FF #1

May 2011 · Marvel · 3.99 USD

📊 ~114,472 copies sold its debut month

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“The Club”

★ 1st appearance — Andrew Forson

About this Issue

FF #1 (May 2011) marks the formal launch of the Future Foundation as the active successor to the Fantastic Four, directly triggered by the apparent death of Johnny Storm and built around Spider-Man stepping into the void left by the Human Torch — a creative gambit that gave Peter Parker his most sustained role inside Marvel's First Family. The issue solidified Jonathan Hickman's ambitious, long-form approach to the franchise, threading together a sprawling cast of young genius-children, reformed and unreformed villains, and time-displaced relatives into a genuine ensemble book rather than a simple name-change. Its distinctive black-and-white uniforms became one of the more recognizable costume redesigns of the 2010s, filtered into games, animation, and eventually the MCU's The Fantastic Four: First Steps. And because FF #1–11 were simultaneously published as the de facto Fantastic Four #589–599 — holding the flagship numbering in suspension while the series found its legs — this issue carries the unusual distinction of being both a premiere and a continuation of an unbroken storyline.

writer Jonathan Hickman · artist, inker Steve Epting · inker Rick Magyar · colorist Paul Mounts · letterer Rus Wooton · letterer Virtual Calligraphy · cover Steve Epting

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (NM) $2

CGC 9.8 · 315 in census $46

CGC 9.6 · 54 in census $23

CGC 9.4 · 23 in census $21*

CGC 9.2 · 11 in census $20

CGC 9.0 · 9 in census $20*

CGC 8.5 · 3 in census $20*

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CGC 8.0 · 3 in census $20*

CGC 7.5 · 2 in census $20*

CGC 7.0 · 1 in census $20*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

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History

The book grew directly out of the critical momentum behind Hickman's preceding Fantastic Four run, and was originally conceived under the title 'Future Foundation' before Marvel's editorial team renamed it 'FF' to signal continuity with the parent franchise and ease retailer buy-in. It was conceived as a limited placeholder while the main Fantastic Four title went on hiatus following Human Torch's death in Fantastic Four #588, but sales performance was strong enough that editor-in-chief Axel Alonso and the editorial team asked Hickman to run both series concurrently once Fantastic Four returned with issue #600. The signature all-white Future Foundation costumes worn by the team — including Spider-Man's adaptable suit — were deliberately inspired by cleanroom suits and the plugsuits from the anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion, according to Marvel's own published notes on the series. Steve Epting, coming off his celebrated run on Captain America, served as penciller and primary cover artist for the debut issue, with Paul Mounts on colors; Daniel Acuña supplied a variant cover, and multiple additional variant covers — by Marko Djurdjevic, Gerald Parel, Stan Goldberg/Joe Sinnott, and others — were produced for the launch.

Trivia · 8 facts

Written by Jonathan Hickman, pencilled by Steve Epting, colored by Paul Mounts; cover date May 2011, on-sale date approximately early March 2011.
Spider-Man (Peter Parker) officially joins the Future Foundation in this issue, fulfilling a pre-recorded video will left by the dying Human Torch (Johnny Storm), who personally selected Spider-Man as his replacement.
Spider-Man receives his Future Foundation uniform here — a smart-material suit capable of changing its patterns according to the wearer's thoughts — though the exact circumstances of the handoff contradict a simultaneous depiction in Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #658, a noted continuity error.
Doctor Doom makes a cameo arrival at issue's end, inducted into the Future Foundation under pressure from Valeria Richards and time-traveling Nathaniel Richards, who had promised Doom help restoring his intellect (damaged in Incredible Hulk Vol. 3 #606).
AIM, led by Dr. Forson (his first appearance), stages a successful prison break that frees the Wizard from the P.A.V.L.O.V. facility, ending the issue with the heroes' first mission as a failed one — an unusually downbeat note for a #1.
The issue includes a bonus reprint of Fantastic Four (Marvel, 1961 series) #36 (March 1965) — the debut of the Frightful Four (Wizard, Sandman, Paste-Pot Pete, and an amnesiac Medusa) — directly tying the new series to that classic antagonist roster.
The full Future Foundation roster assembled in this issue includes: Reed Richards, Sue Richards, Ben Grimm, Spider-Man, Valeria Richards, Franklin Richards, Nathaniel Richards, Dragon Man (Draconus), Bentley-23 (clone of the Wizard), Alex Power (Zero-G), Artie Maddicks, Leech, and the four evolved Moloids Tong, Turg, Mik, and Korr, plus the two Uhari children Vil and Wu.
FF #1–11 served editorially as Fantastic Four #589–599, bridging the gap between the flagship series going on hiatus and its return with the landmark Fantastic Four #600; the series was originally intended as a temporary replacement but was kept running alongside the relaunched Fantastic Four due to strong performance.