Family, Heroes or Imaginauts?

There's a dilemna that often seems to crop up among fans of the Fantastic Four. I've seen it discussed and debated across a few different forums, and it's not an argument that ever really crops up for any other team- I've never seen anyone debate what the Avengers are, or what the JLA's purpose is.

Are they heroes first? Explorers? Or are they a Family?

I've seen people argue the case for all three of these. Mark Waid makes a forceful case in his first issues that the four are what he terms 'Imaginauts'. I know some people mock it, but I love that term. It's so perfect, so wacky, so... Kirby. A fusion of Astronauts and the Imagination- and really, Imagination is what the FF are all about, more so than any other team. Because the FF need to reach for what's next. That's why they were the core of the early Marvel Universe- because the FF are- or should be- all about the new.  That pretty much covers 'Explorers'- and how very Kirby to invent a whole new crazy word for it which fuses two others together. And I don't think anyone disputes that this is a BIG part of what the FF are- forging into the future, discovering new dimensions, new worlds, insane new inventions. Without that... why, they wouldn't be the FF.

But would they be the FF if they weren't heroes? I've seen lots of people argue that the Fantastic Four are something else first, super heroes second. But are they? Ben Grimm says it flat out when the four decide to stay together way back in FF #1- "We've gotta use that power to help mankind". In their very first issue, the FF save the world from the Moleman, fighting his giant monster. In the second, they save the world from the menace of the Skrulls- over forty-five years before it became fashionable. The FF are formed to save the world. They stay together to save the world. It's what they do. They may not foil your average bank robbery, but being heroes is an integral part of being the Fantastic Four. Sure, they COULD just be explorers, they could just stay cooped up and go find new worlds, but if they did that, then we wouldn't have most of the early FF! To lessen the FF's role as  heroes is to diminish them.

And finally, the Four are a family. That is their unique point, the thing which sets them apart from pretty much every other comics franchise. The closest DC have is probably Shazam, and there have been efforts to expand the Flash into a Family etc, but none of those come close to Stan and Jack's creation in that aspect. They are a family- they love, they fight, they feud. Take away the family aspect, and you have just another run of the mill team. But at the same time, Lord knows any number of books just about families could be boring. Let's  be honest, would we read about the FF if they didn't save the world and find a new dimension every now and then? Of course not.

Family, Heroes or Imaginaut? It's a question which is passionately debated, adn there are plenty of people who scorn others for advocating one particular aspect. But the truth is... the FF are all of them, equally. Because if they weren't any one of them, then they wouldn't be the FF. It's a false dilemna. So every time I see any fan- or writer for that matter- say "I've cracked the FF, they're really a family above all else"  or "I found it difficult to grasp them until I pinned down that they're explorers before they're heroes," or whatever, I start to worry that they don't 'get' it. Because yes, the characters see THEMSELVES as a family above all else. But for us, the readers, they are- they have to be- all three equally. And that's why the FF aren't like any other franchise. And that's why they're- forgive me- fantastic.