Fantastic Four No. 233: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Fantastic Four No.233 features the story "Mission for a Dead Man!" Both story and art were done by John Byrne.The cover features the superhero "The Human Torch."

Created by Marvel Comics creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, The Fantastic Four debuted in a self-titled 1961 comic book. Gaining super-powers after encountering “cosmic rays” while on a space mission, the “Fantastic Four” battle planetary and intergalactic threats while dealing with complex family and friendship dynamics. The original “four” consisted of Mr. Fantastic (Reed Richards,) The Invisible Woman (Sue Richards,) The Human Torch (Johnny Storm) and The Thing (Ben Grimm.) Introducing a new era in comic books, the title presented heroes with more dynamic and relatable personalities than previously found in the medium.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date made: 1981-08
• publisher: Marvel Comics Group
• author; artist: Byrne, John
• maker: Marvel Comics Group
• Object Name: comic book
• Physical Description: paper (overall material)
• Physical Description: ink (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 10 in x 6 1/2 in; 25.4 cm x 16.51 cm
• place made: United States: New York, New York City
• Subject: Comics
• Subject: Fantastic Four
• ID Number: 1989.0089.13
• accession number: 1989.0089
• catalog number: 1989.0089.13
• Credit Line: Gift of Harold W. Ellis
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.