What If? has introduced Marvel readers to many bizarre realities over the years, but in What If? #11, readers were introduced to a very different Fantastic Four, comprised of members of the Marvel Bullpen. Thus, long before Stan Lee was the cameo role in every Marvel movie, he was Mr. Fantastic himself!
What If? #11 in 1978 saw the Marvel Bullpen take the roles of the Fantastic Four. The issue opens with a mysterious package delivered to the Marvel offices, bathing several employees in cosmic rays that cause them to transform into the Fantastic Four. Stan Lee became Mr. Fantastic, with his frequent artistic collaborator Jack Kirby becoming the Thing as well as his secretary Flo Steinberg taking the role of Invisible Woman and artist Sol Brodsky becoming the Human Torch. Comic artist John Romita also appeared as the Fantastic Four’s office co-worker, blissfully unaware of his colleagues’ superhero activities.
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As the Fantastic Four, the Marvel Bullpen investigates the cause of their transformation, said to be perpetuated by the ever-elusive “S People.” Ultimately, their trek would lead them to Atlantis, where they would team up with Namor the Submariner and learn the true identities of the “S People” – the shape-shifting Skrulls. On the bright side, however, the group would adapt their adventures into a popular monthly comic book. The Marvel Bullpen Fantastic Four would briefly appear in Paradise X: Heralds #3 during the trial of the Watcher.
The names and faces of the Marvel Bullpen were well-known to readers of Marvel at the time thanks to the charismatic persona cultivated by Stan Lee, who had taken the role of Marvel publisher. Interestingly, much of the Marvel Bullpen depicted on the pages of What If #11 had actually left the House of Ideas by the time the issue was published. Flo Steinberg, herself an an oft-overlooked figure in Marvel history, had left her position as secretary and fan liaison nearly a decade earlier. Jack Kirby, who both wrote and penciled the issue, was preparing to leave the company a second time in 1979 to work at Hanna-Barbera. Both Steinberg and Kirby were dissatisfied with Marvel’s treatment of them, though Steinberg would return to the company in the 1990s to work as a proof-reader.
Still, What If? #11 remains an interesting time capsule of Marvel’s heyday, despite the less-than-cozy behind-the-scenes reality. There is a simple thrill in seeing Stan Lee and Jack Kirby directly embody the very creations that helped spark the Marvel Age. The issue also provides a lens into Marvel personalities like Lee and Steinberg, who both cemented Marvel’s legacy among fans for decades to come. There are many alternate versions of the classic Fantastic Four, but ultimately none quite as important as the Marvel Bullpen version.