FANTASTIC FOUR #43: Reads Comics Like a Girl

Published: October, 1965

I started reading this story and taking notes as if it would be a Meanwhile entry, but then suddenly, unexpectedly, Doctor Doom shows up on page 11, worrying about his hands…and…Confession: I have no idea what’s going on. Stan graciously instructs me to think back to issue #40, so I turn the pages in my Marvel Masterworks, but this volume only goes back to issue #41, so…oh, hell, I’m lost.

Right now, I’m reading issue #43, Doom last appeared in #40, and so many things have happened since then, who can remember? In my favor, I’m guessing a lot of readers can’t actually remember back that far, or else why would Stan feel compelled to remind us? But in that split second, I am made painfully aware of so many things that I already know about myself: I am a character reader, not a plot reader. I’m far more interested in what the characters think and feel, rather than what they do. I favor soap opera over adventure. And I look for parallels between these characters and my own life.

In short, I read comics like a girl.

A MATTER OF DEGREE
Now, let me start off by acknowledging that I don’t really believe guys are incapable of being interested in the emotional issues in comics that most capture my attention. Anyone reading these stories does so because it holds some interest, and any reader can be interested in any number of themes and aspects of a story at the same time. In general, it’s probably just a matter of degree.

And it’s that “matter of degree” that makes me quite certain I am not approaching these Silver Age comics the same way as the audience of the day. Certain aspects of these stories interest me far more than others, and surely my focus is not on the same things that most interested the boys buying these comics back in the 1960’s.

I don’t think this is primarily a function of time, but rather of gender. There is a reason why The Fast and the Furious series is marketed towards men, and Pride and Prejudice is considered a “chick flick.” Each sex tends to gravitate towards certain genres. And as Seinfeld would say… “Not that there’s anything wrong with that!” There clearly isn’t. Overall, the world is a much more interesting place when everyone is not focused on the same things.

At first, I dreaded having to sit down and watch The Fast and the Furious with Russ, but by the end of the movie, I had to admit, it wasn’t half-bad. I wouldn’t purposely choose to wade through every single one of the movies in this franchise, but watching one or two is okay by me.

Likewise, Russ endured Pride and Prejudice and then the BBC miniseries Emma, and the next time I choose a Jane Austen adaptation, though he will not jump for joy, neither will he balk. In both cases, our worlds, our minds, expand. But on our own, we will most likely be magnetically drawn back to those genres with which we feel most comfortable.

MEMORY LAPSE
It’s no secret to any regular reader of this blog that I am obsessed with soap opera. Of course, soap opera is about what happens to characters, but things are always happening to characters (and people), and the real story is not so much what happens as how they deal with it, which in turn sets off the next event. Any writer can set it up, but once the ball starts rolling, it’s entirely the characters’ character that determines the direction of the storyline.

Because of that, I tend to focus on characters, rather than events. Not just when reading comics, but in any entertainment. Another confession: I have a terrible time remembering plotlines. Maybe it’s because I’m getting older and the brain ain’t what it used to be, but I have another theory: remember back in the day when there was only ABC, NBC, CBS and PBS for your television viewing pleasure? It was a lot easier to keep track of your shows back then, wasn’t it?

Nowadays, we are so flooded with entertainment from every direction, and a lot of it is actually very good, so we tend to overconsume, and end up engaging in an informational and entertainment gluttony that can too easily leave us dazed and confused. Even now with Marvel Comics, just a few years in, I’m not just reading one title, or five or six like I was at first; I’m now reading eleven or twelve every month! So, maybe it’s not my fault if I can’t keep up with every little thing that happens in every story! (Sigh…I really need to give myself a break on this…)

PREVIOUSLY ON…
Because of the vast amount of information that needs to be recalled, one thing I’m extremely grateful for in any serial TV show is the leading recap: “Previously on…” Because very often, until I see the recap, my mind is so foggy, I can’t accurately and completely remember what happened, last time. Not big fans of “binge watching,” Russ and I rotate five or six shows at a time, watching the same show every Monday, a second series every Tuesday, the latest Marvel offering on Disney Plus every Wednesday, et cetera—the way, to our old-school way of thinking, you’re SUPPOSED to watch television!! So yeah, a lot of time, and a lot of entertainment, often separates one episode of a series from the next before we get back to it. Very often, until I see the recap, I can’t accurately and completely remember on my own what happened “previously.”

If we’re eating dinner while watching our show, I make a point of ignoring my plate while the recap is on, because I need to absorb every fragment of information before diving back into that ocean. Each image, each sound byte, causes a click in my brain and I exclaim “Oh yeah! That’s right!” And now, finally, I am ready to go again.

So, Doom left me perplexed, but the 34-word recap on the splash set the stage well enough for me to continue. Thank you, Helpful Stan! However, one thing I don’t really need that much help with is the psychological state of our characters. I easily remember those events that are instrumental in what is going on in their emotional lives. Why is the superhero doing this? What childhood event keeps coming back to haunt him? How did the villain get to be such a miserable excuse of a human being? And when is lover boy finally going to propose to the sweetheart he so obviously adores?

With all that in mind, let’s get to my specific thoughts about this issue of The Fantastic Four.

EMPATHIZING WITH BEN GRIMM
Over these last several issues, Ben Grimm has really gotten the short end of the stick, hasn’t he? First he was a victim of cosmic rays, and now a victim of Reed’s particular sense of justice. Yes, of course, Reed had to make Ben a permanent “Thing” in order to save the world, so you really can’t blame him. But neither can you blame Grimm for feeling grim and sorry for himself. Though none of us has ever been transformed into a rock man, who hasn’t experienced what they perceive to be an injustice, and indulged in a good dose of self-pity now and then? (And now, if you will indulge this Cumberbatch fan-girl’s obsession with his latest appearance on Saturday Night Live, I present one of my favorite moments from the Chuck E. Cheese skit, “I know that carrot, I’ve been that carrot…we’re all that carrot”:

PSYCHOANALYZING REED RICHARDS
But now we come to Reed Richards, and my perception switches from pity to annoyance. When Thing shows a positive reaction to Reed’s experimental procedure, Reed hopefully exclaims, “There’s still a chance that I’ve won!” Wow. That jumped out at me, because yes, of course it’s about what will happen to Thing, but in Reed’s mind, it’s also about HIM. In fact, it seems no matter what is happening, in Reed’s mind, it’s mainly about him. It’s all about his ego.

But wait…there’s more! Because at the bottom of that page, as Mister Fantastic and Invisible Girl face the Frightful Four, he puffs out his chest and boasts, “Even single-handedly I’ll outfight all FOUR of you!” At which point Sue, who happens to have powers of her own, by the way, and is standing right next to him, feels compelled to say… uhhh, Reed, honey…“Not single-handedly, my darling! I’m at your side.”

Sue is a lot more generous than I would have been. Reed’s proclamation irked me to no end. And it sent me down memory lane, back years ago, to some difficult times with my first husband. He was the definition of self-centered, and now, after becoming acquainted with certain psychological conditions I’d never known much about before, I’m convinced he was most probably a narcissist. On more than one occasion, when Hubby #1 decided he was ready for bed, even though I was sitting on the couch in the living room, he would just turn off the TV and the lights, and I, like Sue, would feel compelled to say…“Uhhh…hello! I’m right here!” (But unlike Sue, there was no “my darling” about it…)

So when I read stories about Reed Richards behaving badly, it reminds me of this. Which is not altogether pleasant, except that it also gives me the opportunity to thank God I am not Sue Storm, and eventually got to marry Russ!

EMPATHIZING WITH SUE STORM
Very often, I empathize with Sue. As one of the few significant female characters in these early Marvel comics, I “get” her more often than the many male characters, who, though I may understand them on a storytelling level, I have personally never experienced some of the thought processes and motivations that go into their decisions. Though of course there are many fine women in our military service, and I applaud Steve Rogers and Bucky for wanting to defend their country, none of that is in my personal DNA. Likewise, the belly-bumping contest currently going on in The Avengers, while amusing, is not a mindset or activity I’ve ever seriously found myself inclined towards.

So in this issue, when Sue is so distraught about her brother’s welfare and ponders that it all seems “so hopeless,” to the point that she later resorts to prayer…well, been there, done that. Resorting to prayer is something I don’t believe I’ve ever seen before in Marvel Comics, and that moment really stood out for me. I’m thinking if I went back to the time when Sue and Johnny’s father was killed, there might be something there about prayer.

PSYCHOANALYZING JOHNNY STORM
Finally, let’s take a look at Johnny. At the end of the story, why does he hesitate and allow Medusa to get away? Johnny psychoanalyzes himself, wondering if it’s because he doesn’t want to fight a GIRL. Then Reed talks to him about how Medusa is really a very attractive woman, and that makes Johnny even more agitated. Hmmm….is something brewing? Is this going to be a new thing: ♪Johnny and Medusa sitting in a tree…♪? That moment of hesitation in Johnny’s character is more interesting to me than all the fighting that went on in the past two issues of this story.

FIGHTING ENSUED
And now, at last, we have reached the crux of the matter, my main argument for why I read comics like a girl. Of course I understand these comics are not about Patsy Walker, or Millie the Model, they’re about superheroes and supervillains, so yes, of course there’s going to be a good deal of fighting, and I’m okay with that, because it’s germane to the genre. But sometimes it seems these fight scenes go on and on and on, beyond what’s required to get the point across. Sometimes I feel the fights are there simply because boys like to see fighting. Wrestling and boxing are generally more interesting to guys than gals, and these comics specifically cater to that mindset.

And now, another personal story. Years ago, I was a junior secretary behind a very capable woman who would take the Minutes for our weekly department meeting. We were a large department, somewhere between 20-30 people, and a lot of talking went on. When multiple people would talk at the same time, for extended periods, Donna would simply write, “Discussion ensued,” then wait until the meeting got back on track.

Later, when Donna retired, I took over the Minutes, and often added the phrase, “Discussion ensued,” always thinking of her. If, in the course of reading this blog you have ever read the words, “Fighting ensued,” rest assured I was thinking of Donna and those large departmental meetings.

So for me, even to this day, whether it’s fighting or lively discussion, the details of such scenes are not particularly important. All that matters is how it turns out in the end. The way we get there is incidental.

READ, ABSORB, REPEAT
Russ tells me that in the late sixties, he would read his comics collection repeatedly. He might have a stack of a hundred comics, and go through them again and again, so the events are now permanently etched in his mind—in the same way that the dialog from the original Star Wars became etched in my mind (and by the way, is still there, at least to some degree).

But I have one more confession: as much as I enjoy reading these early Marvel comics, I don’t have the opportunity or the inclination to read them over and over again, as my husband did as a boy. I’m not a boy, and I’m not ten years old, but I can still enjoy these stories without memorizing every event and every single word. Dr. Doom has shown up briefly in Fantastic Four #43, and something’s wrong with his hands. If Stan is once again feeling helpful, he may arrange for one of those cloud-lined recaps to refresh my memory the next time Doom shows up. And if he’s feeling very generous to the female readers he doesn’t even realize he’s going to have in the future, he’ll continue to pepper these tales with the full scope of human emotions that are surely the reason why Marvel Comics has, in fact, survived and thrived for over sixty years.