Nathaniel Richards (Marvel Comics) of Mr. Richards' scenes were cut. Nathaniel Richards (Marvel Comics) Nathaniel Richards is a fictional time-traveling scientist appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is the father of superhero and leader of the Fantastic Four, Reed Richards. Though there have been many versions of the character, either as the futuristic villain Kang the Conqueror or the young superhero Iron Lad, the original Nathaniel is more of an adventurer who has a genuine love for his son. Nathaniel Richards first appeared in "Fantastic Four" #272 and was created by John Byrne. Dr. Nathaniel Richards was a successful scientist
Marvel Comics was able to capitalize on its successful superhero comics of the previous decade by acquiring a new newsstand distributor and greatly expanding its comics line. Marvel pulled ahead of rival DC Comics in 1972, during a time when the price and format of the standard newsstand comic were in flux. Goodman increased the price and size of Marvel's November 1971 cover-dated comics from 15 cents for 36 pages total to 25 cents for 52 pages. DC followed suit, but Marvel the following month dropped its comics to 20 cents for 36 pages, offering a lower-priced product with a higher distributor