At the end of last issue, Johnny got sick of being bossed around by Reed and flew off. The team goes searching for Johnny.
And Reed commits an assault for really no good reason. He’s such a jerk. But he’s consistently a jerk, so, it’s like his real personality. And speaking of members of the team committing crimes…
…I’m pretty sure Sue didn’t pay for that soda.
Anyway, Thing tracks Johnny down, but just as soon as he does, he turns human again.
Johnny’s right. Thing has reverted three times already–just about once every issue. He should know it’s only temporary.
Johnny flies away to the Bowery, where he meets an amnesiac bum with the physical ability to beat up a bar full of men.
Maybe it’s just the beard, but Namor looks like he’s being drawn by John Buscema there. But of course it’s Kirby–the stye of the fight panels is unmistakable.
Johnny decides, for no real reason, to give the man a burning shave. And this reveals…
Sub-Mariner!
In many, many future comics, heroes won’t recognize each other–but they should. In the Golden Age of Marvel, Namor was a member of The Invaders, helping the U.S. defeat Nazis, and was in tons of press. This makes sense–if the Golden Age books are canon for the 616 Universe. Which they are and aren’t. Only certain ones are–which is why I don’t cover all the old Namor appearances. (That and the fact that before 1961, when Marvel was “Timely Publications,” the stories are very dated and just aren’t that fun to read.)
Stil,, this is the first time Stan Lee folded in an old character into the Fantastic Four’s chronology. He’ll do it again soon with Nick Fury. Does this qualify as the birth of the shared universe?
No, not yet. The FF are still self-contained because Namor doesn’t have his own comic.
It’s in Amazing Spider-Man #1, where both Spider-Man and the FF share a story, that the shared Marvel Universe is born. But this is certainly a giant step towards it.
Once Sub-Mariner gets a shave, he realizes who he is, and goes to war with the surface world, bringing the first appearance of the sea monster Giganto.
Very Godzilla-like.
This issue also marks the beginning of Namor’s long-standing crush on Sue.
He wants to marry her, but he also wants to be wanted, so when she makes it clear she’s only doing it to save New York City, he leaves in a huff.
The team is back together in the end, but there’s not a lot of explanation why Johnny decides to rejoin. In fact, there’s not any.
This is one of the 100 best single-issue stories of all time, according to this objectively accurate list.