This weekend’s escapist and light-hearted superhero post from Balladeer’s Blog will look at the early stories about the Fantastic Four in the 1960s.
THE FANTASTIC FOUR – There can be no over-stating the importance of the Fantastic Four to Marvel Comics and by extension to much of pop culture the last several years regarding superhero movies and television programs. Though the Fantastic Four are now considered as dull as any b&w sitcom family of long ago, the team’s success convinced Marvel the market was right to recommit to superhero comic books.
As Timely Comics in 1939 and throughout the 1940s Marvel had participated in the massive superhero boom of the era. Many of their signature characters were introduced, like Captain America, Sub-Mariner, and many, many others.
As Atlas Comics in the 1950s Marvel abandoned superhero stories as that market had dropped out. They briefly revived some of their Golden Age characters and tried launching new ones, but sales were poor enough to get canceled, so they focused on monster and sci-fi comic books instead.
As Marvel Comics in 1961 the company decided to dabble in superhero comic books again, with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, two veteran comic book hands since the 1940s, putting together a brand-new team of superheroes. That team was, of course, the Fantastic Four.
The first issue was scheduled to hit the stands late in the year, but June of 1961 was when the bulk of the work was done and the approach finalized. The vaunted “616 Universe” was established, based on 61 as in the calendar year, and 6 as in the month of June. Continue reading
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