Fantastic Four

Penguin Classics Marvel Collection #6

by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Ben Saunders (Introduction)

FOREWORD BY NEW YORK TIMES-BESTSELLING AUTHOR: Jerry Craft's cartoons are enjoyed all over the world, and he is one of the very few syndicated illustrators working in America

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Fiction, Fantasy, Comic Book

400 pages, Paperback

First published September 12, 2023

About the author

Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber) was an American writer, editor, creator of comic book superheroes, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.

With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Thor as a superhero, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Scarlet Witch, The Inhumans, and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.

Reviews

[Brok3n · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where it all began again

When I was a kid (single-digit age, I think), one of the comics I happened across (at random, because I never had the cash to actually buy the things) was an issue of The Fantastic Four. It interested me strangely for one simple reason: Ben Grimm, AKA the Thing. Before the accident that gave the Four their powers, Ben had been a football star and a decorated fighter pilot. The accident made Ben into a Thing -- a bulgy orange monster who, though strong and tough, looks like nothing human. Ben doesn't see it as a win. He would like nothing better than to become human again, have a face that a girl might love and that doesn't provoke comment on the street.

I did not at the time know the word pathos, but that's what I recognized in Ben.

The publisher we now know as Marvel Comics got its start in the heady (for comics publishers) years of the Second World War. After the war, interest in superhero comics gradually declined until, when the 1960s dawned, Marvel, like every other comic publisher but DC (home of the original Superman), was circling the drain. At this juncture Stan Lee and Jack Kirby pitched a new superhero team to their bosses.

Because Marvel was desperate, Lee and Kirby's proposal was a radical departure from the conventions of the genre. The FF were a family, and like real families, they had conflicts. Although they were all fundamentally good people, they didn't always agree on The Right Thing To Do, and they could at times be short-sighted or even selfish. Even the villains were complex and human. And, as even single-digit me recognized, there was Ben Grimm.

Now, in 2024, none of this sounds terribly radical. It *isn't* radical now. The FF formula of writing comics about real people with real people problems and pathos was so successful that it took over superhero comics. That is why I say that FF is where it all began. Of course, Marvel existed before FF, but the publisher and body of work we now know as Marvel got its real start in 1961 with FF.

There was eventually some controversy about who created the FF. It now seems to be fairly generally agreed that it was mostly the artist Kirby. Because of the interactive "Marvel Method" by which Marvel produced their comics, the artist at Marvel had as much to do with the plot and the story as the writer.

Lee and Kirby worked as a team throughout the 1960s and 1970s, originating new series such as Captain America, The Avengers and the X-Men, among others. After a a few (or a bunch) of issues, these were handed off to other creators. Because I read the Penguin Classics Marvel Collection in the order in which Goodreads lists them, I read these before FF. And I acquired a skeptical view of Kirby's abilities -- in those works he is just not very creative. But with FF I think I now know why "King Jack" Kirby is so revered. It is clear that FF was Kirby's baby and his real love. The artwork in this collection (which is all from the Lee and Kirby epoque of FF) is bold and creative.

Having now finished the Penguin Classics Marvel Collection I judge FF and The Amazing Spider-Man as the best. FF is perhaps a little better in that it is a more finished product than the earliest Spider-Man issues.

Blog review.

[Dan Schwent · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sampler of Fantastic Four comics from the first five years or so. The presentation is excellent with coloring faithful to the originals, complete with red trunks on Namor, and the paper is akin to a coffee table book. It's a very sturdy book.

The stories are highlights from the early days of the FF without a lot of the hokier ones. The origin of the FF, first battles with Doctor Doom and Namor, and the Galactus Trilogy are presented, along with FF #51 and the birth of Franklin Richards.

Four out of five stars.

[Marko · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's like reading an important historical book, everything in here has so much influence il on later events. Not to say current events, as Doom and Galactus both originate from these pages. Story wise it's nothing really special, although, it's great to see how a character like Ben Grimm already gets a deeper layer.

[Gary Sassaman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read these stories so many times I’ve lost count, and currently own them in multiple editions, including Marvel Epic Collections and Mighty Marvel Masterworks, not to mention a few actual original issues, but that won’t stop me from buying yet another high-end version (for the record the Taschen $200 tomes are way out of my price range). This series is a bit high-falutin’ for me in its academic examination of the comics, but I do love the hardback format and design, with the gold edges and panel enlargement endpapers. I do have a problem with how fingerprints and oil from your hands show up on the cover, though … not to mention that ugly font that masquerades as comic book lettering (is it Leroy lettering?). And Saunders, for all his knowledge still makes a few gaffes: Joe Sinnott took over as inker on Fantastic Four #44, not 45, and there’s no mention of where the first Sub-Mariner story actually appeared (in Motion Picture Funnies, a giveaway comic that’s the first actual book from Timely Comics, which became Marvel Comics). For the most part, I enjoy Saunders’ articles in this edition, but if I see the word “baroque” to describe Kirby’s art one more time, there might be violence. This collection includes FF 1-5, 10, part of 11 (the “Day in the Life” story), part of 48, and all of 49-51, plus FF Annual 6, and the above-mentioned very first Sub-Mariner story, looking better than I’ve ever seen it. This is a beautiful package, and worth the stiff price tag ($50, but you can find it cheaper online), and the latest volume in another release of three new ones, including FF, Avengers, and X-Men. Last year’s volumes included Spider-Man, Captain America, and the Black Panther. All volumes come in hardback and paperback editions, but go for the hardback ones.

[Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two things: 1. Ben Grimm AKA "The Thing" has been and always will be the greatest member of the Fantastic Four, and remains one of my favorite Marvel characters (it helps he is a Member of the Tribe). 2. Jack "King" Kirby's artwork is phenomenal and truly amazing in this comic series, and he deserves all the praise he gets (but I've also always made people aware of this so this isn't news if you know me).
It definitely is dated but it doesn't matter, these stories are phenomenal and still echo in today's superhero comics. Doesn't hurt they had the Galactus trilogy in hear.
It's great stuff, read it ya punks. 'Nuff said.

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0/5

This is what I was expecting from all these classics books!! I guess that’s why everyone says FF was their best comic. And truly from issue #1 these were awesome. Definitely some hilariously outdated gender stereotypes (crazy these were 60 years ago) and so much asbestos which is also hilarious—whatta weakness for the Human Torch. Overall though super cool to see the four of them in all their sci-fi fantasy glory, along with The Silver Surfer, Skrulls, Dr. Doom, The Watcher, and Galactus! Awesome!

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An impeccably curated, annotated, and gorgeously printed compendium that celebrates one of the key works of popular comics art. Can't wait to read the other volumes in this series.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent if over-written introductory material, good interstitial material, very good selection of comics. This group of superheroes is quite the bunch of characters.

Fourth star added for the inclusion of the first Namor, The Sub-Mariner comic, which is just pages of him murdering innocent men. It’s astonishing that this was well-received! He’s a great character, truly, but this first outing is just literally about five hand-to-hand murders and then the likely murder of an entire ship of men. White men specifically! Holy smokes.

[Brandon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Take a shot every time one of the other authors says "cosmic and the quotidian."

I've decided to get into Fantastic Four just in time to be disappointed by the new movie starring the fucking Mandalorian.

This is a pretty good entry point to get into the Lee-Kirby run of this important early Marvel comic. I do not think it's a good replacement for just actually read the comic itself. And I don't think the supplemental critical materials are very good at all. Decent recaps for the issues omitted from the collection, but that's it. I guess because it's 2024 (or 2023, I think is when this was published), but there's a lot of silly stuff like (paraphrasing) "Well, Lee and Kirby did good stuff and it's cool that they blended genres to allow Sue to be an important character sometimes but also social conservatism bad and the 1950s mentality as it carried into '60s comics is bad and yadda-yadda." The Penguin Classics version of Black Panther looks to be a more "whole" collection of issues (it looks like it has more consecutive installments in a row), but... there's no way the critical interludes are going to be palatable lmao

I'm a bit disappointed in the Torch's design. Well, kind of. So, I was familiar with the appearance of a red man-shape covered in an aura of fire, but that's not what he looked like in Issue #1; his original appearance was just actual flame in a rough humanoid outline, and it looked way cooler. The same design appears in #2, giving me hopes that Johnny would maintain this appearance for a good while yet. Unfortunately, by #3 Kirby takes him into the form with which I'm more familiar. I mean, it's fine, I guess, just he looked cooler when he was an avatar of primordial fire instead of just looking like a burning dude ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

****

"She wouldn't go for you if you looked like Rock Hudson!!"
Uh... nobody tell him.

Lee's (?) responses to reader letters are hilarious. It's one thing that the Four bicker among themselves, but it's another that the comic's creators can jibe with the audience. Is this the power of the Silver Age?

I feel like it's weird we don't see the debut of Thing's "It's clobberin' time" catchphrase, or Sue's first force field. Also kinda weird we don't see Thing's first meeting with Alicia, or the Richardses' wedding.

The panels of Johnny leaving to and arriving from the galactic journey are fucking fantastic, and a good taste of what Kirby is capable of. Also the large panel of Galactus charging up to return to space. And Johnny reflecting on the cosmos in the dean's office later on. And Reed's space-time machine in Issue #51. And Reed's journey into Sub-Space!

The bonus chapter of the 1939 appearance of Namor is good, too!

****

I will read more Lee-Kirby Fantastic Four. I'll also check out more Kirby art in general (I've recently purchased a collection of his complete The Eternals). I do not think I will buy more Penguin Classics editions. I've found I can enjoy Silver Age comics well enough, so I'll just grab more legitimate compilations going forward.

[H · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve never really been a Fantastic Four fan. Nothing against them. I enjoyed the cartoon as a kid. I just always was drawn way more to other superheroes. Which is why it came as a pleasant surprise to find that I absolutely love this collection.

What we see here is how the Silver Age of Comics began, the fundamental shift in superhero storytelling that the Fantastic Four represented. Over the course of this collection, we see how Jack Kirby evolved into arguably the greatest comic book artist of all time and how Stan Lee evolved as a storyteller. Because these are the first time these stories are being told, the first time we’re taking on this Space Age approach to superheroes, we can see the no-holds-barred approach two young creative storytellers can take, just having fun and trying new things out. The stories they create are often outlandish and goofy but they are so much fun and they have a rustic charm to them.

I love all of these Penguin Classics collections of Marvel comics because of how much historical context and commentary they include in between the stories. It’s really refreshing to see comics being treated like serious literature, given the enormous popular cultural influence they have had. In this particular collection, I like the choices they make of which stories to include — the introductory stories that introduce our heroes, the Skrulls, Miracle Man, and especially Doctor Doom; the return of Namor from the Golden Age; the Galactus Trilogy; and “This Man…This Monster!” Thus we get a great taste of the characters and their importance to comic book history.

It’s a nice bonus to also get the first appearance of Namor the Sub-Mariner from Marvel #1 in the appendix. But it’s a little unfortunate to miss out on a few issues that are skipped. One thing that I find genuinely annoying is that they skip the first 7 pages of Fantastic Four #48, which are spent wrapping up an Inhumans story before the coming of Galactus. As a result, you don’t have the title splash page and you also don’t get the first two panels showing the actual first appearance of the Silver Surfer, since he appears at the bottom of page 7. You do get the next panel and the rest of the story after that, but there’s something to be said for how that abrupt transition is part of the appeal of the story, not to mention that it’s the first actual appearance of a major character. It’s not a dealbreaker but it’s really annoying.

Still, pick up the entire collection if you can. This one and even more so the Amazing Spider-Man one have so far been my favorites.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why didn't editions like this exist when I was younger and yearning to read the formative days of the Marvel pantheon on heroes?!?

I'm grateful they exist now giving me a snapshot of the formative years and the influences of some of my favorite pop culture characters. I'm not well-versed in the Fantastic Four; most of my knowledge of their backstory comes from the Power Records entry in my younger days and various pop culture stories about their origins and beginnings.

But after watching Fantastic Four: First Steps this summer, I was curious. And that's when I stumbled across this collection at my local library. Serving as a greatest hits of sorts, this collection gathers together key issues from the first five years of the run, back when Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were rewriting the rules of comic books. From the origin of the team in issue one to connecting the universe to a larger Marvel pantheon of characters to the creation of Doctor Doom, a lot of interesting ground is covered in this book. And that's even before we get to the issues introducing Galactus and the Silver Surfer to the universe.

This collection could easily be the source material for the recent Fantastic Four movie -- and possibly what's coming with Dr. Doom taking center stage next year.

What stands out is how sixty plus years later, how solid the stories are. Stan Lee was throwing up a hail mary in the comic book world when he co-created the Four with Kirby. And, yes, the first four issues have some growing pains, but the stories are still entertaining and connected with me after all these years. I'll admit when it comes to Marvel, my first love is Spider-Man (it's that way for many) but I can see the building blocks upon which Spider-Man is built being set in place here.

Included in this edition are essays that fill in gaps and illustrate how the series was and is so groundbreaking.

If you're like me and wanted to see a bit more of the origin of the first family of Marvel after their recent movie, this collection is a great way to do just that.

[Torren Mullens · Rating 4 out of 5]

A truly solid collection of early stories focused on (in my opinion at least) Marvel's best team. Seeing the beginnings of what would be the Marvel universe is compelling but the early issues leave much to be desired.

The first issue starts with the four already active with their powers but then proceeds to derail itself by explaining their origin anyway.

The last selection of stories #48-51 really show the unique potential of the F.F starting with the Galactus trilogy, insanely high stakes over the course of three issues. Kirby's art does a phenomenal job of displaying the raw scale of Galactus as well as making everything seem alien.
The Silver Surfer's arc of learning humanity and growing empathetic is played out yet works fine enough here so that his eventual redemption works completely.

The two biggest things that bothered me are the conclusions and Sue's depiction here. The early issues feel rushed with their climaxes often speeding to their end on the last page leaving the whole story feeling too quick to leave an impact.

The Invisible Woman (here known as Invisible Girl) is these days a widely beloved and iconic character with a level of depth that isn't always shared with other heroes. In these initial stories however she's little more than a prop at times. Often expressing confusion at the events around her or mostly being uninvolved in the action sequences. Sue's beginnings here are rough to say the least, indicative of the times they were written in.

Overall this is I'd say a better start than The Avengers had, the Galactus Trilogy alone elevates this collection to higher planes. Check it out if you're a Fantastic Four fan or you're just curious about the beginning of Marvel Comics.

[Zoey Selwyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

will never replace reading the run in its entirety but i do think they do a great job justifying the abbreviated selection here...the text passages also fill in the gaps in such a way that i don't feel like the book is fractured to any significant degree...obviously mileage may vary for poetic musings on what is, technically, just a comic book but you know i fuck with it and if anything, there could be deeper analytic stuff and less wikipedia contextualizing!

that aside, i do think at least until the collections are significantly cheaper, this will suffice to represent Lee/Kirby's game-changing work on the Fantastic Four...this time around i'm primarily reading it as Kirby's work, and informed by the promise and failures of Challengers of the Unknown, it feels like the purest distillation of his limitless brilliance set against the cold war, postmodernism, and humanizing the formula of comic book heroes (although this innovation is a bit overstated when set against the context of the prior decade, the more you know!)

like, the reflexivity of The Flash's relation to the audience and prior generation of funny books is taken to more playful and significant places...but there's a sturdy foundation that Kirby et al are dancing upon...it's more a distillation and reclamation of Silver Age silliness, issues densely filled with high-concept ideas...but firmly within a more respectable tongue-in-cheek mode than content to play things 100% straight...as such, it's a unique thing that what plays as camp to us now is more or less a self-aware version of the tropes of the time, a more "adult" version of a fundamentally chidish genre (not a bad thing!) that pushed the superhero back into relevance and pioneered a brand of metatextualitity and parasociality (not a bad thing!)

at their core, i enjoy these most for Kirby's high melodrama and blunt symbolism via character design...his brand of pop art is distilled into perhaps its greatest forms with the Four, and while i love the outlandishness of his Fourth World work, there's something strikingly minimalistic about FF's original run with its bold colors and cleanly readable images no matter how many fucking moving parts Kirby throws at the reader (thank the inkers!)...the juggling and blending of genre, especially in the early issues, goes a long way to prove the unique advantage of the medium and specifically the superhero genre in transcending the limitations of cliche via embracing all cliche at once...the novelty of the "crossover" is intoxicating, a sandbox in which anything and everything can happen but grounded by a clearly defined, flawed, bickering family that answers to fans directly

in one breath, the end of everything and the start of a brand new world...such is contradictory promise of 1960s Americana!!

[Harry Needham · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an excellent way to compile an old school comic series. I began reading this because I heard many good things about the original fantastic four run and I just wanted to get more into the fantastic four itself. I’m so hyped for the new film so I also used this as a bit of homework. I began reading this half a year ago and then stopped for some reason but this was me continuing from where I left off. But overall these were fun little comics and surprisingly ahead of their time like they weren’t just basic hero fights villain storys like we saw the things depression in how he looks and complex villains like Namor or Silver Surfer. Overall Stan Lee deserved every single bit of praise he got and it’s awesome being able to read something that he himself wrote. Next I wanna get the amazing spiderman collection because I’ve heard good things about those too. But overall If you wanna get into the fantastic four look no further than this book. 9.5/10

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume of the Penguin Classics Marvel Collection gathers the first five issues of the Fantastic Four, the initial Galactus story, and a couple of other issues from the early run of the comic. It also contains the first Sub-Mariner story from 1939 in an appendix.

It definitely shows the growth of the Kirby/Lee partnership over the course of the series. The early issues don't really hold up very well. You can see things starting to gel better in the 10th issue, but the Galactus story starting in issue 48 is the first story in this volume that I think could be called "good." Interestingly enough, I think the Sub-Mariner story in the appendix is better written than the early Fantastic Four stories.

All this is forgivable as the real beginning of the Marvel Universe, and I'm kind of surprised this was #6 in the series.

[JakeMarurai · Rating 3 out of 5]

Real Rating: 3.5/5

OK SO second of these Penguin Classics from the Marvel collection, and I can say confidently that I'm still really digging these.

I actually liked the comics themselves a bit more than the X-Men collection, and I felt like you got to know a bit more about the characters of the Fantastic Four. This obvs isn't a groundbreaking opinion, but damn Lee & Kirby really knew what they were doing like damn the stories were actually really good.

And in the same vein as the X-Men collection, I loved the scholarly analysis of the history of the FF - particularly given that this was kinda the first main stable comic group of the entire Marvel Universe, so there's a lot of history to unpack. Super interesting stuff!!!

[Leo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Fantastic Four!

Marvel's first family, and the series that kick-started the Marvel Universe in 1961. The Fantastic Four is a classic series, and still holds up today. I began reading this to get ready for the new movie, and oh boy, I am hyped! There are so many classic characters introduced in this series. The Fantastic Four, Doctor Doom, Adam Warlock, The Skrulls, Galactus, Silver Surfer and many more. I recommend this series to everyone, comic fan or casual reader. I won't spoil anything, but the Coming of Galactus is a great storyline, and a definite classic.

[drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

“That's why when I look back at my youth, "the classics" were never novels written by authors from a previous century, they were the tales that were brilliantly orchestrated by the duo of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and others.”

As someone who always favored The Human Torch growing up, going back to the roots of The Fantastic Four has proven that my true favorite is Ben Grimm aka The Thing. This is an amazing collection.

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Fantastic Four get the Penguin Classic treatment and the hardback edition is sheer joy. Lee and Kirby's explosion of ideas in the sixties is astonishing: so many characters made their debuts in FF. But this was a time when there was so much that science had not yet ruled out. So monsters from under the sea, under the ground, outer space could all be ever so slightly plausible as well as time travel. What a time to be alive. Excelsior!

[Quill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic collection that places early Fantastic Four issues alongside essays analyzing Lee and Kirby’s work (as the cover copy says “grounding them in an academic context”). Very interesting to see the writing and art constantly improving, as well as seeing several big swings early on in their run. It gets very meta nearly from the beginning. Truly great character dynamics. And Kirby’s art should be hanging on gallery walls.

[ChaoticElf · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's always great to re-read these classic stories (of which this collection offers many classic issues). I can't tell you how many time I have read them, and still to this day, they never seem to get old.

Personally, I'm really digging these Penguin Classic Marvel Collections. They not only offer great in-depth commentary about the series and the issues found within, but in the hardcover form, they just look so amazing! It is truly a nice addition to my

[J A SPONG · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another stunning achievement by Penguin. The issues look gorgeous and a great selection of stories albeit a tad predictable. I have knocked one star off though for missing the first 7 pages of FF #48 as even though they had nothing to do with the Coming of Galactus story, they really should have been included.

[P S · Rating 5 out of 5]

the pulpy science fiction vibe works perfectly with Lee’s ridiculous overwritten dialogue and Kirby’s art is just amazing.

This is like the foundation of comic books, I’ve read most of the classic silver age stuff and FF feels so singular (Spider-man early stories are there too) - marvel really didn’t find its footing until the Bronze Age but these stories just work so well. DOOM goated

[Costa Voutsinas · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a trip down memory-lane and those idle summers of the 1970s. Read most of these stories in Marvel's Greatest Comics' reprints of early FF and carefully re-reading them in this collection was pure joy. While the childish bickering between the three guys was overdone, it didn't take away from the Galactus/Silver Surfer/Watcher arc which remains a classic.

[Darik · Rating 2 out of 5]

... I tried. I really did.

I don't know what, exactly, is so different about this team from all the other wonderful Stan Lee creations, but... there is nothing here that resonates with me. The Fantastic Four is boring as hell.

[Ramses Van · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this collection!!

[Chad Olson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of classic Fantastic Four stories, tales, and characters

[Mohan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book after 60+ years after the stories have written, and penned by the man himself.. it simply a classic for a reason.

[Joshua]

Left me wanting more. Kirby!

[Hackspacks77 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jerry Craft's foreword is a masterpiece of titanic rambling elitist rubbish that's worth skipping. The rest, Fantastic.