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Marvel’s first family caught its cosmic rays and became the fantastic four in the heart of the silver of the comics. They have become a decisive force for the transition of the medium of pulps to long epics, by redefining the standards of comics for art and narration.
The original series of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby laid the foundations of enemies and the tests that the four continue to face. Kirby’s work has developed the Marvel universe and its cosmic threats and its heroes like no other. His narrative skills are legendary, and his works of cover have let him display and explore his talent that shakes the industry.
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Hulk was a recurring and famous enemy
Some of the most sensational covers in the money age have introduced multisgments and started to build the multiverse. Hulk and the Fantastic Four met for the first time in the latter’s series, in issue 12, shortly after the beginnings of Green Goliath. Hulk and Thing have a lot in common, although they represent the opposite ends of the spectrum. Force is the main thing they have in common, but Hulk is undeniably stronger. The two are the creations of Jack Kirby and were very expensive.
Hulk has no control, but something desperately wants to go back. The number 25 is sensational and exciting, but the number 26 has been revolutionary. It presents all the heavy strikers of Marvel to continue Hulk on a construction site in the middle of the city, thus bringing the Avengers of the Baxter building closer to before and improving the contrast between the Hulk Savage and the Thing.
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It starts with the problem n ° 1
The first issue of Lee and Kirby Fantastic Four made room for the team among the luscious adventures of the time. A relatively indefinable monster bursts from the ground. The beast is in the air while the boys take poses, applying for its safe return.
The rest was in history. The lid gives very little index on the origins contained in the real problem and rather focuses on a beast later revealed as a taupe monster. The man of Taupe and his henchmen remain fun thorns on the sides of the fantastic four, but their monster inaugurated on the cover of the first issue of the team.
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The four frightenings supported number # 36
Fantastic Four # 36 presents the beginnings of Fatous Four. Imagined as an antithesis of the first family, like the brotherhood of the X-Men, they were a collection of Wells Ne’er-Do who were tangled with the human torch on several occasions until they meet and decide to attack the whole team. The assistant was the brain of the group, and it can be seen on Kirby’s cover displaying his style of manpower leadership.
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The dough paste always compulsory, also called Trappast, is reminiscent of Medusa hair, which extends beyond the top of the frame, anchored to something invisible. Pete explodes something while Sandman slips through the window, prepared to surprise the four without mistrust. The problem promises fans a new team of bad guys to fight against the full heroes. However, the frightening four make better cover models than the bad guys, and everyone is probably more interesting by themselves.
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Kirby has experienced mediums and style
Jack Kirby’s illustrations built Marvel Comics, but sometimes he was experimental with his compositions. Whether for a representation of deep space or a deep scene under the waves, Kirby would sometimes understand more realistic elements or even photography collages to add textures and layers of reality to the world. The number 33 is the only specific example of Kirby trying this multimedia method on the cover, but the number 90 is also quite interesting.
The number 90 has such a clear and realistic background that it could be an image with a filter if such a technology was available to Kirby. Although the realistic background of this issue is added to the surreal scene in the foreground, Kirby’s coverage for number 33 offers photos of real coral and reef training. Pop contrasting art styles – as pop art should – and the graying out to receive Namor’s launch attack strengthens the contrast. It is a careful break in the typical format and means the adventurous spirit that made the four and all the creations of Kirby so fun.
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Inhumans have become complex
When Stan Lee and Jack Kirby presented the inhumans to the world of Fantastic Four, they were like a more openly nasty version of the X-Men. Defining a people like evil because they are different is problematic, and the complexity of the inhumans’ relationship with humanity and the FF is present in the way their appearances on the covers have changed over the years. The coverage of number 45 is visually striking but has complex and disturbing implications.
The four seem ready for a witch or worse hunt, and the slogan warns the readers of the inhumans hiding in the background. Years later, # 82 shows the growth of compassion and understanding the four while Reed commands his family and the inhumans of Black Bolt. Inhumans, like mutants, are a population of sensitive and intelligent people whose feelings and life are just as valid as humans. The preservation of this level of human complexity in the real world has made them more interesting, which allows them to become an important part of the Marvel multiverse.
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Guest stars have built the multiverse
Money age Fantastic Four organized other wonderful wonders occasionally. Number n ° 16 stars invited Ant-Man, with a blanket that shows the four reduced to its size. Hulk Fight Fight Fight Fight multisgments are fun, but they don’t have the same atmosphere as singular guest star covers like number 27, which presents Doctor Strange. Each guest star brought his world, because these comics had generally not shared worlds at this point. The following problem, n ° 28, brought the X-Men.
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The four were alone until the cover of the problem # 39 highlighted Daredevil. Doctor Doom is looming in the team and their disputed ally, and the cover has a text box with an almost biblical slogan, “a blind man will lead them!” The number 52 presents the first legendary appearance of The Black Panther, and the number 73 promises a guest star Bonanza with Daredevil, Spider-Man and Thor. All the fantastic guest star covers of Silver’s age are glimpses of multiverse as the fans know today.
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The surfer is rad on number 72
The Silver surfer was one of Stan Lee’s favorite creations, and Kirby’s work for problems that frequently presented the master’s ability to generate cosmic quantities of space in the pages of a comic strip. The number 72 is a phenomenal close to the surfer surrounded by deep reds and blacks to represent the cosmic vacuum. An apparently dead planet is suspended under him, and his silver skin shines in the unimaked light of space.
Norrin Radd’s control over the Cosmic Power is almost unequaled among the Mortals in the Marvel multiverse, and this cover gives readers a taste of this. He moves at such a blinding speed that his board leaves a trace of light in his wake, but he concentrates more clearly on the enermating of the energy beams of his hand to an invisible opponent. Uatu’s obsessive face among the cosmic noise in the background means the moment as an event of cosmic importance, which makes the blanket even cooler.
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The problem n ° 29 is disturbingly
Uatu, the observer, contributes to the delivery of conspiracies of the whole Marvel multiverse. He appeared for the first time in Fantastic Four # 13, but the coverage of number # 29 describes him as the mysterious and omniscient fans of force know and recognize today. The format of the coverage and its composition are exemplary of the era standard.
The observer hides disturbingly behind the four as if it is spectral. The team walks in the shoulder in the foreground at the bottom of the image, apparently ignoring their intangible observer. There is a surrealist quality in the image which separates it from the other covers of the era, and its balance of colors and its blockage are a mastery in the way of attracting the attention of the reader.
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The number 100 has everyone
The 100th number of Jack Kirby of Fantastic Four is exactly what readers want one hundredth of spectacular hundredth. The cover presents a total fight between the four and their most formidable enemies. Even the Hulk appears in the lower corner on the right of the problem, not mentioned and not credited for the first time in the series.
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Badrants recognizable as Doom, Namor and the Gray Gargoye are easily selected in the crowd. Other less popular bad guys and some inhumans are not as recognizable, getting lost in the sound of the fray, but a villain steals the spectacle. While the four engage with all their mortal enemies, a monkey with a pistol stands behind Doom, rabid and ready to shoot. We do not know who targets the monkey in the image, but that adds a layer of surrealism to the visually striking scene.
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Cosmic threats and moral dilemmas
The Fantastic Four number # 48-51 covers are simply emblematic. # 48 presents the initial warning of Uatu to the cosmic cohorts while the observer stands on a sidewalk of the city before the four and the huddled masses gathered behind them. The number 49 is the first cover to present Galactus, displaying its destructive anger magnificent while the four dived away from its impressive power.
The number 50 gives a new hope to fans of the four by introducing and staring at the silver surfer in all his cosmic glory. Norrin Radd looks ready because the four look nervous, and a pop-out panel tells readers that history will also follow Johnny Storm at university. The cosmic incidents of these three numbers lead Reed to the negative zone of number 51, which is an unforgettable problem. The tragic condition of the thing is presented on the cover, which is considered one of the best in Kirby and one of the best Marvel covers of all time.
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The Fantastic Four: First steps
- Release date
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July 25, 2025
- Director
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Matt Shakman
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Pedro Pascal
Reed Richards / M. Fantastic
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Vanessa Kirby
Sue Storm / The Invisible Woman
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Joseph Quinn
Johnny Storm / Human Torch
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Ebon Moss-Barach
Ben Grimm / The Thing