The Frightful Four are a group of fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. They serve as the antithesis to the Fantastic Four. Publication history The Frightful Four first appeared in Fantastic Four #36 (March 1965), and were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. The team subsequently appears in Fantastic Four #94 (January 1970), #129 (December 1972), #148 (July 1974), #177 (December 1976), Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #42 (May 1980), The Amazing Spider-Man #214-215 (March–April 1981), Fantastic Four #326-328 (May–July 1989), Fantastic Four Unlimited #5 (March 1994), The Incredible Hulk vol. 2 #418 (June 1994), Deadpool vol. 3 #35 (December 1999), Fantastic Four vol. 3 #29 (May 2000), and Fantastic Four #514 (August 2004), and #547-549, and Superior Carnage #1-5 (2014). The Frightful Four received an entry in The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Update '89 #3. Fictional team biography The Frightful Four first appeared in Fantastic Four #36, consisting of the Wizard, the Sandman, Paste-Pot Pete (the latter two having freed the Wizard), and Medusa (who had amnesia at the time). The villains were originally fairly successful, almost defeating the Fantastic Four during Sue and Reed's engagement party in their first appearance. They captured all the members except the Torch, who was able to free the others. The Frightful Four even stole the Fantastic Four's powers, which later almost killed them in their second appearance. When the Fantastic Four disappeared, the Frightful Four attempted to break into the Baxter Building, but were accidentally scared off by Norse God Balder believing him to be the Human Torch. The Wizard later used a hypnosis device on the Thing in order to make him their obedient slave, by Medusa's request. When the Fantastic Four found a lead on where Ben was, they travelled to New Jersey and were soon attacked by the Frightful Four. During the fight, the Thing arrived and attacked his former comrades. The Thing's added strength was what the Frightful Four needed to defeat the Fantastic Four, while all the members were bound by different booby-trapped restraints. While Mister Fantastic was glued to a wall with the Trapster's paste, the Wizard convinced the Thing that Reed was responsible for his monstrous nature and convinced him to kill Reed. Human Torch and Invisible Woman managed to free themselves from their respective traps and counterattacked the Frightful Four giving Mister Fantastic enough time to