"Do you think it’s more likely that this Jack Kirby and Stan Lee fabricated a totally fictional person rather than mythologizing one that people already knew existed?
Of course Reed Richards existed, and of course he was the leader of the Fantastic Four.
The stories take place in New York City, which we know was a real place, so therefore the stories must be real.
The year 4068:
"Do you think it’s more likely that this Jack Kirby and Stan Lee fabricated a totally fictional person rather than mythologizing one that people already knew existed?
Of course Reed Richards existed, and of course he was the leader of the Fantastic Four.
The stories take place in New York City, which we know was a real place, so therefore the stories must be real.
See how bad that logic is?