My Top 15 Lee/Kirby Fantastic Four Favorites

With the announcement of the impending cancellation of FANTASTIC FOUR-- which I don't have an issue with in and of itself as good stories have been few and far between and too many reboots have scarred the brand--I've been waxing nostalgic over what I would still consider y all-time favorite comic book series. I briefly had a complete collection of FF, stopping at # 414 as I didn't realize the original run would end just a couple issues later. The above is probably my all-time favorite with perhaps the best story of Doctor Doom, another character whose many appearances diluted his importance.

This was one I spotted in ads long before I found the book itself for a nickel in a junk shop. An atypical but wonderfully atmospheric story and Wally Wood redrawing Daredevil throughout! What's not to love?

One of the first of the older stories I read in MARVEL COLLECTOR'S ITEM CLASSICS, this one introduced me to the Sub-Mariner, here running a movie studio where the bankrupt FF attempt to make some money! Again, hardly a typical adventure.

The big one. Marvel really went cosmic with this one featuring The Silver Surfer and Galactus.

Another one i discovered in reprints--a great sci-fi story also well-adapted for the '67 cartoon series.

The first issue of FF I ever saw and my introduction to so many characters from Kirby's fertile imagination.

Took this PRISONER-inspired ish on vacation with me to North Carolina. A good story and some of Jack's best latter day FF art.

The wedding issue! In spite of less than stellar inks, this free-for-all was and is much fun to the hardcore fan.

As I was collecting back issues as I found them, I was reading them in all the wrong order. This one quickly became a favorite.

Another one with ads that intrigued me but one I wouldn't actually get until years after I first saw its cover.

I remember the day I bought this at the drugstore and stopping to read it in a parking lot before I even git home! Couldn't wait!

A truly epic, perhaps definitive Sub-Mariner/FF tale, later reprinted with additional tweaking by John Byrne!

My introduction to the concept of the Golden Age and also the word "original."

I remember being blown away by this cover while I was on my knees at Stegner's Drugstore looking through the just shelved new comics!

And finally I read this one, where Sue announces her pregnancy, while sitting in the car waiting for my Dad to finish a horseshoe match!

And here's the thing. All of these books still exist for me to re-read and others to still discover. They may seem simplistic compared to today's sophisticated plots and art but brother, comics don't GET any better than the original FF!