Before the Fantastic Four: Reed Richards #1

Marvel's 2000 miniseries takes a pulpy, adventure-serial approach to the early years of Marvel's most brilliant scientist, and Duncan Fegredo's cover sets the tone perfectly. A younger, green-clad Reed Richards charges forward mid-brawl, swinging what appears to be a flail or weighted weapon, while a dark-haired woman in combat gear braces for action beside him and a shaven-headed companion rushes in from the left — all set against a rugged desert mesa backdrop. It's a genuinely fun premise, peeling back the pre-cosmic-ray years of Mr. Fantastic for some globe-trotting adventure with "The Riddle of Bast" as the opening mystery.