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In 1961, the company that would become Marvel Comics, then Marvel Entertainment Group, struggled to find a niche in a marketplace dominated by giant companies like National Periodicals (now known as DC Comics) and EC. DC comics in particular had recently revived their staple of superhero titles and had then launched a team book called the Justice League of America, starring those superheroes. JLA was a phenomenal success, and Martin Goodman, the publisher of Atlas/Timely, as Marvel was then known, was under pressure to come up something to compete. Goodman turned to his nephew, Stanley Lieber, who had been working for Atlas/Timely for some number of years. Lieber had been involved with several Marvel projects, mainly horror and science fiction oriented titles. When the mandate came down, Lieber got together with Jack Kirby, and together they created a title that would become the flagship for an entire universe of superheroes, heroes they would create as well. The Fantastic Four acquired their superhuman abilities after an experimental rocket designed by the scientist Reed Richards passed through a storm of cosmic rays on its test flight. Upon crash landing back on Earth, the four occupants of the craft found themselves transformed and possessed of bizarre new abilities. Richards, who took the name Mister Fantastic, was now able to stretch his body into nearly any shape he could imagine (similar to the earlier Plastic Man). His fiancée, Susan Storm, gained the ability to become invisible at will and named herself the Invisible Girl (later the Invisible Woman). She later developed the ability to project force fields, create invisible objects, and turn other objects visible or invisible. Her younger brother, Johnny Storm, possessed the incendiary powers of the Human Torch, enabling him to control fire, project burning bolts of flame from his body, and fly. Finally, pilot Ben Grimm was transformed into a craggy, orange-skinned monster with incredible strength and a nearly invulnerable hide. Filled with self loathing and self pity, he dubbed himself the Thing. The four characters were all modeled after the four classical Greek elements: earth (The Thing), fire (The Human Torch), wind (The Invisible Girl) and water (the pliable and ductile Mr. Fantastic). These same four elements also inspired Jack Kirby's earlier creations the Challengers of the Unknown. The team of adventurers have used their fantastic abilities to protect humanity, the earth and the universe from a number of threats. Propelled mainly by Richards' innate scientific curiosity, the team have 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. Most recently, an orbiting satellite version of the Baxter Building has been used. The comic has 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 the exception as a beloved Dutch uncle), and additionally, the children of Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman, Franklin Richards and Valeria Richards, are regulars in the series. Additionally, while the Thing is not actually related to the other members, his relationship with Mister Fantastic and the Human Torch is nonetheless quite sibling-like. 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 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. The FF and Doctor Doom have clashed many, many times over the years, and no doubt they will clash again in the future. The Fantastic Four have saved the entire world, even the entire universe several times though they hardly receive the acclaim one would expect for such heroism. They still go on, as they have for the last forty years, and, given the slow passage of comic book time, as they probably will for the next forty years.
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