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The Marvel Universe debuted in the pages of Fantastic Four in 1961, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. At that time, Strange Tales also published stories featuring the Fantastic Four cast, mostly the Human Torch and Thing, where other villains also debuted. The following is a list of antagonists that were introduced in Fantastic Four, Strange Tales and other Marvel comics. The Fantastic Four is regarded as possessing one of the strongest rogues' galleries in Marvel Comics. [1]
Supervillain name | Notable alter ego | First appearance issue # | Creator | Notes |
Mole Man and his Moloids | Harvey Rupert Elder | Fantastic Four No. 1 (November 1961) | Stan Lee Jack Kirby | An underground leader of Subterranea, who plans to take over the outer world that rejected him. Rules over different creatures and has access to highly advanced technology. |
Skrulls | Various | Fantastic Four No. 2 (January 1962) | Stan Lee Jack Kirby | An alien race that can shapeshift and are bent on taking over the Earth. |
Miracle Man | Joshua Ayers | Fantastic Four No. 3 (March 1962) | Stan Lee Jack Kirby | A magician with megalomaniacal goals. |
Namor the Sub-Mariner | Namor McKenzie | Fantastic Four No. 4 (May 1962) | Bill Everett | An underwater antihero who tried to win Invisible Woman's heart. He is the King of Atlantis. Originally the character was created for the Invaders for Timely Comics, and was reintroduced into Marvel Comics in 1962. |
Doctor Doom | Victor von Doom | Fantastic Four No. 5 (July 1962) | Stan Lee Jack Kirby | The Fantastic Four's deadliest archenemy. Ruler of Latveria, bent on dominating the Earth. A skilled sorcerer and one of the smartest people on Earth 616. Met Reed Richards and Ben Grimm while at college at the fictional Empire State University. He was permanently disfigured after an accident in which he tried contacting his deceased mother from beyond the grave. This disfigurement was only made worse when he prematurely put on his iconic mask before it was cool. One of Marvel's biggest and most popular villains. While typically an enemy of the Fantastic Four, he has been known to help them, such as with the birth of Valeria Richards. [2] |
Kurrgo | Kurrgo | Fantastic Four No. 7 (July 1962) | Stan Lee Jack Kirby | A Xantha who is the dictator of the planet Xanth and master of its technology that is more advanced than Earth's technology. He had his robot bring the Fantastic Four to Xantha to help save his kind from an asteroid that will destroy Xanth. When Mister Fantastic came up with a way to shrink the Xanthas with a special gas in order to save them and relocate them to another planet by enlarging them, Kurrgo still plotted to rule his kind. Though he was thought to have perished in Xanth's destruction, Marvel Feature #11 revealed that Kurrgo's robot saved him and took him to a hidden spaceship which they used to escape Xanth's destruction. In order to regain control of the Xantha who have settled on New Xanth and repelled him with their technology, Kurrgo and his robot went to Earth to plan to use Thing in overcoming the Xantha only to end up competing against Leader after discovering that Hulk was stronger than Thing. |
Puppet Master | Phillip Masters | Fantastic Four No. 8 (Nov. 1962) | Stan Lee Jack Kirby | An artist that can control people with puppets he creates in their image using special radioactive clay. Is the step-father of Alicia Masters, Ben Grimm's future wife. |
Impossible Man | Fantastic Four No. 11 (Feb 1963) | Stan Lee Jack Kirby | An alien that can shapeshift from the planet Poppup. He has a hivemind containing all the consciousnesses of Poppup before it was consumed by Galactus. [3] | |
Red Ghost and his Super-Apes | Ivan Kragoff | Fantastic Four No. 13 (April 1963) | Stan Lee Jack Kirby | A ghost-like figure with three super-powered primates. A Soviet scientist who uses the same technology as the Fantastic Four to make it to the moon. |
Mad Thinker and his Awesome Android | Julius | Fantastic Four No. 15 (Jun 1963) | Stan Lee Jack Kirby | A genius specializing in evil robotics who usually comes up with very elaborate, infallible, devious plans that unfold like clockwork. |
Super-Skrull | Kl'rt | Fantastic Four No. 18 (Sep. 1963) | Stan Lee Jack Kirby | A Skrull with the combined powers of the Fantastic Four and also hypnosis. |
Rama-Tut | Nathaniel Richards | Fantastic Four No. 19 (Oct. 1963) | Stan Lee Jack Kirby | One of the many names of Kang the Conqueror, an Avengers villain and Reed Richard's descendant. |
Molecule Man | Owen Reece | Fantastic Four No. 20 (November 1963) | Stan Lee Jack Kirby | A villain or a reluctant hero with the power of molecular manipulation. Originally could only control inorganic matter, but can now control organic matter as well. |
Hate-Monger | Clone of Adolf Hitler | Fantastic Four No. 21 (December 1963) | Stan Lee Jack Kirby | |
Infant Terrible | Fantastic Four No. 24 (March 1964) | Stan Lee Jack Kirby | ||
Diablo | Esteban Corazón de Ablo | Fantastic Four No. 30 (September 1964) | Stan Lee Jack Kirby | An evil alchemist from medieval Spain who controls the Four Elements |
Attuma | Fantastic Four No. 33 (December 1964) | Stan Lee Jack Kirby | An Atlantean who is also Namor's archenemy. | |
Dragon Man | Fantastic Four No. 35 (February 1965). | Stan Lee Jack Kirby | A robot in the form of a humanoid dragon that was brought to life by Diablo. He later gains intelligence and sentience, becoming an ally and teacher to the Future Foundation. | |
Frightful Four | Fantastic Four No. 36 (March 1965) | Stan Lee Jack Kirby | The evil version of the Fantastic Four. Led by the Human Torch's enemy Wizard. The lineup frequently changes, with founding members Wizard, Medusa, Sandman, and Paste-Pot Pete. | |
Maximus the Mad | Maximus Boltagon | Fantastic Four No. 47 (Feb. 1966) | Stan Lee Jack Kirby | A member of the Inhumans who wants to take over his brother and archenemy Black Bolt's reign as ruler of the Inhumans. |
Galactus | Fantastic Four No. 48 (March 1966) | Stan Lee Jack Kirby | A gigantic cosmic entity that feeds on planets. Also the Silver Surfer's archenemy and frequent master. | |
Klaw | Ulysses Klaue | Fantastic Four No. 56 (Nov 1966) | Stan Lee Jack Kirby | A human physicist who has been transformed into solid sound and who wears a sonic emitter on his right wrist as a prosthetic device. Also known as an enemy of Black Panther. |
Blastaar | Fantastic Four No. 62 (May 1967) | Stan Lee Jack Kirby | A villain from the Negative Zone with the power to project blasts of highly concussive kinetic force from his hands. | |
Ronan the Accuser | Fantastic Four No. 65 (Aug. 1967) | Stan Lee Jack Kirby | The Supreme Accuser of the Kree Empire. | |
Kree | Fantastic Four No. 65 (Aug. 1967) | Stan Lee Jack Kirby | A scientifically and technologically advanced militaristic alien race. | |
Psycho-Man | Fantastic Four Annual No. 5 (Nov. 1967) | Stan Lee Jack Kirby | A member of a microscopic race who can manipulate emotions. | |
Annihilus | Fantastic Four Annual No. 6 (November 1968) | Stan Lee Jack Kirby | A villain from the Negative Zone that wields a cosmic control rod to take over the Earth. | |
Overmind | Fantastic Four No. 113 (August 1971) | Stan Lee John Buscema | An alien belonging to the Eternals. | |
Air-Walker | Gabriel Lan | Fantastic Four No. 120 (March 1972) | Stan Lee John Buscema | The Xandarian Herald of Galactus. |
Nicholas Scratch | Fantastic Four No. 185 (August 1977) | Len Wein George Pérez | A wizard and the son of Fantastic Four supporting character Agatha Harkness. | |
Salem's Seven | Fantastic Four No. 186 (September 1977) | Len Wein George Pérez | A team of seven magical supervillains that are children of Nicholas Scratch and grandchildren of Agatha Harkness. | |
Terrax the Tamer | Tyros | Fantastic Four No. 211 (Oct. 1979) | Marv Wolfman John Byrne Joe Sinnott Ben Sean | A Herald of Galactus who later betrayed him. |
Karisma | Mary Brown | Fantastic Four #266 (May, 1984) | John Byrne | Mary Brown is a supervillain who uses radiation wavelengths to become irresistible to men. |
Kristoff Vernard | Kristoff von Doom | Fantastic Four No. 247 (October 1982) | John Byrne | Someone who takes the identity of Doctor Doom for a while before becoming an ally for the Fantastic Four. Originally Doctor Doom's heir apparent. |
Terminus | Fantastic Four No. 269 (August 1984) | John Byrne | An alien destroyer. | |
Fasaud | Fantastic Four No. 308 (November 1987) | Steve Englehart and John Buscema | A man transformed into a living electronic image. | |
Paibok the Power Skrull | Fantastic Four No. 358 (November 1991) | Tom DeFalco Paul Ryan Danny Bulanadi | A powerful Skrull. | |
Devos the Devastator | Fantastic Four No. 359 (December 1991) | Tom DeFalco Paul Ryan Danny Bulanadi | An extraterrestrial vigilante dedicated to bringing peace to the universe, but holds the rather warped view that this can only be done by destroying anyone whom he deems a threat to galactic peace. | |
Occulus | Fantastic Four No. 363 (Apr 1992) | Tom DeFalco Paul Ryan | One of the first villains imprisoned in the Negative Zone prison. | |
Hyperstorm | Johnathon Richards | Fantastic Four No. 406 (November 1995) | Tom DeFalco Paul Ryan Dan Bulanadi | Reed and Sue's grandson from the future and an enemy of the Fantastic Four. |
Abraxas | Fantastic Four Annual 2001 (September 2001) | Carlos Pacheco | A cosmic entity who seeks to destroy all realities. | |
Salamandra | Fantastic Four No. 514 (August 2004) | Paco Medina | A half-human/half-dragon woman who is the Wizard's ex-wife. | |
Quiet Man | possibly "John Eden" | Fantastic Four Vol. 5 No. 5 (July 2014) | James Robinson Leonard Kirk | A genius level intellect who considers himself Reed's arch-rival. |
Victorious | Zora Vukovic | Fantastic Four Vol. 6 No. 1 (October 2018) | Dan Slott Simone Bianchi | A dedicated patriot and freedom fighter in her homeland of Latveria, she was given cosmic powers bestowed by Doctor Doom. |
Supervillain name | Notable alter ego | First appearance issue # | Creator | Notes |
Wizard | Bentley Wittman | Strange Tales No. 102 (Nov 1962) | Stan Lee Larry Lieber Jack Kirby | An enemy of the Human Torch and the founder of the Frightful Four. |
Paste-Pot Pete/Trapster | Peter Petruski | Strange Tales No. 104 (January 1963) | Stan Lee Jack Kirby | An original member of the Frightful Four, Trapster can trap people with adhesives or lubricants. |
Supervillain name | Notable alter ego | First appearance issue # | Creator | Notes |
Kang the Conqueror | Nathaniel Richards | Avengers No. 8 (Sep. 1964) | Stan Lee Jack Kirby | This prime Avengers villain has many ties to the team and has had more than a few battles with the Fantastic Four as well. |
Immortus | Nathaniel Richards | Avengers No. 10 (Nov 1964) | Stan Lee Jack Kirby | The future version of Kang the Conqueror. |
Ego the Living Planet | Thor No. 132 (September 1966) | Stan Lee Jack Kirby | A powerful living planet that is primarily a villain of Thor. | |
Mephisto | Silver Surfer No. 3 (Dec. 1968) | Stan Lee John Buscema | This Prince of Darkness has tried to tamper with the souls of the Fantastic Four and will most likely try to do it again. One of the Ghost Rider's archenemies, besides Blackheart. | |
Living Monolith | Ahmet Abdol | X-Men No. 54 (Mar 1969) | Arnold Drake Roy Thomas Don Heck Neal Adams | An X-Men villain who was the Living Pharaoh while in his normal appearance, but once he obtained enough cosmic energy, he would increase in mass, size and power, thus becoming the Living Monolith. |
Llyra | Sub-Mariner No. 32 (December 1970) | Roy Thomas Sal Buscema | A female Atlantean who is also an enemy of Namor. | |
Brute | Reed Richards of Counter-Earth | Marvel Premiere No. 2 (May 1972) | Roy Thomas Gil Kane | An evil counterpart of Reed Richards from Counter-Earth. |
Aron | Captain Marvel No. 39 (Jul 1975) | Steve Englehart Al Milgrom | A rogue Watcher that likes to manipulate the Fantastic Four. | |
Ion | Voletta Todd | Machine Man #15 (June 1980) | Tom DeFalco Steve Ditko | Violetta Todd is the niece of Blazing Skull who projects electromagnic energy. |
Beyonder | Secret Wars No. 1 (May 1984) | Jim Shooter Mike Zeck | A sentient universe come to Earth in human form to study humanity. | |
Lucia von Bardas | Secret War No. 1 (February 2004) | Brian Michael Bendis Gabriele Dell'Otto | A woman cyborg from Latveria. | |
Maker | Reed Richards | Ultimate Fantastic Four No. 1 (February 2004) | Brian Michael Bendis Mark Millar Adam Kubert | The Ultimate Marvel version of Reed Richards who became corrupt. |
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby collaborated on the first 102 consecutive issues of Fantastic Four. Most of the major Marvel concepts, i.e., Latveria, Atlantis, Wakanda, Attilan, the Negative Zone, the Microverse, Subterranea and Avalon which later became a huge part of other major Marvel characters, debuted in Fantastic Four. Following are some of the villains who have gone on to become major villains of various Marvel franchises.
Supervillain name | Franchise | First appearance issue # |
Skrulls | Marvel Universe | Fantastic Four No. 2 (January 1962) |
Immortus (Kang the Conqueror) | Avengers | Fantastic Four No. 19 (Oct. 1963) |
Molecule Man | Marvel Universe | Fantastic Four No. 20 (November 1963) |
Attuma | Namor | Fantastic Four No. 33 (December 1964) |
Maximus the Mad | Inhumans | Fantastic Four No. 47 (Feb. 1966) |
Galactus | Silver Surfer | Fantastic Four No. 48 (March 1966) |
Klaw | Black Panther | Fantastic Four No. 56 (Nov 1966) |
Kree | Marvel Universe | Fantastic Four No. 65 (Aug. 1967) |
Enclave | Adam Warlock | Fantastic Four No. 66 (Sep. 1967) |
Annihilus | Marvel Universe | Fantastic Four Annual No. 6 (November 1968) |
The Fantastic Four is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in The Fantastic Four #1, helping usher in a new level of realism in the medium. It was the first superhero team created by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and editor/co-scripter Stan Lee, and through this title the "Marvel method" style of production came into prominence.
Galactus is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Formerly a mortal man, he is a cosmic entity who consumes planets to sustain his life force, and serves a functional role in the upkeep of the primary Marvel continuity. He was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and first appeared in Fantastic Four #48.
Jack Kirby was an American comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew up in New York City and learned to draw cartoon figures by tracing characters from comic strips and editorial cartoons. He entered the nascent comics industry in the 1930s, drawing various comics features under different pen names, including Jack Curtiss, before settling on Jack Kirby. In 1940, he and writer-editor Joe Simon created the highly successful superhero character Captain America for Timely Comics, predecessor of Marvel Comics. During the 1940s, Kirby regularly teamed with Simon, creating numerous characters for that company and for National Comics Publications, later to become DC Comics.
Stephen John Ditko was an American comics artist and writer best known for being the co-creator of Marvel superhero Spider-Man and creator of Doctor Strange. He also made notable contributions to the character of Iron Man, revolutionizing the character's red and yellow design.
Doctor Doom is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The Fantastic Four #5. In his comic book appearances, Doctor Doom is the monarch of the fictional European country of Latveria whose goal is to bring order to humanity through world conquest. He serves as the archenemy of Mister Fantastic and the Fantastic Four, though he has also come into conflict with other superheroes in the Marvel Universe, including Spider-Man, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, the Black Panther, the X-Men, and the Avengers. While usually portrayed as a villain, Doom has also been an antihero at times, working with heroes if their goals align and only if it benefits him. Doctor Doom was ranked #4 by Wizard on its list of the 101 Greatest Villains of All Time and #3 on IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time. In a later article, IGN would declare Doom as Marvel's greatest villain.
Joseph Leonard Sinnott was an American comic book artist. Working primarily as an inker, Sinnott is best known for his long stint on Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four, from 1965 to 1981, initially over the pencils of Jack Kirby. During his 60 years as a Marvel freelance artist and then remote worker salaried artist, Sinnott inked virtually every major title, with notable runs on The Avengers, The Defenders, and Thor.
Tales to Astonish is the name of two American comic book series, and a one-shot comic, all published by Marvel Comics.
Tales of Suspense is the name of an American comic book anthology series, and two one-shot comics, all published by Marvel Comics. The first, which ran from 1959 to 1968, began as a science-fiction anthology that served as a showcase for such artists as Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and Don Heck, then featured superheroes Captain America and Iron Man during the Silver Age of Comic Books before changing its title to Captain America with issue #100. Its sister title was Tales to Astonish. Following the launch of Marvel Legacy in 2017, Tales of Suspense was once again resurrected at issue #100, featuring the Winter Soldier and Hawkeye in a story called "The Red Ledger".
Strange Tales is a Marvel Comics anthology series. The title was revived in different forms on multiple occasions. Doctor Strange and Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. made their debuts in Strange Tales. It was a showcase for the science fiction/suspense stories of artists Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, and for the groundbreaking work of writer-artist Jim Steranko. Two previous, unrelated magazines also bore that title.
Notable events of 1965 in comics.
Doctor Anthony Druid, also known as Doctor Droom and Druid, is a fictional mystic and a supernatural monster-hunter appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Co-created by writer-editor Stan Lee and penciller Jack Kirby, he debuted as Dr. Anthony Droom in Amazing Adventures #1, published in March 1961. Kirby's art was inked by artist Steve Ditko. Dr. Droom appeared in four more issues of Amazing Adventures before his stories discontinued. Over a year later, artist Steve Ditko approached Stan Lee with a new magic character called Mr. Strange. Liking the idea, Stan Lee renamed the character Dr. Strange and wrote an origin story similar to Dr. Droom's. Dr. Anthony Droom was finally reintroduced to comics in 1976 in Weird Wonder Tales #19 in a retelling of his origin story which renamed him Dr. Anthony Druid. This retelling included new writing by Larry Lieber.
Peter Petruski is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Strange Tales #104. Petruski is one of the first supervillains who became active during the "Silver Age" of Marvel Comics. He is known under the codenames Paste-Pot Pete and Trapster. Petruski is a former research chemist in New York City who invented an extremely adhesive "multi-polymer" liquid, which he used to create a paste-gun and become a criminal. He has also been a member of the Intelligencia and the Frightful Four at various points in his history.
The Alley Award was an American annual series of comic book fan awards, first presented in 1962 for comics published in 1961. Officially organized under the aegis of the Academy of Comic Book Arts and Sciences, the award shared close ties with the fanzine Alter Ego magazine. The Alley is the first known comic book fan award.
Christopher Rule was an American comic book artist active from the 1940s through at least 1960, and best known as the first regular Marvel Comics inker for comics artist Jack Kirby during the period fans and historians call the Silver Age of Comic Books.
Stan Lee was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Comics which later became Marvel Comics. He was Marvel's primary creative leader for two decades, expanding it from a small publishing house division to a multimedia corporation that dominated the comics and film industries.
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"Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D." is a feature that was in the comics anthology Strange Tales which began in 1965 and lasted until 1968. It introduced the fictional spy agency S.H.I.E.L.D. into the Marvel Comics world and reintroduced the character of Nick Fury as an older character from his concurrently-running series Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos, which was a series set during World War II. The feature replaced the previously running Human Torch feature in the book and ran alongside the Doctor Strange feature. After the feature ended, a comic book series was published which has had several volumes as well as a comic strip. The feature was originally created by the duo of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby who also created the original Sgt. Fury series but it was later taken over by artist and writer Jim Steranko. The feature was often censored by the Comics Code Authority due to Jim Steranko's provocative art; this art helped change the landscape of comics which Steranko continued with in the 1968 ongoing series. Much of Nick Fury's supporting cast originated in the feature and many of the devices used by these characters were often used in other comics published by Marvel.
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