The legend of the Fantastic Four supposedly begins in 1961 with a golf game between Timely Comics publisher Martin Goodman and DC Comics publisher Jack Liebowitz, who was finding success with new reminaginations of characters like The Flash, Green Lantern, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman. Liebowitz also published a new series, The Justice League of America, that assembled all these heroes together to positive response.
Inspired, Goodman returned to the Timely Offices and met with his editor (and nephew), Stanley Leiber (who wrote under the pen name of “Stan Lee” to preserve his own name for his great American novel) and directed him to create a super-hero team book. Lee, who was getting frustrated with the limitations of the medium, considered this book to be his last real attempt to create a meaningful title. With artist Jack Kirby, who later would become arguably one of the most influential artists in the history of the medium, the pair created The Fantastic Four, a family unit, who inherited powers through an experimental test flight, and turning them into heroes, and more notably the backbone of the Marvel Universe. Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic), his girlfriend Susan Storm (Invisible Girl), her younger brother Johnny Storm (The Human Torch), and Reed’s college buddy, Ben Grimm (The Thing), protected the city of New York (and the world) from monsters, mad scientists, amnesiac Atlanteans, corrupt magicians, and neighborhood street gangs to unexpected success.
With the release of Marvel Studios’ first Fantastic Four film, now’s the time to see what makes these characters so unique.
1. Fantastic Four: The Ultimate Guide to Marvel’s Original Superhero Family
By Melanie Scott; Foreword by Ryan North
The epic saga of the Fantastic Four—Marvel’s original superhero family—told in full, explosive detail.
Long before the Avengers assembled, four unlikely heroes rocketed into the unknown and returned forever changed. Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic), Sue Storm (the Invisible Woman), Johnny Storm (the Human Torch), and Ben Grimm (the Thing) gained extraordinary powers after a cosmic accident—and became the Fantastic Four. As individuals, they each possess remarkable abilities, but together they formed a pioneering super-team whose legacy shaped the very foundation of the Marvel Universe.
From battling world-conquering villains like Doctor Doom and Galactus to navigating the mysteries of the Negative Zone and the emotional complexities of family life, the Fantastic Four have always stood at the intersection of science fiction, superheroics, and human drama. They were Marvel’s first family, defending Earth from menaces like the Frightful Four, Mole Man, the Wizard, Annihilus, and countless others—often while struggling with their own inner demons and personal relationships.
Featuring a foreword by celebrated Fantastic Four writer Ryan North, the book includes a comprehensive timeline of the team’s major adventures, in-depth character profiles, behind-the-scenes details, key comic book arcs, and rich artwork from over six decades of storytelling. Whether you’re a longtime fan or discovering the team for the first time, this is the ultimate celebration of the heroes who boldly went where no team had gone before—and changed comics forever.
2. Fantastic Four #1-#102
By Jack Kirby and Stan Lee
3. The Fantastic Four #232-#295
By John Byrne
John Byrne’s Fantastic Four run is widely seen as the most important revival of the series since Lee and Kirby’s original creation. As both writer and artist, Byrne applied a “back to basics” approach, stripping away years of excess and refocusing the team as a family of explorers grounded in character and science fiction.
He brought new depth to each member of the team: Reed Richards became a more human and fallible leader; Sue Storm, now the Invisible Woman, emerged as the emotional and strategic core; Johnny Storm began to mature; and Ben Grimm’s tragic struggle with his monstrous form was handled with renewed empathy.
Byrne also modernized classic villains like Doctor Doom and Galactus, while embracing the book’s cosmic roots through renewed exploration of the Negative Zone and the Baxter Building. At the same time, he pushed the narrative forward with bold, sometimes controversial choices—Reed suppressing Franklin’s powers, Sue suffering a miscarriage, and She-Hulk joining the team in place of the Thing.
Critics and fans praised Byrne for combining reverence for the series’ past with fresh storytelling and clean, expressive art. His run restored the Fantastic Four’s stature in the Marvel Universe, proving that a return to core themes—family, adventure, and imagination—could still drive the series forward.
4. Fantastic Four: Full Circle (Expanded Edition)
By Alex Ross
An oversized, expanded edition of Fantastic Four: Full Circle—the award-winning national bestseller, named Graphic Novel of the Year by the National Cartoonists Society and the Washington Post—with 288 pages of new material, including commentary and unpublished preparatory material from Alex Ross
It’s a rainy night in Manhattan and not a creature is stirring except for . . . Ben Grimm. When an intruder suddenly appears inside the Baxter Building, the Fantastic Four—Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards), the Invisible Woman (Susan Storm Richards), the Human Torch (Johnny Storm), and the Thing (Ben Grimm)—find themselves surrounded by a swarm of invading parasites.
These carrion creatures composed of Negative Energy come to Earth using a human host as a delivery system. But for what purpose? And who is behind this untimely invasion?
The Fantastic Four have no choice but to journey into the Negative Zone, an alien universe composed entirely of anti-matter, risking not just their own lives but the fate of the cosmos!
This new edition has 288 additional pages of jaw-dropping bonus material from Ross (the original graphic novel was 64 pages), as he walks readers through his process and vision for the making of the book School Library Journal called a “pop art masterpiece.” Showcasing early visual concepts through final art, Ross takes readers behind-the-scenes, revealing for the first time his proposal, thumbnails, sketches, inks, and color guides.
The book also includes commentary from Ross as well as reprints of the classic Marvel comic from Stan Lee and Jack Kirby that inspired Fantastic Four: Full Circle—Fantastic Four no. 51—and the subsequent run of covers from 2023 which Alex Ross created for Marvel Comics, featuring the Fantastic Four in costumes designed for Fantastic Four: Full Circle.
Fantastic Four: Full Circle (Expanded Edition) is a comprehensive look at the creative process of one of the most acclaimed and influential artists of our time.
5. Marvel: Fantastic Four
Having launched the Silver Age of Comics with the publication of Fantastic Four #1, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s creations have proved more influential than even they dared imagine. Honoring that legacy, novelist Jonathan Lethem here provides a unique selection from the first decade of Earth’s First Family!
Stories selected include:
- ‘The Fantastic Four!’ – Fantastic Four #1 (First appearance and origin.)
- ‘Those Who Would Destroy Us!’ – Fantastic Four #46 (Introduction of Black Bolt)
- ‘If This Be Doomsday!’ – Fantastic Four #49 (First appearance of Galactus)
- ‘The Startling Saga of the Silver Surfer!’ – Fantastic Four #50 (The Fantastic Four defeat Galactus)
- ‘This Man . . . This Monster!’ – Fantastic Four #51 (Memorable story revolving around The Thing)
- ‘The Black Panther!’ – Fantastic Four #52 (First appearance of the Black Panther)
- ‘Enter . . . Dr. Doom!’ – Fantastic Four #57 (Dr. Doom steals the Silver Surfer’s Power Cosmic)
- ‘The Peril and the Power!’ – Fantastic Four #60 (Last chapter of the Doom/Surfer storyline; The F.F. confront Doom)
- ‘. . . And One Shall Save Him!’ – Fantastic Four #62 (Mr. Fantastic is stuck in the Negative Zone; first appearance of Blastarr)
- ‘Let There Be . . . Life!’ – Fantastic Four Annual #6 (Sue goes into labor; First appearance of Franklin Richards and Annihilus)
6. Fantastic Four 1234
By Grant Morrison and Jae Lee
Reed Richards. Sue Richards. Benjamin Grimm. Johnny Storm. They rocketed into outer space aboard an experimental starship, the first humans to attempt interstellar travel. But a freak encounter with cosmic radiation altered their lives forever, granting each amazing abilities! Now Marvel’s First Family finds its members divided – their unique powers stretched to the absolute limit, their time-tested resolve pushed to the point of breaking. Each chapter of this quintessential collection focuses on one member of the cosmic quartet as the team’s greatest foes band together in an all-out assault on the FF!
7. Fantastic Four: First Family
By Joe Casey and Chris Weston
For the first time, untold secrets of the Fantastic Four’s earliest days are revealed! What happened the moment after Reed Richards’ rocket crash landed? What happened – to Sue Storm, to Ben Grimm, to Johnny Storm – in the days following that fateful event? An in-depth, action-packed, psychologically thrilling exploration of the FF’s origin!
8. Startling Stories: Fantastic Four – Unstable Molecules
By James Sturm and Guy Davis
In 1961 the first issue of the Fantastic Four was drawn and written by the brilliant team of Jack Kirby and Stan Lee and set a new standard for heroic adventure comics. Few people realize that the Fantastic Four — a family of sci-fi adventurers gifted with amazing powers — were actually based on the lives of real people. As often is the case, real life was as astonishing as fiction. Unstable Molecules is a biography that revisits the Fantastic Four’s beginnings with a historian’s eye, inspiring young comic book creators to envision the superheroic versions that have captured our imaginations for generations
9. Fantastic Four #60 – #70, #500 – #524
By Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo
Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo deliver some of the most daring and humorous adventures the Fantastic Four have ever seen! Giant bugs! Living equations! Johnny Storm, C.E.O.! Exploding unstable molecules! The secret behind the Yancy Street Gang! And Doctor Doom’s plans are truly unthinkable! Victor will push the FF beyond their limits – and when his actions lead to the death of one of their own, they’ll storm the gates of Heaven to save their beloved teammate! Plus: Spider-Man and the Human Torch take on Hydro-Man! But with the Fantastic Four’s reputation in tatters, is associating with a misunderstood wall-crawler really wise? And when Manhattan finds itself surrounded by a fleet of miles-high alien spacecraft, it’s time for the Fantastic Four to do what they do best!
10. Fantastic Four #333 -#341, #343 -#350 and #352 -#354
By Walter Simonson, Arthur Adams, and Various
Walter Simonson’s Fantastic Four run may have been brief, but it’s fondly remembered for its high-energy storytelling, cosmic scope, and inventive twists. Coming off his acclaimed work on Thor, Simonson brought a similar blend of mythic scale and sci-fi flair to Marvel’s First Family.
His run featured bold arcs involving time travel, alternate futures, and reality-threatening paradoxes—most notably a storyline with the Time Variance Authority and an epic showdown with Kang the Conqueror. He also shook things up with a temporary replacement team of Spider-Man, Wolverine, Hulk, and Ghost Rider, injecting the book with offbeat, 90s-style momentum.
Simonson’s writing was fast-paced, witty, and packed with big ideas, while still grounded in strong character dynamics. Whether handling the art himself or writing for others, his vision was clear: imaginative, character-driven adventure that honored the FF’s roots while pushing them into new territory.
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