I guess Stan and Jack figured out quick that Doom was going to be an important character, because here he is again. The first 100 issues of Fantastic Four debuted dozens of major characters, so for Dr. Doom to appear twice in a row in the first half-dozen issues probably means something.
The team are in their home, at the Baxter Building…
…Answering fan mail…
The three panels above do a lot to flesh out the FF universe, being the first mentions of both the Yancy Street Gang and “unstable molecules.” These molecules would become, quickly, Marvel’s “go to” solution for why superhero costumes didn’t rip, dissolve, burn up, etc., when the characters did things like grow, burn, shrink, turn invisible, etc. I mean, look what would have happened if they hadn’t invented them!
Meanwhile, under the sea…
I love this panel, above. Namor decorates his room with living starfish! But why would he keep a jellyfish in a crystal ball like that?
Sub Mariner and Doctor Doom team up to take on the FF. In the ’70s, this idea would be revisited–as the monthly comic Super Villain Team-Up, starring these same characters. As you can see from the panel above, Namor still has the hots for Sue. And…
It looks like she’s kinda into him, too! And Johnny doesn’t like it!
As part of the villains’ plot, Dr. Doom takes the Baxter Building into space for the first (but not last) time…
I’ve created a tag for this, because lifting the building off its foundation becomes a somewhat frequent occurrence–and even contributes to the team being evicted in the 1970s.
In the end, of course, Doom betrays Namor–and the two have a space fight.
Doom is cast out into the universe. (Don’t worry, he’ll be back. Duh.)
Wow! FF#6 isn’t even recognized as a crucial issue, and look at all that happened!
We also see, on the letters page, another innovation. Stan Lee had already decided letter pages were a good way to boost fan investment/connection to product, but now he’s holding contests where fans explain mistakes in an issue. It’s a foreshadowing of the “No Prize,” even though it’s not called that yet.