Fantastic Four #26
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeFantastic Four #26 delivered the first team-up between the Fantastic Four and the Avengers, a crossover event that proved the Marvel shared universe was not merely a marketing conceit but a living, breathing fictional world where characters from different books could collide with genuine narrative stakes. As the concluding chapter of a two-part Hulk rampage that began in FF #25, the issue resolved a story thread running simultaneously through the early issues of The Avengers, demonstrating Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's then-novel practice of weaving continuity across multiple titles in real time. It also delivered the first recorded meeting between the Hulk and the freshly revived Silver Age Captain America, cementing Cap's place in the emerging Marvel universe just a matter of weeks after his return from suspended animation in Avengers #4. Beyond its plot mechanics, the issue planted the seed for one of the most enduring verbal tics in Marvel history: Ben Grimm's very first on-panel reference to his Aunt Petunia, a running gag that would echo through dozens of issues before the character herself finally appeared nearly two decades later.
In "The Avengers Take Over!", the Fantastic Four face an escalating threat as the Hulk's rampage through New York City reaches a new peak—only this time, the Avengers have arrived to intervene. With the Earth's Mightiest Heroes stepping in, the clash of titans brings a rare alliance between two of Marvel's most iconic teams. Written by Stan Lee and brought to life by Jack Kirby’s dynamic art, with inks by George Bell and letters by Art Simek, the issue captures the electric tension of heroes uniting against a force they once tried to contain. The cover, penciled by Kirby and inked by Sol Brodsky, sets the stage with a striking image of the two teams poised for action.
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Written by Stan Lee and plotted and pencilled by Jack Kirby — working in the improvisational 'Marvel Method' they had refined over three years together — the issue was inked by George Roussos and lettered by Art Simek, with the cover shared between Kirby and bullpen stalwart Sol Brodsky. It carried a cover date of May 1964 but was released on newsstands in February 1964, placing it in the same publishing window as Avengers #5, with which it shares overlapping continuity; the two books effectively told parallel sides of the same Hulk confrontation. Stan Lee served as editor-in-chief, and the story sits squarely in the period when he and Kirby were at their most productive, turning out multiple interconnected titles monthly and laying the structural groundwork for every Marvel crossover event that followed.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Written by Stan Lee, pencilled by Jack Kirby, inked by George Roussos, lettered by Art Simek; cover by Kirby and Sol Brodsky. Cover date: May 1964; on-sale date: February 1964.
- Titled 'The Avengers Take Over!' — this is the first time the Fantastic Four and the Avengers appear together as teams and cooperate against a common enemy.
- First meeting on record between the Hulk and the Silver Age Captain America (Steve Rogers), who had only been revived from suspended animation in Avengers #4 (March 1964), making this one of Cap's earliest Silver Age appearances.
- First recorded meeting between both the Wasp (Janet Van Dyne) and Captain America and the Fantastic Four as a group, though Iron Man and Giant-Man had previously encountered FF members in separate stories.
- Serves as the direct sequel to Fantastic Four #25 and runs parallel to the events of Avengers #5; Lee and Kirby deliberately interlocked the continuity across both titles, an early example of real-time shared-universe storytelling.
- The battle is resolved when Rick Jones tosses a gamma-ray-treated capsule into the Hulk's mouth, reverting him to Bruce Banner, who falls into the Hudson River — with Banner resurfacing alive in Avengers #5.
- Contains the first (or among the very earliest) on-panel reference by Ben Grimm to his 'Aunt Petunia,' a catchphrase that recurred throughout the Kirby era and beyond before Aunt Petunia physically appeared in Fantastic Four #238–239 (1982, written and drawn by John Byrne).
- Reprinted in the 'Hulk vs. The Marvel Universe' TPB and collected in Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four Vol. 3, the Fantastic Four Epic Collection: The Master Plan of Doctor Doom, and the oversized 'Kirby Is… Fantastic!' King-Sized Hardcover (2019).
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Reprints
Reprinted in Fantastic Four Annual #4 (1966), Smash! #44 (1966), Smash! #46 (1966), Incredible Hulk [King Size Special] #3 (1971), Marvel #11 (1971), Estréia! (1ª Série) [Quarteto Fantástico] #15 (1971), I Fantastici Quattro #20 (1971), The Mighty World of Marvel #50 (1973), Marvel Treasury Special, Giant Superhero Holiday Grab-Bag #[nn] (1974), Die Fantastischen Vier #23 (1974), Marvel's Greatest Superhero Battles #[nn] (1978), Strange Spécial Origines #160 (1983), The Marvel Saga the Official History of the Marvel Universe #13 (1986), Marvel Masterworks #13 (1990), Hulk vs. Thing #[nn] (1999), Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four #3 (2003), Fantastic Four Omnibus #1 (2005), Hulk vs. the Marvel Universe #[nn] (2008), Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four #3 (2010), Incredible Hulk Epic Collection #1 (2016), L'ère des Comics Marvel 1961-1978 #[nn] (2017), Fantastic Four Epic Collection #2 (2017), Kirby Is… Fantastic! King-Size #[nn] (2019), Avengers vs. Fantastic Four #[nn] (2019) + 8 more
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