10 Fantastic Four Comics You Must Read Before You Die
What stories from Marvel's First Family should you really check out?
For nearly 60 years now, the Fantastic Four have been the backbone of the Marvel Universe.
Sure, they may not be as cool as the X-Men or as famous as the Avengers, but they give a certain soap opera quality that is missing from a vast majority of other titles.
True, it's understandable that that might not be to everyone's tastes, but there've been plenty of epic battles and full on beatdowns throughout their history to please even the most militant of comic book fans.
With a rogues gallery that is a 'who's who' of bad guys, including the likes of Doctor Doom, Galactus, and, in an alternative reality, even Reed Richards himself, they have been battling the forces of evil ever since their book first hit the stands in 1961.
They've been doing so while also having to deal with the usual family drama that comes from being - kind of - normal human beings.
So which are the best of the best? What stories deserve your undivided attention? This list attempts to answer those questions and, hopefully, give you a better appreciation of one of the most underrated teams to ever grace Marvel's pages.
10. 1234
Released in 2002, this story by Grant Morrison and Jae Lee caused an internet storm when Morrison mentioned that this would be a more Freudian look at the Fantastic Four.
There's no real need to go into depth about what he said here as you can still find the whole quote out there online, but it caused a hell of a furore among fans. Luckily for Morisson, he and Lee managed to drop a book that was so good that most people forgot the whirlwind of controversy that had come before it.
A new telling of their origin, 1234 does something all the other versions had failed to do, and that was to take a closer look at just how affected the members of the Fantastic Four would really have been under such circumstances.
With Reed pretty much MIA, off as he was playing mental chess with Doctor Doom, the rest of the FF were left to deal with what's happened to them. Johnny's sory was off the rails - more so than usual; Ben had fallen apart and Sue's involved her sleeping with the Sub-Mariner.
All of this was wrapped up in a tale of Victor trying to manipulate the team to his own desires, and it was brilliant.