Fantastic Four #44
Fantastic Four #44 is the opening chapter of what collectors call the 'Inhumans Saga,' delivering the first appearance of Gorgon — the hoofed, seismic-stomp-wielding member of the Inhuman Royal Family — and, crucially, the first in-print reference to the Inhuman race itself as a distinct people. The issue also quietly retroactivates Medusa: a character who had spent her debut year as a straightforward Frightful Four villain is here unveiled as an amnesiac Inhuman, a narrative recontextualization that would pay dividends for decades of Marvel storytelling. On top of those character milestones, the issue marks the permanent arrival of Joe Sinnott as Jack Kirby's inker, cementing the artistic partnership widely regarded as the definitive visual voice of the Silver Age Fantastic Four.
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Written by Stan Lee and penciled by Jack Kirby, the issue went on sale August 10, 1965, with a November 1965 cover date, and was lettered by Sam Rosen; Vince Colletta inked the cover while Joe Sinnott handled the interior pages — his first installment of what would become an unbroken run through Kirby's departure in 1970 and well beyond. The story appears to have grown organically out of a planned but shelved standalone Inhumans series: according to several researchers, Lee and Kirby had been developing the Inhumans as a feature that publisher Martin Goodman never greenlit as its own title, leading the creators to fold the concept — and the already-introduced Medusa — into the Fantastic Four's ongoing continuity instead.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Gorgon (Gorgon Petragon), an Inhuman with bull-like hooves capable of generating destructive seismic shockwaves, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
- First in-print reference to the Inhuman race; Gorgon tells Medusa she belongs to his people, not the human race — the earliest published seed of the Inhumans mythology in the Marvel Universe.
- Retroactive reveal that Medusa (who debuted in FF #36 as a Frightful Four villain with amnesia) is an Inhuman, beginning her transition from antagonist to Inhuman royal.
- Joe Sinnott begins his celebrated regular run as inker on Fantastic Four with this issue, a collaboration with Kirby that would last until FF #102 (1970) and continue with subsequent pencilers well into the 1980s.
- Story title: 'The Gentleman's Name Is Gorgon!' Credits: Stan Lee (writer/editor), Jack Kirby (penciler), Joe Sinnott (interior inker), Vince Colletta (cover inker), Sam Rosen (letterer). Cover date: November 1965; on-sale: August 10, 1965.
- Dragon Man reappears in the story, having been last seen in FF #35; his confusion of Medusa for the Invisible Girl drives the issue's climactic three-way clash between himself, Gorgon, and the Fantastic Four.
- First issue set in the immediate aftermath of Reed Richards and Sue Storm's wedding (depicted in Fantastic Four Annual #3), establishing the newlywed dynamic that opens the story.
- The issue has been reprinted in Fantastic Four Omnibus Vol. 2 (2007), Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four Vol. 5 (2010), Fantastic Four Epic Collection Vol. 3: The Coming of Galactus (2018), and Inhumans: The Origin of the Inhumans (2013).
Cast · 12 characters
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Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
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Medusa seeks the FF's help in eluding Gorgon.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).