Marvel Celebrates the Fantastic Four’s History With 11 Easter Eggs and Callbacks in #5

As mentioned in my review of James Robinson and Leonard Kirk’s fifth issue of Fantastic Four, they and their guest artists made a ton of references to past issues, artwork and continuity of The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine.Being a longtime fan and reader, I really appreciate this sort of thing. Realizing that a lot of you out there might not have the same depth of knowledge with the series, I figured I’d put together a handy-dandy cheat sheet for you to help you make the most of your reading experience.Without further ado and going in order of the references’ appearance in the issue… SPOILERS!!!1. The Fantastic Four’s Relocation to Manhattan A little known fact about the Fantastic Four is that they weren’t always located in New York City. That’s right, for the first two issues of the series they lived in Central City, California. This fact is referenced when prosecutor Aiden Toliver initially questions Reed Richards about the team’s first public action. Coincidentally, Central City is a fictional city existing in the Marvel Universe. Also coincidentally, while the third issue of the series does not explicitly state that the action is now taking place in New York, the fact that the team is residing in what appears to be the Baxter Building confirms this fact.2. Direct Artwork References to The Fantastic Four #1 In Chris Samnee and Matt Wilson’s flashback artwork, they make very explicit reference to panels from the Fantastic Four’s very first issue. First we get Reed Richards immediately after firing the “4” flare that brings the team together to “look at pictures” as Toliver references:

3. Thing vs. Hulk Round Two Fantastic Four 4. Direct Artwork References to Fantastic Four #25 5. The Sub-Mariner, Romance and Rapaciousness The Fantastic Four 6. The Inhumans, Their New York Rampage, and the Destruction of Attilan Fantastic Four Infinity 7. Doom vs. the Fantastic Four Fantastic Four Fantastic Four 8. First Appearance of Galactus and the Ultimate Nullifier Fantastic Four 9. Malice and Direct Artwork References 10. Ben Grimm Is a D**k to Cars The Fantastic Four 11. The Android Human Torch, Jim Hammond Marvel Comics Fantastic Four Annual