Written by: Stan Lee
Drawn by: Jack Kirby
Inking: Dick Ayers
Lettering: Art Simek
I'm a sucker for inventive uses for Reed's stretching powers. As I've said before, the fact that he stretches, rather than having a completely malleable body, prevents some of the crazier excesses of, say, Plastic Man. But when a writer or artist really gets to work with his elastic capabilities, there can be a lot of fun even during a pitched battle.
I particularly like when he gets blindsided by an imaginative opponent who uses his powers against him and the team, as Namor does here. Reed getting involved in a pitched battle is a rare occurrence - he's more likely to be directing the fight of doing something behind the scenes whilst his brother-in-law and best friend get down on with the punching - so seeing him physically involved in the fight in such a visual manner is just great.
Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four Annual #1 on our sixteenth episode: The Best Of Annuals, The Worst Of Annuals.
[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_16.mp3]