The Overmind (originally the Over-Mind ) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics .
107-619: The character first appeared in Fantastic Four #113 (Aug 1971). The Overmind is an alien belonging to the Eternals of Eyung. He was born uncounted millennia ago on the planet Eyung ("Eternus") as Grom. Acting as one of their warlords, he led massacres of entire species. He was also the reigning champion in their gladiatorial arenas. When his race had engaged the Gigantians in a war about to lead to mutual absolute destruction, Grom
214-582: A S.H.I.E.L.D. strike force hunting violators of the act, and is attacked by S.H.I.E.L.D.'s "Cape-Killers" before the act is even passed. He subsequently becomes a fugitive, and forms an underground resistance movement calling itself the "Secret Avengers". This team includes Hercules , Falcon , Danny Rand (who is acting as Daredevil in Matt Murdock's place), Luke Cage , and the Young Avengers . Iron Man, Reed Richards , Hank Pym (actually
321-650: A Skrull in disguise), and She-Hulk come down in favor of the act. Spider-Man unmasks at a press conference as a show of support for the act. Doctor Strange wants no part of the act and tells Iron Man and Mister Fantastic to never call on him again (the government subsequently declares Doctor Strange exempt). The government-backed heroes track down unregistered superhumans and subsequently detain or register them. Captain America's Secret Avengers and Iron Man's Avengers end up fighting in Yancy Street. The Thing, who
428-601: A pop culture conglomerate. The title would go on to showcase the talents of comics creators such as Roy Thomas , John Buscema , John Byrne , Steve Englehart , Walt Simonson , Tom DeFalco , Mark Waid , and Jonathan Hickman . The Fantastic Four is one of several Marvel titles originating in the Silver Age of Comic Books that was continuously published through 2015 before returning to monthly publication in 2018. Magazine and comic book publisher Martin Goodman ,
535-534: A cyborg clone of Thor (created from a few strands of the Asgardian's hair and empowered by a technological copy of Mjolnir ). Confronted by Bill Foster , "Thor" sends a bolt of lightning through the hero's chest, killing him. With both sides stunned, Cap orders a retreat. Sue Storm shelters the re-grouping Secret Avengers under an energy shield, allowing their escape. Bill Foster's death shakes up both sides: Stature and Nighthawk surrender and register, while
642-573: 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
749-538: A group of villains ( Cobalt Man , Speedfreek , Coldheart , and Nitro ) in Stamford, Connecticut , while filming a reality television show. Nitro explodes, killing more than 600 people (including school children and every villain and New Warrior present, minus Speedball). Numerous other superheroes appear in Stamford to search for survivors. Public opinion turns against superhumans, branding even inactive members of
856-653: 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, 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
963-427: A publishing trend-follower, aware of strong sales on Justice League of America , directed 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
1070-669: A result, most of the heroes are middle-aged and older. In 2006, Ben Reilly (who was publicly known as Peter Parker/Spider-Man) was murdered by Morlun, prompting the real Peter Parker to return to New York to reveal he's alive to draw Morlun out to him and prevent Stark from taking control of Parker Industries. When Peter refuses Stark's offer to register, he is attacked by the U.S. Avengers (consisting of Tony Stark/Iron Man , James Rhodes/War Machine , Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel , Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow , Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk , and Danny Rand/Iron Fist all wearing power armors) before he
1177-627: 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
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#17327762777151284-521: A title called Spidey was released by Éditions Lug. Primarily featuring reprints from the juvenile comic book Spidey Super Stories , it also featured a similarly themed FF series produced in France. These original stories had art that closely resembled the work of Jack Kirby or John Buscema, but the storylines themselves included watered-down supervillains, the FF on vacation, and even Santa Claus . This series
1391-746: A total of 29 issues. That series merged into Spider-Man . During 1985 the Fantastic Four and other Marvel titles such as The New Mutants , The Avengers , and The X-Men were included in the Secret Wars II reprint title. This mostly focused on issues which crossed over into the Secret Wars II maxi series. From 2005, around the release of the Fantastic Four film , the super-team appeared in two new publications published by Panini Comics : Fantastic Four Adventures , and Ultimate Fantastic Four . The latter only lasted 10 issues, ending in 2006. Fantastic Four Adventures which reprinted
1498-411: A weekly title that rotated the main feature with other Marvel titles. Williams Comics eventually obtained the rights to Marvel's line and began publishing (for the first time in color) in the mid-1970s. Fantastic Four was backed up with Daredevil and began with issue #1. No annual was published by Williams and some early numbers were left out (5, 6, 10, 12, 21 and 44). Condor Comic carried the title in
1605-438: Is "Whose Side Are You On?" Civil War explores the conflict between freedom and security against a backdrop of real-life events and discussions, such as the U.S. government's increased surveillance of its citizens. The plot revolves around the U.S. government passing a Superhero Registration Act to ostensibly have super-powered individuals act under official regulation, somewhat akin to law enforcement. Superheroes opposing
1712-406: Is about to deliver a final blow to Iron Man, policemen, EMTs, and firefighters try to restrain him. Realizing how much damage the fight has already inflicted upon the very people he wishes to protect, Captain America surrenders, and orders his team to stand down. At the end of the storyline, a number of changes to the status quo have occurred, including: "†" indicates that the character died during
1819-547: Is assisted by the Anti-Registration Avengers (consisting of Steve Rogers/Captain America , Clint Barton/Hawkeye , Luke Cage , Tyrone Johnson/Cloak and Tandy Bowen/Dagger ). Peter dons a new Spider-Man armor and defeats the U.S. Avengers with a device that exposes a fail-safe Tony placed inside all of their armors. After Tony is revealed to be a hologram and disappears, Spider-Man joins the Anti-Registration Avengers to follow his daughter's advice on leaving
1926-632: Is hunted down and badly beaten by the Jester III and Jack O'Lantern of the new Thunderbolts. The Punisher saves Spider-Man by killing the two villains, and carries him to a Secret Avengers safe-house. After recuperating, Spider-Man joins Cap's forces, and publicly pledges to fight the Registration Act. The Punisher seeks to join Captain America's forces. He explains Iron Man's decision to employ infamous mass murderers motivated
2033-426: Is referred to as "El Hombre Elástico" (Elastic Man). Canada rarely translated character names from their English version, although sometimes switching back and forth between English and French names in the same issue (The Thing / La Chose, Mister Fantastic / Monsieur Fantastic, Invisible Girl / Fille (or Femme) Invisible, Human Torch / Torche Humaine). The names of Dr. Doom and She-Hulk were not translated into French for
2140-731: 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
2247-504: Is susceptible to magic, the imposition of superior intellects and powers, and fatigue. Twice he suffered mental breakdowns, rendering him mentally vulnerable. As a result of his alien physiology and metabolism, he possesses great superhuman physical strength, magnified sevenfold through psionic augmentation; and even more impressive speed, stamina, and durability. He is an experienced veteran of many wars, with considerable fighting skills. Fantastic Four (comic book) Fantastic Four
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#17327762777152354-400: Is the abbreviation for Simple Sound Effects). In issue #326, Englehart was told to bring Reed and Sue back and undo 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 did not want to be associated with. According to Englehart, the run from #326 through his last issue, #333,
2461-407: Is the name of several comic book titles featuring the team the Fantastic Four (created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby ) and published by Marvel Comics , beginning with the original Fantastic Four comic book series which debuted in 1961. As the first superhero team title produced by Marvel Comics, it formed a cornerstone of the company's 1960s rise from a small division of a publishing company to
2568-619: The Essential Marvel range: As part of the Marvel Masterworks series: The issue numbering of Volume 3 reverted to the legacy number of the title, beginning with the issue #500. The issue numbering of Volume 5 reverted to the overall legacy number of the title. The Fantastic Four has been published in translation around the world, beginning in 1962 in Mexico as Los Cuatro Fantásticos published by La Prensa until
2675-568: The Marvel Two-in-One and Fantastic Four annuals that crossed over into the Invaders story would have to be published by the "other" company, and in fact that particular crossover was published twice, once by each company. This resulted in different translations of the characters' names — Susan Storm Richards was called "Jane" in her own title by Editions Lug, and Reed was called "Red," a combination of letters easier to pronounce than
2782-544: The Spider-Verse storyline, he discovered an alternate dimension where a Civil War Iron Spider-Man lies dead (killed by Karn) prompting him to continue investigating the murders of Spider-Men throughout the Multiverse. In What If Civil War Ended Differently ? , a stranger appears in front of Iron Man, who is visiting Captain America's grave at Arlington National Cemetery . Tony Stark is told of two alternate ways
2889-637: The Defenders to assist him, they freed the Squadron. Meanwhile, Null had leeched away the Overmind's mental energies, but yet another psychic composite entity of seven human telepaths empowered by the assembled heroes, defeated him and inhabited the weakened Grom. The Overmind returned with the Defenders to their Earth. For a while this entity was welcomed into the Defenders' ranks, and the loose ends of
2996-537: The Fantastic Four in France were held by a company called Éditions Lug , which began publishing Fantastic Four first in a 1969 anthology title called Fantask , along with Spider-Man and Silver Surfer, then in another anthology called Marvel . The censors objected to the content of the book, and citing "nightmarish visions" and "terrifying science fiction" as the reasons, forced their cancellations after respectively 7 and 13 issues. Although other anthologies featuring Marvel strips continued, notably Strange (featuring
3103-496: The Marvel Universe superhero community split into two groups. One advocates registration as a responsible obligation, and the other opposes it, arguing the act violates civil liberties and the protection secret identities provide. While arguing with Iron Man about the law, African American hero Luke Cage compares the mandatory registration to slavery . A number of villains also choose a side. Mark Millar, writer for
3210-476: The 1980s and 1990s, and published a series of 47 pocket format books at about 168-196 pages each. It also published a paperback series in a similar format to the Marvel Graphic Novels with 12 issues of 52 pages each. Marvel Deutschland (later Panini Comics Deutschland) publishes "Die Fantastischen Vier". Since 2008 the series is named with its original title "The Fantastic Four". The German names of
3317-466: The American flag is in chains as the people swap freedom for security". Millar conceded a "certain amount of political allegory" but said its real focus was on superheroes fighting each other. Contrasting it with The Ultimates , Millar said Civil War was "accidentally political because I just cannot help myself". The New Warriors ( Night Thrasher , Namorita , Speedball , and Microbe ) battle
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3424-724: The Canadian reprints. British publication of the series began sporadically appearing in the black and white anthology title Mystic in the 1960s. It began to appear regularly in Wham! from 1966 to 1968, then Smash! in 1968 and 1969, both titles published by Odhams Press . In 1972, the Fantastic Four's adventures were published starting with issue 1 of the US comic in Mighty World of Marvel alongside Spider-Man and Hulk reprints when Marvel Comics began its imprint Marvel UK . In 1976
3531-524: The Civil War could have concluded: Faced with this vision, Tony believes that this proves that he was right to pursue his pro-registration course of action, but the stranger then reveals another possibility; The stranger is revealed to be Uatu , Earth 616's Watcher. Upon learning of the possibility of this alternate reality, Tony is devastated and weeps for the bright future he helped prevent. In What If: Annihilation by David Hine and Mico Suayan,
3638-567: The FF's adventures from US Fantastic Four #1, but this was replaced by The Invaders towards the end of the run. In 1978 that series merged into Mighty World Of Marvel returning the FF to their original home alongside the Hulk . Their last adventure in that title was issue 329, when they were moved out so that the comic could be relaunched as Marvel Comic in early 1979. Their adventures briefly moved back into Spider-Man Comic before stopping shortly after John Byrne took over pencilling chores on
3745-589: The Human Torch and Invisible Woman oppose the act. In turn, Pym drafts a sub-group of the Thunderbolts to the SRA's cause. Spider-Man demands to see the concentration camp-styled prison facilities "42" in the Negative Zone. He concludes he's made a mistake in siding with Stark, and attempts to defect. Iron Man confronts Peter, however, yet after a brief battle, Spider-Man escapes. Against Tony's will, Peter
3852-783: The Invisible Woman, Mister Fantastic, Valeria and Franklin Richards to the Earth 616 for the first time since Secret Wars. A new volume of Fantastic Four was launched in November 2022 by writer Ryan North and artist Iban Coello, after Slott had concluded his run with issue #46. The first issue of The Fantastic Four proved a success, igniting a new direction for superhero comics and soon influencing many other superhero comics. Readers grew fond of Ben's grumpiness, Johnny's tendency to annoy others and Reed and Sue's spats. Stan Lee
3959-643: The Iso-Sphere. The remaining five heroes from the Mighty Avengers and Thunderbolts stay behind on Battleworld with the Sentry and fight villains attempting to gather the Iso-Sphere as the Civil Warriors. When Mister Fantastic was researching realities where the Civil War ended differently, he found one reality in which their version of Anthony Stark was a woman named Natasha Stark. The Civil War
4066-531: The Living Darkness. In his current broken state Null took control of him and sent him on a campaign against a parallel universe , Earth , inhabited by the Squadron Supreme . The Overmind mentally enslaved both the Squadron and that Earth's leaders while posing as the U.S. president Kyle Richmond , and began construction of an interstellar armada to invade other worlds. When Hyperion brought
4173-555: The New Warriors as "baby killers". Hindsight , desperate to distance himself from the team, releases the New Warriors' secret identities online, and several of them are attacked. She-Hulk forces Hindsight to shut down the site, and Hindsight is arrested by John Jameson . Angry civilians attack the Human Torch outside a club after he cuts the line and mocks one of his critics. Guided by Iron Man , Congress quickly passes
4280-515: The Reality Gem to alter events in his favor. He used the gem to prevent the deaths of Goliath and Captain America, win the war, and rig the presidential election. He attempts to use it again to undo his killing of Steve, but it does not work since they were in another dimension. Maestro kills Tony and the Punisher, but is stopped by the intervention of Stick, the Sentry, and Nigel Higgins using
4387-681: The Secret Avengers' base to join Captain America's team, but the Punisher immediately kills them, leading Captain America to attack him and kick him out of the group. While meditating, Doctor Strange speaks with Uatu the Watcher, who asks why Strange doesn't end the conflict with his immense power. Doctor Strange responds that the Sorcerer Supreme has no business in mankind's internal struggles, but promises to pray for an outcome with minimal bloodshed that will benefit mankind. As
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4494-488: The Squadron to take revenge against the Stranger by organizing a raid against the latter's laboratory world. He freed many of the Stranger's superhuman captives to fuel his enslaved ranks. He locked the Stranger in a stalemated mental battle. When several Watchers arrived on an unrelated business the Overmind was wrought by paranoia, believing the Stranger to have summoned them for assistance, inducing psychosis, and enabling
4601-563: The Stranger to capture him as a subject of study. The Overmind's future counterpart travels back in time to present-day Squadron-Earth to aid the Scarlet Centurion in repelling the expanding Nth Man . His head explodes from the effort. The Overmind reappeared in the mainstream continuity and was Seen when he declined participation in the Mad Thinker 's quest for vengeance against the Fantastic Four. Shortly afterwards Grom
4708-651: The Super-Human Registration Act was proposed, Professor X and the Avengers argued that mutantkind and super-powered communities should police themselves. Cyclops thought it was preposterous for Professor X to appoint himself the representative of mutantkind, and his opposition to Xavier's proposal led Jean Grey to break up with him and marry Wolverine. The 2015 Contest of Champions series featured an alternate version of Civil War that had everything go in Tony Stark's favor. Five years after
4815-574: The Superhuman Registration Act (SHRA), 6 U.S.C. § 558, requiring the registration of all persons with superhuman abilities with the U.S. government, and the enlistment and training of all aspiring superheroes. The law applies to those with naturally-occurring superhuman abilities, humans using exotic technology (e.g. Iron Man), or anyone who wants to challenge superhumans. Enactment of the federal law leads to revisions of state criminal codes. Captain America refuses to join
4922-593: The Thunderbolts. Steve's team consists of Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Invisible Woman, the Punisher, and Bill Foster's Goliath (who survived the Civil War in this reality). President Stark and his Mighty Avengers are taken to Battleworld by Maestro and have their memories altered to think that they are on Earth and that the Renegade Champions already there are unregistered vigilantes. The Thunderbolts are sent to rescue them, but misunderstandings result in
5029-478: The Watcher . The Overmind took over the mind of Mister Fantastic , and battled the Fantastic Four and Doctor Doom , who proved unable to stop him until the Stranger intervened and shrank the Overmind into a subatomic microverse on a dust mote, where he was left completely isolated with no available conquests, and went mad from the strain. He was later discovered by another collective consciousness known as Null
5136-519: The X-Men, Iron Man, and the Silver Surfer), the Fantastic Four remained unpublished in France until 1973. Éditions Lug created a format aimed more for adults; an 80-page series called Une Aventure des Fantastiques debuted where the old series left off, with the stories that introduced the Inhumans and Galactus. That series lasted over 15 years, coming out four times a year. In the mid-1970s,
5243-421: The ability to see predictions about the future. This results in conflict emerging between heroes led by Iron Man and Captain Marvel respectively, Stark favoring self-determination and concerned about the prospects of coming to depend on the visions while Danvers feels that his visions represent a potentially valuable asset. At the time of its release, Civil War received mixed reviews. Comic Book Round Up gave
5350-702: The act, led by Captain America , find themselves in conflict with its supporters, led by Iron Man . Spider-Man is caught in the middle, while the X-Men remain neutral for mutantkind's survival. The superheroes supporting the law, including Mister Fantastic and Ms. Marvel , become increasingly authoritarian . The series polarized critics and fans, but was a commercial success. A sequel, Civil War II , debuted in June 2016. The 2016 Marvel Cinematic Universe film Captain America: Civil War loosely adapted
5457-667: The characters are Das Ding (The Thing), Die Fackel or Die menschliche Fackel (The Human Torch), Die Unsichtbare (The Invisible One), and Mr. Fantastisch (Mr. Fantastic). Silver Surfer and She-Hulk retained their English names. Some early Williams editions refer to Dr. Doom as "Doktor Unheil". In one Williams publication Dr.Doom is also referred to as "Doktor Untergang". Later they call him by his original US name. Editoriale Corno initially published I Fantastici Quattro in Italy (first with Captain Marvel as backup feature, then rotating with other backup features). Star Comics published
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#17327762777155564-470: The cosmic Annihilation War reaches Earth during the War. The heroes unite to neutralize it, and many die in the first clashes. Captain America and Iron Man, after a final reconciliation, sacrifice themselves alongside Nova to deflect the full Annihilation Wave . The "Civil War" storyline is featured in the 2015 storyline " Secret Wars ", a crossover storyline, which revisits previous Marvel Comics storylines in
5671-542: The deaths of Penance and Thunderstrike and all three teams start fighting each other. Tony kills Steve and reveals that he is in the possession of the Reality Gem from the Infinity Gauntlet. Tony and the members of the Illuminati divided the six Infinity Stones after hunting them down and vowed never to use them. But when Tony let the events of Civil War happen in their natural course, he couldn't resist using
5778-560: The double E sound. When Aredit published a Fantastic Four appearance they kept the traditional US names. Generally speaking, their names in France were: Monsieur Fantastic (although Mister was often used as well), L'Invisible , La Chose , and La Torche . (Rarely was "Humaine" used in the French editions.) Dr. Doom was called Docteur Fatalis and She-Hulk was called Miss Hulk . " Die Fantastischen Vier " first appeared in Hit Comics ,
5885-641: The feature was moved to star in Marvel UK's The Titans , in an attempt to revive flagging sales, starting with issue #27. But after just a few months the feature was removed from The Titans (replaced by The Avengers ) to form part of the line up of the new Captain Britain Weekly for its first issue in October 1976. After the demise of Captain Britain Weekly the FF went with Captain Britain into
5992-474: The final battle begins, Cloak teleports the combatants to New York City , where Namor and an Atlantean army arrive to fight alongside the Secret Avengers. The Champions, the Thor clone, and Captain Marvel , meanwhile, reinforce Stark's team. Mister Fantastic saves Invisible Woman from a bullet fired by Taskmaster , and Hercules destroys the Thor clone. The Thing returns to protect the civilians. As Captain America
6099-611: 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 several covers during this time. A short-lived series titled Giant-Size Super-Stars starring
6206-589: 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
6313-470: The form of isolated geographic locations on a planet called Battleworld. The "Civil War" area is referred to as the Warzone. A direct sequel to the original series debuted in June 2016, written by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by David Marquez. Unlike the previous story and the film, the conflict in this storyline is not about issues of government registration; instead, a new Inhuman, Ulysses, emerges with
6420-497: The gun-wielding vigilante to come out of hiding, but also notes superhero registration has caused a huge drop in crime. Captain America reluctantly accepts Punisher's help. As the Punisher makes his way through the Baxter Building to retrieve plans for the Negative Zone prison, Sue Richards travels to Atlantis to persuade Namor to join the Secret Avengers, although he refuses. Supervillains Goldbug and Plunderer arrive at
6527-399: The illusion that they were well. The Overmind was convinced to cancel the illusion and allow them to live in reality. When the Squadron transferred to this Earth, the Overmind's original psyche was stirred into awareness and absorbed the telepaths into his own billion-wide whole. His psychic powers were replenished and his true mind reasserted itself. He once more mind-controlled and kidnapped
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#17327762777156634-681: The influence of the 7 telepaths, whose assembled might was likened to a drop in the ocean compared to his own, he was able to control the minds of 800 people, and at full power he managed to push the Stranger , a cosmic entity rivaling Galactus in scope, to his mental limits. He possesses psychokinetic ability enabling him to lift psychokinetically approximately what he can physically lift. He can project psychokinetic concussion blasts capable of deforming steel at 10 feet (3.0 m). His sole weaknesses are his inability to control Eternals of any race, and his schizoid composition can make his abilities weaken immensely when sufficiently stressed. The Overmind
6741-527: The letters in a letter column with issue #3. With the third issue, Lee created the hyperbolic slogan "The Greatest Comic Magazine in the World!!" 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
6848-483: The main Civil War series would be pushed back several months to accommodate artist Steve McNiven. The schedule had issue #4 being released one month late, in September, while issue #5 was released two months later, in November. Furthermore, various tie-in books, including the Civil War: Front Line miniseries , were delayed to avoid spoiling plot developments. In late November 2006, Marvel announced another delay. Civil War #6, originally scheduled for December 20,
6955-432: The mainstream version of the team lasted longer, ending in February 2010. Publication history in France started with the reprinting of the first 10 pages of Fantastic Four #50 in 1967 in an anthology title called Les Chefs-d'Oeuvres de la Bande Dessinée [Comic Book Masterpieces]. In 1974, the first four issues of the title were published, one page at a time, in the daily newspaper France-Soir . But primarily, rights to
7062-432: The merged Super Spider-man and Captain Britain Weekly in July 1977. A few months after the merger a new title The Complete Fantastic Four was launched in September 1977 starting with the story from the US Fantastic Four #133. Unusually The Complete Fantastic Four reprinted an entire issue of the US publication at a time when stories were always broken up into several installments. As a backup strip it started serializing
7169-416: The mid-1970s, then by Macc Division until 1980 and finally by Novedades Editores from 1980 to 1982 and French-speaking Canada as Les Fantastic Four , from 1969 to 1986, after which the title was merged with the Spider-Man title for three more years. Mexican translators were not consistent in their translations of the characters' code names; The Thing was called Coloso (Colossus) in the first series, La Mole in
7276-417: The newly formed Marvel France line in the late 1990s. Fantastic Four shared space in the Silver Surfer's own book until the Heroes Reborn storyline created their own title, supported by Captain America. "Fantastic Four" then appeared in the anthology "Marvel Legends" and currently appears in "Marvel Icons", sharing that title with the Avengers. Two different French companies held rights to Marvel Comics at
7383-550: The original Fantastic Four series had continued unbroken, with issue #42 / #471 (June 2001). At the time, the Marvel Comics series begun in 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
7490-456: The power of the Beyonders from Doom, the Richards' family are 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. Writer Dan Slott and artist Sara Pichelli launched a new Fantastic Four series in August 2018 to commemorate the 56th anniversary and part of Marvel's " Fresh Start " relaunch. The new series returned
7597-478: The same time in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Éditions Lug (which eventually became Semic Comics ) published Fantastic Four , Spider-Man , X-Men , Daredevil , and Iron Man , and most related series, while Aredit held the rights to Avengers, Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Sub-Mariner and many of the 1970s-era modern series like Ghost Rider, Man-Thing, Power Man and the first She-Hulk series. Often, crossovers would force one company to publish another's title, i.e.
7704-432: The second and the third (which was the name used for The Hulk in the first series). The other three main characters had more stable translated names: Mister Fantástico (sometimes translated as Señor Fantástico), La Chica (or La Mujer) Invisible, and La Antorcha Humana. Dr. Doom was Doctor Destino and She-Hulk was La Mujer Hulk in her run in the Fantastic Four. In the movie, and in current appearances in Mexico, Mister Fantastic
7811-403: The series an average rating of 6.5. According to a scholarly analysis presented at the 2007 Comic-Con International , this story's conflict is a natural outgrowth of what psychologist Erich Fromm called "the basic human dilemma", the conflicting desires for both security and freedom, and "character motivations on both sides arise from positive human qualities because Fromm's image of human nature
7918-496: 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 while 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
8025-462: The seven psychics' old lives were tied up. He assisted the Defenders in the rescue of Daimon Hellstrom from the Miracle Man . The Overmind grew uncomfortable and eventually left the Defenders, and made them forget he was ever one of them. He tried to find a purpose by attempting to help Millwood, New Hampshire, a town of 800 people dying of chemical poisoning, by controlling their minds to foster
8132-482: The slumping title with his run. Originally, Byrne was slated to write with Sienkiewicz providing the art. Sienkiewicz left to do Moon Knight , and Byrne ended up as writer, artist, and inker. Various editors were assigned to 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
8239-469: The story, has said: I opted instead for making the superhero dilemma something a little different. People thought they were dangerous, but they did not want a ban. What they wanted was superheroes paid by the federal government like cops and open to the same kind of scrutiny. It was the perfect solution and nobody, as far as I'm aware, has done this before. Marvel announced in August 2006 that some issues of
8346-640: The storyline. "∆" indicates that the character originally upheld the act, but defected and became a Secret Avenger. "°" indicates that the character was a Secret Avenger, but defected and registered. "+" indicates that the character either retired or relocated to Canada. "×" indicates that the character was neutral, but later became a Secret Avenger. Registered heroes and villains Detained and recruited heroes and villains / Thunderbolts army See list of Thunderbolts members . Unregistered heroes and villains / Secret Avengers Detained heroes and villains Unregistered heroes Neutral parties When
8453-491: The storyline. The Superhero Registration Act introduced in Civil War requires any United States resident with superhuman abilities to register with the federal government as a "human weapon of mass destruction". They must also reveal their true identity to authorities, and undergo training. Those who register may work for S.H.I.E.L.D. , earning a salary and benefits, like other American civil servants. Characters within
8560-495: The strip. In March 1980 Marvel UK launched the monthly Fantastic Four Pocketbook reprinting older Lee and Kirby stories. In September 1980 their new adventures continued in the new weekly anthology title Marvel Team-Up , remaining in the comic until its cancellation with the edition dated 4 March 1981. From 1 April 1981, the Fantastic Four was part of a new title, Marvel Action , which only lasted 15 issues before it merged with Captain America (#21). The FF strip transferred to
8667-493: The super-team's appearances including the Human Torch solo series from Strange Tales . Civil War (comic book) " Civil War " is a 2006–07 Marvel Comics crossover event. The storyline consists of an eponymous seven-issue limited series , written by Mark Millar and penciled by Steve McNiven , and various tie-in books. The storyline builds upon previous Marvel storylines, particularly " Avengers Disassembled ", " House of M ", and " Decimation ". The series' tagline
8774-440: The synthesized intellects of the billion Eternals of Eyung composing his essence, including telepathy, telekinesis, or illusion-casting, and can use them over great distances. The Overmind can scan the thoughts of others and project his thoughts into others' minds within an unrevealed radius. His victims are completely unaware of his influence unless he allows them. Even when severely weakened, with his mind comatose and his body under
8881-535: 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
8988-497: The team began in May 1974 and changed its title to Giant-Size Fantastic Four with issue #2. John Byrne joined the title with issue #209 (Aug. 1979), doing pencil breakdowns for Sinnott to finish. Bill Mantlo briefly followed Wolfman as writer of 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
9095-444: 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 was offered the job of writing Fantastic Four . Having already prepared
9202-485: 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), penciller Salvador Larroca , and inker Art Thibert ; this team enjoyed 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
9309-596: The temporarily renamed Marvel Action starring Captain America . The FF strip's last appearance was in Captain America #36, stopping in preparation for the comic's merger with another Marvel UK anthology title, Marvel Super Adventure the next week. After the cancellation of the Pocketbook in July 1982 the classic FF strips continued in the short lived Fantastic Four weekly title that ran from 6 October 1982 for
9416-463: 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 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.
9523-427: The title in the 1990s, followed by Marvel Italia. Character names are typically translated as "la Cosa" (Thing), "la Torcia Umana" (Human Torch) and "la Donna Invisibile" (Invisible Woman), while Dr. Doom is "Dottor Destino". Mister Fantastic, She-Hulk and Silver Surfer kept their English names. Also released in Italy was the series I Fantastici Quattro gigante , an oversized magazine reprinting in chronological order all
9630-469: 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. As part of Marvel NOW! Fantastic Four ended with #611, ending Jonathan Hickman's long run on FF titles, and
9737-615: 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
9844-453: The title's sales increased over the period. The ongoing series was cancelled 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
9951-575: 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 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",
10058-648: The war, Tony becomes the President of the United States and leads the Mighty Avengers as the Iron Patriot. His team consists of Penance (Robbie Baldwin), Iron Spider (Natasha Romanoff), Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers), and the Thor clone known as Thunderstrike. Steve Rogers (no longer called Captain America) and his teammates have been arrested and buy time off their sentence by performing suicide missions as
10165-532: The world a better place for future generations. A decade later, it is revealed that Dr. Doom took over the planet as the heroes were too busy fighting each other (a reference to the 2015 Secret Wars ). Peter becomes the new leader of the resistance after all the other heroes died or disappeared from the public. During an attempt by the reality-displaced Superior Spider-Man (Otto Octavius's mind in Peter Parker's body) to reach back to his dimension as seen in
10272-399: 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 a three-issue stint drawn by Arthur Adams , Simonson remained in all three positions through #354 (July 1991). Simonson, who had been writing
10379-445: 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 the fun he had previously had on the series. Byrne was followed by a quick succession of writers: Roger Stern , Tom DeFalco , and Roy Thomas . Steve Englehart took over as writer for issues 304–333. The title had been struggling, so Englehart decided to make radical changes. He felt
10486-499: 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 . Kirby left Marvel in mid-1970, having drawn
10593-643: Was affected by the Purple Man 's mind-controlling pheromones, and used to both monitor New York's population, as the latter's chemicals spread in the water supply, as well as control potential threats like the Avengers , but disappeared after the Purple Man's defeat. He was eventually located by Baron Zemo and his Thunderbolts, during the Civil War event, and coerced to join the group or face jail time. The Overmind possesses vast psychic powers derived from
10700-563: Was avoided entirely in this reality due to her marriage to Steve Rogers, by deterring each other's more aggressive behaviour and allowing Reed Richards to complete the Super Hero Registration Program. In a reality where all the characters age naturally after Peter Parker becomes Spider-Man in 1962, the Superhuman Registration Act was passed shortly after the September 11 attacks in 2001 and lasted for years. As
10807-408: Was chosen for his physical prowess as the receptacle for their entire population of several hundred million minds. He was launched in a protective capsule, unconscious for thousands of years while assimilating them into one single mind. In recent years he awoke and piloted his ship to the nearest inhabited planet, Earth. There he came into contact with the Fantastic Four , who had been warned by Uatu
10914-501: Was composed of a team of superheroes. ... 'If the Justice League is selling', spoke he, 'why don't we put out a comic book that features a team of superheroes?'" The release of The Fantastic Four #1 (Nov. 1961) was an unexpected success. Lee had felt ready to leave the comics field at the time, but the positive response to Fantastic Four persuaded him to stay on. The title began to receive fan mail and Lee started printing
11021-495: Was only visiting his old neighborhood, gets roped into crowd control. However, when a young member of the Yancy Street Gang is killed in the ensuing violence, Grimm, disgusted with both sides, leaves the country for France. The Secret Avengers, responding to a false emergency, are lured into an ambush by the pro-registration forces. As the battle turns against them, a new weapon is brought into play: Project Lightning ,
11128-412: Was pushed back two weeks and released on January 4. Unlike the previous instance, only The Punisher War Journal #2 was delayed. In a final act of rescheduling, Civil War #7 was pushed back two weeks (from January 17 to January 31), and then pushed back again until February 21. After the publication of Civil War #7, Mark Millar described the book to Newsarama as "a story where a guy wrapped in
11235-458: 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), 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
11342-455: Was replaced by 1960s-era X-Men reprints when Marvel demanded the same royalties for Éditions Lug's original stories that they did for the US reprints. Eventually, a regular monthly series began publication in France, and the Fantastic Four took over the headlining position in the pocket format anthology Nova (sharing the title with Spider-Woman, Peter Parker, She-Hulk, and Silver Surfer) and lasted until Marvel began publishing its own titles under
11449-454: Was surprised at the reaction to the first issue, leading him to stay in the comics field despite previous plans to leave. Comics historian Stephen Krensky said that "Lee's natural dialogue and flawed characters appealed to 1960s kids looking to 'get real'". As of 2005, 150 million comics featuring the Fantastic Four had been sold. The Fantastic Four stories have been collected into several trade paperback and hardcover editions. As part of
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