Reed Richards has always been something of a prodigy, enrolling in college level courses at het age of fourteen. Richards attended numerous colleges including State University in Hegeman, New York. At State University, het met and became the roommate of Benjamin J. Grimm. Reed had already begun designing a starship capable of traveling in hyperspace. Sharing his plans with his new roommate, Grimm jokingly volunteered to pilot the craft. When Reed conttinued his education by attending Columbia University in Manhattan, he rented a room in a boarding house owned by the aunt of a young girl named Susan Storm. To his embarrassment, the young girl instantly fell in love with him. Years later, Richards began using his inheritance, along with goverment funding, to finance his reseach.  

Determined to reach the stars, the project began, based in Central City. Susan Storm, now an adult, moved into the area and within a short time found herself engaged to Reed. Likewise, Reed's old college roommate had gone on to become a successful test pilot and astronaut and was indeed slated to pilot the craft. All seened well; however, when the goverment threatened to cut funding and cancel the project, Reed, Grimm, Sue an her younger brother Johnny, all decided to sneak aboard the starship and take it up immediately. They knew they had not completed all the testing that had been planned but Reed was confident they would be safe. However, when their ship passed through te VAN ALLEN belt they found their cockpit bombarded with nearly lethal doses of cosmic radiation. Reed had somehow neglected to account for the abnormal radiation levels in the atmoshere. The cosmic rays wreaked havoc on the starship's insufficient shielding and they were forced to return to Earth immediately. The crew succesfully landed and almost instantly found that they had all been mutated. Reed found that his skin was malleable and that could elongate any portion of his body at will. Each member of the fateful crew in turn discovered how they had been significantly changed. Deciding to us this unexpected turn of events for the benfit of mankind, Richards convinced the others to band together. They soon came to be known as the Fantastic Four. Mr. Fantastic was chosen to lead the group. Under his guidance, the team went on to become Earth's most celebrated band of heroes. Together, they would save the wold countless times. Even driven by the quest for knowledge, Richards is believed by most to be the Earth's foremost intellingence. There is little that he cannot create, fix, or understand given time. The patents and royalties on his inventions alone have funded the group over the years. The use of the term "Fantastic" to describe anything about this man would not only be modest, it would indeed be a considerable understatement.