The Fantastic Four is a fictional superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
The Fantastic Four is an animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and the first animated series based on Marvel's comic book series Fantastic Four.[1] The program, featuring character designs by Alex Toth, aired on ABC from 1967 to 1970. It lasted for 20 episodes, with repeat episodes airing on ABC until the network cancelled the program. It was also rerun as part of the continuing series Hanna-Barbera's World of Super Adventure. Through a series of transactions, Disney currently holds the rights to the majority of Marvel's 1960s-1990s animated output. However, the 1967-1968 Fantastic Four was produced by Hanna-Barbera, whose library is now owned by Time Warner, making the series one of only a handful of Marvel-related TV projects not owned by Disney (which has since acquired Marvel outright). Time Warner is also the owner of Marvel's biggest competitor, DC Comics.
The New Fantastic Four was an animated series produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises. The series is famous for not including the Human Torch/Johnny Storm character from the comics and replacing him with the original character of Herbie the robot (who would later appear in the original comics). This was due to the fact that the character of the Human Torch was optioned for a live-action version at around the same time, and not, as some people have mentioned, due to network concerns that children would set themselves on fire to emulate him.
When an experimental space voyage goes awry, four people are changed by the universe's cosmic rays. Reed Richards, inventor and leader of the group gains the ability to stretch his body, and takes the name, Mr. Fantastic. His girlfriend, Sue Storm, gains the ability to turn invisible and create force fields, becoming the Invisible Girl. Her little brother Johnny Storm gains the ability to control fire, including covering his own body with flame, like a Human Torch. Pilot Ben Grimm is turned into a super-strong rocky Thing. Together, this group of four must band together and discover new things about their new powers and use their unique powers to explore the strange aspects of the world, and to foil the evil plans of villians bent on world domination. Even as they deal with the various threats that arise to threaten Earth's peace, the Four must also deal with the pressures of fame as the world's most famous superheroes, and the realities of being a super-powered family.
Mister Fantastic (Alex Hyde-White) and Doctor Doom (Joseph Culp) are college friends who use the opportunity of a passing comet to try an experiment; however, the experiment goes wrong, leaving Victor horribly scarred. Invisible Woman (Mercedes McNab) and Human Torch (Phillip Van Dyke) are two children living with their mother (Annie Gagen), who has a boarding house where Reed lives. Thing (comics) (Michael Bailey Smith) is a family friend and a college buddy of Reed's.
Transformed into superheroes after surviving a disaster in space, The Fantastic Four struggle to reconcile their powers, responsibilities, and relationships as a dysfunctional family. Overcoming their personal conflicts, they finally join forces to defeat Dr. Doom, the malevolent, metallic embodiment of their treacherous former patron.
The Fantastic Four meet their greatest challenge yet as the enigmatic, intergalactic herald, The Silver Surfer, comes to Earth to prepare it for destruction.
The Fantastic Four return yet again in a new cartoon series. As before, exposure to cosmic rays turn four normal people into super-powered heroes. Reed Richards, scientist extraordinaire, becomes the stretchable Mr. Fantastic. Susan Storm becomes Invisible Woman, Johnny Storm transforms into the Human Torch, and Ben Grimm becomes the Thing.
A young genius builds a portal to another dimension with help from friends and colleagues but an accident leaves one stranded and the others altered with unusual powers. Four years later, the stranded victor returns as a megalomaniacal conqueror and the others must put aside their differences to stop him as the Fantastic Four.
Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, The Fantastic Four must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer. And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal.
