10 Things You Need To Know About The Fantastic Four

8. Comparisons To Challengers Of The Unknown

Challengers of the Unknown
DC Comics

As alluded to, the relationship between Stan Lee and Jack Kirby is one that got messy at times, with Kirby irked by how Stan would get credit for things that the King of Comics felt Lee didn't deserve.

In their dispute over the creation of the Fantastic Four, Kirby countered Lee's claims that he came up with the design and concept of the characters by pinpointing a DC Comics title called Challengers of the Unknown.

Created by Kirby in 1957, Challengers of the Unknown centred on a group of four (eventually five) adventurers who managed to survive a plane crash and then decide to embark on missions to battle otherworldly beings, robots, crazed scientists and all other kinds of threats. Not just that, some of the group at times develop their own unique abilities, and the simplified costume design of the Challengers looks remarkably like that of the Fantastic Four.

Using this to counter Stan Lee's claims that he and he alone came up with the design concept for the FF, you can see why Kirby would be aggrieved at what he saw as a lack of proper accreditation.

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