I love hearing Comic book RU-vidrs make secret cameos. I always recognize Sal and Comic Drake. You gotta see if you can get Rob from Comics Explained, or Benny from Comicstorian. Ernie the Bleed without fear would be cool too..
Yeh! You got spammed too. Ditto on the comment. Wasn't a big FF fan as a kid but as I got older I came to appreciate them more. You should also check out Black Science, if you haven't already, it's got a similar vibe.
It really is unfair how media aside from comic books have treated these 4 and their rogues gallery. I have hope for the MCU adaptation as years ago, Feige said he'll bring the team to the status that they deserve, but it's unfortunate Stan and Jack won't see their team realized to their full potential on screen.
Sadly the comics have not done the team any favours either. And drankly I don't trust Kevin to treat the team with any respect, especially after how he ruined Hulk and Thor.
I’m actually not a fantastic four fan, but I’m a fan of them being prominent in marvel continuity going forward. In my childhood (80s-90s), if sh*t got real, then whoever’s book I was reading would go to see Reed Richards. You knew things were happening if the smartest man in the world needed to weigh in. It’s the cache… proof that they are the framework of the Marvel Comic universe.
Spider-man and the FF exemplify the what works best about marvel: They tell fantastical human stories. Sure spidey's got superpowers, but its his everyman quality and crushing responsibility that makes his beloved. And while the fantastic four are a cast of whacky characters with bizarre powers, their still at the end of the day just a dysfunctional family.
It's truly tragic that the mainstream doesn't respect the F4. Even though they literally created the Marvel Universe. The F4 kickstarted Dr. Doom, Silver Surfer, Galactus, The Skrulls, Black Panther and even Spider Man to some degree. All popular characters now and it wouldn't have been done without the F4.
Secret Wars 2015 concluded that longtime run and gave the Fantastic Four their respect, almost as their swan song. Now the MCU’s trying to formally introduce them, (F4, 2025) develop them, (Kang Dynasty, 2025) and give them what was meant to be their epic finale (Secret Wars 2026) IN ONE YEAR 😵
Sweet intro Owen. I've been a fan of the fantastic four since the first movie, yes even though they're cheesy. Thankfully reading the comics has shown me how cool they are and this video reminds me of why they're irreplaceable marvel icons.
That’s why the Fantastic Four are so important not only are they marvels first family but they are important to the comic book industry that has changed time and time again with their other popular characters and stories but it’s the fantastic four that started it all and if it hadn’t been for Stan and Jack creating the fantastic four the comic book industry would have soon died out regardless of dc’s success they would have died out soon after marvel if things didn’t work out
Love The Fantastic Four. I don't see a lot of great videos about them. This one however was very good and maybe even kick ass. Keep up the good work and I may subscribe dude. Great video altogether.
The F4 are my favorite superhero team and they do not get enough credit for how much they revolutionized Marvel. A majority of what folks love about the MCU comes from F4. Without F4 there is no Black panther, no gallactus, Kree, Skrull, Doctor Doom etc. And beyond those elements the Fantastic Four are one of the most intimate groups in superheroes. An actual family, trying to make the world a better place.
Firstly, the reality of the "Golf Course" was disputed, and it cannot be presented as anything other than a possibility, at best . Secondly, Jack Kirby's vocal concern that his uncredited plotting was swept under the rug began in Fantastic Four # 6 (Doom and Sub-Mariner vs the FF). Publisher Goodman and Stan Lee brushed it off. Wally Wood and Steve Dikko were also among the talented artists who felt slighted by Stan. Stan was a master self-promoter, and so the "Marvel Way" (which is the artist draws and blueprints the story and later Stan writes the narrative and dialogue to match the plotting) was ignored by admirers. All of a sudden Stan was the sole brain thrust of Marvel. Ditko, Wood and Kirby left not solely because of raises that they did not get, but because of Stan getting credit for their work. Ditko was particularly skunked by Stan in a NY Herald Tribune article where he said Steve thought of himself s the smartest man on earth (or words to that effect) …. So happy that Disney had to settle with the estates of Kirby and Ditko. At least their families got some satisfaction.
"Fantastic Four" was the first (and ONLY) book I read as a youngster in the '70's, when the only superheroes I knew of were Superman and Batman. I still remember my first F.F. issue, #167 (?), which pitted the Thing AND the Hulk TOGETHER against the rest of the F.F. on top of the St. Louis arch (Ben had been affected by being too close to the Hulk's bodily gamma radiation). I in particular remember Sue making an invisible 'bridge' across a lake she had been thrown to, while the creative team at the bottom of the panel carried on a mock "argument" referring to themselves by their nicknames ('Oh, c'mon Rascally' for Roy Thomas, for instance). That one panel in particular, with the creators sort of "breaking the fourth wall" so humorously, hooked me on the F.F. for years. Such a shame that the books today have turned into utter trash (from what I can see. I haven't read Marvel for probably a decade, when the books I once bought for 25 cents were selling for $4.00 each to give me sh*tty stories and art). If you WERE around during those days, you know what I mean. If you WEREN'T, you don't know what you missed. And without the Fantastic Four, there's no Spider-Man, X-Men, Avengers, Wolverine, or any of the others. The covers of F.F. books back in my time would feature the line "The World's Greatest Comic Magazine" at the top, and it wasn't just bluster, it was truth.
I think that the vibe of the monster/sci fi anthology books of Kirby (Ditko too?) really carried over into their superhero lines and ended up shaping the Marvel universe (especially at its start) into the gritty but still hopeful thing it is, unlike DC which had a real Superman vibe for the longest time. Ironically, Marvel is a place where Batman would blend it, while DC is where Captain America would (at least back in the day when I was a kid). When looking at Silver Age Marvel heroes' origins, you can easily picture how, with just the removal of superhero costumes, the stories would be perfectly at home in the earlier Tales to Astonish, etc anthologies.
The first one hundred issues of the Fantastic Four is probably the best comic run in history. It's such a shame that all Marvel have been able to produce for the past ten years is woke crap.
I was born in 1960 and as a kid read basically DC but started getting FF, Iron Man Thor and Captain America was never a big fan of Spiderman.The FFs peak in my opinion was when you had Silver Surfer, Black Panther and the Inhumans.Every year or so I'll buy a new copy of FF and sadly its unreadable.
They are not my favorite marvel characters. BUT the Kirby/Lee run is my favorite comic book run. And they are great characters, don't misunderstand me. The Hulk my favorite character. Everyone can't be my favorite.
Kirby was not interested in humanized characters with human struggles. Kirby was more interested in religious, cosmic and epic characters in his stories. The Challengers of the Unknown were generic sci-fi characters. The Fantastic Four were a family because Stan tasked Kirby to draw them as relatable humans.
@@alessandrocoizzi4168 Dude every writer has a consistent tone in their stories. Kirby’s tone in writing his solo work is not the same when he worked under Stan. It’s like saying David Fincher did “everything” for The Social Network even though Aaron Sorkin wrote it and David Fincher is known for thriller movies more in his career.
@@petermj1098 oh!!! please tell me just one book stan wrote without ditko or kirby. i'm very curious about it. i'm talking about lee, not one of his ghost writers like his brother larry or thomas...
@@alessandrocoizzi4168 He wrote Spider-Man comics with John Romita Sr and those comics were still successful and he added characters like MJ, George Stacy and Kingpin that changed Spider-Man’s life. And he continued the Green Goblin arc all without Ditko just fine. Stan expanded Marvel comic right after Kirby and Also Ditko left. Stan mentored Roy Thomas and other writers and artists who made iconic characters themselves. Roy Thomas then did the same and so one. They did it all without Kirby and Ditko. People say Stan doesn’t write yet he still continued the Marvel universe’s lore and popularity just fine without Kirby and Ditko. The last thing Kirby did for Marvel was Eternals - again his own interests in Gods and cosmic characters.
The Comics Code Authority was a disaster for the industry. In the 1960s I wasn't keen on Superman because of kryptonite. Create an invulnerable hero then make up a weakness that doesn't make sense. The Fantastic Four just seemed so much better.
i personally knew the fantastic four through the animates series i have always loved them through them so knowing more about their history in comic books and their importance feels so right
The first comic I bought at my local 7-11 as a kid was FF 149--and I was hooked. To this day, the FF dominates my comic collection. I'm so glad you made this video--thank you!
Still hate that Disney & Marvels really ruined the Fantastic Four and X-Men in the current age with it's boneheaded decision to down play them because they couldn't make movies over them so they were to not have presence in the 616( comics universe) universe.
*That's the negativity talking! Don't worry! Marvel 's X-Men and The Fantastic Four for examples are in good paws courtesy of Kevin Fiege and the MCU film crew !* ;D
@@booksmartthealicorn3219 oh no Kevin Fiege is past his prime or never really had one and just put his name on everything and Disney's dirty hands are all over the MCU these days. Which is why the swing at being Marvel in the cinematic universe just blows. Just know that their MCU take on the X-Men and Fantastic Four is going to stink.
@@aurahoneydew9607 *No offense, but you need more positivity in your life! Respectully disagree with you on your comments!Your comment might not age well when the MCU film reboot of Marvel 's X-Men ,Fantastic Four, Daredevil and Elecktra as well as Blade for examples will be a positive success !,(And I believe it will!) ;D 2020s is the beautiful,positive abd extraordinary decade of the futurist and the future! Everything is gonna be alright!* ;D
@@booksmartthealicorn3219 nah given the decline of the MCU's quality since phase 2 and the disaster that was phase 4(dubbed phase bore by most people). The only thing that rocked was No Way Home and that was made by Sony not Disney/Marvel. I'm definitely in the right to expect for things to get worse.
Sadly, modern marvel comics is a shell of what it use to be. All they do now is make knock-off versions of popular heroes. The new writers can't come up with anything good so they level the playing field by re-writing classic characters and making them unlikable to new readers.
Its thr problem with comics in general. They either go back on character development or just ignore it in general. The problem is that new characters usually don’t sell. Creating a character that’s amazingly written doesn’t matter when they appear in like 2 issues
Fingers crossed that John Krasinski does NOT stay as Reed. I think Feige said that it was just fanservice, but I really hope they don’t keep him. I just really didn’t see him as a good Reed tbh.
*Makes sense. John Krasinski 's alternate version of Dr.Reed Richards aka Mr .Fantastic seemed like a decent, mature, and experienced guy before he got the axe in the extraordinary awesome 2022 Doctor Strange 2: In the Multiverse of Madness MCU film! So that means we will be introduced a prime MCU filmyoung 18-19 boy genius/hero -in-training version of the benevolent intelligent Elastic Avenger, Mr. Fantastic that he will mold to be in the future (Pardon the pun!) XD LOL! Same with the rest of the three heroic members of The Fantastic Four, their villainous rogues, and their heroic allies in the future for future MCU films!* ;D
Great video Owen, I've been meaning to give FF a real chance so I've bought Hickman's run to start with. This video makes me want to do a deeper dive on some classic runs in future
Personally, I prefer the Byrne run. He really got what made the 60s Lee/Kirby run so great then updated it for the 80s. This may be blasphemy, but I thought the Hickman run was not only very overrated but not really related to the FF. He could (and I feel would) have done the exact same plot with the JLA and the 4th World characters etc, if he had been employed by DC at the time. I always felt that he never really got the FF as PEOPLE. Still, I seem to be a minority.
While there is no denying that Spider-Man is Marvel's Mickey Mouse, the Fantastic Four are basically Marvel's Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, but with a kinder fate than Oswald (at least he returned to Disney). Which is why the MCU has to right the sickening injustice of their trash live-action adaptations once and for all.
I disagree. Spider-Man is more like Marvel’s Mickey Mouse in that he is Marvel’s mascot The Fantastic Four are more akin to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - the foundation of everything Marvel came to build. Much as fairy tales and princesses became the building blocks of Disney, science fiction and superheroes became the building blocks of Marvel
The Lee/Kirby run of Fantastic Four still holds up incredibly well compared to a lot of other comics of the era. It's not surprising that the book turned out to be so influential to Marvel and all of comics history.
Besides Stan Lee and Steve Ditko/ John Romita's Spider Man run, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's Fantastic Four is one my favorite runs from Marvel silver age, as well one my favorite Comic book runs of all time. Besides Kirby iconic art and the creative wacky sci-fy concepts, I think this comic was responsible not only for the beginning of Marvel universe but also for changing comic books in general. Back then, most super hero stories were very simple and the characters rarely had distict and unique personality outside from just their basic archtype (ex: the protagonist is heroic and nice, the love interest is damsel in distress, the villain is cunning and evil). In the case of the Fantastic Four character were much different, each one having their own personality and dynamic with others allowing them to be more memorable and create a connection with the reader, character relationship changed in some issues (ex: Reed and Sue got married) and not every story ended in happy ending, with some having some surprising endings and cliffhangers (ex: In issue number 3, the story with Johnny having a argument with Thing and leaving the group). Fantastic Four wasn't just responsible for the beginning of the Marvel comics but also for start the slow change of the storytelling style present in the comics.
The FF are one of the all time great superhero teams no they are not a team they are family and the definitive runs are lee/Kirby,John Byrne, mark waid/Mike wieringo and Jonathan hickman
I must admit that as a FF fan, I was happy that the title ended in 2015. It is rare to see comic book characters have an ending, and I liked hiw it was linked to Secret Wars. Of course they had a new series 3 years later, but still.
@@georgeliquor1236 *Respectively disagree with you on that! The Avengers are extraordinary awesome , multi-layered ,compelling, charming and even relatable just like Marvel 'sX-Men and Spider-Man for examples!* ^-^
Calling the FF Marvel's First Family isn't Marvel just being cute with epithets and nicknames as usual. They're being EXCEEDINGLY literal. The Marvel Universe built outward from the Fantastic Four, every early hero and villain had to test their mettle against the Four before they could really be taken seriously. That's still true, track back every trail and vein of the Marvel Universe's many limbs and eventually you shall find the First Family standing there at the core.
Sam Will your right the Fantastic Four may have saved Marvel Comics it's just to bad they didn't have that success in cartoons and movies. Spider-man, The Avengers , Hulk ,the X-men and others from Marvel Comics had success in Cartoons and movies over the years.
I've said this for years. Fantastic Four are the origin of marvel. No Fantastic Four means No Spider-man, X-men, Average Hulk or any of the characters in marvel today.
I’m sorry if anyone out there still is convinced that Stan Lee created all of marvel superheroes including its first family without borrowing oops I mean knocking off DC? Well you quite frankly have lost your collective minds! there is no doubt in today’s Comic centered culture Marvel has rained unbeaten in the last 20 years but make no mistake Marvel owes A lot of the success 2DC .. period .. Stanley was nothing more than a con artist and a crook who stole from his artist and other comics and walked around as if he had found a cure for cancer unfortunately he did not!! it’s amazing to me how much runway he was given to usurp all the credit for himself and people call HIM a genius ?! Please bitch …no
*Sweet savvy! Take it easy,Frankielaz!* *I think both tye late and great Stan Lee and Jack Kirby are a pretty good power couple of brothers/geniuses that helped create the extraordinary world of Marvel Comics, even to this day!* ;D
Even though this video was available to early patrons, it's still a real treat to this video debut on my BIRTHDAY! 🎂 Thank you for this gift about Marvel's Fantastic Family!
The Fantastic Four don't get enough credit. If there's a theater audience reaction that I absolutely love (that's not just Spider-Man NWH) is when people cheered for Reed Richards in Doctor Strange 2. Shows there's still hope for people might just love the FF once more.
@@overlord6993 *Well, there's still hope for the The Fantastic Four, as well as Marvel 's X-Men for examples in their MCU film reboots!* *After all one of their strongest is hope !* ;D
*Thank you for the new Marvel video, **#OwenLikesComics**! Here's hoping we finally our beloved cosmic-irradited quartet of Marvel superheroes ,Dr.Reed Richards aka the benevolent intelligent Elastic Avenger,Mr. Fantastic , Dr.Susan Storm aka the beautiful, brilliant and compassionate light-bending Invisible Woman, her fiery but also fiercely loyal thermal pyrokinetic brother,Johnny Storm aka The Human Torch and the gruff but also gentle and gold hearted superhuman rock golem ,Ben Grimm aka the ever -loving blue-eyed Thing as well as the rest of their galleries of both villainous rogues and heroic allies from/ their Marvel mythology in future MCU films with love, respect, and justice (plus the Ultimate Marvel/mainstream Marvel elements ratio) they deserve, guys and gals!!* *Cross your paws and hope for the best!* 😁😇🌌❣🌈
