If you’re looking for the best Fantastic Four stories, these are the essential comics you should read.

The Marvel Universe began withFantastic Four#1back in 1961.

Unless Marvel and Fox strike a deal… Comics just did not come this big at the time.

Rich Buckler returned to theFantastic Fourin #168 which saw a powerless Ben Grimm replaced by Luke Cage.

The creative team took myriad aspects of old Lee and Kirby concepts and mashed them together to great effect.

Perez returned after the Galactus story with a palate cleansing Impossible Man story.

Not bad when a writer like Roy Thomas has a rotating art team of George Perez and John Buscema!

Nowhere was this more evident than in Byrnes work on the FF which began in issue #209.

From his first issue featuring the return of the Sub-Mariner, Byrne made every issue burst with energy.

With issue #232, Byrne began in earnest with the return of Diablo.

Byrne explored Franklin Richards, who seemed innocent and harmless, as a future powerhouse in the Marvel Universe.

Fans who want to see how potent comics could be should seek out these issues.

Byrne didnt rest after the Negative Zone as he had Galactus devour the home world of the Skrulls.

These ideas are still being felt in the Marvel Universe today.

She-Hulk added a new dynamic to the book as Byrnes unparalleled run on the book continued.

That isnt to say that the run wasnt without is warts (Bondage Sue Storm, John?

but the hits greatly outnumbered the misses.

The classic FF were back under the watchful eye of an energetic and motivated creator.

Simonsons run was defined by the return of the FF as the explorers into the unknown.

With all the high concepts, Simonson never lost his sense of fun.

The story was a celebration of 90s excess, and no one did it better.

Karl Kesel would do infrequent fill-ins that kept Waids tone and story structure.

If fans want to see just how perfect the FF can be, seek these books out.

One story featured Jack Kirby as, basically, God…what else do you gotta know?

McDuffie guided the FF through MarvelsCivil WarandInitiativeeras and never missed a beat.

His stories were fun, personal, and huge.

These issues stand for the greatness comic fans lost when McDuffie passed.

Many cosmic elements introduced during these issues currently inform many of Marvels cosmic books likeGuardians of the Galaxyand theInfinitycrossover.

This article originally ran in 2014.

In our latest podcast, we discuss the new Fantastic Four film…