Fantastic Four #55
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeFantastic Four #55 marks the formal opening of the Silver Surfer's tenure as a recurring supporting character in the Marvel Universe — the first issue in the sustained run of Surfer appearances (FF #55–61, 72, 74–77) that Lee and Kirby used to explore the character's moral and philosophical dimensions after his cosmic debut in the Galactus Trilogy. The story's emotional engine — Ben Grimm's jealousy over Alicia Masters driving him to attack an innocent exile — gave both characters new psychological texture, demonstrating that Silver Age superhero comics could be driven by wounded feelings rather than supervillains. The Kirby cover, with a furious Thing squaring off against the gleaming Surfer above the Manhattan skyline, became one of the most recognizable images of the Silver Age, encapsulating in a single composition the tension between raw power and quiet nobility. The issue also advances two interlocking Fantastic Four subplots simultaneously — the Inhumans search and Reed and Sue's honeymoon plans — showcasing the serialized, soap-opera continuity that distinguished Marvel's output from its competitors.
In "When Strikes the Silver Surfer!", the Fantastic Four face a cosmic visitor in the Himalayas, where Johnny and Wyatt Wingfoot encounter the Silver Surfer under mysterious circumstances. Tensions rise when the Thing, left behind and feeling overlooked, grows suspicious of the Surfer’s presence—especially when he senses the cosmic herald might be drawing attention to Alicia. Stan Lee’s storytelling, brought to life by Jack Kirby’s dynamic art and Joe Sinnott’s sharp inks, captures the clash of ego and alien wonder, all capped by Kirby and Sinnott’s striking cover.
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Produced under the 'Marvel Method' that Lee and Kirby had refined by the mid-1960s — Kirby plotting and drawing from a rough story idea, Lee adding dialogue afterward — the issue was a direct follow-up to the Galactus Trilogy that had concluded in FF #50, where Galactus exiled the Surfer to Earth. Lee and Kirby wasted no time bringing the character back, making FF #55 the very next Surfer appearance after that exile, and the issue set the template for how the Surfer's Earth-bound captivity would be explored: through encounters with ordinary humans (here, Alicia Masters) that illuminate both his alienation and his growing empathy. Joe Sinnott's inks, which he had been applying over Kirby's pencils since FF #44, lent the book the polished, heavy-line finish that collectors now associate with the definitive Lee–Kirby period.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published October 1966 by Marvel Comics; written by Stan Lee, pencilled by Jack Kirby, inked by Joe Sinnott, lettered by Sam Rosen, edited by Stan Lee.
- Story title: 'When Strikes the Silver Surfer!' — the fourth overall appearance of the Silver Surfer (Norrin Radd), who had debuted in Fantastic Four #48.
- Plot: The Thing visits Alicia Masters, finds the Silver Surfer already there, and attacks him out of jealousy; their battle spills into the New York warehouse district before Reed Richards intervenes and brokers an apology.
- Simultaneously, Johnny Storm and Wyatt Wingfoot, searching for the Inhumans in the Himalayas, encounter Lockjaw — whose teleportation power offers them a potential route to the Hidden Land.
- According to the Marvel Database, this issue contains the first depiction of the Silver Surfer wearing his signature silver shorts/briefs — a visual convention maintained by most artists until Silver Surfer Vol. 3 #1.
- Also per the Marvel Database, this is the first instance of the Silver Surfer channeling energy from within to augment his own power level — a technique later revisited in Silver Surfer Vol. 3 #84.
- FF #55 was reprinted in Marvel Triple Action #1, the debut issue of that reprint anthology, alongside FF #57.
- The story has since been collected in Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four Vol. 6, Essential Fantastic Four Vol. 3, Fantastic Four Omnibus Vol. 2, and Silver Surfer Epic Collection Vol. 1: When Calls Galactus, among other editions.
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Reprints
Reprinted in HIP Comics #1920 (1967), Hit Comics #20 (1967), Fantastiska fyran #2 (1967), Marvel Triple Action #1 (1972), I Fantastici Quattro #51 (1973), Marvel's Greatest Comics #42 (1973), Une Aventure des Fantastiques #3 (1974), Origins of Marvel Comics #[nn] (1974), The Mighty World of Marvel #113 (1974), The Mighty World of Marvel #114 (1974), Fantastic Four Pocket Book #7 (1980), Strange Spécial Origines #139 (1981), The Marvel Comics Illustrated Version of Fantastic Four #02838 (1982), Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four #[6] (2000), Essential Fantastic Four #3 (2000), Le Surfer d'Argent - L'intégrale #0 (2003), Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four #6 (2004), Fantastic Four : L'intégrale #1966 (2007), Fantastic Four Omnibus #2 (2007), Fantastic Four Adventures #60 (2010), Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four #6 (2011), Marvel Gold. Los 4 Fantásticos #1 [3] (2011), Inhumans: The Origin of the Inhumans #[nn] (2013), Silver Surfer Epic Collection #1 (2014) + 7 more
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