Welcome to Adventure(s) Time's fifty-fifth installment installment, a look at animated heroes of the past. I've mentioned before that this series isn't limited to the DC Animated Universe.  This week, I prove it by focusing on the most Marvel of Marvel properties.

Fantastic Four Cartoon

The Fantastic Four launched the Marvel Age of Comics in 1961, becoming an instant hit. A cartoon series followed in 1967, an adaptation so faithful the writers literally tore Fantastic Four issues in half, with one scripting the first section of the comic and another the final simultaneously.

The 1970s brought a revamped series and, later, a Thing solo series. These are best forgotten.  Especially when the Thing is paired with Fred Flintstone.

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The Fantastic Four's next shot in animation came in 1994 as a part of the Marvel Action Hour. The debut season is legendary, for all the wrong reasons. Cheap animation, lackluster plots, bizarre character designs... and a Vanilla Ice-worthy rap from Johnny Storm. It's a such a disappointment, Fantastic Four writer Tom DeFalco felt compelled to take a shot at the series in the actual comics. (Marvel was not happy about this.)

The quality of the series was so rancid, producers realized changes had to be made.  Thankfully, Season Two received a drastic makeover.  Philippine Animation Studios, known for some of the better X-Men episodes, replaced Wang Film Productions as the animation studio.

The new direction is evident just a few seconds into the second season premiere.  "And A Blind Man Shall Lead Them" opens with a terse action sequence, pitting the team against Doctor Doom. The action is intense, the voice acting is credible, and the animation is admirably fluid. The first season had a camp quality; the new direction is all about sincerity. Just listen to Reed Richards call out in anger to Doom, who's kidnapped Sue. (The loquacious Doom even apologizes for the "damsel in distress" cliché.) Sue's actually the one to save the team, when Doom detonates a bomb that destroys the island base.

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This is all before a new opening sequence begins! It's a tribute to the glory days of the Stan Lee/Jack Kirby run...and the animation is actually livelier than any sequence in the X-Men's opening.  Sadly, the only season available for streaming is the frankly terrible first one. The opening, an homage to several famous issues, has been archived by the 90s Cartoon Intro Youtube channel, though.

"And A Blind Man Shall Lead Them" continues the story of a powerless Fantastic Four. While Reed attempts to restore their abilities, Ben Grimm adjusts to a normal life. His girlfriend Alicia prompts her pal Matt Murdock into aiding the team during this transition. He happens to appear as Daredevil just as Dr. Doom launches a follow-up attack atop the Baxter Building. From there, the heroes team up, Reed finally restores his friends' powers, and Doom is defeated. It's a well-paced action story, with animation that surpasses the typical  X-Men episode. The Wally Wood-inspired Daredevil looks particularly great.

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Given the concurrent success of the X-Men animated series, it's perhaps not a shock that one of its lead animators came in to help this troubled show. I contacted animator Larry Houston for his thoughts on adapting Fantastic Four for television:

Having the freedom to accurately depict and adapt the classic Fantastic Four stories was the main reason that, after directing the first four years of the X-MEN, I left the series. I grew up on Marvel in the 60s. With so many of those Kirby/Lee stories embedded in my imagination for decades, I had to jump at the chance to do them right. My personal approach has always been to adapt any book/story and follow it as closely as possible. You have to change things, when going from a book to moving cinema. But you only changes things when you have to, NOT because you can.

But what about the two issue storyline that inspired this episode? It's based on 1965's Fantastic Four #39 and #40.  The title "And A Blind Man Shall Lead Them" comes from #39...perhaps Stan's best attempt at mimicking the Bible. Most fans refer to this arc by #40's title however: "The Battle of the Baxter Building."

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Issue #39 opens with the team recovering from a battle with the Frightful Four. The radiation from a bomb attack has robbed the FF of their powers. Now, heroes losing their powers for the sake of one storyline was nothing new by 1965. This story, however, expertly sells that drama. Kids reading this issue were legitimately concerned about how the Fantastic Four were getting out of this one.

That salesmanship, amazingly, is amped up as the story continues. Reed Richards is so concerned, so fearful the team must disband (and face certain death at the hand of their foes) he's even called over Matthew Murdock to deal with some power of attorney issues. They meet across the street from the Baxter Building in secret. Too bad for them, Dr. Doom has invaded their headquarters. And, as he's quick to note, Doom's intellect enables him to instantly discern how to use Reed's stockpile of weapons.

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The team's blind lawyer slips away, changing into Daredevil. And while Frank "Ray" Giacola and Vincent Colletta are officially cited as inkers of these issues respectively, an addendum must be made. The great Wally Wood stepped in to ink the Daredevil figures throughout the story. (According to lore, Kirby actually drew the wrong Daredevil costume this issue. Wood was called in to correct the art, rendering the red costume of his own design.)

Over the next two issues, the drama is continually amped up. That salesmanship mentioned earlier is in full effect. Notice the police presence outside of the Baxter Building in issue #40. Even the Pentagon is referenced!

Daredevil aids the team, helping them to escape Doom's various attacks. He's critical in distracting Doom while Reed powers up a device that can repower the team.  It's called the Stimulator -- a leftover idea from a previous Skrull storyline, and yeah, also an indication 1965 was a more innocent time.

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Now, why did Reed wait until this moment to pull out this device?  Stan can see your No-Prize attempts coming, kids. He makes sure to provide some rationalization.

Does this make any sense, given the morbid way Reed was acting last issue? Not really, but these comics are all about momentum. We've received a good enough explanation, now the story's moving on to another intense confrontation. And if there's any wonder why readers of this era loved this arc, this final showdown between the Thing and Doom silences any doubts. Ben has to become the Thing again in order to defeat Doom. Reed doesn't know if Ben will ever forgive him for this, but he trains the Stimulator on his friend. Furious, Ben plows through Doom's various traps and weapons. With his bare hands, Ben thrashes Doom...a defeat so humiliating, Reed speculates he'll never bother the team again.

But that's not all!  In the final pages, Ben declares he's leaving the team.  Given that Reed's just ruined his life for a second time now, it's not unreasonable. This cliffhanger leads into the next issue, "The Brutal Betrayal of Ben Grimm!" It's melodrama, it's angsty, but it's also entertaining throughout every page.

Calling Daredevil in to guest star was very likely an attempt to boost sales of his series. As a comic, Daredevil stumbled out of the gate. It lacked the Kirby art fans loved, and didn't have much of a visual identity before Wood came along. Inserting him into Fantastic Four, Marvel's flagship book, makes sense purely from a commercial perspective. What's great about these issues, however, is how non-gratuitous it feels.

Interestingly, the animated adaptation has a more nuanced take on Ben's return to his monster form. He heroically volunteers to become the Thing again in the cartoon...then has a near mental breakdown when fighting Doom in the climax. The episode's pacing is calmer than the original comics, giving Ben some scenes to enjoy an anonymous life again. He spends time at the park with his love Alicia, confident now they can be married. The end of the episode has him crushing the ring in his massive rock-hands. Brutal.

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The Wrap-Up

Design-y

Comics legend John Buscema provided the Fantastic Four models for the second season. Larry Houston describes Buscema's art as "very animation-friendly...he had nailed the look of the FF after Jack left the series." Here's Larry again, discussing the design sense of the revamped Fantastic Four:

I personally did the model sheet of the THING, bringing into work my own personal collection, like I did throughout the X-MEN, referencing several FF issues of Kirby's depiction of Ben Grimm/The Thing, to distill it down into an animation model that could animated with a consistent Kirby look at all angles. And, yes, my crew, for the most part, were Marvel comic book fans as well as animation professionals. My X-MEN Model Artist MARK LEWIS and I, we've been friends for years and on the same page creatively. He worked on various FF models for me throughout the second season.

Continuity Notes

Does anyone know how this got "No-Prized" away? Stan's footnote claims Doom has never seen Ben Grimm as a human before. Doesn't sit well with the later revelation they were college classmates.

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Hey, I Know that Voice

Character actor Bill Smitrovich provided the voice of Matt Murdock/Daredevil. He's appeared in pretty much every hour-long network drama over the past twenty-five years. He also played the role of Frank in both Ted movies. The Daredevil appearances here and on FOX's Spider-Man series were done with some thought towards a Daredevil animated series. Work did begin, and Toonzone has a few images of the production art.

Battle of the Baxter Buildings

Fantastic Four #39-40 deserves its praise. It sells its premise perfectly, and even the sales-deprived guest star is able to contribute to the fun. But, rather than congratulating themselves for pulling off the feat, the creators just move on within a page to something new.

Some view early Marvel as silly and frivolous, but there's genuine pathos here. This is a stretch of issues that barely has any jokes, and none of the classic Fantastic Four "schtick" people associate with this era.  No catchphrases, no pranks, no scenes of the team reading fan mail. Ben Grimm's heartbroken, Reed's tortured over his decision to wreck Ben's life again...and that's the cliffhanger for the next issue. Who wouldn't come back for more?

The animated adaptation is, obviously, made with a love of the original. As a season premiere, heralding a new direction for the series, it is honestly fantastic. Anyone watching this episode knows the cheapie incarnation from Season One is over. It's the kind of adaptation that actually became fairly common in the 1990s. The desire to take traditional heroes and make them teenagers, or give them anime makeovers, wasn't there yet. After years of kiddie translations to Saturday Morning, Batman and X-Men set a new path. Unfortunately, only a few years passed before network execs did, well, the predictable network execs thing. Not all of the shows to follow are bad, certainly, but the idea of these series existing as a tribute to their roots is gone.

That’s all for now. If you have any suggestions for the future, just leave a comment or contact me on Twitter.