Published Aug 8, 2026, 9:00 AM EDT
Robert Wood is a writer and editor based out of Cheshire, England. He is the author of 'The False Elephant: and 99 Other Unreasonably Short Stories' - 100 stories, each told in exactly 100 words.
Rob got into comics via Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man and the UK anthology 'The Mighty World of Marvel,' which was running Frank Miller's Daredevil, Classic Hulk and Contest of Champions II.
Prior to journalism, he worked in copywriting and copyedited for Oxford University Press. He is on X as @PinchTwigs and Instagram as roobwoodjourno.
Today marks a major anniversary in pop culture history - the release of a piece of media that spawned one of the most successful franchises of all time, including the creation of several of the best-selling movies ever made.
While names like Star Trek, Mission: Impossible or James Bond may come to mind, this isn't just about one franchise, but a range of household names everyone from your toddler nephew to your octogenarian grandmother will instantly recognize.
That's because it's been 65 years to the day since the dawn of the Marvel Universe, with everything from X-Men and Avengers to Spider-Man, Deadpool and Guardians of the Galaxy beginning with a single comic - Fantastic Four #1.
The Marvel Universe Started 65 Years Ago Today
August 8, 1961, saw the publication of Fantastic Four #1, from Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, George Klein, Christopher Rule, Stan Goldberg and Artie Simek. The historic comic marked the beginning of the Marvel Universe as it's understood today, and introduced a shared universe quickly populated by the X-Men, Spider-Man, the Avengers and more.
While the Marvel Universe later incorporated characters created during earlier eras (back when Marvel was known as Timely Comics), those characters were heavily redesigned and retconned to fit into the fictional universe Lee and Kirby had created - hence the nickname of Mister Fantastic, the Invisible Girl (later 'Woman'), the Human Torch and the Thing as 'Marvel's First Family.'
At the time, Fantastic Four represented a shift from Marvel's popular monster and sci-fi comics, hence why Kirby's cover shows them fighting a kaiju. The team didn't appear in superhero costumes until their third issue because Marvel wasn't sure if the idea would be a hit. Of course, it was, and Marvel quickly transitioned into the superhero game.
A compelling urban legend states that Marvel didn't depict the Fantastic Four in superhero costumes on their first couple of covers because their comics were distributed by DC, and they feared backlash for entering the superhero space. Sadly, the evidence doesn't support this clandestine origin.
Thanks to decades of comics and the multi-billion-dollar MCU, other heroes like the Hulk, Spider-Man and the X-Men may be bigger household names today, but the Marvel Universe started with Fantastic Four #1, with its success motivating Marvel (and Lee and Kirby in particular) to construct a vast fictional universe, mixing sci-fi, fantasy, romance, drama and more.
Marvel Has Traveled a Rocky Road
While the Marvel Universe began with Fantastic Four #1, it wasn't a straight shot to the worldwide popularity of the MCU by any measure. Marvel has been through immense highs and lows, even filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1996.
That devastating era resulted in Marvel selling the licenses to many of its characters - a decision that ended up shaping the MCU as we know it today. With characters like Spider-Man and the X-Men unavailable, Marvel foregrounded the Avengers franchise, resulting in the fateful casting of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, aka Iron Man.
Marvel's climb to media juggernaut was far from guaranteed, and its immense presence in pop culture today could even be called unlikely. However, it's also worth appreciating that many of the core aspects of the Marvel Universe - its interconnected setting, the foundation of a 'disposable' medium like comics - are key to these characters surviving and ultimately thriving.
For franchises like Fantastic Four, failure never quite touches the core. Low comic sales and even flop movies can hurt the brand, but when comics are your home turf, there's always a way to reinvent the franchise and try again.
Marvel Celebrates Sixty-Five Years of the Fantastic Four
Marvel rarely misses the chance to celebrate a milestone, and this week has seen multiple celebrations of the Fantastic Four. First, the gorgeous Fantastic Four: 65 Years of the World's Greatest Comic Covers collects artwork from across the team's history, showcasing the bombastic images that have enticed generations of fans.
Likewise, this week's Fantastic Four #15 - from Ryan North, Edgar Delgado, Humberto Ramos and Joe Caramagna is a bumper celebration of the team's history, and a new series of trading cards from Topps celebrate the occasion.
It's sixty-five years since Fantastic Four #1 created the Marvel Universe, with the exciting new pulp comic appearing at newstands going on to shape pop culture like few pieces of media ever have.
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