Giant-Size Fantastic Four #4
Giant-Size Fantastic Four #4 (cover-dated February 1975, on sale November 1974) is a landmark Bronze Age issue because it delivers the first appearance and origin of Jamie Madrox, the Multiple Man — a mutant whose power of kinetic-triggered self-duplication would eventually make him one of Marvel's most narratively flexible characters across decades of X-Factor stories. The issue also marks one of Chris Claremont's earliest Marvel writing credits and can be read as a deliberate piece of cross-promotional architecture: by placing Professor X at the center of the resolution and handing Madrox into Xavier's care, Wein and Claremont quietly seeded mutant mythology just months before Giant-Size X-Men #1 relaunched the franchise entirely. The packed 64-page package — new lead story plus two classic reprints — is itself a snapshot of Marvel's mid-1970s Giant-Size publishing experiment, and the pairing of the Madrox debut with the FF's first-ever meeting with the X-Men (from Fantastic Four #28, 1964) gives the issue an unusual thematic coherence rare in reprint-padded annuals of the era.
In "Madrox the Multiple Man!", the Fantastic Four face a bizarre twist when the Puppet Master manipulates Professor X into summoning the X-Men—only for Xavier to break free and confront the Mad Thinker’s latest scheme. With the X-Men and the FF caught in a battle of wits and wills, the Mad Thinker unleashes his Android to finish them both. Written by Stan Lee and illustrated by Jack Kirby, with Chic Stone’s inks and Art Simek’s lettering, this 1975 Marvel classic features a cover by Rich Buckler and Joe Sinnott.
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The Giant-Size Fantastic Four series grew out of Marvel's broader 1974 initiative to publish oversized quarterly titles for its top franchises, a format that operated similarly to annuals but appeared more frequently; issues #1–4 were built around new lead stories supplemented by reprints, while later issues shifted to all-reprint content. Editor Len Wein plotted the Madrox lead story with Chris Claremont — then only nine credits into his Marvel career — scripting it, placing the collaboration squarely in the period when Wein was simultaneously preparing Giant-Size X-Men #1 with Dave Cockrum. Wein reportedly wanted to name the character 'Xerox' after the then-ubiquitous copying machine before settling on the surname Madrox. John Buscema provided the pencils, with inks split between Chic Stone and Joe Sinnott, and Rich Buckler painted the cover with Sinnott inking.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance and full origin of Jamie Madrox (Multiple Man), a mutant who involuntarily generates identical duplicates upon any physical impact — a power established as active from the moment of his birth.
- Written by Len Wein (plot/editor) and Chris Claremont (script); penciled by John Buscema; inked by Chic Stone and Joe Sinnott; cover by Rich Buckler and Joe Sinnott; colored by Glynis Wein (Oliver); lettered by John Costanza; editor-in-chief Marv Wolfman.
- Story title is 'Madrox the Multiple Man!' — the issue also includes first appearances of Jamie's parents Daniel Madrox and Joan Madrox, both of whom are established as already deceased by the time the story takes place.
- Professor X appears as a key supporting character who reveals he was a colleague of Madrox's father, subdues Jamie's duplicates with his telepathy, and takes the young mutant into his care at the story's end — directly linking Madrox to Xavier's world months before the X-Men relaunch.
- The 64-page issue contains a reprint of Fantastic Four #28 (April 1964, written by Stan Lee, drawn by Jack Kirby) — the very first meeting between the Fantastic Four and the original X-Men, thematically reinforcing the mutant thread of the new lead story.
- A second backup reproduces the seven-page rogues' gallery originally from Fantastic Four Annual #1 (1963), featuring full-page profiles of major FF foes including the Hulk, Red Ghost, Super-Skrull, Mad Thinker, Molecule Man, Hate-Monger, Puppet Master, Impossible Man, and others from the catalog.
- The letters page contains Marvel Value Stamp Series A #2 (the Hulk, after Herb Trimpe), one of the collectible stamps Marvel embedded in issues throughout 1974–1975.
- Madrox remained a minor character after this debut, resurfacing meaningfully in Claremont's Uncanny X-Men and later the 1987 Fallen Angels miniseries, before Peter David transformed him into the complex lead of X-Factor (vol. 3) in the 2000s; he also appeared in the 2006 film X-Men: The Last Stand, played by Eric Dane.
Cast · 40 characters
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Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
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Puppet Master makes a model of Professor X and commands him to send the X-Men after the FF. When Xavier regains control of his senses, the Mad Thinker sends in his Android to finish off both teams.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).