A member of the superhero quartet is set to die on January 2011!

The Fantastic Four is a comic book superhero team, co-created by Stan Lee of the Spider Man and X Men fame, published by Marvel Comics in 1961.

The group is composed of the following characters:

Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards) – a scientific genius, can stretch, twist and re-shape his body to inhuman proportions. Mr. Fantastic serves as the father figure of the group, and is “appropriately pragmatic, authoritative, and dull”.

Invisible Girl/Invisible Woman (Susan Storm) – Reed Richards’ girlfriend (and eventual wife) has the ability to bend and manipulate light to render herself and others invisible. She later develops the ability to generate force fields, which she uses for a variety of defensive and offensive effects.

The Human Torch (Johnny Storm) – Sue Storm’s younger brother, possesses the ability to control fire, allowing him to project fire from his body, as well as the power to fly.

The Thing (Ben Grimm) – Reed Richards’ college roommate and best friend, has been transformed into a monstrous, craggy humanoid with orange, rock-like skin and super-strength. The Thing is often filled with anger, self-loathing and self-pity over his new existence. He serves as “an uncle figure, a long-term friend of the family with a gruff Brooklyn manner, short temper, and caustic sense of humor”.

One of them is about to die in the Fantastic Four Comic Book No. 587 which is due for release this January 2011.

Marvel Comics announced the news on Wednesday, a change that the company said will ripple across the Marvel Universe like never before.

Executive Editor Tom Brevoort, says at the end of this story, there won’t even be a book called ‘Fantastic Four’ anymore; there will be something new that will be interesting and exciting. Out of this moment, a new thing will be born.”