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94-710: Brothers Pat Lee and Roger Lee founded Dreamwave Productions in Toronto, Canada in 1996 as an imprint under Image Comics , publishing their first mini-series Darkminds . Pat maintained artistic control while Roger managed the business operations. Dreamwave split off from Image Comics in April 2002. Dreamwave acquired the license for the Transformers toyline from Hasbro in December 2001. The first mini-series , written by Chris Sarracini & drawn by Pat Lee and based on

188-682: A Wolverine / Punisher mini-series called Revelation . Lee has also illustrated cards for the Magic: The Gathering collectible card game. A year later, he and his brother Roger Lee founded Dreamwave Productions . They began publishing their first mini-series Darkminds , followed by other titles like Transformers , Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles , Warlands , Fate of the Blade , NecroWar , Sandscape and other graphic novels. Dreamwave filed for bankruptcy in January 2005 amidst

282-410: A "secret identity". In Strange Tales #106 (March 1963), Johnny discovered that his friends and neighbors knew of his dual identity all along from Fantastic Four news reports, but were humoring him. Supporting characters included Johnny's girlfriend, Doris Evans, usually in consternation as Johnny cheerfully flew off to battle bad guys. She was seen again in a 1973 issue of Fantastic Four , having become

376-525: A company-owned Porsche to himself prior to the Dreamwave bankruptcy; the allegation that Lee had bought an apartment for half a million Canadian dollars before the bankruptcy; a list of Dreamwave's debt and creditors; and the allegation that artist Alex Milne had been working as a ghost artist for Lee on Top Cow's Cyberforce title without being credited, with Lee eventually stopping payment to Milne when Top Cow had asked for confirmation that Lee

470-573: A few issues with temporary teams, Mark Waid took over as writer with #60 / 489 (October 2002) with artist Mike Wieringo with Marvel releasing a promotional variant edition of their otherwise $ 2.25 debut issue at the price of nine cents US. Pencillers Mark Buckingham , Casey Jones, and Howard Porter variously contributed through issue #524 (May 2005), with a handful of issues by other teams also during this time. Writer J. Michael Straczynski and penciller Mike McKone did issues #527–541 (July 2005 – Nov. 2006), with Dwayne McDuffie taking over as writer

564-498: A field on Earth. Upon exiting the rocket, the four discover they have developed incredible superpowers and decide to use these powers to help others. In the first issue the crew talks about Reed Richards' rocketship flying to the stars. Stan Lee's original synopsis described the crew's plan to fly to Mars, but Lee later shortly afterward wrote that due to "the rate the Communists are progressing in space, maybe we better make this

658-489: A ghost artist on Cyberforce , Lee claimed that he "forgot to adjust the credits at the end of the job", which was "definitely my error", and offered Milne to "provide me the appropriate documentation and evidence" that "Dream Engine owed him money." He also claimed that he didn't recall firing Alex, and that he "expressed to him via email in May 2007 that I understood he was paid in full". Other allegations brought up by Johnston in

752-494: A great deal of controversy, including rumors such as neglecting to pay several artists. When Dreamwave Productions closed, Lee formed a new production company known as Dream Engine and parlayed his work on the Transformers franchise to land a string of jobs for Marvel and DC, most notably an X-Men / Fantastic Four mini-series and a single fill-in issue of the Superman/Batman series for DC. He also contributed to

846-653: A heavyset but cheerful wife and mother. Ayers took over the penciling after ten issues, later followed by original Golden Age Human Torch creator Carl Burgos and others. The Fantastic Four made occasional cameo appearances, and the Thing became a co-star with issue #123 (Aug. 1964). The Human Torch shared the split book Strange Tales with fellow feature Doctor Strange for the majority of its run, before being replaced in issue #135 (August 1965) by Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. The Silver Age stories were republished in 1974, along with some Golden Age Human Torch stories, in

940-463: A long run through issue #32 (Aug. 2000). Following the run of Claremont, Lobdell and Larroca, Carlos Pacheco took over as penciller and co-writer, first with Rafael Marín , then with Marín and Jeph Loeb . This series began using dual numbering, as if the original Fantastic Four series had continued unbroken, with issue #42 / #471 (June 2001). At the time, the Marvel Comics series begun in

1034-471: A relaunch of Cyberforce for Top Cow Productions , another Image studio. Most of the new projects with Dream Engine failed to bring Lee the high-profile acclaim of his Transformers work, with the Washington Times in particular criticizing his ability to draw humans versus the non-human robots from Transformers . Lee directed the music video for the song Electric by the band Blush . He

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1128-588: A short-lived ongoing Human Torch series. A later ongoing solo series in Marvel's manga -influenced Tsunami imprint , Human Torch , ran 12 issues (June 2003 – June 2004), by writer Karl Kesel and penciler Skottie Young . The series was followed by the five-issue limited series Spider-Man/Human Torch (March–July 2005), an untold tales team-up arc spanning the course of their friendship. The Thing appeared in two team-up issues of Marvel Feature (#11–12, September–November 1973). Following their success, he

1222-627: A sixteen-issue run. Following the summer 2008 crossover storyline, " Secret Invasion ", and the 2009 aftermath " Dark Reign ", chronicling the U.S. government's assigning of the Nation's security functions to the seemingly reformed supervillain Norman Osborn , the Fantastic Four starred in a five-issue miniseries , Dark Reign: Fantastic Four (May–Sept. 2009), written by Jonathan Hickman , with art by Sean Chen . Hickman took over as

1316-461: A spy named Lyja . Once discovered, Lyja, who herself had fallen for Storm, helped the Fantastic Four rescue Masters. Ventura departed after being further mutated by Doctor Doom. Although some fans were not pleased with DeFalco's run on Fantastic Four , calling him "The Great Satan", the title's sales rose steadily over the period. Other key developments included Franklin Richards being sent into

1410-516: A studio assistant to Jack Kirby in the 1970s, says that the considered opinion of Lee and Kirby's contemporaries was "that Fantastic Four was created by Stan and Jack. No further division of credit seemed appropriate." The release of The Fantastic Four #1 (Nov. 1961) was an unexpected success. Lee had felt ready to stop working on comics at the time, but the positive response to Fantastic Four persuaded him to continue with comic books. The title began to receive fan mail and Lee started printing

1504-518: A three-issue stint drawn by Arthur Adams , Simonson remained in all three positions through #354 (July 1991). Simonson, who had been writing the team comic The Avengers , had gotten approval for Reed and Sue to join that team after Engelhart had written them out of Fantastic Four . Yet by The Avengers #300, where they were scheduled to join the team, Simonson was told the characters were returning to Fantastic Four . This led to Simonson quitting The Avengers after that issue. Shortly afterward, he

1598-669: A woman) led by a Professor travelling to the Earth’s centre and encountering giant monsters while contending with a human protagonist who is also from the surface world. Although neither Lee nor Kirby ever mentioned the 1959 film Journey to the Center of the Earth as a direct inspiration, publisher Martin Goodman was well known for following popular entertainment trends to attract sales in his comics line. Comics historian R. C. Harvey believes

1692-679: Is reverting to its original numbers, and the book is going away for a while. I'm moving towards the end of Fantastic Four . I just want to reassure people that you will not leave this book with a bad taste in your mouth." In the aftermath of the " Secret Wars " storyline, the Thing is working with the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Human Torch is acting as an ambassador with the Inhumans. With Franklin's powers restored and Reed having absorbed

1786-455: Is settled and they finally made peace. As the Fantastic Four are about to depart Spyre after helping its citizens clean up the Planet (as well as Reed providing the mutates with a variation of the temporary 'cure' he has created for Ben), Skye join them to learn about Earth and every unseen galaxy. When the incoming Kree-Skrull Empyre occur at the same time as teen heroes are being outlawed ,

1880-528: Is the three-part " Galactus Trilogy " that began in Fantastic Four #48 (March 1966), chronicling the arrival of Galactus , a cosmic giant who wanted to devour the planet, and his herald, the Silver Surfer . Fantastic Four #48 was chosen as #24 in the 100 Greatest Marvels of All Time poll of Marvel's readers in 2001. Editor Robert Greenberger wrote in his introduction to the story that, "As

1974-482: The Transformers: Generation 1 characters, was the top-selling book on the sales charts for its entire run. Various Transformers ongoing and limited series followed, covering various continuities within the Transformers franchise. On January 4, 2005, Dreamwave announced that it had gone out of business and closed down, citing "the shrinking comic book market combined with a weak U.S. dollar" as

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2068-660: The Fantastic Four title, FF continues publication as a separate series. Starting with issue #12, the title focuses upon the youthful members of the Future Foundation, including Franklin and Valeria Richards. In the graphic novel Fantastic Four: Season One , the Fantastic Four is given an updated origin story set in the present day instead of the 1960s. The hardcover compilation debuted at number four on The New York Times Best Seller list for graphic novels. As part of Marvel NOW! Fantastic Four ended with #611, ending Jonathan Hickman's long run on FF titles, and

2162-461: The Human Torch (Johnny Storm), Sue's younger brother, who can generate flames, surround himself with them and fly; and the monstrous Thing (Ben Grimm), their grumpy but benevolent friend, a former college football star, Reed's college roommate and a skilled pilot, who possesses tremendous superhuman strength, durability and endurance due to his stone-like flesh. Since their 1961 introduction,

2256-763: The Kree Empire 's ruthless and tyrannical enforcer Ronan the Accuser ; the Negative Zone 's ruler Annihilus ; the sea-dwelling prince Namor ; the spacefaring Silver Surfer ; the Skrull warrior Kl'rt ; and the Molecule Man . The Fantastic Four has been adapted into other media , including several video games , animated series , and live-action films . Apocryphal legend has it that in 1961, longtime magazine and comic book publisher Martin Goodman

2350-493: The " Marvel Method ", worked so well that Lee and Kirby used it from then on, and the Marvel Method became standard for the company within a year. Kirby recalled events somewhat differently. In a 1970 Fanzine interview he confirmed Lee's involvement in the creation of the Fantastic Four but took credit for the main characters and ideas, stating "It was my idea. It was my idea to do it the way it was; my idea to develop it

2444-625: The " Marvel method " style of production came into prominence. The four characters traditionally associated with the Fantastic Four, who gained superpowers after exposure to cosmic rays during a scientific mission to outer space, are Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards), a scientific genius and the leader of the group, who can stretch his body into incredible lengths and shapes; the Invisible Woman (Susan "Sue" Storm-Richards), Reed's girlfriend and later wife, who can render herself invisible and project powerful invisible force fields and blasts;

2538-407: The 1960s, such as Thor and The Amazing Spider-Man , were given such dual numbering on the front cover, with the present-day volume's numbering alongside the numbering from the original series. After issue #70 / #499 (Aug. 2003), the title reverted to its original vol. 1 numbering with issue #500 (Sept. 2003). Karl Kesel succeeded Loeb as co-writer with issue #51 / #480 (March 2002), and after

2632-619: The Challengers and the FF have a minimum of decoration. And of course, the Thing's skin is a kind of decoration, breaking up the monotony of the blue uniform." It is important to note, however, that the Fantastic Four wore civilian garb instead of uniforms, which were only introduced (along with the Baxter Building Headquarters) in the third issue of the series following readership feedback. The original submitted design

2726-492: The FF. It is an absolutely vital dynamic between the characters." [emphases in original] Byrne was followed by a quick succession of writers: Roger Stern , Tom DeFalco , and Roy Thomas . Steve Englehart took over as writer for issues 304–332 (except #320). The title had been struggling, so Englehart decided to make radical changes. He felt the title had become stale with the normal makeup of Reed, Sue, Ben, and Johnny, so in issue #308 Reed and Sue retired and were replaced with

2820-418: The Fantastic Four for a fanzine in 1968, during which time Jack Kirby was also working at Marvel (Kirby himself is interviewed separately in the same publication). When asked who conceived the team, him or Kirby, Lee responded "Both – 'twas mainly my idea, but Jack created characters visually". In the 1974 book Origins of Marvel Comics Lee described the creative process in more detail, stating that he developed

2914-419: The Fantastic Four has been portrayed as a somewhat dysfunctional, yet loving, family. Breaking convention with other comic archetypes, the members squabbled, held grudges both deep and petty, and eschewed anonymity or secret identities in favor of celebrity status. They are also well known for their recurring encounters with characters such as the villainous monarch Doctor Doom ; the planet-devouring Galactus ;

Dreamwave Productions - Misplaced Pages Continue

3008-501: The Fantastic Four was a continuation of the work Kirby previously did, and so "more likely Kirby's creations than Lee's". But Harvey notes that the Marvel Method of collaboration allowed each man to claim credit, and that Lee's dialogue added to the direction the team took. Wells argues that Lee's contributions set the framework within which Kirby worked, and this made Lee "more responsible". Comics historian Mark Evanier ,

3102-587: The Fantastix with Ms. America taking the codename of Ms. Fantastix. Following the staged bank robbery that the Wrecking Crew committed and their involvement of being hired to humiliate the Fantastix in public, the Fantastic Four gave the Fantastix their blessing to continue using the Baxter Building while the FF operate in a house on Yancy Street with a dimensionally-transcendental interior. In

3196-464: The JLA's strong sales, did direct his comics editor, Stan Lee , to create a comic-book series about a team of superheroes. According to Lee, writing in 1974, "Martin mentioned that he had noticed one of the titles published by National Comics seemed to be selling better than most. It was a book called The [ sic ] Justice League of America and it was composed of a team of superheroes. ... 'If

3290-534: The Justice League is selling', spoke he, 'why don't we put out a comic book that features a team of superheroes?'" Lee, who had served as editor-in-chief and art director of Marvel Comics and its predecessor companies, Timely Comics and Atlas Comics , for two decades, found that the medium had become creatively restrictive. Determined "to carve a real career for myself in the nowhere world of comic books", Lee concluded that, "For just this once, I would do

3384-438: The Thing's new girlfriend, Sharon Ventura , and Johnny Storm's former love, Crystal. The changes increased readership through issue #321. At this point, Marvel made decisions about another Englehart comic, West Coast Avengers , that he disagreed with, and in protest he changed his byline to S.F.X. Englehart (S.F.X. is the abbreviation for Simple Sound Effects). In issue #326, Englehart was told to bring Reed and Sue back and undo

3478-463: The aptly titled "Back to the Basics", Byrne began his run as writer, penciller and inker, the last under the pseudonym Bjorn Heyn for this issue only. Byrne revitalized the slumping title with his run. Byrne was slated to write with Sienkiewicz providing the art however, Sienkiewicz left to do Moon Knight , and Byrne subsequently became writer, artist, and inker. Various editors were assigned to

3572-540: The basic characters as well as a story synopsis for the first issue penciller Jack Kirby to follow. Lee noted the involvement of both Kirby and Publisher Martin Goodman prior to preparing his synopsis: "After kicking it around with Martin and Jack for a while I decided to call our quaint quartet the Fantastic Four. I wrote a detailed first synopsis for Jack to follow and the rest is history." Kirby turned in his penciled art pages to Lee, who added dialogue and captions. This approach to creating comics, which became known as

3666-467: The characters' personal lives, having the married Sue Storm and Reed Richards suffer a miscarriage and the Thing quitting the Fantastic Four, with She-Hulk being recruited as his long-term replacement. He also re-emphasized the family dynamic which he felt the series had drifted away from after the Lee/Kirby run, commenting that, " Family —and not dysfunctional family —is the central, key element to

3760-557: The comic book industry by sending sample artworks to Marvel and DC editors after graduating high school at the age of 16, but they did not take any interest in his artwork. In 1994, he caught the attention of Image Comics co-founder Rob Liefeld at a convention in Toronto , Canada . Four months later, he was hired by Image Comics and went to train at Extreme Studios . There he practiced his speed, which greatly influenced his future works. In an interview with Wizard he stated, "When I

3854-405: The comic; eventually Bob Budiansky became the regular editor. Byrne told Jim Shooter that he could not work with Budiansky, although they ultimately continued to work together. In 2006, Byrne said "that's my paranoia. I look back and I think that was Shooter trying to force me off the book". Byrne left following issue #293 (Aug. 1986) in the middle of a story arc, explaining he could not recapture

Dreamwave Productions - Misplaced Pages Continue

3948-572: The company through the "Creative Refund Movement." Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . The team debuted in The Fantastic Four #1 ( cover-dated November 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first superhero team created by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and editor/co-scripter Stan Lee , and through this title

4042-517: The dialogue after the story was pencilled. Kirby also sought to establish, more credibly and on numerous occasions, that the visual elements of the strip were his conceptions. He regularly pointed to a team he created for rival publisher DC Comics in the 1950s, the Challengers of the Unknown . "[I]f you notice the uniforms, they're the same... I always give them a skintight uniform with a belt...

4136-442: The eye and said everything’s hunky-dory" a mere month before the bankruptcy. Comic book journalist Rich Johnston repeatedly reported controversial details concerning Pat Lee, including the allegation that Dreamwave's assets and employees were shifted over to the new company Dream Engine , started by Pat Lee's brother Roger Lee in January 2005, before Dreamwave declared bankruptcy; the allegation that Lee had transferred ownership of

4230-513: The flagship series include the 1970s quarterly Giant-Size Fantastic Four and the 1990s Fantastic Four Unlimited and Fantastic Four Unplugged ; Fantastic Force , an 18-issue spinoff (November 1994 – April 1996) featuring a young adult Franklin Richards, from a different timeline, as Psi-Lord. A 12-issue series Fantastic Four: The World's Greatest Comics Magazine ran in 2001, paying homage to Stan Lee and Jack Kirby 's legendary run. A spinoff title Marvel Knights 4 (April 2004 – August 2006)

4324-589: The following issue, and Paul Pelletier succeeding McKone beginning with #544 (May 2007). As a result of the events of the " Civil War " company-crossover storyline, the Black Panther and Storm temporarily replaced Reed and Susan Richards on the team. During that period, the Fantastic Four also appeared in Black Panther , written by Reginald Hudlin and pencilled primarily by Francis Portela. Beginning with issue #554 (April 2008), writer Mark Millar and penciller Bryan Hitch began what Marvel announced as

4418-459: The fourth year of the Fantastic Four came to a close, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby seemed to be only warming up. In retrospect, it was perhaps the most fertile period of any monthly title during the Marvel Age." Daniels noted that "[t]he mystical and metaphysical elements that took over the saga were perfectly suited to the tastes of young readers in the 1960s", and Lee soon discovered that the story

4512-563: The fun he had previously had on the series. One of Byrne's changes was making the Invisible Girl into the Invisible Woman: assertive and confident. During this period, fans came to recognize that she was quite powerful, whereas previously, she had been primarily seen as a superpowered mother and wife in the tradition of television moms like those played by Donna Reed and Florence Henderson . Byrne staked new directions in

4606-597: The future and returning as a teenager; the return of Reed's time-traveling father, Nathaniel, who is revealed to be the father of time-travelling villain Kang the Conqueror and Reed's apparent death at the hands of a seemingly mortally wounded Doctor Doom. It would be two years before DeFalco resurrected the two characters, revealing that their "deaths" were orchestrated by the supervillain Hyperstorm . The ongoing series

4700-529: The gathered heroes assisted the Fantastic Four into causing so much damage to the Griever's equipment, she is forced to retreat in her final telepod or be trapped in that universe. This left the heroes to salvage components from the broken ship to create their own teleport system to return to their universe. The Fantastic Four and their extended family returned to Earth where they find that Liberteens members Ms. America, 2-D, Hope, and Iceberg have come together as

4794-644: The group, due to an overwhelming fan response in the affirmative (93.47%). Stan's comment of ' Nuff Said would from here become an ongoing phrase in Lee's communications with fans. While the early stories were complete narratives, the frequent appearances of these two antagonists, Doom and Namor, in subsequent issues indicated the creation of a long narrative by Lee and Kirby that extended over months. According to comics historian Les Daniels , "only narratives that ran to several issues would be able to contain their increasingly complex ideas". During its creators' lengthy run,

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4888-468: The interview, namely that Top Cow had told him [Johnston] that Lee had specifically assured them that he was doing all the work on Cyberforce himself and that Marvel had told him [Johnston] that they were "asked to stop paying money to Dreamwave [for outsourced projects such as the X-Men / Fantastic Four limited series] but send it to Dream Engine instead", were not addressed by Lee. Lee did not respond to

4982-537: The letters in a letter column with issue #3. Also with the third issue, Lee created the hyperbolic slogan "The Greatest Comic Magazine in the World!!" With the following issue, the slogan was changed to "The World's Greatest Comic Magazine!" and became a fixture on the issue covers into the 1990s, and on numerous covers in the 2000s. Issue #4 (May 1962) reintroduced Namor the Sub-Mariner , an aquatic antihero who

5076-478: The mutates who are unable to retain their original forms in the same manner as the Thing, accusing the mutates of being "villains and imperfects"; as a result, through his own paranoia and xenophobia , the Overseer himself is responsible for the fateful creation of the Fantastic Four and mutated his entire race to face a non-existent threat. Revos challenges Mr. Fantastic to a fight over their differences, until it

5170-449: The new Dreamwave have not published nor announced the publishing of any titles since the 2005 announcement. IDW Publishing acquired the Transformers license in May 2005 and began publishing new Transformers comics in 2006. Pat Lee (comics) Patrick Lee (born June 28, 1975) is a Canadian comic book artist , publisher, former president, and co-founder of the now-defunct Dreamwave Productions . Lee began his career in

5264-519: The offices of Marvel Comics and met numerous comics creators . Marv Wolfman and Keith Pollard crafted a multi-issue storyline involving the son of Doctor Doom which culminated in issue #200 (Nov. 1978). John Byrne joined the title with issue #209 (Aug. 1979), doing pencil breakdowns for Sinnott to finish. He and Wolfman introduced a new herald for Galactus named Terrax the Tamer in #211 (Oct. 1979). Bill Mantlo briefly followed Wolfman as writer of

5358-482: The original Fantastic Four went to space with Avengers to stop this Empyre, leaving Franklin and Valeria being backed by Spider-Man and Wolverine to defend Earth. In August 2022, Marvel announced that writer Ryan North and artist Iban Coello would launch a new volume of Fantastic Four in November of that year after Slott had concluded his run on the title with issue #46. Ancillary titles and features spin off from

5452-535: The other changes he had made. This caused Englehart to take his name entirely off the book. He used the pseudonym John Harkness, which he had created years before for work he didn't want to be associated with. According to Englehart, the run from #326 through his last issue, #332, was "one of the most painful stretches of [his] career." Writer-artist Walt Simonson took over as writer with #334 (December 1989), and three issues later began pencilling and inking as well. With brief inking exceptions, two fill-in issues, and

5546-521: The power of the Beyonders from Doom, the Richards family is working on travelling through and reconstructing the multiverse, but Peter Parker has purchased the Baxter Building to keep it "safe" until the team is ready to come back together. A new volume for the Fantastic Four was released in August 2018, written by Dan Slott , as part of Marvel's Fresh Start event. The first issue of the new series

5640-476: The published version. However Earl Wells, writing in The Comics Journal , points out that its existence does not assert its place in the creation: "[W]e have no way of knowing of whether Lee wrote the synopsis after a discussion with Kirby in which Kirby supplied most of the ideas". It is also notable that the Fantastic Four's first adventure in 1961 depicts a team of four adventurers (three men and

5734-500: The reason for their closure. According to the terms of the contract the company had with Federal Express , its freelancers were left liable for the cost of shipping their unpublished, unpaid for work to Canada. Guido Guidi and Don Figueroa were two such freelancers affected. After the company's bankruptcy in January 2005, Dreamwave's assets were auctioned off on August 2, 2005 and purchased by Canadian entrepreneur Christian Dery, who planned to relaunch its original properties. However,

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5828-484: The regular team of writer and Marvel editor-in-chief Tom DeFalco , penciller Paul Ryan and inker Dan Bulanadi took over, with Ryan self-inking beginning with #360 (Jan. 1992). That team, with the very occasional different inker, continued for years through #414 (July 1996). DeFalco nullified the Storm-Masters marriage by retconning that the alien Skrull Empire had kidnapped the real Masters and replaced her with

5922-422: The series and wrote a crossover with Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #42 (May 1980). Byrne wrote and drew a giant-sized Fantastic Four promotional comic for Coca-Cola , which was rejected by Coca-Cola as being too violent and published as Fantastic Four #220–221 (July–Aug. 1980) instead. Writer Doug Moench and penciller Bill Sienkiewicz then took over for 10 issues. With issue #232 (July 1981),

6016-592: The series produced many acclaimed storylines and characters that have become central to Marvel, including the hidden race of alien-human genetic experiments, the Inhumans ; the Black Panther , an African king who would be mainstream comics' first black superhero; the rival alien races the Kree and the shapeshifting Skrulls ; Him, who would become Adam Warlock ; the Negative Zone and unstable molecules . The story frequently cited as Lee and Kirby's finest achievement

6110-624: The series re-imagined the team as young adults. It ran for 60 issues (Feb. 2004 – Feb. 2009). The issues were repackaged into four-issue graphic novel volumes. The characters continued to appear in other Ultimate Marvel franchises, including Ultimatum . Ultimate Reed Richards became a mainstay of both the Earth-1610 and Earth-616 continuities as the villain the Maker . In 2008, they also launched Marvel Adventures: Fantastic Four , an out-of-continuity series aimed at younger readers. Although it

6204-490: The series regular writer as of issue #570 with Dale Eaglesham and later Steve Epting on art. In the storyline "Three", which concluded in Fantastic Four #587 ( cover date March 2011, published January 26, 2011), the Human Torch appears to die stopping a horde of monsters from the other-dimensional Negative Zone . The series ended with the following issue, #588, and relaunched in March 2011 as simply FF . The relaunch saw

6298-473: The specific request to offer evidence to counter the claim that he was trying to "siphon money from big gigs away from Dreamwave to Dream Engine in the months before the bankruptcy." However, Lee announced plans to set up a "Creative Refund Movement" with the specific intention to "raise funds to pay former Dreamwave artists who were financially affected by the bankruptcy." As of 2015, no Dreamwave employees have received any monetary compensation for their work at

6392-429: The storyline Point of Origin , the Fantastic Four entrust Alicia, H.E.R.B.I.E., Franklin and Valeria to protect Earth while they begin their mission to learn a further origin of the cosmic radiation that granted them their powers in the first place, piloting a new space ship called Marvel-2. While in the middle of a space adventure to find the origin, the Fantastic Four are attacked by a group who believed themselves to be

6486-608: The superheroes of Planet Spyre, the Unparalleled . Reed and Sue are separated from the Thing, Human Torch is revealed to be the soulmate of the Unparalleled member named Sky, and they learn that the Unparalleled's leader and the Overseer of Planet Spyre, Revos, was responsible for the cosmic rays that struck the team on their original trip, as he wanted to stop them coming to his planet. Revos subsequently mutated his people to "prepare for their return" before trying to eradicate

6580-535: The team assume a new name, the Future Foundation , adopt new black-and-white costumes, and accept longtime ally Spider-Man as a member. In October 2011, with the publication of FF #11 (cover-dated Dec. 2011), the Fantastic Four series reached its 599th issue. In November 2011, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Fantastic Four and of Marvel Comics, the company published the 100-page Fantastic Four #600 (cover-dated Jan. 2012), which returned

6674-536: The team, Giant-Size Super-Stars , began in May 1974 and changed its title to Giant-Size Fantastic Four with issue #2. The fourth issue introduced Jamie Madrox , a character who later became part of the X-Men . Giant-Size Fantastic Four was canceled with issue #6 (Oct. 1975). Roy Thomas and George Pérez crafted a metafictional story for Fantastic Four #176 (Nov. 1976) in which the Impossible Man visited

6768-401: The title to its original numbering and featured the return of the Human Torch. It revealed the fate of the character of Johnny Storm after issue #587, showing that while he did in fact die, he was resurrected to fight as a gladiator for the entertainment of Annihilus. Storm later formed a resistance force called Light Brigade and defeated Annihilus. Although it was launched as a continuation of

6862-615: The title was relaunched in November 2012 with the creative team of writer Matt Fraction and artist Mark Bagley . In the new title with its numbering starting at #1, the entire Fantastic Four family explore space together, with the hidden intent for Reed Richards to discover why his powers are fading. Writer James Robinson and artist Leonard Kirk launched a new Fantastic Four series in February 2014 ( cover dated April 2014). Robinson later confirmed that Fantastic Four would be cancelled in 2015 with issue #645, saying that "The book

6956-404: The type of story I myself would enjoy reading.... And the characters would be the kind of characters I could personally relate to: they'd be flesh and blood, they'd have their faults and foibles, they'd be fallible and feisty, and — most important of all — inside their colorful, costumed booties they'd still have feet of clay." Lee provided one of his earliest recorded comments on the creation of

7050-464: The way it was. I'm not saying Stan had nothing to do with it. Of course he did. We talked things out." Years later, when specifically challenged with Lee's version of events in a 1990 interview, Kirby responded: "I would say that's an outright lie", although the interviewer, Gary Groth , notes that this statement needs to be viewed with caution. Kirby claims he came up with the idea for the Fantastic Four in Marvel's offices, and that Lee merely added

7144-438: The world believing them to be clones of the original members of the Fantastic Four. The series ran for 8 issues (Jan. – Aug. 1996), serving as a companion to Doom 2099 —an original Marvel 2099 title featuring an individual claiming to be the original Victor von Doom . In 2021, the series was brought back for a single issue. In 2004, Marvel launched Ultimate Fantastic Four . As part of the company's Ultimate Marvel imprint,

7238-402: Was Sue Storm's first solo title. Adam Hughes drew the cover for all five issues. The Fantastic Four is formed after four civilian astronauts are exposed to cosmic rays during an unauthorized outer space test flight in an experimental rocket ship designed by Dr. Reed Richards. Pilot Ben Grimm and crew-members Susan Storm and her brother Johnny Storm survive an emergency crash-landing in

7332-564: Was a favorite on college campuses. The Fantastic Four Annual was used to spotlight several key events. The Sub-Mariner was crowned king of Atlantis in the first annual (1963). The following year's annual revealed the origin story of Doctor Doom. Fantastic Four Annual #3 (1965) presented the wedding of Reed Richards and Sue Storm. Lee and Kirby reintroduced the original Human Torch in Fantastic Four Annual #4 (1966) and had him battle Johnny Storm. Sue Richards' pregnancy

7426-557: Was a star character of Marvel's earliest iteration, Timely Comics , during the late 1930s and 1940s period that historians and fans call the Golden Age of Comics . Issue #5 (July 1962) introduced the team's most frequent nemesis, Doctor Doom . These earliest issues were published bimonthly. With issue #16 (July 1963), the cover title dropped its The and became simply Fantastic Four . In Fantastic Four #19 (October 1963), Stan Lee announced that Reed Richards would remain leader of

7520-600: Was also a concept designer for CGI cartoon Train Hero (高铁侠) for Cartoon Animation. Since the closure of Dreamwave, Pat Lee has been criticized for his business practices. In an interview with Newsarama , Transformers writers Adam Patyk and James McDonough stated they had been laid off before the Dreamwave bankruptcy following a controversy about their payment, and had subsequently filed a lawsuit against Dreamwave for lack of payment. In another interview, Transformers writer Simon Furman claimed that Lee, "looked [him] square in

7614-402: Was also modified to include the iconic chest insignia of a "4" within a circle that was designed by Lee. Given the conflicting statements, outside commentators have found it hard to ascertain who created the Fantastic Four. A typed synopsis by Lee for the introductory segment of the first Fantastic Four issue exists and outlines the characters and their origins, with various minor differences to

7708-1034: Was announced in Fantastic Four Annual #5 (1967), and the Richards' son, Franklin Richards was born in Fantastic Four Annual #6 (1968) in a story which introduced Annihilus as well. Marvel filed for a trademark for "Fantastic Four" in 1967 and the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued the registration in 1970. Kirby left Marvel in mid-1970, having drawn the first 102 issues plus an unfinished issue, partially published in Fantastic Four #108, with alterations, and later completed and published as Fantastic Four: The Lost Adventure (April 2008), Fantastic Four continued with Lee, Roy Thomas , Gerry Conway and Marv Wolfman as its consecutive regular writers, working with artists such as John Romita Sr. , John Buscema , Rich Buckler and George Pérez , with longtime inker Joe Sinnott adding some visual continuity. Jim Steranko also contributed some covers during this time. A short-lived series starring

7802-587: Was canceled with issue #416 (Sept. 1996) and relaunched with vol. 2 #1 (Nov. 1996) as part of the multi-series " Heroes Reborn " crossover story arc. The yearlong volume retold the team's first adventures in a more contemporary style, and set in a parallel universe. Following the end of that experiment, Fantastic Four was relaunched with vol. 3 #1 (Jan. 1998). Initially by the team of writer Scott Lobdell and penciller Alan Davis , it went after three issues to writer Chris Claremont (co-writing with Lobdell for #4–5) and penciller Salvador Larroca ; this team enjoyed

7896-543: Was given a solo strip in Strange Tales in 1962 to bolster the title's sales. The series began in Strange Tales #101 (October 1962), in 12- to 14-page stories plotted by Lee and initially scripted by his brother Larry Lieber , and drawn by penciller Kirby and inker Dick Ayers . Here, Johnny was seen living with his older sister, Susan, in fictional Glenview, Long Island , New York, where he continued high school and, with youthful naiveté, attempted to maintain

7990-466: Was given his own regular team-up title Marvel Two-in-One , co-starring with Marvel heroes not only in the present day but occasionally in other time periods (fighting alongside the World War II -era Liberty Legion in #20 and the 1930s hero Doc Savage in #21, for example) and in alternate realities . The series ran 100 issues (January 1974 – June 1983), with seven summer annuals (1976–1982) and

8084-458: Was immediately followed by the solo title The Thing #1–36 (July 1983 – June 1986). Another ongoing solo series, also titled The Thing , ran eight issues (January–August 2006). A six issue miniseries written by Walter Mosely , entitled The Thing , was released in November 2021. In April 2019, Marvel Comics announced that it would publish Invisible Woman , a five-issue miniseries written by Mark Waid and drawn by artist Mattia De Lulis. This

8178-511: Was indeed the sole artist of the book and Milne refused to comply. In December 2010, Pat Lee gave Johnston an interview, in which Johnston reiterated all of the above claims. While Lee admitted that "many artists had delays in payment" even before the bankruptcy and "regret[s] not being able to speak to everyone" beforehand, he also claimed that "most creators at Dreamwave were aware that we were going through financial difficulties. We didn’t announce it, but people were not being paid in full, and it

8272-506: Was launched by Marvel as a continuation of the Fantastic Four title in 2011, FF continued publication as a separate series after the regular series resumed in 2012. From issues #12, the title focused on the youthful members of the Future Foundation, including Franklin and Valeria Richards. A second volume was launched as part of Marvel NOW! by Matt Fraction and Mike Allred depicting a substitute Fantastic Four team starring Scott Lang , Medusa , She-Hulk and Ms. Thing. The Human Torch

8366-557: Was met with strong sales, and a positive critical reaction. When the Future Foundation is threatened by the Griever at the End of All Things, Mister Fantastic plays on her ego to convince her to provide him with equipment that will allow him to summon his teammates. When Human Torch and Thing are reunited with Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman, the other superheroes that were part of the Fantastic Four at some point in their lives also arrived, including, unexpectedly, X-Men 's Iceman . With

8460-530: Was offered the job of writing Fantastic Four . Having already prepared a number of stories involving the Avengers with Reed and Sue in the lineup, he then rewrote these for Fantastic Four . Simonson later recalled that working on Fantastic Four allowed him the latitude to use original Avengers members Thor and Iron Man , which he had been precluded from using in The Avengers . After another fill-in,

8554-530: Was playing golf with either Jack Liebowitz or Irwin Donenfeld of rival company DC Comics , then known as National Periodical Publications, and that the top executive bragged about DC's success with the new superhero team the Justice League of America . While film producer and comics historian Michael Uslan has debunked the particulars of that story, Goodman, a publishing trend-follower, aware of

8648-464: Was pretty obvious." He also claimed that "I barely paid myself at Dreamwave, and didn’t pay myself for extended periods so that the company could pay other bills." Regarding the Porsche, Lee claimed that it "was leased by Dreamwave and I was personally responsible for the vehicle at the end", whereas the apartment was a "small apartment in Toronto that I paid a mortgage on". Regarding Alex Milne's work as

8742-535: Was working there, I'd have work slapped down at me. It's gotta be done today. I'd hear, and I figured, okay, this is something I've gotta get used to." Lee worked on various titles such as Bloodpool , Extreme Sacrifice, Black Flag, House of M: Iron Man , Glory , Darkchylde , Avengeblade, Extreme Prelude , and Prophet . Soon after, he was hired by Wildstorm Productions to work on Jim Lee 's WildC.A.T.S. , Allegra and Whilce Portacio 's Wetworks . His career in comic books led him to work for Marvel Comics on

8836-475: Was written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and initially illustrated by Steve McNiven in his first Marvel work. There have also been numerous limited series featuring the group. In 1996, Marvel launched the series Fantastic Four 2099 , part of the company's Marvel 2099 imprint which explored an alternate future of the Marvel Universe. The four protagonists inexplicably find themselves in 2099, with

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