Fantastic Four

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Fantastic Four
Promotional art for Fantastic Four #544, featuring the new Fantastic Four line-up. Cover art by Michael Turner.
Publisher Marvel Comics First appearance The Fantastic Four Vol. 1, #1 (Nov. 1961) Created by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby Base(s) of operations Baxter Building (current) Four Freedoms Plaza Pier Four
Roster See: List of Fantastic Four members

The Fantastic Four is Marvel Comics' first comic book superhero team, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and debuting in The Fantastic Four #1 (Nov. 1961).

The four core friends and family members that are traditionally associated with the Fantastic Four, and who gained superpowers after being exposed to cosmic rays during an outer space science mission are:

• Mr. Fantastic (Reed Richards), the leader of the group, a scientific genius who can stretch his body into incredible lengths and shapes.
• The Invisible Woman (Susan Richards, née Storm; originally the Invisible Girl), Reed Richards' wife, the team's second-in-command. As her codename implies, Sue can render herself invisible at will. She can also create force fields and fire invisible power blasts from her hands.
• The Human Torch (Johnny Storm), Sue's brother, who can surround himself with flames and fly.
• The Thing (Ben Grimm), their grumpy friend with a heart of gold, who possesses superhuman strength and endurance, his skin is monstrous, craggy, orange, and looks as if made of scales or plates (often mistakenly referred to as "rocks").

Currently, following the events of Marvel Comic's Civil War, Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman have stepped down from active Fantastic Four duty and relinquished their spots to:

• Storm (Ororo Monroe), best known as a former prominent leader of the X-Men, Storm has the mutant power to control the weather and can fly at high speeds. She is also the reigning queen of the fictional nation of Wakanda.
• Black Panther (T'Challa), reigning king of Wakanda and former Avenger, the Black Panther gained superhumanly acute senses and increases to his strength, speed, stamina, and agility to the peak of human development by eating a ritualistic special heart-shaped herb traditionally consumed by the ranking Black Panther.

Since its introduction — in which the groundbreaking team did not even adhere to the convention of superhero costumes in its first two issues — the Fantastic Four have been portrayed as a somewhat dysfunctional yet loving family.

Breaking convention with comic-book archetypes at the time, its members would squabble and even hold animosities both deep and petty, though ultimately supporting and truly caring for each other. Also, unlike many other comic book superheroes, the Fantastic Four have no anonymity, maintaining something of a celebrity status in the public eye.

The team saved Marvel Comics in the early 1960s, giving it a pivotal place in the history of American comic books. The FF (as they are commonly known) has remained more or less popular since, and has been adapted into other media, including four animated television series, an aborted 1990s low-budget film, a major motion picture, Fantastic Four (2005), and a sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer in 2007.

The comic book series, which famously added the hyperbolic tagline "The World's Greatest Comic Magazine!" above the title starting with issue #4 (issue #3 declared itself "The Greatest Comic Magazine in the World!"), dropped the "The" from the cover logo with #16, becoming simply Fantastic Four.

Contents 1 Publication history 1.1 Lee & Kirby 1.2 John Byrne 1.3 Into the '90s 1.4 "Heroes Reborn" and renumbered 1.5 Civil War 1.6 Post-Civil War 2 Spinoffs 2.1 The Human Torch solo 2.2 The Thing solo 2.3 Comic book within a comic book 3 Fictional character biographies 4 Supporting characters 4.1 Temporary replacement members 4.2 "Alternate Fantastic Four" members 4.3 Allies/Supporting characters 4.4 Antagonists 5 Alternate versions 5.1 The End 5.2 Ultimate Fantastic Four 5.3 Challengers of the Fantastic 6 Other media 6.1 Animated Series 6.2 Video games 6.3 Movies 7 Parodies and allusions 8 See also 9 Footnotes 10 References 11 External links

[edit] Publication history

[edit] Lee & Kirby

Legend has it in 1961, longtime magazine and comic book publisher Martin Goodman was playing golf with either Jack Liebowitz or Irwin Donenfeld of rival DC Comics, then known as National Periodical Publications, who bragged about DC's success with the superhero team the Justice League of America.^[1] While film producer and comics historian Michael Uslan has partly debunked the story,^[2] Goodman, a publishing trend-follower aware of the JLA's strong sales, confirmably directed his comics editor, Stan Lee, to create a comic-book series about a team of superheroes. According to Lee 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 [sic] 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?'[3]

”

Lee, who'd served as editor-in-chief and art director of Marvel and its predecessor companies, Timely Comics and Atlas Comics, for two decades, had by now found the medium restrictive. Determined "to carve a real career for myself in the nowhere world of comic books,^[4] 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.[5]

”

The result was The Fantastic Four #1 (Nov. 1961) by Lee, penciler and co-plotter Kirby — the only credit signatures — with George Klein the generally recognized, uncredited inker^[6] The new book did not look like a superhero comic; the new characters appeared on the cover without costumes, and fighting a giant monster as was in vogue in Marvel's pre-superhero comics at the time. Moreover, they had no secret identities, and squabbled and grumbled more like real-life people than traditional superheroes. These first issues of the risky, groundbreaking book set the template for the "Marvel revolution" that revitalized the comics industry with a rough-hewn naturalism in which superheroes could bicker, worry about finances, and be flawed human beings, unlike the golden, square-jawed archetypes that had become the tradition. Lee's intended swan song became unexpectedly and phenomenally successful; Lee and Kirby stayed together on the book and began launching other titles from which the vaunted "Marvel Universe" of additional interrelated titles and characters grew.

Through its creators' lengthy run, the series produced many acclaimed stories and characters that have become central to Marvel, including Doctor Doom; the Silver Surfer; Galactus; the Watcher; The Inhumans; the Black Panther; the rival alien Kree and Skrull races; and Him, who would become Adam Warlock. As well, the daring duo of Lee & Kirby, who eventually shared credit as co-plotting collaborators, introduced such concepts as the Negative Zone and unstable molecules, two core elements of the Marvel mythos. In the book's most groundbreaking yet utterly natural development, Fantastic Four presented superhero comics' first pregnancy, culminating with the birth of a Marvel superhero family's first child, Franklin Benjamin Richards. The pregnancy was announced in Fantastic Four Annual #5, and the baby was born one year later in Fantastic Four Annual #6 (1968). (DC Comics' Aquaman had previously fathered a child in his own series, issue #23.)

After Kirby's departure from Marvel in 1970, Fantastic Four continued with Lee, Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway, and Marv Wolfman as its consecutive regular writers, working with artists including John Romita, Sr., John Buscema, Rich Buckler, and George Perez, with longtime inker Joe Sinnott helping to provide some visual continuity. Jim Steranko contributed a handful of covers.

[edit] John Byrne

In the 1980s, John Byrne crafted what many critics call the series' best run since Lee & Kirby's.^{[citation needed]} He joined the title with issue #209 (Aug. 1979), doing pencil breakdowns for Sinnott to finish. Byrne then scripted two tales as well (#220-221, July-Aug. 1980) before writer Doug Moench and penciler Bill Sienkiewicz took over for 10 issues. With issue #232 (July 1981), the aptly titled "Back to the Basics", Byrne began his celebrated run as writer, penciller, and (initially under the pseudonym Bjorn Heyn) inker. His key contribution was the modernization of Invisible Girl into Invisible Woman — a self-confident and dynamic character whose newfound control of her abilities made her the most powerful member of the team.

Byrne also staked bold directions in the characters' personal lives, having the married Sue and Reed Richards suffer a miscarriage, and having the Thing's longtime girlfriend, Alicia Masters, and Johnny Storm fall in love and marry. The rift brought on by the latter would linger for several years, with the Thing quitting the Fantastic Four and the She-Hulk being recruited as his long-term replacement...

[edit] Into the '90s

Byrne was followed by a quick succession of writers (Roger Stern, Tom DeFalco, Roy Thomas), but the next extended run was by Steve Englehart, who had Reed and Sue retire to try to give their son a normal childhood. The returned Thing's new girlfriend, Sharon Ventura, and Johnny Storm's former lover, Crystal, joined the team (though Crystal would leave within a year). Sharon was quickly turned into a female "Thing", and the Thing himself further mutated, developing jagged spikes after being exposed to cosmic radiation during this roster's first mission. When writer and artist Walt Simonson took over the series for the next year-and-a-half, Sue and Reed came out of retirement and the Thing temporarily lost his powers and reverted to his human form.

Following Simonson was Marvel editor-in-chief Tom DeFalco. DeFalco nullified the Johnny Storm-Alicia Masters relationship by retconning that the Skrull Empire had kidnapped the real Masters shortly after the start of John Byrne's scripting run and replaced her with a Skrull spy named Lyja, with whom Storm unwittingly fell in love and married. Once discovered, Lyja, who herself had fallen for Storm, helped the Fantastic Four rescue the real Alicia Masters. Ventura departed after being further mutated by Doctor Doom, with whom she'd sought alliance after Masters returned.

Other key developments included Franklin Richards being sent into the future and returning as a teenager; the return of Reed's time-traveling father, Nathaniel; and Reed's apparent death at the hands of a seemingly mortally wounded Doctor Doom. It would be two years before DeFalco resurrected the two characters, revealing that their seeming deaths were orchestrated by Hyperstorm, the tyrannical futuristic offspring of Rachel Summers (daughter of the X-Men Jean Grey and Cyclops) and Franklin Richards.

[edit] "Heroes Reborn" and renumbered

In 1996, the ongoing series was cancelled with issue #416 and relaunched as part of the Heroes Reborn imprint, which retold the team's first adventures in a modern setting in a parallel universe.

Following the end of that year-long experiment, Fantastic Four was relaunched with a new #1 in late 1997. Initially penciled by Alan Davis, it was written by Scott Lobdell, succeeded after three issues by Chris Claremont. Mark Waid later became the series' writer for a run with penciler Mike Wieringo, followed by writer J. Michael Straczynski and penciler Mike McKone.

The title reverted to its original numbering with issue #500, with Vol. 2 (Heroes Reborn), #1-13 and Vol. 3, #1-70 considered as #417-499 of the original run. Marvel announced through Diamond Comics Distributors that writer Dwayne McDuffie and penciler Paul Pelletier would be the creative team beginning with issue #544.^[7]

[edit] Civil War

In 2006, as part of Marvel's company-wide "Civil War" fictional crossover, the Fantastic Four disbanded, torn apart by differing views on the Superhuman Registration Act. Mr. Fantastic, allied with Tony Stark, SHIELD, and the U.S. government, is in favor of the Act, while the Human Torch and the Invisible Woman leave to join Captain America's resistance movement. The Thing remains neutral and leaves for France. However, he returns in the last battle of the war to help save civilians from the battle. Mr Fantastic is also shot saving the Invisible Woman, but he survives and recovers. Sue then returns to him.

[edit] Post-Civil War

In the aftermath of the superhero "Civil War", Reed and Sue take a leave of absence in order to repair their strained relationship. The Black Panther and Storm, the newlywed king and queen of Wakanda, join the team as their temporary replacements (#543, Apr. 2007).

[edit] Spinoffs

Ancillary titles and features spun off from the flagship series include the 1970s quarterly Giant-Size Fantastic Four and the 1990s Fantastic Four Unlimited and Fantastic Four Unplugged; Fantastic Force, an 18-issue spinoff (Nov. 1994 - April 1996) featuring an adult Franklin Richards, from a different timeline, as Psilord; and Marvel Knights 4 spinoff in April 2004. As well, there have been numerous limited series all similarly set in the main universe, designated in Marvel continuity as Earth-616.

In February 2004, Marvel launched Ultimate Fantastic Four, a version of the group in the "Ultimate Marvel" alternate universe.

[edit] The Human Torch solo

Johnny Storm starred in an early Silver Age solo series beginning in Strange Tales #101 (Oct. 1962), in 12- to 14-page stories plotted by Lee and initially scripted by his brother, Larry Lieber, and drawn by penciler Kirby and inker Dick Ayers.

Here Johnny was seen living with his elder sister, Susan, in fictional Glenview, Long Island, New York, where he continued to attend high school and, with youthful naivete, attempted to maintain his "secret identity". (In Strange Tales #106 (Mar. 1963), Johnny discovered that his friends and neighbors knew of his dual identity all along, from Fantastic Four news reports, but had humored him.) Supporting characters included Johnny's girlfriend, Doris Evans, usually seen only in consternation as Johnny cheerfully flew off to battle bad guys. (She was seen again in a 1970s issue of Fantastic Four, having become a heavyset but cheerful wife and mother.) Ayers took over the penciling after ten issues, later followed by original Golden Age Human Torch creator Carl Burgos and others. The FF made occasional cameo appearances, and the Thing became a co-star with #123 (Aug. 1964).

"The Human Torch" shared the "split book" Strange Tales with fellow feature "Doctor Strange" for the majority of its run, before finally flaming off with issue #134 (July 1965), replaced the following month by "Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.". The Silver Age stories were reprinted, along with some Golden Age Human Torch stories, in a short-lived ongoing Human Torch series published in 1974.

A later ongoing solo series in Marvel's manga-influenced "Tsunami" line, Human Torch, ran 12 issues (June 2003 - June 2004). This was followed by the five-issue limited series Spider-Man/Human Torch (March-July 2005), an "untold tales" team-up arc which spanned the course of the pair's friendship.

[edit] The Thing solo

The "ever-lovin', blue-eyed Thing", as Ben Grimm sometimes refers to himself, appeared in two team-up issues of Marvel Feature (issues 11-12, Sept. - Nov., 1973). Following their success, he was given his own regular team-up title Marvel Two-in-One, co-starring with Marvel heroes not only in the present day but occasionally in other time periods (fighting alongside the Liberty Legion in #20 and Doc Savage in #21, for example) and in alternate realities. The series ran 100 issues (Jan. 1974 - June 1983), with seven summer annuals (1976–1982), and was immediately followed by the solo title The Thing #1-36 (July 1983 - June 1986). Another ongoing solo series, also titled The Thing, ran eight issues (Jan.-Aug. 2006).

For a list including one-shots, limited series, graphic novels, and trade paperback collections, see Thing bibliography.

[edit] Comic book within a comic book

See also: List of comics creators appearing in comics

Issue #10 (Jan. 1963) established the concept the FF (and by extension the rest of the Marvel universe) existed in the same world as Marvel Comics; the team-members, it was explained, had licensed their names and likenesses to the company, and the rights to adapt their "real-life" adventures. In this issue, Doctor Doom himself came to Marvel's Madison Avenue offices. Sharp-eyed fans would later note this "real-world" Marvel was even more fictional than it seemed: Not only was penciler Jack Kirby working at a drawing table there, rather than at home per his wont, but the office door was labeled "Lee and Kirby" — suggesting the kind of comradely partnership fans wanted and expected.

"A Visit with the Fantastic Four" in the following issue (#11, Feb. 1963), reinforced this notion of "real-world superheroes" by having the Fantastic Four, in civilian clothes, stroll to a newstand hoping to pick up their latest comic book. The second story introduced the impish Impossible Man, who starred in writer Roy Thomas' self-referential update in Fantastic Four #176 (Nov. 1976), "Improbable as it May Seem — The Impossible Man is Back in Town!" Here he invaded the Marvel offices demanding to have his own comic. Lee, Kirby, writer Thomas, issue artists George Perez and Joe Sinnott, and Marvel staffers Gerry Conway, Archie Goodwin, Marie Severin, Marv Wolfman, and John Verpoorten all made cameo appearances.

This concept was again used in #262 (Jan. 1984), which depicted writer-artist John Byrne being asked by editor Michael Higgins for the latest issue, since it was almost late. Byrne explained he had been unable to contact the Fantastic Four for the latest story, since they were away. He was about to make up a story when the Watcher whisked him away to take part in the FF's latest adventure. At the end of the issue, Byrne submitted his story.

Marvels Comics: Fantastic Four (2000) was a mock-up of what the comic book published in the Marvel Universe might have looked like, and was (within the fictional context of the story) produced with the official approval of "Fantastic Four, Inc."

[edit] Fictional character biographies

The Fantastic Four acquired superhuman abilities after an experimental rocket ship designed by scientist Reed Richards passed through a storm of cosmic rays on its test flight to outer space. Upon crash landing back on Earth, the four impromptu astronauts found themselves transformed and possessed of bizarre new abilities.

Richards, who took the name Mr. Fantastic, was now able to stretch, twist and re-shape his body to inhuman proportions (similar to Quality Comics' celebrated Plastic Man, Timely Comics' Thin Man, and DC Comics' Elongated Man, who had been introduced the year before). His fiancée, Susan Storm, gained the ability to bend and manipulate light in order to render herself invisible, thus naming herself the Invisible Girl (later the Invisible Woman). She later developed the ability to generate fields of energy that were bended light as well; being used as defensive shields, offensive blasts or allowing her to perform telekinetic feats upon a target. Her younger brother, Johnny Storm, possessed the incendiary powers of a Human Torch, after Marvel's Golden Age character, enabling him to control fire, project burning bolts of flame from his body, and fly. Finally, pilot Ben Grimm was transformed into a monstrous, craggy humanoid with orange, seemingly rock-covered skin and incredible strength/durability. Filled with anger, self-loathing and self-pity over his new existence, he dubbed himself the Thing, the term Susan used in her initial, startled reaction to his transformation.

The four characters were modeled after the four classical Greek elements: earth (The Thing), fire (The Human Torch), air (The Invisible Girl) and water (the pliable and ductile Mr. Fantastic). The powers of Mr. Fantastic were modelled on those of Plastic Man, the Invisible Girl's powers were originally the same as those of the comic strip character "The Invisible Scarlett O'Neill"; the Human Torch had the powers of the Golden Age character of the same name; and the Thing was similar to many of the monster characters that Lee and Kirby had created in the past. The characters may also have been inspired by co-creator Kirby's similarly unmasked though non-superpowered DC Comics quartet the Challengers of the Unknown.

The team of adventurers has used its members' fantastic abilities to protect humanity, the Earth and the universe from a number of threats. Propelled mainly by Richards' innate scientific curiosity, the team has explored space, the Negative Zone, the Microverse, other dimensions, and nearly every hidden valley, nation, and lost civilization on the planet.

They have had a number of headquarters, most notably the Baxter Building in New York City. The Baxter Building was replaced by Four Freedoms Plaza, built at the same location, after the Baxter Building's destruction at the hands of Kristoff Vernard, adopted son of the Fantastic Four's seminal villain (and rumored half-brother of Mr. Fantastic) Doctor Doom. Pier 4, a warehouse on the New York waterfront, served as a temporary headquarters for the group after Four Freedoms Plaza was condemned, due to the actions of another superhero team, the Thunderbolts.

The comic books have typically emphasized that the Fantastic Four, unlike most superhero teams, are truly a family. Three of the four members are directly related, with The Thing being a long-time friend and Reed Richard's college room-mate; Reed and Sue's son, Franklin Benjamin Richards, was given his middle name after him. Although not strictly related, The Thing's role is that of the beloved Dutch uncle, and his relationship with Mr. Fantastic and the Human Torch is nonetheless quite sibling-like. The children of Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman, Franklin Richards and Valeria Richards, are also regulars in the series.

Unlike most superheroes, the Fantastic Four's identities are not secret and they maintain a high public profile, enjoying celebrity status for their scientific and heroic contributions to society. Recent issues have controversially revealed that this is a deliberate move by Reed Richards, who works to keep the team highly visible and well-regarded out of guilt for causing their mutations. Fantastic Four has had many supporting characters throughout the comic book franchise.

• List of Fantastic Four members

[edit] Supporting characters

[edit] Temporary replacement members

• Medusa - An Inhuman who filled-in when the Invisible Girl separated from Mr. Fantastic due to marital problems.
• Crystal - An Inhuman and Johnny Storm's girlfriend.
• Luke Cage (Power Man) - Replacement during the Thing's brief absence.
• She-Hulk - Jennifer Walters, first cousin of Bruce Banner (the Hulk). She joined the team as a replacement for the Thing in the aftermath of the first Secret War.
• Ms. Marvel (She-Thing) - Sharon Ventura, who gained powers and an appearance similar to the Thing's served on the team for a brief period of time.
• Ant Man II - Scott Lang, reformed thief utilizing Henry Pym's shrinking particles. He briefly joined when Reed Richards was missing and presumed dead.
• Namorita - with She-Hulk and Ant-Man (Scott Lang), joined the Human Torch's makeshift team when the 3 other original members were missing in the Negative Zone
• Storm - Along with her husband, Black Panther, she filled in for Sue Richards in 2007.
• Black Panther - Along with his wife, Storm, he filled in for Reed Richards in 2007.

[edit] "Alternate Fantastic Four" members

• The Hulk (aka Mr. Fixit), Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Ghost Rider (Daniel Ketch) - served as a complete team replacement in Fantastic Four #347-349 (Dec. 1990 - Feb. 1991), in a storyline written by Walter Simonson and pencilled by Art Adams, in which they were called "The New Fantastic Four". This line-up reappeared issue #374-375 (March-April 1993), this time with the Merged Hulk/The Professor. The video game Marvel Ultimate Alliance offered this version of the team as an option, with Luke Cage in place of the Hulk.

[edit] Allies/Supporting characters

Agatha Harkness (governess) Alicia Masters Black Panther Daredevil Franklin Richards (son) The Inhumans Black Bolt Crystal (former FF member) Medusa (former FF member) Gorgon Karnak Triton Lockjaw Kristoff Vernard - Doctor Doom's protege Lyja - An undercover Skrull agent Namor the Sub-Mariner

New Avengers Captain America Iron Man Luke Cage Spider-Man Jessica Drew Sentry Wolverine Nova - Frankie Raye Silver Surfer Storm Valeria Richards (daughter) Willie Lumpkin the postal worker Wyatt Wingfoot Uatu The Watcher

[edit] Antagonists

Air-Walker Annihilus Blastaar Crucible Devos the Devastator Diablo Doctor Doom Doctor Sun Dragon Man Eliminator Fearsome Foursome Frightful Four Galactus

Hate-Monger Hydro-Man Hyperstorm Impossible Man Kang the Conqueror/Rama-Tut/Immortus Klaw Kurrgo, Master of Planet X Mad Thinker Maximus the Mad Mephisto Modulus Mole Man Molecule Man Overmind Power Skrull

Psycho-Man Puppet Master Ronan the Accuser Red Ghost Salem's Seven The Sandman Skrulls Super-Skrull Terminus Terrax Thanos Thundra Trapster Wizard

[edit] Alternate versions

[edit] The End

Main article: Fantastic Four: The End

Fantastic Four: The End is a six-issue limited series depicting a possible future in which the members of the Fantastic Four have become estranged after an epic battle with a "more machine than man" version of Dr. Doom, resulting in the deaths of Franklin Richards and Valeria Richards, the children of group leader Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic) and his wife Susan Richards (the Invisible Woman). Scientist Reed's experiments, specifically a system known as the "Methuselah Treatment", have helped to rid the world of disease, and with the super-team Avengers, the Fantastic Four have secured the solar system. Richards lives and works in an asteroid orbiting Earth, while his wife is on an archaeological expedition underwater, Susan's brother Johnny Storm (the Human Torch) is a strike-force leader for the Avengers, and Ben Grimm (the Thing) lives with his wife Alicia Masters and their three children on Mars.

[edit] Ultimate Fantastic Four

Main article: Ultimate Fantastic Four

[edit] Challengers of the Fantastic

Main article: Challengers of the Fantastic

Challengers of the Fantastic were a superhero team featured in Amalgam Comics. They were an amalgamation of Challengers of the Unknown and Fantastic Four.

[edit] Other media

There have been four The Fantastic Four animated TV series and two feature films (though one of the movies went unreleased, and is only available in a widely circulated bootleg). The Fantastic Four also guest-starred in the "Secret Wars" story arc of the 1990s Spider-Man animated series. There was also a very short-lived radio show in 1975 that adapted early Kirby/Lee stories, and is notable for casting a pre-Saturday Night Live Bill Murray as the Human Torch. In 1979, the Thing was featured as half of the Saturday morning cartoon Fred and Barney Meet the Thing. The character of the Thing was given a radical make-over for the series. The title character for this program was Benji Grimm, a teenage boy who possessed a pair of magic rings which could transform him into the Thing. The other members of the Fantastic Four do not appear in the series, nor do the animated The Flintstones stars Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble, despite the title of the program.

[edit] Animated Series

• Fantastic Four (1967 TV series) - Produced by Hanna Barbera
• Fantastic Four (1978 TV series) - Produced by DePatie-Freleng (featuring a H.E.R.B.I.E. Unit in place of the Human Torch)
• Fantastic Four (1994 TV series) - a main feature of the "Marvel Action Hour" with introductions by Stan Lee
• Fantastic Four (2006 TV series) - a Cartoon Network exclusive

[edit] Video games

Main article: Fantastic Four (video game)

In 1998, a side-scrolling video game was released for the Sony PlayStation home video game system / platform, based on the Fantastic Four characters. In the game you and a friend could pick among the Fantastic Four characters (along with the She-Hulk), and battle your way through various levels until you faced Doctor Doom. The game was widely panned by critics for having weak storyline and handling of the characters' powers.

The Fantastic Four appeared in the Super NES and Sega Genesis video games based on the 1990s Spider-Man animated series and in their own multi-platform games based on the 2005 movie.

The Thing and the Human Torch appeared in the 2005 game Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects.

The Fantastic Four appear in the game Marvel: Ultimate Alliance.

The Human Torch has a cameo appearance in all versions of the Ultimate Spider-Man game except for Game Boy Advance.

[edit] Movies

A movie adaptation of The Fantastic Four was completed in 1994 by famed B-movie director/producer Roger Corman. While this movie was never released to theaters or video, it has been made available from various bootleg video distributors. The film was made on a shoestring budget and is largely mocked by fans of the comic book foursome for what they see as poor acting and disappointing special effects (at one point, The Human Torch — played by a human actor — turns into an obvious cartoon upon "flaming-on").

The film was made because the studio who owned the movie rights to the Fantastic Four would have lost them if it had not begun production by a certain deadline date (a tactic known as creating an ashcan copy). According to producer Bernd Eichinger, Avi Arad had Marvel purchase the film for a few million dollars.^[9]

Another feature film adaptation of Fantastic Four was released July 8, 2005 by Fox, and directed by Tim Story. Fantastic Four opened in approximately 3,600 theaters and despite predominantly poor reviews^[10] grossed US$156M in North America and US$329M worldwide, weighed against a production budget of $100M and an officially undisclosed marketing budget. It stars Ioan Gruffudd as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Jessica Alba as Susan Storm/Invisible Woman, Chris Evans as Johnny Storm/Human Torch, Michael Chiklis as Ben Grimm/The Thing and Julian McMahon as Victor Von Doom/Dr. Doom, with Stan Lee making a cameo appearance as Willie Lumpkin, the mailman.

On 22 October 2005, Fox announced plans for a sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, to be directed by Story and written by Don Payne, with production scheduled to begin August 2006. The release date for the sequel is June 15, 2007.

[edit] Parodies and allusions

• The cover of The Fantastic Four #1 has been parodied, alluded to, and paid homage to many times.^{[citation needed]}
• The villains in the Wildstorm comic book series Planetary are counterparts to the Fantastic Four called The Four.
• The universe of writer Kurt Busiek's various Astro City comics includes a Fantastic Four-like group called The First Family.
• In DC Comics' Adventures of Superman #466, a space shuttle crew gains the powers of the Fantastic Four but are unable to control them. The Thing and Human Torch analogues die as a result. The Mr. Fantastic analogue manages to prevent his wife from fading from existence before seemingly dying himself. He later appears as the Cyborg Superman.
• Episodes of the animated series The Venture Bros. titled "Ice Station – Impossible!" and "Twenty Years to Midnight" involve a parody of the Fantastic Four (especially their costumes) but with significantly less useful versions of their powers.
• An early episode of Batman Beyond titled "Heroes" features The Terrific Trio, who closely resemble The Fantastic Four.
• The animated series The Simpsons references the Fantastic Four several times:
  • In "Treehouse of Horror X", Bart and Lisa are transformed into Stretch Dude and Clobber Girl.
  • In "Treehouse of Horror XIV", the Simpsons briefly turn into the Fantastic Four.
  • "In I Am Furious Yellow", Stan Lee tries to sell a boy a Thing action figure.

• The 2004 Disney/Pixar animated feature The Incredibles is about a family of superheroes whose powers include stretching, super strength, invisibility/force field, and flame. Marvel Studios chairperson Avi Arad told Entertainment Weekly that, "In the words of Stan Lee, when someone asked him about The Incredibles, he said, 'You know, it feels like I wrote it.'"^[11]
• The Atomic Betty episode "The Trouble with Triplets" features three Betty clones possessing the powers of the Human Torch, Mr. Fantastic, and the Thing.
• In issues 29-30 of the 1989 Legion of Super-Heroes series, a team of four villains (Elasti-Kid 5, Ghost 6, Flare and Alloy 12) had powers based on those of the Fantastic Four.
• In issues 50-52 of Power Pack, a quartet of Kymellian heroes called Force 4 (Teamleader, Ghostmare, Firemane and Thunderhoof) was based in powers (though Teamleader's power was only his superior intelligence, and not any variation of Mr. Fantastic's stretching power and Ghostmare's abilities was more similar to Kitty Pryde's phasing powers) and in name (the real names of these heroes was a Pig Latin version of their Fantastic Four counterparts'. In other words; Teamleader was 'Ydrai', Firemane was 'Onijay', Thunderhoof's 'Enbé', and Ghostmane [revealed within the OHOTMU A-Z #6 Issue] was 'Oosay') on the Fantastic Four. Ghostmare was later renamed Matriarch, paralleling the Invisible Woman's role in the Fantastic Four family as well.

• The opening of a Garfield Sunday strip parodied the opening of a Fantastic Four comic book. Garfield was the Thing, Odie was Mr. Fantastic, Nermal was the Human Torch (who was trying to blow out his flaming tail), and Arlene was the Invisible Woman. The name of the comics company that turns out Garfield was placed instead of Marvel Comics, as Paws Comics Group.

• In the Family Guy episode "Petarded", Peter Griffin refers to Fantastic Four while playing the board game Trivial Pursuit.

• In the MC2 imprint, a team called the Fantastic Five exists. Its membership consists of the Human Torch, Ms. Fantastic (Lyja), Psi-Lord (Franklin Richards), Big Brain (a robot with the mind of Reed Richards), and the Thing (though he may be dead). Had the Fantastic Five book lasted longer, the team would have been succeeded by their superpowered offspring.

• In Runaways Vol. 2, #1, a time-traveler refers to a future team called the Fantastic Fourteen.

• In the PBS animated series Arthur, a daydream sequence features Buster Baxter, one of Arthur's friend, emerging from a space shuttle and exhibiting the powers of the Fantastic Four (one limb stretches, one bursts into flame, one turns invisible, and one turns into orange rock)

• In the Mutants and Masterminds role-playing game's Freedom City campaign setting, both the Atom Family and the Factor Four can be considered varying interpretations of the Fantastic Four.

• In the movie The Ice Storm, the Tobey Maguire character refers to the Fantastic Four in his narrative.

• In an episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, it was suggested that after generations of racial mixing, the people of the United States would be orange. The American of tomorrow was then portrayed as looking almost exactly like The Thing. The man (occasional cast member John Hodgman) giving the presentation shot down this idea, saying that the thing had blue eyes, while the American of the Future would have brown eyes. It would be irrelevant anyway, because they would all be enslaved by a race of cyborgs, known as "the Whites".

• The "TV Funhouse" segment of Saturday Night Live has occasionally featured a cartoon sketch, "The X Presidents", wherein four former Presidents of the United States were given special powers from cosmic radiation while appearing at a celebrity golf tournament.

• In May 2006, the shoe company Nike released a Fantastic Four line of styles, each based upon one of the four characters.
• In The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius episode "The N-Men", Jimmy and his friends are on a space shuttle, inadvertently go through a gas belt, and crash land on Earth with powers partially similar that of the Fantastic Four. Jimmy is similar to the Thing and the Hulk, Libby to the Invisible Woman, and Sheen and Cindy to Quicksilver and Ms. Marvel, respectively.

• In Inferior Five #10 (a DC Comics comic book) there is a parody of the group: The Kookie Quartet with Human Torch = Matchstick Kid, Mister Fantastic = Mr. Manplastic. The Thing and the Invisible Girl do not have an alternate name.

• The four main characters on the O.C. are referred to both by themselves and the show's creators as "the Fantastic Four".

• A scene in the Quentin Tarantino film Reservoir Dogs includes a Silver Surfer poster, and Joe (Lawrence Tierney), the bald, craggy gangster, is described as looking like the Fantastic Four's Thing.

• In September 2006, Comedian Norm MacDonald released a sketch comedy album titled 'Ridiculous' that featured a track called "The Fantastic Four". In this track, he mocks the absurdity of having all of the members of the group named after their super power, except for Reed Richards who decides to name himself "Mr. Fantastic".

• In an episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Sokka makes a reference to the Fearsome Foursome when trying to come up with a team name.

• In Alan Moore's 1963 mini-series he depicts a family of superheroes analogous to the Fantastic Four called Mystery Incorporated.

[edit] See also

• Ultimate Fantastic Four
• Ultimate Marvel
• Four (comics)
• Maximum Fantastic Four

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] References

• Marvel.com: Fantastic Four
• Marvel Database Project: Fantastic Four
• FFPlaza.com
• Official Fantastic Four site
• Marvel Pictures UK
• Fantastic Four at the Internet Movie Database
• DRG4's Fantastic Four: The Animated Series Page
• Marvel Animation Age: Fantastic Four: The Animated Series (1994-5)
• Dial B for Blog: Secret Origins of the Fantastic Four
• The Fantastic Four-Gotten

[edit] External links

• Fantastic Four on the Marvel Universe Character Bio Wiki
• Fantastic Four group page at ComicBookDB.com
• Ultimate Fantastic Four on the Marvel Universe Character Bio Wiki
• MDP: Fantastic Four (Marvel Database Project)
• FFPlaza.com - comprehensive Fantastic Four fansite
• Fantastic Four cover gallery

Fantastic Four
Characters	Mister Fantastic · The Invisible Woman · The Human Torch · The Thing
Titles	Main continuity: Fantastic Four · Four · The Thing Other continuities: Ultimate Fantastic Four · Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four · Marvel 1602: Fantastick Four
Television	Fantastic Four (1967) · Fantastic Four (1978) · Fantastic Four (1994) · Fantastic Four (2006) · Other appearances
Movies	The Fantastic Four (1994) · Fantastic Four (2005) · Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)
Related	Locations · Video games