Fantask #1
Fantask #1 marks the moment Marvel Comics arrived in France as a sustained, ongoing publication — the first issue of the first French-language periodical devoted entirely to Marvel superheroes, introducing the Fantastic Four and the Silver Surfer to a new national readership. Its launch in February 1969 set in motion a decades-long French Marvel publishing tradition that ran through Strange (1970–1996), Nova, Titans, and beyond. The series was also historically notable for being shut down after just seven issues by France's youth-publications censorship commission, which condemned its 'terrifying science fiction,' 'traumatizing monster battles,' and 'violently colored artwork' — a banning that paradoxically cemented its cultural significance and spurred Lug to relaunch Marvel content almost immediately under the title Strange. The back cover of this debut issue carried a house advertisement for Wampus #1, Lug's own original superhero creation launching that same month, signaling that the publisher intended Fantask as the anchor of a broader French genre-comics ecosystem.
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The direct catalyst for Fantask was a 1968 trip to New York by Claude Vistel, daughter of Editions Lug co-founder Auguste Vistel, who returned convinced that Marvel's line deserved a French home and persuaded co-founder Marcel Navarro to acquire the licenses. Lug's editorial team — with Claude Vistel serving as directrice de publication alongside Auguste Vistel and Marcel Navarro — prepared the adaptation work through the in-house Atelier Lug, whose credited members (Rémy Bordelet, Yves Mondet, Jean-Yves Mitton, and Claudy Bordet) handled retouching, lettering, and coloring, resizing the original American pages into the compact 15×21 cm 'petit format' standard. The choice to open with Fantastic Four origin material alongside the brand-new Silver Surfer solo series was influenced by a 1967 Planète anthology book, 'Chefs-d'œuvre de la bande dessinée,' which had briefly excerpted both properties and whose cultural legitimacy gave Lug confidence that French readers were ready for Marvel's style.
Trivia · 8 facts
- On-sale date: February 5, 1969; published by Editions Lug (Lyon, France); 100 pages; petit format (15×21 cm); monthly frequency.
- First issue of the first ongoing French-language periodical devoted entirely to Marvel Comics, presenting the Fantastic Four and Silver Surfer to French readers for the first time in serialized form.
- Reprints four stories: Fantastic Four #1 (Nov 1961, Lee/Kirby) — origin of the FF; Fantastic Four #3 (Mar 1962, Lee/Kirby) — 'The Menace of the Miracle Man' (L'Homme-Miracle); Fantastic Four #4 (May 1962, Lee/Kirby) — first Silver Age appearance of Namor (Le Prince des Mers); and Silver Surfer #1 (Aug 1968, Lee/Buscema) — origin of Norrin Radd/Le Surfer d'Argent.
- Introduces Shalla Bal to French readers, per the Silver Surfer #1 reprint (indexed by GCD as her introduction in this issue).
- The cover is adapted from the cover of Fantastic Four #75 (June 1968, Marvel); the inside front cover is adapted from FF #59 and an interior page of Amazing Spider-Man #62.
- Adaptation work (retouching, lettering, coloring) credited to the Atelier Lug: Rémy Bordelet, Yves Mondet, Jean-Yves Mitton, and Claudy Bordet; editorial direction by Claude Vistel, Auguste Vistel, and Marcel Navarro.
- The back cover carries a house advertisement for Wampus #1 (Editions Lug, March 1969), an original French superhero series created by Marcel Navarro, scripted by Franco Frescura, and drawn by Luciano Bernasconi — Wampus does not appear as a story character within Fantask #1 itself.
- The series was banned after seven issues (February–August 1969) by France's Commission de surveillance et de contrôle des publications destinées à l'enfance et à l'adolescence (CSCPJ), which cited terrifying science fiction and traumatizing monster imagery; Lug subsequently relaunched French Marvel content in 1970 under the title Strange, which ran until 1996.
Cast · 27 characters
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Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Les Fantastiques partent à la recherche de la Torche qui s'est enfui. Fuyant la Chose, la Torche rencontre le Prince des Mers amnésique. La Torche jette le Prince des Mers dans la mer qui retrouve sa mémoire. Désirant se venger des hommes de la surface, le Prince des Mers envoie Giganto détruire New York. La Chose entre à l'intérieur du monstre avec une bombe et le tue. La Torche expédie le Prince des Mers et Giganto dans la mer. Le Prince des Mers annonce menaçant : "je reviendrai".
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).