by L.A. Mood Comics and Games

By Dan Brown

This column is for those readers who are considering going to see The Fantastic Four: First Steps but don’t know a lot about comics lore.

Here’s your primer from an old FF fan.

But be warned – I haven’t seen the movie (it lands in theatres Friday), so I can’t tell you exactly how much it differs from the comics.

The first issue of Fantastic Four came out in 1961, and is generally considered the launching point for the Marvel Universe.

It caused a sensation, making the rest of the Marvel lineup possible. Such heroes as Spider-Man and teams like the Avengers followed in the wake of the FF’s success.

The title had a sci-fi flavour and introduced (or at least popularized) a number of superhero innovations.

The main characters were Reed Richards, whose pliable mind is matched only by his elastic body; Sue Storm, who is Reed’s transparent wife, and is also able to project force fields; the hothead Johnny Storm, who can burst into living flame; and Ben Grimm, Reed’s college buddy, who looks like a pile of orange rocks.

One of the main innovations is that while the FF have superhero names (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, the Human Torch, the Thing), they do not have secret identities. Originally a group of astronaut explorers, they operate with the general public knowing their real identities.

From the movie clips I’ve seen online, it looks as though the new film’s makers are leaning heavily into the FF’s status as a family. This is what sets them apart from other superhero teams like, say, the X-Men.

And while they do have uniforms, they wear them only on the job.

Another innovation is, as with so many families, the Fantastic Four is a dysfunctional one. Although Reed is the FF’s leader, they are constantly squabbling about something. This tension exemplified Marvel’s new breed of superheroes with real-world problems.

This was all in contrast to DC’s emotionally constipated heroes – Superman and Batman among them. It was the brand difference that eventually put Marvel on top of the comics sales charts.

The FF got their powers after a freak rocket accident. These aren’t necessarily considered a blessing, particularly by Grimm, who is a self-loather. The reluctant superhero was a relatively new concept at the time. 

Their adventures were cosmic in scope, and thanks to co-creator Jack Kirby’s pencil work, had a trippy vibe to them. 

The enemies they fought include Annihilus, ruler of a dimension called the Negative Zone. And the Sub-Mariner, who lorded over the Earth’s oceans. Doctor Doom was an old college rival of Mister Fantastic who had mastered the mystic arts en route to inventing a time machine.

No villain better demonstrates the raison d’etre of the FF than Galactus. More than merely evil, Galactus is a planet-eater whose existence as a force of nature puts him beyond human morality. Our heroes have cheated him out of devouring Earth many a time.

Again, judging from clips on the web, it looks as though Galactus will be the main adversary appearing in the new motion picture.

Another innovation has the FF living in a real city, New York, not an anonymous one created for the comics.

Kirby’s run as penciller on Fantastic Four ended after almost a decade. Since then, different artists have worked on the title, including sometime Canadian John Bryne whose time as FF artist/writer is considered by many to be second in importance only to Kirby and Stan Lee’s run.

The team has had substitute members over the decades, always returning to the same core foursome. The comic, similar to any long-lived title, has had its creative ups and downs.

There have, you may have heard, been previous Fantastic Four movies – none of them all that great.

I thought the 2005 adaptation was a solid B movie, but suffered from how cheaply it was made. 

How low was its budget? They didn’t even have enough money to pay for the effects showing Grimm transforming into the Thing. Talk about made on the cheap.

Dan Brown has covered pop culture for more than 32 years as a journalist and also moderates L.A. Mood’s monthly graphic-novel group.