magnificent—the issue established the template for reintegrating pre-existing mythology into modern superhero storytelling, a practice that would define Marvel's expanding shared world for decades. It also introduced the defining emotional triangle between Namor, Sue Storm, and Reed Richards, a soap-operatic tension that ran through the series for years and helped distinguish the Fantastic Four from any superhero team that preceded it. Beyond character, the issue marked the first time an FF story picked up directly from the cliffhanger of the previous issue, a structural commitment to ongoing continuity that was genuinely new for mainstream American comics.
In "The Coming of... Sub-Mariner! Chapter 1 On the Trail of the Torch!", the Fantastic Four face their most dangerous foe yet as the Sub-Mariner resurfaces with a vengeance, leading a tide of sea monsters and ancient fury. With Jack Kirby’s dynamic art and Stan Lee’s gripping storytelling, this pivotal issue sets the stage for an underwater war that will test the team’s strength and resolve. Cover by Jack Kirby and Sol Brodsky.
In "The Coming of... Sub-Mariner! Chapter 1 On the Trail of the Torch!", the Fantastic Four track the runaway Torch, who flees from the Thing after a clash. Cornered at sea, the Torch stumbles upon the amnesiac Prince of the Depths, hurling him into the ocean—where the crash of waves awakens his forgotten memories. Now driven by vengeance against surface dwellers, the Sub-Mariner unleashes the monstrous Giganto upon New York, setting the stage for a desperate showdown.
In "Chapter 2 Enter the Sub-Mariner!", the Fantastic Four track down the missing Torch, who flees from the Thing into the depths of the ocean. There, he encounters the amnesiac Prince of the Seas, whose memory returns when the Torch casts him into the sea. Driven by vengeance against surface dwellers, the Prince unleashes the giant monster Giganto to destroy New York. With the Thing inside the creature and a bomb in hand, the team races to stop the rampage—only to send both the Prince and his beast back beneath the waves. As the sea swallows them, the Prince warns, "I will return."
In "Chapter 3 Let the World Beware!", the Fantastic Four track down the missing Torch as he flees from the Thing, only to stumble upon a mysterious amnesiac prince of the sea. When the Torch casts the prince into the ocean, he awakens to his forgotten power and vows revenge on the surface world, unleashing the colossal Giganto to lay waste to New York. With the Thing infiltrating the beast and a bomb set to end the threat, the heroes must stop the tide of vengeance before it's too late.
In "Chapter 4 Sub-Mariner's Revenge!", the Fantastic Four track down the fleeing Torch, who stumbles upon the amnesic Prince of the Depths. When the Torch casts the prince into the sea, he awakens to his forgotten rage—and vows vengeance on humanity. Now driven by ancient fury, the Sub-Mariner unleashes Giganto to lay waste to New York, forcing the Thing to dive into the beast’s heart with a bomb. With the monster defeated and the prince banished back to the ocean, the Sub-Mariner’s final threat echoes: "I will return."
In "Chapter 5 Return to the Deep!", the Fantastic Four face off against the colossal Giganto in a clash that plunges them into the ocean’s depths. With the Thing charging in with a bomb and the Human Torch sending the Sub-Mariner and Giganto fleeing into the sea, the tide turns—leaving only the Sub-Mariner’s defiant promise: "I'll be back!"
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The issue was written by Stan Lee, penciled by Jack Kirby, inked by Sol Brodsky (uncredited at the time), lettered by Artie Simek, and colored by Stan Goldberg; Lee also served as editor. It carried a cover date of May 1962 but was released on newsstands on February 8, 1962, during the period when the title still published on a bimonthly schedule. The series was only four issues old and still finding its commercial footing, though fan mail was already arriving in enough volume that Lee had begun printing a letters column with issue #3. The Sub-Mariner had last appeared in a brief Atlas-era revival attempt in the mid-1950s, making his reintroduction here both a creative gamble and a deliberate act of universe-building by Lee and Kirby, who were working in the loosely collaborative 'Marvel Method' in which Kirby laid out the pages and Lee scripted them afterward. Namor was originally created by Bill Everett for Timely's Marvel Comics #1 in 1939, and Everett would himself later work at Marvel inking over Kirby's pencils.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First Silver Age appearance of Namor the Sub-Mariner (Prince Namor McKenzie), originally a star of Timely Comics' Golden Age beginning in 1939.
- First time the Human Torch shouts his signature catchphrase 'Flame on!' while activating his powers — a phrase that became permanently associated with the character.
- First appearance of Giganto, the enormous sea creature Namor summons to attack New York City using the Horn of Proteus.
- The story debuts the long-running romantic triangle among Namor, Sue Storm, and Reed Richards — Namor proposes to Sue on their very first meeting.
- First instance of direct issue-to-issue continuity in the Fantastic Four: the story picks up immediately after Johnny Storm's departure at the end of issue #3.
- Also with this issue, Stan Lee's cover slogan became the shortened 'The World's Greatest Comic Magazine!' — a version that stayed on covers into the 1990s.
- The issue contains cryptic in-story captions teasing the forthcoming debut of the Hulk in Incredible Hulk #1, released the following month.
- The story was later reprinted in Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Vol. 1, the Fantastic Four Epic Collection: The World's Greatest Comics Magazine, and the oversized Marvel Comics Library: Fantastic Four Vol. 1, among other collected editions.
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Reprints
Reprinted in Los 4 Fantásticos #4 (1962), Creepy Worlds #34 (1964), Marvel Collectors' Item Classics #3 (1966), Fantastiske Fire #4/1968 (1968), Fantask #1 (1969), Hit Comics #141 (1970), I Fantastici Quattro #3 (1971), The Mighty World of Marvel #7 (1972), The Mighty World of Marvel #8 (1972), Marvel Treasury Edition #11 (1976), Marvel Comics' The Fantastic Four #81445 (1977), The Complete Fantastic Four #9 (1977), The Fantastic Four #1 (1979), The Fantastic Four #[nn] (1979), Une Aventure des Fantastiques #21 (1980), Los Cuatro Fantásticos #4 (1980), The Marvel Saga the Official History of the Marvel Universe #2 (1986), The Marvel Saga the Official History of the Marvel Universe #3 (1986), Strange Spécial Origines #199 (1986), Marvel Masterworks #2 (1987), Fantastic Four Classic #2 (1993), Marvel Limited: Fantastic Firsts #[nn] (1994), Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four #[1] (1997), Marvel Klassik #4 (1998) + 27 more
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