The Fantastic Four, often abbreviated as FF, is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in The Fantastic Four #1 (cover-dated November 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first superhero team created by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and editor/writer Stan Lee, and through this title the "Marvel method" style of production came into prominence.
The four members of the Fantastic Four, who gained superpowers after exposure to cosmic rays during a scientific mission to outer space, are Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards), the group leader who can stretch his body into incredible lengths and shapes; the Invisible Woman (Susan "Sue" Storm-Richards; originally the Invisible Girl), Reed's girlfriend later wife, she can render herself or others invisible; the Human Torch (Johnny Storm), Sue's younger brother who can generate flames, surround himself with them and fly; and the monstrous Thing (Ben Grimm), a grumpy but benevolent friend who is a former college football star, Reed's college roommate and a skilled pilot. Thing has superhuman strength, durability, and endurance because of his stone-like flesh.
Since their 1961 introduction, the Fantastic Four has been portrayed as a somewhat dysfunctional, yet loving, family. Breaking convention with other comic archetypes, the members squabbled, held grudges both deep and petty, and eschewed anonymity or secret identities in favor of celebrity status. They are also well known for their roster of supporting characters, including allies H.E.R.B.I.E. and Alicia Masters; reformed adversaries the Silver Surfer and Namor; and villains such as Galactus, the Mole Man, Ronan the Accuser, Super-Skrull, Annihilus, and their archenemy, Doctor Doom.
The Fantastic Four has been adapted into other media, including several video games, animated series, and live-action films. The most prominent of these are Fantastic Four (2005), Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), Fantastic Four (2015), and The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025).
Publication history
Origins Longtime magazine and comic book publisher Martin Goodman, aware of the strong sales of Justice League of America, directed his comics editor, Stan Lee, to create a comic-book series about a team of superheroes. According to Lee, writing in 1974, "Martin mentioned that he had noticed one of the titles published by National Comics seemed to be selling better than most. It was a book called The Justice League of America and it was composed of a team of superheroes. ... 'If the Justice League is selling', spoke he, 'why don't we put out a comic book that features a team of superheroes?'"
Lee, who had served as editor-in-chief and art director of Marvel Comics and its predecessor companies, Timely Comics and Atlas Comics, for two decades, found that the medium had become creatively restrictive. Determined "to carve a real career for myself in the nowhere world of comic books", Lee concluded that, "For just this once, I would do the type of story I myself would enjoy reading ... And the characters would be the kind of characters I could personally relate to: They'd be flesh and blood, they'd have their faults and foibles, they'd be fallible and feisty, and — most important of all — inside their colorful, costumed booties they'd still have feet of clay."
Lee provided one of his earliest recorded comments on the creation of the Fantastic Four for a fanzine in 1968, during which time penciller Jack Kirby was also working at Marvel. (Kirby is interviewed separately in the same publication.) When asked who conceived the team, he or Kirby, Lee responded "Both ' 'twas mainly my idea, but Jack created characters visually". In the 1974 book Origins of Marvel Comics, Lee described the creative process in more detail, stating that he developed the basic characters as well as a story synopsis for Jack Kirby to follow in the first issue. Lee noted the involvement of both Kirby and Publisher Martin Goodman prior to preparing his synopsis: "After kicking it around with Martin and Jack for a while I decided to call our quaint quartet the Fantastic Four. I wrote a detailed first synopsis for Jack to follow and the rest is history." Kirby turned in his penciled art pages to Lee, who added dialogue and captions. This approach to creating comics, which became known as the "Marvel Method", worked so well that Lee and Kirby used it from then on, and the Marvel Method became standard for the company within a year.
Kirby recalled events somewhat differently. In a 1970 Fanzine interview he confirmed Lee's involvement in the creation of the Fantastic Four but took credit for the main characters and ideas, stating "It was my idea. It was my idea to do it the way it was; my idea to develop it the way it was. I'm not saying Stan had nothing to do with it. Of course he did. We talked things out." Years later, when specifically challenged with Lee's version of events in a 1990 interview, Kirby responded: "I would say that's an outright lie", Reprinted in although the interviewer, Gary Groth, notes that this statement needs to be viewed with caution.Groth explains in his 2002 introduction to the interview that Kirby's state of mind needs to be taken into consideration when evaluating certain statements within the interview. Kirby was involved in an acrimonious dispute with Marvel Comics regarding the return of his artwork, and his relationship with Lee had deteriorated, in part due to this dispute but also due to Lee's public statements through the years, which Kirby saw as diminishing his role. Groth states: "Lee's contribution is a matter for endless speculation, but most observers and historians consider Kirby's claims here to be excessive." Kirby claims he came up with the idea for the Fantastic Four in Marvel's offices, and that Lee merely added the dialogue after the story was pencilled. Kirby also sought to establish, more credibly and on numerous occasions, that the visual elements of the strip were his conceptions. He regularly pointed to a team he illustrated and may have created for rival publisher DC Comics in the 1950s, the Challengers of the Unknown.Kirby's long-time partner, Joe Simon, has written that he was responsible for creating the strip, although his claim has been questioned by others: see Joe Simon, My Life in Comics (Titan Books, 2011) page 205 and Ken Penders, "Challenging the Unknown", The Jack Kirby Collector 17 (November 1997) 14. "[I]f you notice the uniforms, they're the same ... I always give them a skintight uniform with a belt ... the Challengers and the FF have a minimum of decoration. And of course, the Thing's skin is a kind of decoration, breaking up the monotony of the blue uniform." Transcribed and published in The Nostalgia Journal #27. Reprinted in George, The Comics Journal Library. However, the Fantastic Four wore civilian garb instead of uniforms, which were only introduced (along with the Baxter Building Headquarters) in the third issue of the series following readership feedback. The original submitted design was also modified to include the iconic chest insignia of a "4" within a circle that was designed by Lee.
Given the conflicting statements, outside commentators have found it hard to ascertain who created the Fantastic Four. A typed synopsis by Lee for the introductory segment of the first Fantastic Four issue exists and outlines the characters and their origins, with various minor differences to the published version. However Earl Wells, writing in The Comics Journal, points out that its existence does not assert its place in the creation: "[W]e have no way of knowing of whether Lee wrote the synopsis after a discussion with Kirby in which Kirby supplied most of the ideas". Reprinted in George, The Comics Journal Library.
The Fantastic Four's first adventure depicts a team of four adventurers (three men and a woman) led by a scientist travelling beneath the earth's surface and encountering giant monsters while contending with a human antagonist who is also from the surface world; this echoes plot elements of the 1959 film Journey to the Center of the Earth. While neither Lee nor Kirby ever mentioned the film as a direct inspiration, publisher Martin Goodman was known for following popular entertainment trends to attract sales in his comics line.
Comics historian R. C. Harvey believes the Fantastic Four was a continuation of the work Kirby previously did, and so "more likely Kirby's creations than Lee's". Reprinted in George, The Comics Journal Library. But Harvey notes that the Marvel Method of collaboration allowed each man to claim credit, and that Lee's dialogue added to the direction the team took. Wells argues that Lee's contributions set the framework within which Kirby worked, and this made Lee "more responsible". Comics historian Mark Evanier, a studio assistant to Jack Kirby in the 1970s, says that the considered opinion of Lee and Kirby's contemporaries was "that Fantastic Four was created by Stan and Jack. No further division of credit seemed appropriate."
1960s and 1970s
The Fantastic Four #1 (Nov. 1961) was an unexpected success. Lee had felt ready to stop working on comics at the time, but the positive response to Fantastic Four persuaded him to continue with comic books. The title began to receive fan mail and Lee started printing the letters in a letter column with issue #3. Also with the third issue, Lee created the hyperbolic slogan "The Greatest Comic Magazine in the World!!" With the following issue, the slogan was changed to "The World's Greatest Comic Magazine!" and became a fixture on the issue covers into the 1990s, and on numerous covers in the 2000s.
Issue #4 (May 1962) reintroduced Namor the Sub-Mariner,DeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 86: "Stan Lee and Jack Kirbuy reintroduced one of Marvel's most popular Golden Age heroes – Namor, the Sub-Mariner." an aquatic antihero who was a star character of Marvel's earliest iteration, Timely Comics, during the late 1930s and 1940s period that historians and fans call the Golden Age of Comics. Issue #5 (July 1962) introduced the team's most frequent nemesis, Doctor Doom.DeFalco "1960s" in Gilbert (2008), p. 86: "The introduction of Dr. Doom signaled a slight shift in direction for Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. At last they were moving away from their monster-book formulas to embrace the super hero genre. Dr. Doom was their first real attempt to create an enduring super villain." These earliest issues were published bimonthly. With issue #16 (July 1963), the cover title dropped its The and became simply Fantastic Four. In Fantastic Four #19 (October 1963), Stan Lee announced that Reed Richards would remain leader of the group, due to an overwhelming fan response in the affirmative (93.47%). Stan's comment of Nuff Said would from here become an ongoing phrase in Lee's communications with fans.