KAV & TONY BREAK IT DOWN: FANTASTIC FOUR #40

Kav & Tony Break It Down is nothing more than two lifelong comic book fans having fun reviewing pages from comic books of the Golden and Silver Age of Comics. We know these comic books were published with a young audience in mind, but we couldn't pass up the opportunity to make fun of some ridiculous plots, silly dialogue, and scientific shenanigans.

Kav sent me a page from Fantastic Four #40 which is titled "The Battle of The Baxter Building". This comic book was released in 1965 by Marvel Comics. The writer was Stan Lee, the pencils were done by Jack Kirby, the inks were done by Vince Colletta, and the lettering was done by Artie Simek. This is a classic right here, kids.

Let's take a look at a doozy of a page from this issue. Just click on the image below to read the page.

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KAV: Here we see the final page of Fantastic Four #40 titled 'The Battle of the Baxter Building', wherein Dr Doom has been defeated after trying to set off a Q bomb or whatever in New York and trying to kill the FF after they lost their powers. Reed Richards, with his incredible brain power, decides to let Doom walk because he has 'diplomatic immunity' and 'shattering his ego' so that he 'may' never have enough confidence to attack again. That's a big maybe, Brainy, since you've defeated him countless times and his ego was never 'too shattered' to attack again. In fact he seems to come back each time even more pissed off, as you should have noticed with all your amazing neural capacity. As for 'diplomatic immunity', I can assure you that if Saddam Hussein tried to set of a nuclear bomb in New York City, he wouldn't be allowed to just 'walk'. It's almost like they want him free so he can come back and attack again.

TONY: Diplomatic immunity for Doctor Doom? Let's return the evil dictator back to his homeland so he can develop some more devious plans for world domination. Let's forget all his past transgressions, especially the fact that he just tried blowing up New York City which would have resulted in the deaths of millions of innocent people. On top of that he has a bruised ego. He will never do anything bad ever again because he has finally learned his lesson. ARE YOU F'ING KIDDING ME?! You're killing me, Stan Lee. YOU ARE KILLING ME. Look, I understand that the Comics Code Authority sucked all the fun out of comics in 1954, but the Fantastic Four should have placed Doom in jail so he could be tried for terrorism. If I were on the Marvel staff back in '65, I'd have written a story with Doom in jail but have Mole Man bust him out of the big house. That would have been followed by an epic battle featuring the Fantastic Four with Doom and Mole Man narrowly escaping. That's some good Silver Age stuff right there, kids.

It was fun reviewing this classic page from the team of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. However, Kav has sent me another Fantastic Four comic book to review, so sit tight and get ready for more Kav and Tony!

Anand 'Kav' Kaviraj is a comic book artist, a comic book writer, and a comic book guru. His works include Doctor Death vs The Vampire and Rapid City.

Tony Wright is a comic book writer and the owner of Champion City Comics. His works include The Red Devil, Day 165, and Dr Death vs The Zombie.