Marvel's Greatest Comics - Volume 01 Issue 78

My Rating

The Monster from the Lost Lagoon

(Originally presented in Fantastic Four Volume 01 Issue 97, Year 1970)

Somewhere south of Miami near the Florida Keys, Reed Richards and the male portion of the Fantastic Four are busy running an underwater rescue mission. In the past few months a number of commercial ships have sunk without a trace in the region known as the Lost Lagoon. The number of disappearances are too high to be a coincidence. When the United States Navy received word that Reed Richards is vacationing in the area they asked for help with their investigation.

Equipment with an array of swim trunks, sun tan lotion, and a Stark Industries built advanced air-sea cruiser, Reed, Ben, and Johnny cruise the depths for some clues. Hours pass by as the three men discuss who could be responsible. Reed dismisses any involvement of their old nemesis Submariner, or the inhuman known as Trident. They have no motive or eye witness accounts to back those theories. After an extensive search the Lagoon provides zero evidence. The ships have simply vanished.

As Ben turns the air-sea Cruiser back towards the beach a pod of pilot whales begins to attack the vessel. Being a crack pilot, Ben Grimm begins evasive maneuvers in an attempt to minimize the blows to the outer hull. Meanwhile, Richards recognizes that someone or something has taken mental control of the animals. He does a visual search as well as a sonar scan but is unable to locate the agitator. A few seconds more pass as the air-sea cruiser makes its way towards the surface. Ben presses a sequence of buttons and the ship bursts from the tides and is airborne.

Who is behind the missing ships and crewmembers? What secrets lay beneath the Oceanarium amusement park? Will Johnny ever find his girlfriend Crystal? Collect the series to find out!

Reviewer Notes

I picked this book up from a local flea market last week because of the Creature from the Black Lagoon cover. I love these old issues as they give us a snapshot into 1960’s and 1970’s America. Thee are no pressures, no intergalactic crossover events, just a little adventure for a family with superpowers.

Marvel’s Greatest Comics #78 is a reprint of Fantastic Four #97 (1970) with Stan Lee doing the writing and Jack Kirby on art. This is the quintessential art style done the Marvel way. Google ” Drawing Comics the Marvel Way” for more details. I have a reprint issue of the famous book.

I think it’s funny that the Fantastic Four can never catch a break even while taking a vacation. There is always some hassle that gets in the way, be it government agencies, or rando spacemen. They do the right thing, however, and get to the bottom of the mystery. Think Scooby-Doo plot but cooler. I was a little disappointed in the length of the story, it would have been nice if Stan Lee could have stretched this into a three Issue story arc. I’m giving the Lost Lagoon three dolphin-riders out of five. Where is Crystal?