Ten that made them Fantastic

The Fantastic Four couldn't do it alone. Through the years they required outside help to make them fantastic. Some they even met in real life. These are the people that brought their tales to the masses. Through stunning storytelling and emotional visuals, their adventures were brought to life on the page for all ages to enjoy. Here is a top 10 of those that made them fantastic.

1. John Byrne circa 1980

Doom gets the job done

He started it for me and brought memorable stories to the canon that others after him were able to build on. He helped Doom reclaim Latveria and also gave him a ward named Kristoff. He put Reed on trial for helping Galactus. He put Thing on his own in his own series, allowing She-Hulk to take his place on the team. He showed Johnny what it means to be a hero. He allowed Susan to grow as a woman. During this time, Reed and Sue also lost their second child (don't worry she comes back about 20 years later). Byrne’s run on the Fantastic Four is held in the highest regard and for some even surpasses Kirby and Lee.

2.  Kirby/Lee circa 1960s

They started it all and brought so much to the Marvel Universe. Everything has already been said, so I’ll just leave it at that.

3. Tom Defalco / Paul Ryan circa 1991-1996

"Doom is back," again

Tom and Paul make up a large part of my collection. They had a great handle on the family dynamic and portrayed this through a comic book story. Having such a lengthy run allowed them to bring much to the F4 canon. I don't think their run gets enough credit though and usually is not critically acclaimed. They took big chances with their tales and tugged at the hearts of the characters and readers. Some key highlights included turning Alicia into a skrull thus breaking up the Torch’s marriage, disfigured Thing even more thanks to Wolverine, caused marital tension between Reed and Sue, “killed” Reed and Doom, and introduced a teenage Franklin from the future who went on to lead the “seemed like a good idea at the time” Fantastic Force. They also created an uber super villain, named Hyperstorm (very 90’s), who was the son of Franklin Richards and Rachel Summers. This was also the time for gimmick covers galore: the first die-cut Marvel cover, embossed melting cover, numerous prismatic covers, a very nice Doom headshot (that became my tattoo). Defalco managed to stick around until the first series ending and was joined by Carlos Pacheco for the final two issues (ending was due to Onslaught/Heroes Reborn and poor sales).

4. Jonathan Hickman/Dale Eaglesham circa 2009-2012

Stay classy Valeria

Very in-depth storytelling and heavily plotted far in advance, but I was a little turned off by Eaglesham’s art. Hickman really had a control on the family dynamic and seemed to bring in aspects from Defalco’s run, like Nathaniel Richards and an older Franklin. One of the coolest moments of his run happened in the very first issue. We were introduced to the Council of Reeds, which was a council made up of Reeds from different realities and were led by three Reeds wielding the Infinity Gauntlet. There is one gripe I have with Hickman’s run and that had to do with the marketing of Human Torch’s death. It was an off panel implied death, and any like-minded reader knew it was not his end. When the news leaked/released, it seemed to take away from the very emotional scene showing Johnny’s sacrifice. There also seemed to be a lot of wheels turning throughout this run, which at times could get confusing.

5. Mark Waid/Mike Wieringo circa 2002-2004

The one word that best describes the run of Waid and Wieringo is ‘Unthinkable‘. They supped up Doom’s power and really brought focus to his mystical talents. Then the Unthinkable happened,  Ben died. Comics being what they are, the Thing couldn't stay dead for long. This brought a journey to the heavens above and a meeting with the ”creator” who bore an uncanny resemblance to the one true “King”. Doom was also taken off the board for a while and trapped in hell.  With Doom gone, the F4 defied international authority and took over Latveria all for the purpose of revealing the true atrocities that had been occurring there. Then just as things were settling down, Johnny went and became a temporary herald of Galactus. Overall a good run that made comic book reading fun.

6. Walter Simonson circa 1989-1991

Simonson introduced The New Fantastic Four: Spider-man, Ghost Rider, Wolverine, and Hulk (the gray one). The original four thought dead, so these popular characters came in to raise sales. My first subscription also started towards the end of this run. Simonson started his run with a bang with a three parter Acts of Vengeance crossover story. She-Thing was also still a big part of team. There were also a lot of time jumping stories involving the Time Variance Authority (where were they during Age of Ultron, 60’s X-men coming to the present, or any other time disrupting event/occurrence). Kang and Thor became regulars, the latter of which had a much hyped battle with Gladiator. Reed and Doom had an intriguing time battle where they kept time jumping within the span of a couple minutes.

7. Chris Claremont/Larroca circa 1998-2000

Freshly returned from Heroes Reborn, Scott Lobdell and Alan Davis brought the F4 back into the regular Marvel Universe, but by issue #4 Chris Claremont stepped in to assist Lobdell and soon became its regular writer alongside Salvador Larroca as the new artist. This new creative team lasted about 30 issues or so. Claremont is known for molding some of the most recognizable X-Men stories in the 80’s and early 90’s and it was now in his hands to do the same to the Fantastic Four. He also brought in elements from his Excalibur run. Things didn't quite work out for this, what some call lackluster moment for the Fantastic Four but some interesting concepts were created. Enter in Valeria Von Doom, daughter of the Invisible Woman and Dr. Doom (or was it Mr. Fantastic in Doom’s armor?). Of course she was from the future or some alternative timeline. She also took the name Marvel Girl, because why not. That was the highlight of Claremont’s run, and he was not able to wrap up the true origin of Valeria. That was left up to Jeph Loeb and Carlos Pacheco, who ended up turning her back into a fetus and put her back in Susan’s belly, ready to give birth. The joys of comics.

8. Roy Thomas/ Rich Buckler and John Buscema circa 1970s

I’m not too familiar with this run, but coming after Lee and Kirby's lengthy run was a lot of pressure. Thomas kept with what was known and focused stories on the Frightful Four and Inhumans. This in turn led to Medusa joining the team to replace Sue. Tension was building between Reed and Sue, which was fracturing the family dynamic. Sue was becoming more outspoken and finally got fed up with Reed so she left with Franklin. When she finally came back, it was the Thing's turn to be replaced. He had lost his powers so Power Man (Luke Cage) was hired for some extra muscle on the team. Human Torch also thought about quitting, so that seemed to be the trend. The seed was also planted for Byrne at this time to make Sue grow as a woman.

9. Dwayne McDuffie/ Paul Pelletier circa 2002

Well, the Wizard is not heartless.

A short run from McDuffie brought a big change to the team. Coming after Civil War, Reed and Sue took some time off, so another power couple was asked to take their place, Black Panther and Storm. This led to some adventures in space and a confrontation with Galactus. The Frightful Four also showed up and Sue had a heart to heart conversation with the Wizard. 

"That's okay Spidey, you just watch."

10. Roger Stern/ John Buscema circa mid 1980s

Stern had a short run following Byrne, but he had dabbled in just about every main character in the Marvel Universe (even a few for the Distinguished Competition). He is best known for his Dr. Strange and Dr. Doom story Triumph and Torment. Buscema on the other hand was a veteran artist for the FF and had originally took over drawing duties from Jack Kirby. A couple highlights from this combo include a wonderful fight between She-Hulk and Thing, and they also handled the Human Torch's marriage to Alicia Masters, as well as Thing's feelings towards that.

F4 Break Into Top 50

In Fantastic Four News:

Over at Comics Should Be Good @ Comic Book Resources, Brian Cronin recently finished up this year’s top 100 Marvel and DC characters, as voted by the fans. Each company got 50 characters for the list and over 1200 ballots were cast. As for the placement of the Fantastic Four members, here we go:

Ranked lowest was Invisible Woman, who came in at number 39. Next up, Mr. Fantastic fared a little better and was number 35. Almost cracking the top ten was The Thing, who was number 11!

Next year will be the year of
the Torch.

There you have it. The Fantastic Four Three make it into the top 50. Wait, what about Human Torch? He will be starring in 2 all-new, all-different uncanny series. Sorry Johnny, better luck next year.

Expanding to the rest of the F4 universe and including former members they did pretty good overall, Galactus 50, Sub-Mariner 43, Black Panther 22, Silver Surfer 21, She-Hulk came in at 18,  Storm 13, Hulk 8, Dr. Doom 5, Wolverine 3, Spider-Man 1.

Found Fantastic

My love affair with the Fantastic Four started ìn the late eighties. My brother had a subscription to this wonderful monthly series while I had a subscription to Heathcliff, the Garfield knockoff. At the time, Fantastic Four was written and drawn by John Byrne, whom I would put at the top of the list of Fantastic Four creators. I always felt a strong connection to Marvel's first family. They were a family of four and so was I.

1st die-cut cover!

My first introduction to Dr Doom was also quite memorable.  He sent the Baxter Building into space!  Later it was revealed that this Doom was actually the child, Kristoff, (spoiler!) and only had the early memories of Victor Von Doom, which included a previous (failed) plan to send the Baxter Building into space. I still remember the panel of She-Hulk holding up the tantrum throwing Doom.

The subscription I shared with my brother started to lapse around the time Ben came back to the team. He decided to stay on Battleworld for a bit, but eventually got tired of that. This was also the time when Johnny was getting married to Ben's main squeeze, Alicia Masters (or was it?). I remember picking up the issue of the wedding at a grocery store. Johnny and Ben made amends and Ben was the best man (after a nice fight with She-Hulk, who replaced him while he was gone).

This was about the last issue of Fantastic Four I would read for awhile. I don't really know why, but when I later revisited this era I realized it was not a memorable run. Reed and Sue left for a while, Ben became leader, Ms Marvel became a female Thing (not Carol Danvers or Kamala Kahn), Ben became a pumpkin spikey Thing, and there was some weird dream stuff. This section of F4 history was mostly scribed by Steve Englehart/Jonathan Harkness, who himself had some editorial conflicts towards the end of his run.

I returned just in time to see the return of Doom (again) who engaged with Reed in a time lapse battle.  A new subscription was started and it lasted up until Onslaught and Heroes Reborn. Then the long awaited Heroes Return happened so I started my subscription anew. This one lasted almost to the final end; sometime during Fraction's run.

The Fantastic Four just finished one more final arc by James Robinson and Leonard Kirk. I found it lackluster on its initial read, but I feel I should give it another chance. Maybe my bitterness clouded my mind since I knew it was ending. Now there is Secret Wars and Doom is god. After this, the four are no more. Johnny is hanging with Inhumans and Ben is soaring through the galaxy. Reed and Sue, with kids, have yet to be heard from.

This deeply saddens me. Marvel's first family is left out of the all-new all-different reboot, that is not a reboot.  I have many thoughts and memories of the Fantastic Four that I wish to share. I hope my words here will help others find the Fantastic.

Also through all this,  I sought out back issues. I dreamed of having a complete collection. So far the oldest issue I have is Fantastic Four #66. From the initial run, #1-416, I can proudly say I have 242 issues. From there, the numbering restarted, later returned, restarted again, and returned at the very end. So from Heroes Return, which I think would be issue #429 until before Robinson took over, I can claim ownership to those issues as well. I could count Heroes Reborn, but I'm missing issues 10-12. In all, there are 645 definitive issues (not counting annuals) and I have 461. I did acquire the 44 Years of Fantastic Four, so my digital collection is complete. At least I have that going for me.

Is it issue #50 or #479?
Nuff said, indeed.

Fantastic Voyage

Soon there will be a void in the Marvel Universe and the gateway to the Negative Zone will be closed.  On the horizon, Marvel's first family will not have a monthly series.  Ben and Johnny have gone their separate ways and found new teams, but Reed, Sue, and the kids are missing from action.  

They have had a troublesome year to say the least.  Their monthly series came to a finale with a lackluster story from James Robinson and Leonard Kirk that involved red costumes.  Reed managed to keep things afloat over in New Avengers thanks to Jonathan Hickman.  A blockbuster film got released that bared the name Fantastic Four.  As for its affiliation with a comic book, I am unsure.  This summer Doom has been at the forefront of the new Secret Wars and has reached the highest of the high. He has taken it up to eleven.  

Once Again

When the dust settles from this new restart,  the four will be no more. Or so we've been told by the powers to be.  This truly is a crime against the fans of the much beloved Fantastic Four. There must be a bigger plan in the works that we are not yet privy to, there just has to be. Slowly more details begin to emerge Post Secret Wars. Irregardless, I now have a goal to forever remember the Fantastic.  It is with the world, that I must share the Fantastic  Four.   As I have found the fantastic, now too shall all be Finding Fantastic. I will begin to share my thoughts about everything Fantastic Four.  So without further ado, a journey into the Microverse, Innerverse, and everywhere in between is about to begin.