10 Iconic Characters Introduced In Fantastic Four Comics

The Fantastic Four comics have introduced some of the most iconic characters in Marvel Comics, other than the legendary First Family. Marvel often introduces interesting new characters in popular comic books to see if fans will connect with them. Some of these make sense, such as when Magneto first appeared in the X-Men comics, but others are often confusing, such as Ka-Zar debuting in that same title, or Daredevil’s main villain, Kingpin, actually debuting in The Amazing Spider-Man. As no surprise, since The Fantastic Four was Marvel’s first superhero comic title, a lot of iconic characters debuted in their pages.

Here is a look at 10 iconic Marvel Comics characters who made their debut in the pages of The Fantastic Four.

10) Jamie Madrox

Jamie Madrox is the Multiple Man, and he is a mutant who has appeared in several mutant comics over the years. He even got to lead his own comic book team with X-Factor Investigations. However, in what might surprise a lot of X-Men fans, Jamie didn’t make his debut in any of the mutant comics. Instead, he debuted in Giant-Size Fantastic Four #4 in 1974. This comic book saw the Fantastic Four battling the Multiple Man, which means the future X-Men hero started off his career as a Fantastic Four villain.

The story began with The Thing seeing Multiple Man standing on the subway tracks, but when he punches him, he multiplies into different variants, and he soon wins the fight. This book showed Jamie’s origin story about how he was a mutant, his parents tried to protect him with a suit that allowed him to control his powers, but it was malfunctioning, and he needed help. This was also a nice crossover because Professor X shows up and helps stop Jamie, and promises to help him. While many believed Jamie would have shown up in the X-Men, this allowed the Fantastic Four to work with Professor X in a fun crossover.

9) Agatha Harkness

Agatha Harkness remains closely connected to the Scarlet Witch. Her history with Wanda is strong enough to keep them connected, even to this day. It was Agatha who worked as Wanda and Vision’s nanny for their twins when Wanda created the children, and she was the one who wiped Wanda’s memory of the kids after they disappeared, which led to terrifying backlash years later.

However, Wanda’s children weren’t Agatha’s first charges. The witch first appeared in Fantastic Four #94 in 1969, and she became the nanny for Franklin Richards. Of course, Agatha knew Franklin had powers, and that is why she signed on to care for the child while his parents were out fighting supervillains. She also inserted herself into the action here, which makes sense because she always has her own plans when she takes these jobs.

8) The Watcher

There was a period of around one year during which the Fantastic Four comics introduced a slew of heroes and villains who have remained synonymous with Marvel Comics ever since. The Watcher even showed up to introduce both the Silver Surfer and Galactus, but Uatu actually appeared much sooner, as his actual debut was in Fantastic Four #13 in 1963. This book had the Fantastic Four go to the moon to fight Red Ghost, and they discovered the Watcher’s base.

Of course, Uatu is part of an ancient alien race whose job is simply to watch humanity and record its history, without interfering. This proved impossible for this Watcher, as he had interfered many times over, including during that one-year period where he showed up eight times before Galactus made his first appearance.

7) The Inhumans

Before Galactus appeared, the Fantastic Four comics introduced a group of aliens known as the Inhumans. Medusa first appeared in Fantastic Four #36, where she was a villain tricked into helping the Wizard and his Frightful Four. However, it turned out she was not bad, and the Inhuman Royal Family debuted in Fantastic Four #45.

This started when Johnny Storm met Crystal, and when she believed he was an Inhuman like her, she used her pet Lockjaw to transport them to Attilan. This led the Fantastic Four and the Inhumans to battle each other. It was an interesting trilogy of books, and it offered the first look at this race of superhumans and the struggles they face when trying to live alongside humanity. This was also before they moved to the moon.

6) Galactus

Galactus made his debut in Fantastic Four #48 in 1965. This immediately followed the introduction to the Inhumans and offered two more debuts, with Galactus being the biggest villain the FF had ever battled. This was the issue that brought back the Watcher, who alerted the Fantastic Four of Galactus’s arrival on Earth and warned them it could mean the end of the world.

Of course, this was the first of many times the Fantastic Four battled Galactus in their comics. This was another three-issue storyline that involved the FF trying to stop Galactus, which involved the Watcher breaking his oath and interfering while sending the Human Torch on a mission to find the Ultimate Nullifier, with these issues also marking the debut of that world-altering object.

5) Kang the Conqueror (as Rama-Tut)

Kang the Conqueror’s first appearance remains complicated, to put it lightly. The first time Kang ever appeared in Marvel Comics as himself was in The Avengers #8 in 1964. Two issues later, Immortus first appeared in The Avengers #10, and as Marvel fans know, Immortus and Kang are the same person from Earth-6311. Neither of those was his first actual appearance.

Rama-Tut appeared for the first time in Fantastic Four #19 in 1963, and this is yet another version of Kang, also from Earth-6311. To put it simply, these are all the same person, but at different stages in his life. Rama-Tut was a teenage Nathaniel Richards; the Silver Centurian was a little older; Kang was older than that. Immortus was the oldest of them all. Rama-Tut, the youngest (until Iron Lad showed up), was the first to appear, and it was in the Fantastic Four comics.

4) Adam Warlock

Adam Warlock is best known for his adventures in cosmic Marvel, and he was a huge part of the Thanos Saga, especially concerning the Infinity Gauntlet. However, he debuted in Marvel Comics in Fantastic Four #66 in 1967. At that time, he wasn’t known as Adam Warlock (that didn’t happen until Marvel Premiere #1 in 1971). Instead, Marvel only referred to him as “Him.”

This issue saw the Fantastic Four battling villains known as the Enclave, and Him was only revealed behind the scenes. He made his biggest debut in the next issue when he hatched from his cocoon, an artificially created man. It shockingly ended with him lashing out at his creators for creating him for evil, and he moved on to other adventures as a newborn, facing Thor next and then moving on to more cosmic adventures.

3) Silver Surfer

The same issue that debuted Galactus also allowed the Marvel Universe to introduce the Silver Surfer to the world. This was in Fantastic Four #48 when the Surfer arrived on Earth as the Herald of Galactus, warning humanity that his master was coming to consume their planet. However, when he realized humans were an intelligent and compassionate group, he turned on his master and helped save Earth.

This caused Galactus to relieve Silver Surfer of his duties and then to punish him by stripping him of his space-time powers, so he ended up exiled on Earth, unable to leave. Over time, the Silver Surfer became a hugely popular character and starred in various comics of his own, including those that showed how he could once again leave the planet and take part in several cosmic storylines.

2) Black Panther

Two issues after the Galactus trilogy ended, the Fantastic Four comics introduced one of the most important heroes in Marvel Comics. Black Panther debuted in Fantastic Four #52, with the FF meeting T’Challa and learning of Wakanda. This was a monumental moment, and the FF and Panther kept a close relationship, with T’Challa and Storm even joining the Fantastic Four at one point in history.

As with most of the Fantastic Four’s interactions with heroes in their comics (such as Silver Surfer and the Inhumans), this involved them fighting Black Panther at one point. Of course, this was just to prove their worthiness and earn T’Challa’s trust. There is no hero introduced in Fantastic Four comics who is more important than the Black Panther.

1) Doctor Doom

The most important villain ever introduced in Fantastic Four comics is their main rival, and one of the most powerful villains in Marvel Comics history. Doctor Doom made his debut in Fantastic Four #5 in 1962. It seems almost hard to believe that it took five issues for Doom to debut. Since that time, no one has made the Fantastic Four’s life harder than Victor Von Doom.

As One World Under Doom showed, Doctor Doom is powerful enough and resourceful enough to be a global threat to every hero on Earth. However, his intense hatred and rivalry with Reed Richards, as well as his kind relationship with his goddaughter Valeria Richards, will always keep Doom connected with the Fantastic Four.

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