FANTASTIC FOUR #20 (1963): 1st Molecule Man

The Watcher had only appeared once, in F4 #13, but by his second appearance he was already breaking his oath of non-interference to tell the team about a new threat.

…Molecule Man!  But at least he professed the need to limit how much information he provided.

In this early appearance, Molecule Man has just gotten his powers and he shows a remarkable lack of imagination.

Thing voluntarily jumps into a hole to avoid lightning.

The FF are forced to flee, and Molecule Man orders New Yorkers to find them or face drastic consequences–and for the first time, Manhattan is sealed in a bubble. This will not be the last time. Hit the tag below to see more.

The air force is useless.

The ending is completely stupid.  The FF figure out how to stop him, and THEN Watcher comes and just swallows him up.

What the hell does noninterference even mean, anyway?

Look, I like Molecule Man a lot.  But he didn’t really turn into a character worth reading about until the 1980s.  This is far from Jack and Stan’s best work. Of course, even a lower quality Stan/Jack FF is at least as good as most other books at the time.

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