Fantastic Four #4
Marvel's Silver Age is four months old, with no fatalities in sight. "In sight." Looking at this fantasy superhero comic book realistically (trust me, I know how silly that might seem), I would suggest that there are civilian fatalities that Stan & Jack aren't mentioning. When the Sub-Mariner directs his ultimate pet, Giganto, to swerve through Manhattan's waterfront, the destruction being wreaked rivals anything Godzilla might accomplish.
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| Call me a cynic, but I don't think everyone made it out. |
Look at the size of the buildings compared to Giganto! Wow! And Giganto keeps this up off-panel while the FF gets their act together. In the story, the military has enough time to gather its forces along a defensive line, and the Fantastic Four delays the creature's arrival, so we can assume there was enough time to evacuate a lot of people. But looking at the sheer scope of destruction being wrought by Giganto, one can realistically assume the deaths of many vagrants, squatters, and rubber-neckers who stayed too close. It's simply impossible to fathom that this much destruction would not be accompanied by civilian deaths. No body count to be had, or even recognition within the book itself that any death had occurred (it's the Silver Age, natch), but it's a damn good thing Ben Grimm forced a hydrogen bomb down Giganto's gullet before it got any further!
Body count: unmentioned
Writer & Artist: Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
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