Fantastic Four

A team/family of adventurers and Imaginauts. Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben originally received their powers after being exposed to a radiation storm in space. Afterwards, they became the Fantastic Four and they decided to use their powers for the benefit of humanity.

Origin
Reed Richards was a scientist and the inventor of the first spaceship capable of reaching planets beyond our moon. After much planning, expense and hard work; the ship was built and was nearing its launch date. However, as the launch neared, the federal government was about to cut funding for the flight. Reed decided there was no choice but to launch the ship before the whole effort was scrapped and wasted.

Reed invited his girlfriend Susan Storm along for the trip and her brother Johnny Storm insisted on coming along in order to keep her safe. Wanting a pilot with both the ability and the guts to make the flight, Reed turned to his former college roommate and very close friend Ben Grimm, a highy accomplished former test pilot for the United States Air Force. The crew now set, everyone was ready for launch when Reed received a warning from the authorities concerning the effects of the cosmic rays on human bodies so far out in space. Reed's request for launch was denied and the mission aborted.

More desperate than ever to make the flight, Reed's crew waited until the changing of the guards that night and then sneaked onto the ship and launched before any planes could be scrambled to intercept them and/or shoot them down using missiles. Successful in leaving the Earth's atmosphere, they were halfway along on their mission when they entered a sub-space storm and were bombarded by intense cosmic rays both before they expected and stronger than they expected. This unexpectedly intense cosmic ray storm had strange and disorienting effects on the crew, making them unable to continue the trip. They turned back, returned to Earth and crash-landed in a small opening in a forested area. Luckily, they survived the crash but were radically changed. Ben felt his body become heavy and found he'd turned into a monster. Reed tried to calm him down and restrain him when he realized that he'd reflexively stretched and wrapped his body around Ben; he now had elastic stretching abilities. Johnny burst into flames while Sue panicked and turned invisible. Gathering their wits, they soon managed to calm themselves and agreed to use their new-found powers for the good of humanity and stay together as a team. Johnny called himself the " Human Torch," Sue took the name "Invisible Girl" (and later changed it to the Invisible Woman). Ben chose the name " Thing" and Reed decided to call himself " Mr. Fantastic." Thus, the Fantastic Four were born.

Creation
The Fantastic Four was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in Fantastic Four #1, November 1961. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the Fantastic Four after seeing what a success DC Comics' Justice League was. While this is no doubt true, it has also been rumored for years that Stan actually patterned the FF team after DC's Sea Devils team and The Challengers of the unknown. Looking at the composition of both teams, there are a lot of similarities, so this rumor could well be correct.

Team Evolution
The first family super team of Marvel Comics, the Fantastic Four opened up the genre to a whole new way of telling the old story of family binds above all else. The Fantastic Four as a team made their public debut when a villain named Mole Man (A villain that lives underground) began attacking the surface. The Fantastic Four continued their illustrious careers as superheroes and unlike Spider-Man, they were well loved by the public and the media by appearing on television and more.

Reed Richards also created the “ unstable molecules” which are used for their costumes. This allows Reed’s costume to stretch as he does, Invisible Girl’s goes invisible when she does, and Human Torch’s doesn’t burn up when he flames on. Reed would also discover The Negative Zone ( Stan Lee and Jack Kirby shared credit for the creation of the Negative Zone and unstable molecules). The Negative Zone is a parallel universe in which all matter is negatively charged. It also has a breathable atmosphere which allows Mr. Fantastic to lead his team in adventures in the Negative Zone. The Negative Zone is mostly uninhabited and Reed was eventually able to map out most of the area. One of the most important issues of the Silver Age was FF 38, "Defeated by the Frightful Four". This is the first issue where the FF are actually defeated by the end of the story. Medusa shows superb cunning by creating a trap for the Invisible Girl. She lures Sue to an East Side fashion house, on the pretext of showing her some wedding dresses. When Sue arrives, Medusa captures her easily with her deadly red hair and the Trapster makes certain the blonde girl cannot escape by shooting her with his paste gun. The Wizard flies himself, Sue and his two partners up into the air. The Frightful Four take an unconscious Invisible Girl to an isolated Pacific island and then go into an underground chamber. Wizard directs Trapster to place the girl down next to the detonation mechanism of a powerful nuclear Q-bomb! The Fantastic Four follow in an attempt to rescue Sue. However, after a brief battle, the Frightful Four escape, leaving the FF on the island. Fortunately Sue's partners find her just in time and Reed gets Sue to use her force field. The bomb explodes. While the FF survive, they have lost their powers. Daredevil then assists them in FF 39-40, as the FF try and avoid death at the hands of Doctor Doom. They do not regain their powers until late in issue 40.

Reed and Sue eventually married in 1965 and it became a celebrity event. The couple continued their newly married life in the public eye for years to come. Later Sue would become pregnant with a baby boy whom would be named Franklin Richards. Due to Sue being pregnant, she had to take a temporary leave on the team. To take Sue's place, the Fantastic Four decided to recruit the Human Torch’s girlfriend, Crystal. However due to the pollution on Earth, Crystal was forced to leave the Fantastic Four soon after. Sue eventually gave birth to Franklin on 1968 in Fantastic Four Annual #6, and returned as an active member on the Fantastic Four. Lee and Kirby ended their run when Kirby left Marvel in 1970.

Sue and Richards’ relationship eventually became dysfunctional because Sue began hating the life of a celebrity. Feeling angry she was not treated as an equal, Sue left the Fantastic Four at the end of Fantastic Four 130 and the Inhuman named Medusa would fill in for Sue while she took a break. Sue eventually returned to active duty in the Fantastic Four again, but only after Namor staged a fight with Mr. Fantastic in issue #149. Sue did not return to active FF duty for several more issues after the reconciliation.

The separation between Sue and Reed lasted for 19 issues. This is really significant, as it means the separation lasted for one year and 7 months. This was a very harsh break-up that could easily have ended in Sue and Reed getting a divorce. The fans seemed to side with Mr. Fantastic in the break-up and against the Invisible Girl. The Fantastic Four Fan Page in issue #152 actually had a shocking letter which urged the writers to kill Sue off and the FF Bullpen implied that a few other fans had also urged them to kill Sue, though not as many as had called for Sue and Reed to divorce. The Fan Page editorial staff went on to say that the consensus was that they had to find a way to make Sue think again, implying that perhaps the gorgeous blonde had not been thinking straight when she left Reed and the team. Medusa did perform in a satisfactory manner in Sue's absence, though she did not demonstrate the awesome power that Crystal did, when Crystal replaced Sue a few years earlier, due to Sue's maternity leave with baby Franklin Richards.

During the 1970s the Fantastic Four had many artists and writers who would continue the Fantastic Four’s public career as superheroes. A roster change would come up when the Thing temporarily lost his powers. Reed decided to hire mercenary Power Man ( Luke Cage) to fill in for Ben.

Reed eventually finished developing an exoskeleton that mimics his strength as the Thing, and Ben returns to the Fantastic Four as an active member. John Byrne would take over the Fantastic Four in the 1980s where critics would call “the best

run since Lee and Kirby.” Byrne was most celebrated for his modernization of Invisible Girl. He changed her name to Invisible Woman and made her a more confident woman and also gave Sue more control over her abilities, making her the most powerful member of the Fantastic Four.

The Fantastic Four would participate in the Beyonder’s “ Secret Wars” on an alien planet. During their time in the Secret Wars, the Thing was able to change to his human form and the Thing form at will. After the heroes were victorious against the Beyonder, the Thing decided to stay on the alien planet as he was happy to be able to change his forms at will. When the Mr.Fantastic and the Human Torch returned to Earth from Battleworld, they recruited She-Hulk to fill-in for the Thing.

Later, Sue would appear to have become pregnant with a second child but instead, Sue suffered a miscarriage. Eventually The Thing would decide to return to Earth, however upon his arrival he discovers that his girlfriend, Alicia Masters, was dating his teammate and friend Johnny Storm (Human Torch). The Thing, who had intended to return to the Fantastic Four, left the team to travel to world in an attempt to find his place and purpose in it. The She-Hulk did replace the Thing in the Fantastic Four and remain on the roster in his place for an extended period of time.

During one of the Fantastic Four’s missions, they traveled to Mole Man’s realm where they discovered the Thing snooping around there. The Thing rejoined the Fantastic Four and they were able to defeat Mole Man before he destroyed California. She-Hulk left soon after for other reasons.

As a team of superheroes, they remain a family first. Their headquarters in the Baxter Building also serves as their home. They have fought several enemies and have traveled to many different universes. They have become the foundation of the heroes in the Marvel Universe.