ow/white pages; sm amt of dried glue on spn of cvr
1st appearance of Fantastic Four, w/ origin; 1st app. Mole Man; Jack Kirby cover/art; the Marvel Age begins here (11/61) COMIC BOOK IMPACT rating of 10 (CBI)
Fantastic Four #1 didn't just make history with the first appearance of Mister Fantastic, the Thing, Human Torch, and Invisible Girl (along with the debut of the tragically evil Mole Man). This artifact of a first issue also marks when Stan Lee and
Jack Kirby secured the Silver Age of Comics and launched the Marvel Age of Storytelling. Their bold vision for the
Fantastic Four would provide an unexpected depth to this tale of an experimental space flight gone wrong.
The Mole Man's sad backstory was just one of the many signs that Marvel was out to redefine superhero comics. For starters, this first issue of
Fantastic Four was fully dedicated to a single story. That included an epic origin establishing that the Fantastic Four didn't bother with secret identities. The generous page count also allowed for plenty of petty infighting amongst the team — who didn't even wear costumes, although Stan would give in to public demand over that by the third issue.
Fantastic Four would also redefine the Marvel Comics Group, which was literally a set of comics that distributors sent to retailers. Marvel's monster books (including
Tales to Astonish and
Tales of Suspense) began selling as well as
Fantastic Four once characters like
Thor,
Iron Man,
and Ant-Man began to take over their pages.
The pop-culture passion for the Fantastic Four has seen an impressive revival since Marvel Studios recovered the film rights to the company's first super team. In addition to the upcoming
Fantastic Four: First Steps featuring the Silver Surfer and Galactus, fans also have high hopes of (finally) getting the Mole Man as a villain. It's also been confirmed that the Fantastic Four will join Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom in both 2026's
Avengers: Doomsday and 2027's
Avengers: Secret Wars.
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This 3.0 copy is the perfect FF #1 for those bidders out there who have been biding their time and patiently waiting to make a move on this key, this book has been going up in price steadily over the years, and is now poised to see another explosion in value thanks to the imminent announcement of the Fantastic Four joining the MCU. While this copy has some telltale signs of its sixty-year vintage, any example of this comic is a recommended investment. Bid now before even lower grades become out of reach at the current market rate. Don’t miss out on your chance to own this important piece of Marvel history.
Overstreet Guide 2022 GD/VG (3.0) value = $8,250.