Post by shaxper on May 17, 2014 7:06:54 GMT -5
I've never even read this issue, but hear me out.
There were many things that set the early Marvel Universe apart from that of DC and other companies that had come before, but one of the more significant ones from my perspective was its immensity. To the best of my knowledge, all other superhero universes were Earth-centric. While there were non-superhero titles featuring alien races, the superhero genre generally avoided this. When superheroes did encounter alien species, they were generally there for an issue and then forgotten. Even the early Hal Jordan Green Lantern comics feature individual aliens who reappear, but it doesn't really give an ongoing presence to any alien species as a whole. I'm not sure I even recall the Oans having much presence in that title early on.
Granted, this is a half thought out idea. I could be totally wrong. This is a leap, and thus the question mark in the thread title, but I believe FF #18 marks the first time an alien species introduced in an issue of a superhero comic returns in a meaningful way (The Skrulls) clearly giving them a fixed role in the universe, not to be forgotten with the next issue. Two issues later, The Watcher would also return for his second appearance.
Batman and Robin met aliens all the time. Superman WAS an alien. But did any of the aliens they encountered ever return for a second adventure? I can think of sci-fi titles that latched on to one or two alien species that returned regularly, but that's about it. If I'm not mistaken, FF #18 opened up the Marvel Universe in a way that hadn't been done before, letting us know that this easily forgotten race from the second issue was here for good, even if they wouldn't play the role of central antagonist for the series. And thus, what other alien races were out there that we'd similarly soon encounter?
Okay, thoughts?
There were many things that set the early Marvel Universe apart from that of DC and other companies that had come before, but one of the more significant ones from my perspective was its immensity. To the best of my knowledge, all other superhero universes were Earth-centric. While there were non-superhero titles featuring alien races, the superhero genre generally avoided this. When superheroes did encounter alien species, they were generally there for an issue and then forgotten. Even the early Hal Jordan Green Lantern comics feature individual aliens who reappear, but it doesn't really give an ongoing presence to any alien species as a whole. I'm not sure I even recall the Oans having much presence in that title early on.
Granted, this is a half thought out idea. I could be totally wrong. This is a leap, and thus the question mark in the thread title, but I believe FF #18 marks the first time an alien species introduced in an issue of a superhero comic returns in a meaningful way (The Skrulls) clearly giving them a fixed role in the universe, not to be forgotten with the next issue. Two issues later, The Watcher would also return for his second appearance.
Batman and Robin met aliens all the time. Superman WAS an alien. But did any of the aliens they encountered ever return for a second adventure? I can think of sci-fi titles that latched on to one or two alien species that returned regularly, but that's about it. If I'm not mistaken, FF #18 opened up the Marvel Universe in a way that hadn't been done before, letting us know that this easily forgotten race from the second issue was here for good, even if they wouldn't play the role of central antagonist for the series. And thus, what other alien races were out there that we'd similarly soon encounter?
Okay, thoughts?
