Complex Magazine Ranks The Top Fantastic Four Covers Of All Time!

Below are some of the top 15 covers from Complex Magazine's attempt to rank the best Fantastic Four covers of all time. Be source to hit the link at the bottom to head over to Complex and view the complete list.

15. FANTASTIC FOUR #92 (1969)

This issue of the Fantastic Four takes place towards the back end of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s record-breaking run on the book. The contents of each issue may have been better than most other books on the market, but the strain of Lee and Kirby’s relationship began to show. Stories weren’t as memorable and communication between the two wasn’t as harmonious as before.

Despite the slow demise of the creators' relationship, there's no denying that Kirby was simply killing it with these covers. The image of Ben Grimm’s powerful paw ripping down a fight poster may not give much insight into the issue's plot, but it makes for a damn good tease. Seldomly had readers ever been put inside a character's head like that. Leave it to Kirby to still be innovative with a book that he was 92 issues deep into.

11. FANTASTIC FOUR #51 (1966)

First of all, this is the single best issue of the Fantastic Four ever. Written by Stan Lee, and with art by Jack Kirby, This Man, This Monster is a startling morality tale about a man who masquerades as The Thing in order to get close to Reed Richards so he can murder him. Instead, though, he quickly learns the nobility and heroism that comes with Ben Grimm's rocky hide.

Without spoiling the story, Kirby perfectly captured the tale's emotional tone through the Thing’s downtrodden expression, also leaving readers wondering why he was standing idly by as Reed floating helplessly through the Negative Zone in the background. A true classic of an issue.

7. FANTASTIC FOUR #524 (2005)

The late, great Mike Wieringo teamed up with writer Mark Waid to create one of the best runs on the Fantastic Four, only trailing Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s collaborative work, in terms of quality. Together, Wieringo and Waid put humor, action, sci-fi, and heart into the four-sided world of comics. And in Fantastic Four #524, the duo's last issue, Wieringo illustrated one of the simplest covers on this list. It's simply the Four’s hands locked in unison, referencing a memorable moment from their first-ever appearance.

Being simple doesn’t make this cover any less iconic, though. Wieringo always put storytelling ahead of flash, and the above image is a perfect example of that. He could have drawn a highly detailed cover that showed off his skills but took away from the tone and direction of Waid’s script; more thoughtful than that, Wieringo stripped the team down to its essence and created a classy cover that kept the spirit of Waid’s script and tone intact.

5. FANTASTIC FOUR #528 (2005)

This cover is simply hilarious. It doesn’t depend on elaborate action or a tasteless tease that doesn’t even pay off in the end. The front of Fantastic Four #528 blends humor and character, all while showing audiences what to expect from the story inside. Mike McKone is a criminally underrated artist, and he shows off just why he should be considered for more high profile work with his work on Fantastic Four.

Fans of the Thing know better than to believe that his temporary financial luck would last longer than a couple of issues. Despite that, writer Joe Michael Straczynski and McKone teamed up to deliver one of the more entertaining issues in the title’s long history.

2. FANTASTIC FOUR #1 (1961)

No red-blooded fantasy fan could ever forget the first time they laid eyes on the cover of Fantastic Four #1. It didn’t compose the super team like heroic gods, nor did the characters even sport fancy costumes. Jack Kirby simply illustrated the cover with the intention of showing the Fantastic Four off as regular people with strange abilities, rather than a seasoned superhero team.

This cover has been copied, or “homaged," dozens of times by some of the best artists in the industry, but no matter who tries their hand at this classic image, no one will ever touch Kirby’s masterful strokes. The story read a little naively now, especially with Reed Richards’ odd monologue about his hatred for “commies"; still, Fantastic Four #1 is the first true installment in what eventually became the Marvel Universe. If the cover wasn't as dynamic as it was, there is no telling if FF would have still been a hit.

1. FANTASTIC FOUR #48 (1966

This isn’t just the best Fantastic Four cover ever—it’s also one of the all-time greatest comic book covers. Issue #48 is the first part of the Galactus Trilogy, and it's considered to be the creative highpoint of the book's Lee/Kirby run. When you write a story featuring a nude alien surfer and a galactic god with a giant “G” on his chest running around fighting rock monsters and flaming teenagers, you should really have the Carbon Monoxide levels checked in your office. But, somehow, Lee and Kirby made these offbeat stories work effortlessly.

Kirby knew exactly what fans needed, though it wasn't always what they thought they wanted. He never spoiled the story, nor did he show too little. Kirby took the opportunity to make this cover as startling and frightening as possible while showing just enough to get people interested. No one knew who Galactus was at this time, but, after taking a glimpse at this cover, they knew that he was bad news.