Brace yourself for some corn...

In it's 40-year history, The Fantastic Four may not have always been consistently "The World's Greatest Comic Magazine" on a monthly basis, but it's unique underlying structure became the prototype for all the superhero teams which came after it.

All of them.

Similarly, Stan and Jack (comicdom's Lennon & McCartney-no lie!), laid the foundation for the ultimate dysfunctional nuclear family which has never been improved upon.

Forget the She-Hulks, Luke Cages, and time-displaced Valerias (Please!)! Thank God Carlos Pacheco knows the winning combo: Reed, Sue, Johnny & Ben! What a great 40th anniversary gift!

Speaking of gifts, the first new Marvel Masterworks in years, reprintingFF#51-60 is out and I can't think of a better way to show any latecomers how great the FF can be.

-Drew Geraci