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Learn about the origins, members, enemies, and adaptations of the Fantastic Four, a superhero team created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in 1961. The Fantastic Four gained superpowers after exposure to cosmic rays and became celebrities instead of hiding their identities.
Learn about the history and characters of the Fantastic Four, the first superhero team created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby for Marvel Comics in 1961. The article covers the publication history, creators, stories, and spin-offs of the comic book series.
Sci-fi. Marvel. See: Fantastic Four Comic Books Category for a complete list. See: Fantastic Four for all the variations of the subject on the site. See: Fantastic Four for the main version of the subject.
Explore the adventures of the Fantastic Four, a superhero family created by cosmic rays, in this classic Marvel series. Browse the issues by Hickman, Epting, Choi and more, or filter by show variants and annuals.
- Overview
- History This is an abridged version of Fantastic Four's history. For a complete history see Fantastic Four's Expanded History Origin
- Paraphernalia
- Trivia
- See Also
- Links and References
The FF aren't a building, Johnny. Or matching outfits. Or even a team. We're a family. And that will never change.
—Mister Fantastic
The Fantastic Four (FF) are a team of adventurers who accidentally received powers from cosmic radiation during a space trip on the Marvel-1. They are Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic), Reed's girlfriend Sue Storm (the Invisible Girl, later Woman), Susan's brother Johnny Storm (the Human Torch), and their good friend Ben Grimm (the Thing). Throughout the years, the group evolved with Reed and Sue getting married, having their kids Franklin and Valeria, and members coming and going, but the original four are still the face of the FF.
Since gaining their powers, the group has stuck together through many adventures, exploring new frontiers of the universe, and venturing into other dimensions such as the bewildering Negative Zone. When needed, the FF also serves as protectors, thwarting dastardly villains like their nemesis Doctor Doom, and defending Earth from otherworldly threats, most famously Galactus, the Devourer of Worlds.
Origin
The brilliant aeronautical engineer Reed Richards inadvertently created the Fantastic Four after deciding to make an unauthorized test flight into space using an experimental faster-than-light rocket named the Marvel-1 of his own design. Reed's plan was to use the ship to visit an Earth-like planet in a star system 44 lightyears away. When Reed's financiers began to lose interest in the project, Reed's girlfriend Susan Storm and her younger brother Johnny insisted on joining Reed on the flight. Reed's old friend Ben Grimm was convinced to pilot the rocket. Once in space, the rocket passed through a storm of cosmic radiation. Although prepared for them, the ship was met with an unexpected intensity from the radiation and its shielding couldn't contain it. The craft crashed back down to Earth. Emerging from the ruins of the spaceship, they discovered the radiation had mutated their bodies and had given them remarkable new abilities. Reed gained the ability to stretch his body and limbs, Johnny was able to fly and become engulfed in flames he could control, and Sue was able to bend light around her body and become invisible. Ben gained incredible strength and durability, but his body was tragically transformed. He now had a muscular orange, rock-like hide. All four decided to use their powers to better humanity and founded the Fantastic Four. Individually they call themselves Mister Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch, and the Thing. They are not superheroes in the traditional sense, but rather explorers, facing whatever challenges that may arise as a family. The profits from Richards' patents and royalties fund the team's activities.
The Early Years
Operating from Central City, California, the first menace the Fantastic Four were called upon to face was the Mole Man and his ever changing cadre of monsters and sub-human races from below the Earth. They were soon thrown into conflict with the shape-shifting Skrulls, the first of many alien menaces they would battle in their long careers. The team moved to the Baxter Building, their New York headquarters, and established themselves as mainstream superheroes. Falling out with his teammates after a battle with the Miracle Man, Johnny left the group and encountered the World War II hero Namor, the Sub-Mariner living as an amnesiac in a flop house. Recognizing Namor from comic books, Johnny dropped him into the sea, hoping to restore his memory. The plan worked, but after Namor found Atlantis in ruins, he declared war on humanity. Johnny rejoined the Fantastic Four and together they drove Namor back into the sea. He remained their rival for awhile, vying for the affection of Sue Storm. Reed's former college rival Victor von Doom returned as Doctor Doom. Doom's attempts at world domination forced the Fantastic Four to face him again and again, making him their deadliest and most persistent adversary. During a trip to the Blue Area of the Moon, the Fantastic Four battled the Red Ghost and the Super-Apes and made first contact with a Watcher, called Uatu. With the aid of Ant-Man, they battled Doctor Doom in Sub-Atomica. During a trip to ancient Egypt's past, they encountered the Pharaoh Rama-Tut, a time-traveler who would become the man known as Kang the Conqueror. When the Sub-Mariner was reunited with his people, the Atlanteans, the Fantastic Four were caught in the middle of an Atlantean attempt to invade the surface world. Other threats from this period included Kurrgo, the Puppet Master, the Impossible Man, the Hulk, the Mad Thinker, the Super-Skrull, and the Molecule Man. Spider-Man made a bid to join the team, but was denied. They teamed up with Nick Fury to defeat the Hate-Monger, and it was during this time that the Invisible Girl discovered her force-field powers, right before another confrontation with the Mole Man. The Fantastic Four also returned a lost alien child which was causing mayhem in New York to its parents, and then they teamed up with the Avengers for the first time when the Hulk attacked New York in his most destructive rampage to that date. They also met another active super team of the era, the X-Men, for the first time when the schemes of the Puppet Master and the Mad Thinker pitted them against each other. Three of the Human Torch's enemies, the Wizard, Sandman, and the Trapster, joined forces and recruited an amnesiac Medusa to form an evil, mirror counterpart to the Fantastic Four. They called themselves Frightful Four and battled the Fantastic Four on several occasions. Doctor Doom used his Emotion Charger machine to mind control many villains to attack the team on Reed and Sue's wedding day, but with the aid of a device given to him by the Watcher, Reed ended the threat. Sue and Reed finally married. The wedding was attended by the Avengers and most of the world's heroes.
New Friends and Enemies
The Fantastic Four met Medusa's family, the royal family of the hidden race known as the Inhumans. Johnny instantly fell in love with Medusa's sister, Crystal. The Inhumans and their king, Black Bolt, were originally distrustful of the Fantastic Four. Tragedy struck when the Inhumans' ancestral home Attilan was separated from the outside world by a Negative Zone barrier created by Black Bolt's mad brother Maximus. The Inhumans were trapped inside, and Johnny and Crystal were separated. Despite the Watcher's efforts to hide Earth, Galactus came to Earth determined to consume the energy-rich planet. His herald, the Silver Surfer, rebelled. Reed Richards thwarted Galactus by threatening to use an alien device called the Ultimate Nullifier on him, a weapon that could lay waste to the universe and kill even Galactus. Galactus was forced to vow to spare Earth in exchange for the Nullifier's return, and he punished the Surfer for his betrayal by erecting an undetectable energy barrier that prevented the Surfer from leaving Earth. The Fantastic Four were invited to visit the African nation Wakanda by its king, the Black Panther. They were attacked by the Black Panther, who easily bested them all in individual combat, but was defeated when they teamed up as a group. With the battle over, the Black Panther revealed that it was all a test of their abilities. They helped the Black Panther drive Ulysses Klaw out of Wakanda. Thwarted, Klaw leaped into his massive sonic converter device hoping to gain superhuman powers to combat his foes. His gamble was successful and Klaw was transformed into a creature whose body was composed of "living sound". In his new form, Klaw battled the Fantastic Four and was pummeled into unconsciousness by Mister Fantastic wearing Vibranium knuckle guards and taken to prison. The original Human Torch's body was discovered by the Mad Thinker. Using his knowledge of androids, the Thinker restored most of the Torch's original synthetic tissue and nervous system. The Thinker partially restored the android's memories but coerced the Torch into battling the Fantastic Four. On realizing the implications of what the Thinker wanted him to do, the Torch sacrificed his artificial life to save the Fantastic Four from a sneak attack by the Thinker's computer Quasimodo. The Thinker fled, and the Fantastic Four left the Torch's body in the Thinker's laboratory in Nevada. The Silver Surfer was befriended and betrayed by Doctor Doom, who imprisoned him and stole the Surfer's power for himself. Doom attacked and defeated the Fantastic Four and held the world in terror, but Doom lost his new might when Reed tricked him into leaving Earth's atmosphere. Doom collided with Galactus' barrier, and the Surfer's powers were restored. Meanwhile, the Inhumans escaped their prison thanks to Black Bolt's scream, however Attilan was left in shambles. The Inhuman Royal family agreed it was time to enter the world of the humans. Reed found himself trapped in the Negative Zone after an attack by the Sandman. At that moment, Crystal and Johnny were reunited, and Crystal enlisted the Inhuman Triton to rescue Reed. Blastaar, who once ruled Baluur in the Negative Zone, followed them through a portal. He teamed up with Sandman, but the Fantastic Four and Crystal managed to defeat them and sent Blastaar back to his own dimension. While trying to take a vacation on a tropical island, the Fantastic Four encountered the Kree Sentry 459, who had been reactivated by an archaeologist. During the fight, Johnny's flame struck the island's energy supply, causing it to explode. The FF and the archaeologist escaped in time, seemingly leaving the Sentry to be destroyed. A difficult pregnancy for Sue followed, during which Crystal took her place on the team. At the last moment, to save the unborn child, the Fantastic Four had to visit the Negative Zone and borrow the Cosmic Control Rod of Annihilus. Sue's child, Franklin, named after her father, manifested strong and unusual powers almost immediately. When Annihilus kidnapped Franklin to tap those powers, they increased exponentially, and Reed felt he had no choice but to inhibit Franklin's mental activity. Outraged, Sue left Mr. Fantastic and took Franklin with her. During Sue Storm's hiatus, the Inhuman Medusa took her place. The old bonds, though, drew Susan back to the team. When Ben Grimm was transformed into his human self and lost his powers after a battle with the Hulk, he was briefly replaced with Luke Cage. He returned to the team using an exoskeleton constructed by Reed that emulated his old powers, but was transformed into his rock form again during a battle with Galactus.
Equipment
•Fantastic Four Uniforms •Gadgets and gear created by Mr. Fantastic •Universal Translator can decipher and interpret languages, both alien and terrestrial, into the native language of the user.[118]
Transportation
•Fantasti-Car MK I (Flying Bathtub) - Obsolete •Fantasti-Car MK II - Obsolete •Fantasti-Car MK III •Airjet-Cycle •Pogo Plane MK I - Obsolete •Forever Gate
•Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the Fantastic Four as Marvel Comics' answer to the Justice League of America of DC Comics. Some comic fans claim that Stan's inspiration for starting the Fantastic Four came from DC's Challengers of the Unknown team, also co-created by Jack Kirby years earlier in 1957, while still others maintain that the Fantastic Four were created to closely resemble DC's Sea Devils team.
•In an interview with Jack Kirby in the The Comics Journal Kirby stated that he came up with the idea for the team, and not Stan. However, given that Kirby wasn't really in his right state of mind his words shouldn't be trusted completely, according to the interviewer Gary Groth.
•Originally the whole team would have had flaws with their powers. Mister Fantastic would feel pain from using his powers, Invisible Girl would remain invisible and forced to wear a mask of her own face, Human Torch could use his powers only when he was excited. The Thing was the only member who wasn't changed.[119]
•Each of the powers (as well as their personalities) of the Fantastic Four correspond to the four basic elements according to Greek philosophy: earth (Thing), wind (Invisible Woman), fire (Human Torch), and water (Mister Fantastic).[120]
•1786 appearance(s) of Fantastic Four (Earth-616)
•43 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Fantastic Four (Earth-616)
•270 minor appearance(s) of Fantastic Four (Earth-616)
•819 mention(s) of Fantastic Four (Earth-616)
•31 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Fantastic Four (Earth-616)
•1922 image(s) of Fantastic Four (Earth-616)
Fantastic Four By Ryan North Vol. 1: Whatever Happened To The Fantastic Four? (2022)
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Fantastic Four (1961 - 1998) Witness the comic masterpiece that gave birth to the Marvel Age! Mister Fantastic, The Thing, The Human Torch and The Invisible Girl unite to uncover the universe's greatest mysteries and face down would be world-conquerors like Doctor Doom, the Skrulls, Galactus and countless others!
