Rival publisher DC Comics found a hit with their new Justice League of America comic. Marvel
Comics publisher Martin
Goodman saw that success and wanted to bring that to his own company. He
tasked the creation of a new super team to his star creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. They turned in The Fantastic Four.
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| Never catch any rays without the proper protection. |
The team was created
when genius scientist Reed
Richards took his fiancé, Sue Storm, her brother, Johnny, and his best friend, Benjamin J. Grimm, on an expedition
into space. Their poorly-shielded rocket was bombarded by cosmic rays, altering
the foursome on a genetic level. Reed became able to stretch and shape his body
like it was made of rubber, taking the name Mr. Fantastic. Sue was able to turn
invisible and project a force field with both offensive and defensive
capabilities, becoming the Invisible Girl (later Woman). Impetuous young Johnny
gained an ability to match his temperament by setting his body aflame, projecting
fire, and fly as The Human Torch. Ben was changed the most, as his entire body
became covered in orange rock turning him into the super-strong Thing.
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| All for one and one for four! |
Thing’s
mutation in particular was an earmark of the major difference between FF and other super hero comics at the
time. Lee had strove to create heroes relatable to ordinary people; heroes with
flaws and foibles that made them less than perfect god-like beings. That was
shown through the dysfunctional family dynamic the team exhibited, with Reed
constantly neglecting Sue for his scientific experiments, Johnny gaining a
swelled head through all the adoration and media attention the team received to
the point of causing him to recklessly fall into trouble, and Thing’s constant
depression over his inability to appear as a normal human like his friends (but
don’t worry, folks: over time he gets used to being the “idol o’ millions, the
ever-lovin’ blue-eyed Thing”).
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| Exploring the strange and, what else--the fantastic. |
Further setting the FF apart from those that came before was
their complete lack of superheroic touches. While having codenames, their
identities were publicly known. In fact, they wouldn’t receive costumes until
the third issue of
their series. Kirby gave them a minimalist design, taking a cue from his
earlier work on DC’s Challengers of the Unknown, and within the books it was said the
suits were made of unstable molecules that allowed them to mimic their wearer’s
abilities without damage.
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| When the first family is away, other heroes step in to fill the void. |
The FF was a success, changing Lee’s mind
about leaving the comics field after having grown increasingly discontent. Over
the next several years, the FF had gone on adventures that took them around the
world, into the far reaches of space, and even to alternate dimensions. In
those pages, Lee and Kirby re-introduced Marvel’s first superhero, Namor, the Sub-Mariner, to Silver Age
audiences, as well as their arch foe Dr. Doom, the world devouring Galactus and his herald the Silver Surfer, the secret
race of Inhumans, and even
the African hero Black
Panther. The team had also undergone several brief roster changes,
featuring Inhuman royalty Medusa
and Crystal, She-Hulk, Luke Cage, Nova (Frankie
Raye), Ms.
Marvel/She-Thing and even Spider-Man.
But, regardless, the original Foursome always managed to find their way back
together.
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| Sometimes you need more than four. |
Before Kirby left Marvel in the 1970s, he and Lee had completed 102
issues together (plus one unfinished one that was partially published with new
material as #108,
and then in its original form as Fantastic Four: The Lost Adventure in 2008), becoming the longest creative
run at Marvel until surpassed by Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley on Ultimate Spider-Man. With
over 600 issues across several volumes, the FF
remained a fixture of Marvel for decades. So, it was only natural for them
to make the jump from the page to the small screen…
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