Fantastic Four Annual #2, page 23, panel 4
Fantastic Four Annual #2: Blatant Sexism 2
A Stan Lee Story Spectacular
A Jack Kirby Illustrative Idyll
A Chic Stone Delineation Delight
A Sam Rosen Lettering Landmark
We just had to squeeze in one more piece of terrible sexism before we finished with this issue. Reed's completed his serum and it's time to finish this story with a face-off between these two long-time rivals. What follows is a pretty tense standoff between Reed and Doom, reflecting on their shared history and conflict. So, why do we have to start with a terrible, off-hand sexist comment?
This could have been fixed so easily, and the narrative intent is there. Reed's drawing Doom's attention back to himself, and could easily have done so by by asking, 'Why battle Sue Doom?' Unfortunately, Stan's sexist tendencies came to the fore, and this undermines the whole thing.
It's an uncomfortable moment to end our coverage of this annual on, and proof that even one of the strongest issues of the Fantastic Four can be undercut by the dated attitudes of the age in which it was published.
Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four Annual #2 on our thirty-fourth episode: The Doomcast, with special guest host Alan Middleton