Why The Fantastic Four was once “The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!”

August 2, 2025

This is almost a typical day for The Fantastic Four and Dr. Doom.

For a few years in the 1960s, it wasn’t hyperbole. The Fantastic Four really was “The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!” Yeah, looking at comic books today, it’s easy to wonder why Marvel would ever put such a bombastic statement on the top of the cover of THAT comic book, especially when Marvel has so many other comic book heroes and teams that stand out more.

But from 1961(?) to 1968(?), The Fantastic was consistently the best comic book out there. Except for a couple possible exceptions, like The Amazing Spider-Man, it wasn’t even close.

No other comic book would try something like this.

Some comic fans try to explain what made the Fantastic Four unique by calling it a “family” super hero team. Yeah, they were a family, but that’s not what made the comic book great. Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby put more effort into the Fantastic Four than they did with any other comic. Stan Lee’s dialogue was better in Fantastic Four than his dialogue in other comics. Jack Kirby’s art in Fantastic Four was usually better than his art in other comics. The villains, like Dr. Doom, the Mole Man, the Submariner, Galactus, Annihilus, were better than the villains in most comics.

This scene is actually in the comic book!

Plus, The Fantastic Four wasn’t just another superhero comic. It was more like a science fiction comic with superheroes in it. The members of the FF received their powers in some stupid outlandish space experiment. They encountered aliens from other planets. They explored fake scientific stuff like subatomic universes and Negative Zones. Villains like Dr. Doom used advanced technology to try to conquer the world or do even worse stuff.

Oh yeah! Here’s how they got themselves out of that death trap!

There was always something crazy going on in that comic book. Even when they were just hanging out in the Baxter Building, something crazy was going on. It was the only comic book consistently like that (except for again… The Amazing Spider-Man).

Haha! This never would have happened to any super-heroes from the Distinguished Competition.

Then somewhere around #70 or so, things started to change. Other comic books were getting better. The Fantastic Four started to slide. Jack Kirby was overworked and tired of dealing with Marvel and Stan Lee. Marvel was bringing in new talent which either copied some of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s style or brought in new ideas of their own. Even the Distinguished Competition improved.

Here’s a crazy alien running amok in New York City.

Ever since maybe 1969, The Fantastic Four has been up and down in quality and usually hasn’t stood out from other super-hero comic books, but for about seven to eight years in the 1960s, The Fantastic Four truly was “The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine!”

If you can name every character on this cover, you get a No-Prize!

*****

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