Fantastic Four Annual #6
Fantastic Four Annual #6 stands as one of the most consequential single issues of Marvel's Silver Age, delivering two enduring first appearances in the same 48-page story: Annihilus, the insectoid tyrant of the Negative Zone whose Cosmic Control Rod would fuel decades of cosmic-scale storytelling including the 2006 Annihilation event, and Franklin Richards, the infant son of Reed and Sue who would grow into one of the most reality-bending figures in the entire Marvel Universe. The issue also resolves a long-building pregnancy subplot — Sue's cosmic-ray complications had been seeded across the monthly title — making it one of the earliest examples of a Marvel annual serving as a genuine milestone in an ongoing continuity arc rather than a standalone adventure. Jack Kirby's sprawling Negative Zone visuals gave the story a sense of dimensional scale that few superhero comics of the era could match, cementing the Zone as a major setting in Marvel cosmology.
In "Let There Be... Life!", the Fantastic Four face a mystery that stretches the limits of science and imagination, all while navigating the growing shadows of a world that’s just beginning to glimpse the extraordinary. This 1968 annual, featuring dynamic art by John Buscema and John Romita with inks by Joe Sinnott, arrives with a cover by Jack Kirby and Joe Sinnott, and includes a house ad for The Amazing Spider-Man Annual #5 and The Silver Surfer #2—both now on sale.
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The story was written by Stan Lee and drawn by Jack Kirby, with inks by Joe Sinnott, lettering by Sam Rosen, and editorial duties also handled by Lee; the cover was rendered by Kirby and Sinnott. The issue carries a cover date of November 1968 but, per the Marvel Database, actually released in August 1968. This was the last FF annual to feature all-new story material for several years: as noted by multiple readers and historians, 1968 proved to be the final year Marvel published original content in its annuals before switching to all-reprint issues, making Annual #6 a notable bookend to that era of oversized storytelling.
Trivia · 10 facts
- First appearance of Annihilus — an insectoid conqueror and ruler of the Negative Zone — created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby; the character debuted as the main antagonist of the issue.
- First appearance (birth) of Franklin Benjamin Richards, son of Reed and Sue Richards; the infant is unnamed in this issue and would not receive his full name until Fantastic Four #94.
- Franklin's middle name 'Benjamin' honors his godfather Ben Grimm (the Thing), and his first name honors Sue's late father Franklin Storm, as established in Fantastic Four #94.
- First appearance of the Cosmic Control Rod, Annihilus's signature weapon and life-extending artifact, which becomes a recurring MacGuffin across decades of FF and cosmic Marvel stories.
- Written by Stan Lee, penciled by Jack Kirby, inked by Joe Sinnott, lettered by Sam Rosen; Kirby and Sinnott also produced the cover — the full classic Lee-Kirby-Sinnott creative team.
- The 48-page story — titled 'Let There Be… Life!' — resolves a pregnancy storyline built across the monthly Fantastic Four series; Sue's cosmic-ray complications required Reed, Johnny, and Ben to enter the Negative Zone to steal Element X from Annihilus's Cosmic Control Rod.
- The creature called the Scavenger encountered in the Negative Zone during this issue was later retroactively revealed to be the Mad Thinker's android, which had been dumped into the Negative Zone in Fantastic Four #70 and repurposed by Annihilus.
- The story was reprinted in Giant-Size Fantastic Four #6 (cover date October 1975), making it accessible to Bronze Age readers; this was the final issue of that Giant-Size series.
- This issue is the last Fantastic Four Annual to feature entirely original material before Marvel shifted to all-reprint annuals for the following years, with original annual stories not resuming until Fantastic Four Annual #11 (1976).
- Annihilus went on to headline Marvel's 2006–2007 Annihilation cosmic crossover event as its primary villain, vastly expanding his role beyond Fantastic Four adversary and reshaping Marvel's cosmic universe.
Cast · 14 characters
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House ad for The Amazing Spider-Man Annual (Marvel, 1964 series) #5, and The Silver Surfer (Marvel, 1968 series) #2, advertised as "Now on sale!".
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).