The Fantastic Four was a single story where every event led to the next: 1961: the origin 1962: they adjust 1963: they discover ever increasing dangers 1964: Reed and Sue are engaged 1965: they marry 1966: the increasing danger climaxes with Galactus 1967: as defence from Galactus, Reed researches subspace 1968 (published 1968-70): Franklin has subspace powers 1969 (published 1970-72): it all becomes too much: health problems 1970 (published 1973-74): their marriage almost ends 1971 (published 1974-78): false dawn: apparent final defeat of Doom 1972 (published 1978-81): in denial 1973 (published 1981-87): climax: things have to change 1974 (published 1988-?): Reed and Sue retire: a new team begins In 1988 Marvel stopped publishing this complete story. Editors panicked that Reed and Sue retired, so they brought Reed and Sue back, reversed Johnny's marriage, and ignored the character development and logic of the previous 20 years. From that point all permanent change was banned. This was part of the wider death of continuity that killed the Marvel Universe.

Disclaimer

Marvel editors would deny that the big Fantastic Four story has ended. But without continuity there can be no big story, by definition.

The end began when Jim Shooter left

After Shooter left, continuity ceased to be a priority. For full details, see the end of the Marvel Universe.

The story then begins to end

Appropriately, the end of continuity began with a giant nostalgia-fest: A triple sized 25th anniversary issue, written by Shooter and Stan Lee, drawn by numerous artists, looked back to the beginning. FF 296 also began a wrapping up of each character's twenty five year story.

Steve Englehart tried to move it forward

The Thing begins to discover his identity. In FF296 his monster anxiety is finally resolved once and for all. He is at last able to put it behind him. Under Englehart he becomes no longer an outcast but a leader: he replaces Reed Richards as head of the Fantastic Four. 

Reed and Sue finally resolve their 27 year conflict of family versus  ambition: family wins. In FF307 they leave the day to day running of the FF to Ben, and move out to do what they always promised to do: focus on Franklin. Note that they can never truly leave - the FF is a family, and they are always at the head of the dynasty, but the emphasis now moves to Ben and Johnny.

As the story says, one era gives way to another!

What happened next: issue by issue

After Reed and Sue left, editors got nervous. They did not like the evlving FF. Soemtimes they would allow in-continuity storie,m sometimes they would demand changes. started demanding changes, to turn the clock back. that The transition from the between 1988 and 1991

Let us discover which are the last in-continuity stories, and what happened. This information is based on the comics, email exchanges with Englehart, and commentary on his web site..

Issues 304-305: The end game begins. Ben takes over the FF, and the twenty five year story of Johnny and Crystal begins its resolution.

Notes: The importance of these stories may not be obvious from the cover. As Englehart wrote, "One thing to note is that the writer has nothing to do with the cover; that's the province of the editor, and shows what he thinks of the book. So even though I started a radical new storyline as per usual, the early covers in this run remain pretty uninspired, even generic."

Annual 20 begins the resolution of Reeds biggest conflict: what to do about Franklin? Can he ever be safe while Reed focuses on leading the team? The resounding answer is no. The final panel shows his conclusion: the family matters most, and it doesn't matter if someone else runs the team - the Fantastic Four will still survive.

Notes: Some people claim that Dr Doom is written out of character in these issues: he is defeated by Kristof! However, the very best Doom stories (Lee/Kirby, 200, 236, etc.) always show him to be less perfect than he imagines. So it is the later stories that are out of character, taking his claims of perfection at face value, making him a one dimensional caricature.

306-307: The end of an era and the beginning of another. Ben finally learns to stop feeling sorry for himself, and Reed and Sue leave to raise Franklin.

308-10: A change of pace and scene after the world changing events. This is Fasaud, the arc that a lot of people hated, but its only crime was being ahead of its time. Had it been written three years later, at the time of the first Gulf War, it would have been seen as highly relevant.

311-312: Black Panther and Dr Doom. The first issue is clearly intended as a lead into a bigger story, but then editorial stepped in and demanded a crossover with a new book, X-Factor. So the story didn't make a lot of sense. Warning! Editorial interference!

313-15: Issue 313 brings an emotional resolution to the FF's first enemy, the Mole Man - focusing on his core identity, loneliness. It also begins the final resolution of Johnny's twenty five year  will they - won't they relationship with Crystal. But then the editor insisted that various characters were forced in, in order to link to other books, so issues 314 and 315 are a real mess. Warning! Editorial interference!

316-319: the editor said "wrap up the Beyonder story." This is another arc where Englehart was forced to write a story that destroyed the flow of the narrative. It's collected in the Secret Wars II trade. Warning! Editorial interference!

320-321: Finally a conclusion to the age-old Hulk Versus Thing war. After twenty eight years, the Thing finally wins! And to add to the fun he adds She-Hulk versus She-Thing. The characters talk about the past, and seeds are sown for the future. This could have been the start of a new and greater age of the Fantastic Four, but sadly it was not to be. 

322 onwards: Warning! Editorial interference!

Englehart discusses  what happened on his web site.

"[Issues 304-321] developed into something as rich and unpredictable as its earliest days, and regained all the lost readership - up through issue #321."

Then with 322 it all changed.

"At this point [from 322] Marvel made its infamous decision that innovation should end. ...To protest the end of what had been 'the House of Ideas, I changed my byline to S. F. X. Englehart, using the standard abbreviation for simple Sound Effects. But the writing was on the wall."

The final 12 issues

In conclusion, the only real Englehart issues were 304-311, 313, 320-321, and Annual 20. Just twelve issues (plus the first half of annual 21): a fitting climax to the 27 year story, but a tragedy because he was prevented from taking it any further. 

4... 3 2 1

The big story ended with Fantastic Four 321. Then a limbo period, then the story reversed after 354.

Issue 321 is the last in-continuity monthly issue of the Fantastic Four. That is, the last one where all events grow out of previous events. Note the retro-style cover, looking back to several classic covers of the past. There was then a limbo period, during which events did not move forwards, but did not move dramatically backwards either. For much of this period the team were literally asleep. This limbo period ended with issue 354: see further down the page. At the end of 354 the team was dramaticaly rebooted. It is possible that some later issues may or may not be in continuity, depending on how we view Franklin's role.

This issue sums up the state of the Fantastic Four at this point: Ben has finally come to terms with himself, and is no longer needy. Johnny is finally facing the decision that will kick start the next generation of the FF (see "The Last Fantastic Four Story" below - note the moon imagery). She-Thing is finally at peace and ready to have fun, and walks into the moonlight with She-Hulk, the previous "new member."

The editorial decisions that killed the big story

Until Englehart's time, permanent change was possible. Reed and Sue got married. They had a Franklin. Franklin started to grow up. Reed's character developed - most noticeably between issues 210 and 232. Ben's character developed, as he came to terms with his condition, and finally became a leader in his own right.  Johnny grew up, and eventually got married. Reed and Sue moved out as they had always planned. People commented on how Franklin was growing up.

But suddenly, in Englehart's run, all major change began to reverse. Reed and Sue had to return. Ben was no longer a leader. Johnny's marriage was reversed, but not in a natural way, and he began acting younger. Franklin's age varied, and he sometimes aged backwards.

This was all part of the destruction of the Marvel Universe, completed in 1991.

Englehart writes:

Englehart refers to this time as "a period of civil war inside Marvel ... Marvel continued with its plan to end innovation across the line, but they retained some people they'd otherwise have ditched to make it less obvious ... four years later, Marvel was bankrupt."

It wasn't just Englehart who noticed. Walt Simonson noticed as well:

Englehart did not want to be associated with this new "going nowhere" FF, so he used a pen name, John Harkness. To show how he felt, his final stories involved the FF being asleep and playing out all their old adventures (and some of Engleghart's previous plans) in their dreams.

These stories - dreaming repeats of old stories - were prophetic. This is exactly what Marvel later did with Heroes Reborn and arguably the Ultimates. In his final two frames Englehart (as John Harkness) admits that the situation is completely broken and it would take a better man than him to fix it.

Walt Simonson celebrated the end of continuity

"The entire run turns out to be one giant time fiddle in order to get back to where they started"

- Walter Simonson, in "Modern Masters Volume Eight"

FF334-336: no more danger

With no long term continuity, there is no danger. The characters will last forever. Simonson mocks the lack of danger with three issues where the FF face the weakest villains. Every cover has  a variation on the title "Alone against the deadliest villains in the universe" and the team says "you're kidding, right?"

FF337-341: the stories cannot move forward

This story is about all-powerful beings (good metaphors for Marvel editors) who prevent the world from moving into the future. It ends with Galactus, using the editor's authority - sorry, the ultimate nullifier - to turn everything back to the way it was.

Incidentally, this grand editorial reset is one of the best non-canonical FF stories ever. A real treat.

FF343-346: trapped in the past

After a fill in issue (342) the FF are trapped in the past, apparently killed by dinosaurs. The headline is "Fantastic Four NO MORE!" Could the metaphor be any clearer?

347-349: what has Marvel become?

Englehart had noted that Marvel would like nothing more than empty commercial crossovers with its best selling brands. Simonson was joking about this with Kurt Busiek and they decided "what the heck, we'll actually do it!" They got the hottest artist (Art Adams) and the biggest selling characters (Wolverine, Spider-Man, Hulk and Ghost Rider), called them the "new Fantastic Four" and put these titles on the comics: "THE WORLD'S MOST COMMERCIALEST COMIC MAGAZINE" and "THE WORLD'S MOST COLLECTIBLE COMIC MAGAZINE" with "THE WORLD'S MOST EXPLOITATIVE CAMEO"  And sure enough, these issues broke sales records.

FF350: the end of continuity.

This is the issue where a new extra-powerful Dr Doom turns up and say that many of the previous appearances of Doom were just Doombots - even the ones we felt sure were genuine. Simonson has said in interviews that his purpose was to give fans a get-out clause. If they find any Doom appearance they don't like then it's OK to say it was a Doombot. This is the new Dr Doom seen in Heroes Reborn and elsewhere, the bigger shinier Doom who  never shows human weaknesses. Not to be confused with the old fallible Doom of Stan and Jack's Fantastic Four or Englehart's Super Villain Team Up. That was the old Doom and was probably a Doombot anyway

The shiny Doom image is a metaphor for New Marvel

F351: analyzing brand value

Before FF issue 321, "Marvel Universe" meant a connected story. After 321, "Marvel Universe" meant a collection of brands to be monetized. Issue 351 is a story of two higher dimensional beings who examine the FF to see what makes them valuable. It ignores their history, expertiemtns with changing their personalities and sees what happens. It is basically Marvel's senior executives taking apart their product, like the business guru kenichi Ohmae takes apart consumer goods to see where costs may be reduced, value extended, and problem product revived.

FF352: continuity is flexible

The next issue continues the New Marvel message that continuity is flexible. The title, subtitle and Dr Doom comments could come straight from a Marvel editor, weary of continuity, who just wants freedom for characters in shiny costumes to hit people without worrying over the details.

F353-354: Simonson leaves, and ends continuity with a bang!

Simonson's final arc is a parody of what Marvel had become: a Time Variance Authority that interfered in tiny areas but was unable to have any lasting effect or see the bigger picture. it was all done in good humor: every middle manager in the TVA was a clone of Mark Gruenwald, Marvel's resident continuity expert.

- Walter Simonson, in "Modern Masters Volume Eight"

To make the metaphor complete - leaving behind the old Fantastic Four - they remove their clothes and leave them behind. We're starting afresh, entering a new and sexy era! The new FF could be compared to pornography: it tries to take all the most exciting parts of the real thing, but without the deeper relationship that gives the actions meaning.

And that is how FF continuity ends. Simonson has done his job. "The entire run turns out to be one giant time fiddle in order to get back to where they started." Ben is suddenly and miraculously back to his old self. Why? Because somebody up there (the editor) "likes him better that way." Ben and Johnny start to insult each other, mechanically, because that's their role. Everything is "back to normal!" The FF are "back where we belong an' that's just the way it's supposed ta be!" You can hear the editors breathe a collective sigh of relief. All that dangerous character development is history. Who needs it? Welcome to New Marvel.

What did Simonson do next? Like Englehart, he had no appetite for working under these new restraints.

- Walter Simonson, in "Modern Masters Volume Eight"

No story development since 1988

What happens to the FF after Simonson? After a quick fill in issue we have a bold new era of the FF under Tom DeFalco. And the very first thing he does is to retcon Alicia: who was now a Skrull. Now Johnny will be single forever, Alicia will be the Thing's girlfriend forever, and the story will never progress. Ever. (See also how the Marvel Universe ended.)

DeFalco is a really nice guy, and an expert on Fantastic Four history. His writing was fine, and the Paul Ryan art was perfectly good. But his run on the FF is generally regarded as the worst ever. Why? There was nothing in it to make readers care.

The irony is that DeFalco did not need to retcon Alicia's marriage. If he had allowed the story to come to its natural conclusion it would have ended anyway, as a powerful and natural conclusion to an epic 27 year love affair. But instead it became the poster child for bad retcons.

Summary: the new Fantastic Four

The new FF did not entirely forget the old FF. Ben Grimm even visited the old FF in the 1998 annual (where Ben finds himself in real time continuity), but the idea of living in the real world seemed really strange. Characters who change and develop? That's so old fashioned. So 1960s.

In an email, Simonson explains the thinking behind avoiding change: why he leaves every book at the same stage of development that he found it:

"I wanted to give the next guy in line a shot at doing his own 'take' on the title and the characters."

Stan Lee writes the very last in-continuity issue

After Englehart's run there is only one story with any claim to continuity: only one story that takes the themes from the first 27 years and moves them decisively forwards: The Last Fantastic Four Story (TLFFS), written by the man who started it all - Stan Lee.

Don't be distracted by the flat, wooden dialog. Stan was trying to imitate modern low-dialog comics. It helps to think of the dialog as being the Watcher's official record of a momentous event, recording only the flat meaning of each sentence and nothing else.

TLFFS clearly takes place a little later than the last in-continuity stories. When we last saw them, in FF 321, Reed and Sue had left to concentrate on Franklin, but would no doubt come back for special reasons from time to time. Ben was in charge of the FF, but didn't feel it was his natural role. He was trying to tell himself he could settle down with the She-Thing, but was  would always be secretly in love with Alicia. His deepest wish had always been to settle down with her. Meanwhile, Johnny was married to Alicia, but beginning to realize that he was still in love with Crystal.

It is easy to extrapolate what would happen after 321:

1. Johnny and Alicia would separate. They both married "on the rebound" - Johnny from Frankie and Alicia was despairing that Ben would ever resolve his problems. But now that Ben's problems are resolved and Crystal is back, all that changes.
2. The team would need to consider major changes. Ben's long term goal is to settle down with Alicia, as in Liddleville, but for real. Johnny's long term goal is to be with Crystal, but this time it has to be real commitment - not just another childhood romance or hasty marriage.
3. At this time of change they would need each other for support. Crystal is not as immature as people think. She would know enough to be out of the way during the divorce while Johnny decides what he really wants.

When TLFFS begins, the FF have received a request to help out at a top secret government high technology facility. No doubt the government would have specifically asked for Reed Richards and the original team in these circumstances: this also explains why we was leading the team for this one mission. As expected, Alicia is back with Ben, and Crystal is back on the moon.

Note that TLFFS does not actually mention Crystal - Stan Lee is always the perfect company man, and Marvel had at the time consigned that storyline to history. But it is easy to read between the lines. 

TLFFS ends with the team heading for the moon. No doubt Johnny has made the only possible decision: his future is with Crystal by his side!

After 27 years in the shadow of the others, the big story now focuses on Johnny Storm, The Human Torch: he grows up, ready to assume the lead. In Issue 300 he marries. Eventually he will take over the Reed Richards role: the Fantastic Four is destined to become Johnny's story, We only see glimpses of this in the books, but if Marvel ever returns to the original story this is the most likely direction it will take.

What would happen after The Last Fantastic Four Story?

The story ends when three of the team have settled down. But that still leaves four of the extended family:

1. Johnny Storm has no intention of settling down!
2. Crystal will be at his side.
3. Luna will grow up with them.
4. Where Crystal is, Lockjaw will not be far behind, so any of the extended family is only a heartbeat away. In particular, Franklin will want to grow up with other children, and will want to have fun with his uncle Johnny.

Notice something? A family of four superheroes with a familiar dynamic:

1. The team leader has most experience and, freed from Reed and Sue, feels no limits.
2. His fiance/wife has felt invisible due to her culture (The Inhuman Royal Family is even more stifling than being an 1950s housewife) and needs to prove herself.
3. The most obviously powerful member has always felt like an outcast
4. The youngest member has grown up as royalty, with dysfunctional parents (Crystal and Pietro) and always moving home. You can guarantee she'll be a wild child!

Yes, that's right. It's the same dynamic as the original Fantastic Four, but more wild!

The 1998 annual

The closest thing we ever get to a glimpse of what happens next is the 1998 annual. Here, the non-continuity Ben (the one from the post 1991 comics) visits an alternate reality: the Real Time FF. The story shows how the FF would naturally evolve had time continued to move in real time as it did in the 1960s. Sure enough, Reed and Sue are in "retirement" but doing exciting things, and they're always ready to return when needed. And the team in led by Johnny, who's married to Crystal, and Franklin and Luna are part of the family.

This isn't exactly the same as the new FF discussed on this page: the 1998 FF diverged from our continuity in 1973. In this version Ben never got over his insecurity, and as a result he never married Alicia. So Johnny never fully matured, and is still emotionally a teenager, but in most other ways this is a fair approximation to what the future would hold if the big Fantastic Four had continued. It's also a fan favorite, based on comments on the comicboards forum. And when Tom Brevoort was asked which never reprinted comic was the best, his reply was "Dan Slott would say Fantastic Four Annual 1998."

Conclusion

In conclusion, the original Fantastic Four was a family who explored. Families constantly change and grow, with births, marriages and deaths. Explorers constantly face the unexpected. The Fantastic Four of change and the unexpected ended with issue 321.