Meet the Fantastic Four by reading these six comics -.

It’s almost time for Marvel ‘s First Family to enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The Fantastic Four: First Steps will debut in cinemas in July, and for many fans, this may even be their first introduction to the iconic superteam. Despite having a legacy longer and more prevalent than many more recent popular heroes, the Fantastic Four haven’t quite made the same splash in modern media, but they soon will. So why not jump on things and get familiar with the Fantastic Four by reading some of their comics or graphic novels?

Since the legacy of the Fantastic Four spans decades and decades, we’ve selected just a handful of options that are ideal for learning more about the New York-based team and are easy to get your hands on.

Fantastic Four: The Complete Collection Vol. 1

This is a great place to start, as it collects a handful of stories and adventures written by Jonathan Hickman. It serves as a crash course on who the Fantastic Four are, steadily introducing more villains and other heroes, and shows how this superteam’s reach extends into the cosmos and multiverse, proving that few have the know-how and skills to match their tenacity, intelligence and cooperation. It is also a fascinating glimpse into the psyche of Reed Richards, showing that this character, in many ways like Tony Stark, is constantly fighting an internal war in which his humanity fights against his immense intellectual abilities, skills that can see him go beyond basic human needs to become an interdimensional protector. Needless to say, that’s not something you can take on while also having a happy marriage and family….

What happened to the Fantastic Four?

This is a great place to start reading about the Fantastic Four because it is the beginning of a whole new series starring the famous family. Starting as early as 2022, this story sees how the Fantastic Four are essentially disowned and reviled for their role as protectors, all because they overstep their mark in dealing with an existential threat. To quell an invasion, Reed decides to send part of New York through time only to reappear a year later. For those trapped in the area sent by time-space, the time away would be marginal, but for those outside, an entire year must pass, leaving families split up and distraught, parents without children, children without their parents, and even the Fantastic Four without their super-children. In this series, the family continues to move forward to protect Earth, mostly seeing a growing rift between themselves and humanity.

Civil War

The Civil War story in the MCU largely pitted Captain America and a few heroes against Iron Man and a few heroes of their own, but in the comics this was a much bigger event, one that even the Fantastic Four saw very involved. Essentially, after a major disaster involving a young superteam and an unruly group of supervillains wipes out a bunch of civilians, governments decide that enough is enough and want to impose restrictions on supermen and vigilantes. Some agree this should happen, others less so, and here we find the Fantastic Four in the middle, with Reed Richards as someone trying to determine the best cause of action by using his vast intellect. This, of course, is no simple matter, and relationships are pushed to the limit.

Fantastic Four: Life Story

Although most of the Fantastic Four’s adventures are set in the present, in a world full of modern heroes and villains, the upcoming film will instead take us to an alternate universe where our heroes are still in a post-futuristic existence. Fantastic Four: Life Story is perhaps the best example of what this looks like today, a fascinating exploration of Marvel ‘s First Family set against a 1960s backdrop and used to mark their 60th anniversary. It presents a post-futuristic world, sees the team dealing with geopolitical issues and a technological race across the globe, as well as the arrival of the great and fearsome Galactus, a story we will all know in a few weeks.

Fantastic Four: The Coming of Galactus

This is a more modern and accessible version of perhaps one of Marvel’s most famous storylines, the Fantastic Four’s Galactus Trilogy. Originally written in the 1960s by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, this era paved the way for much of Marvel as we know it today, and as for what it tells, well…. That’s pretty clear. The main meat here revolves around the superteam preparing for the arrival of Galactus and then dealing with the vengeful cosmic entity in an attempt to protect Earth from complete and utter destruction. However, it is never as simple as this as here the team also has to deal with other threats and menaces, several new factions appearing such as the Inhumans, the challenges of planning the first ever superhero wedding and much more. It is a brilliant preview of what made Marvel so great from the beginning.

Secret Wars

Finally, we have another ensemble effort that will become very popular in a few years when it arrives as the sixth Avengers film. Secret Wars is essentially one of the greatest disasters in Marvel history, as it sees existence effectively destroyed and then somewhat put together by an all-powerful god emperor Doctor Doom, who used his skills to forge Battleworld. This realm, with bits of the Marvel existence of yesteryear, is populated by various heroes and villains, including a Fantastic family who, after considering Reed dead, eventually see them side with Doom, with the Invisible Woman becoming his bride, The Thing becoming his protector and the Human Torch literally becoming the sun that illuminates the world. However, it doesn’t take long when the super kids start asking questions and other factions that managed to evade destruction crawl out of the woodwork, including the real and living Reed Richards and also a nefarious and overarching alternative known as The Maker.