I am reasonably sure Fantastic Four #259 (cover date October 1983, released June 1983) was the first issue of the series I purchased off the stands. While The Thing #5 that kicked off my still-ongoing dive into the world of Marvel Comics was technically a November ’83 (relased in July) issue, it was still close enough to that Fantastic Four‘s release that I could still find copies on the stands.
This was far further along into John Byrne’s tenure on the series than I imagined. Byrne, of course, had been a hot commodity since his time on the X-Men title with Chris Claremont, which came to an end in late ’80 (#144, cover date March 1981). Picking up Fantastic Four with #232 (July 1981 cover, released circa March), Byrne took what is popularly called a “Back to Basics” approach that he favored, stripping away all the excess subplots and characters and oddball permutations of the book and the team within, scaling it all back to just the family and their adventures. In essence, trying to bring it back to the Stan Lee/Jack Kirby days of the comic’s inception.
Byrne had actually worked on the book before, in the late 1970s/very early ’80s, from 209 to 221 (with a couple of fill-ins from other creators). He worked over Marv Wolfman scripts, and was inked by Joe Sinnott, but Byrne wrote the last couple of issues himself. I feel like this short precursor to his main run on the book is often overlooked, though its adherence to the slightly more overwrought tone of the title may separate it from the aforementioned “Back to Basics” approach from the later run. However, elements from the earlier books would be brought back…
…in particular, Terrax the Tamer, the fella what the FF is squaring off against on the cover of #259 up there. Here’s a better look at him from inside the comic, going by a slightly different moniker that didn’t stick around long:
Anyway, when I picked up this issue, I didn’t know nuthin’ about nuthin’ about any of the backstory, either given the comic’s story or what the history was with the artist behind the scenes. I mean, I knew who the FF were, I knew who Dr. Doom was, I had no idea who this Terrax, or Tyros, guy was, but he was clearly the bad guy. Look, I was 14, I’d read comics before, I knew how these things work and how to pick up what backstory I needed to catch up with what was going on.
But I think overall I was more taken with the overall…grounded (relatively speaking) tone of Marvel I was experiencing here. My superhero fandom, since I started picking up comics on the regular basis, rather than just piecemeal as I could cajole my parents into picking one up for me on an occasional basis, was mostly DC Comics. They had a lighter, more fantasy-oriented tone to most of the titles I was reading, but this Fantastic Four comic went a long way to establishing that these characters existed in a more representative world. That they had complex inner lives and relatable problems aside from whatever that issue’s particular plot contrivances inspired.
Just…just look at this panel of the Thing in the back seat of a cab. Just a dude sittin’ and thinkin’ and Byrne spent a good amount of page space giving us character:
Not that DC wasn’t approaching storytelling in a similar way, but it just didn’t have the frisson that one panel of Ben Grimm in a cab did.
Fantastic Four #259 turned out to be my gateway into the series, and into John Byrne’s work as a whole. But before I expanded too far into his other endeavors, I had what amounted to a couple of years’ worth of back issues I had to acquire in order to catch myself up on what would quickly become one of my favorite new comics. How that went, and what new-to-me character I found there and became obsessed about, I’ll discuss in the next installment of this series.
Holy cow, that’s a great panel! Just looking at how Ben fills up space and his weight on the seat… Outstanding!
Byrne inking over his own pencils always looks so good, too. I get that he had to pare down his style a little bit to make that possible on a monthly schedule, and I understand why he eventually worked with other inkers, but his work always looked so good when he did both.
Same for George Perez, IMO. The first couple of issues of the New Teen Titans Baxter series are some of my favorite comics of all time. Just gorgeous.
I might need to find those older, pre-#232 Byrne issues. I’ve never read those.
I’m so old.
CORRECTION ALERT: an earlier version of this post had it as “Part Two.” This has since been corrected to “Part One,” as the previous post on the topic is the prologue. Mike’s Ongoing Adventures in Needing an Editor continue apace.
I’m right there with you Wayne. I’d already been on FF for 100 issues by this point. It cost me 5 Bee’s!
This was in the first batch of FF back issues I picked up. I was blown away by the story in 258-260, and it cemented the FF as my favorite team/book/group of characters, and Dr. Doom as my all time favorite villain.
Speaking of #258, had there ever been a comic published in which the title characters barely even appear in their own book? The thing shows up in 6-7 panels, bandaged from head to toe and basically unrecognizable.
@Thom H. – I completely agree about Byrne inking his own pencils. I know it got muddy at some points, but I love his organic linework over the pencils. I get why people at the time weren’t as fond of it, especially after the incredible work Austin did with him on the X-Men. The inkers that he brought on towards the end are phenomenal artists in the own right, but I still prefer his own inks.
Love, love, love these comics!
I started regularly buying FF maybe a year earlier with #243, the 2nd part of Byrne’s 1st Galactus 3 parter. Only had about a year’s worth of back issues to pick up but they were the hottest back issues around at the time. I think I might’ve paid a dollar for #232, a huge price for a 14 month old book at the time (and a huge outlay for a 13 year old).
@LouReedRichards: Byrne has spoken about a change in his style from his earliest issues of FF to later ones. He lightened his inking line as part of the shift.
I like both, but I can see why people would prefer the lighter line. The darker inking was rich and moody, but sometimes the story beats didn’t match the ambience that inking created.
@D: The only way I could pay that much for back issues at the time was with birthday money.
Now it’s my turn for a correction alert!
Actually after going back and looking over #258 I was confusing Ben being in the hospital with Terrax. It is actually Terrax who is in the bandages! The Thing is only referenced, not shown!
@Thom H. – Thanks! That makes sense. Like you, I’m fine with both as well. I seem to recall it being mentioned in the letters column around these issues that he had been using Japanese brush pens for his inking, which unfortunately can’t produce the same delicate line that a sable brush can.
Like a lot of comic book fans, all of my allowance went to new and back issue comics. It certainly wasn’t going towards dating or other “cool” things.
I started regularly collecting FF right around this time, too — I think maybe an issue later, though I grabbed up recent back issues pretty quickly after that. This, and soon, Uncanny X-Men, were the first Marvel books I bought regularly. Byrne’s FF has always felt “right” to me in a way that a lot of runs haven’t.
“Terrax the Tamer”
Galactus named him well!
“just look at this panel of the Thing in the back seat of a cab.”
“WE’RE GONNA NEED A NEW SEAT!”