Fantastic Four: Where to start?

While reading through Dark Reign, some of the pages on here, and the Ultimate series, I've become extremely interested in Fantastic Four. However, as my experience with trying to read The Amazing Spider-Man from the very beginning tells me, it's quite the feat to read all of that! Partially from the horrendous slang (and Harry Osborn with a Fu Manchu), but just because there's so much of it, and I find myself with little time. So where should I start reading from? I'm already fairly familiar with the actions of the team over the years, but would like to skip as many atomic soviet monkeys as possible, and get to the meat.

Fantastic Four is one of those comics, in my opinion, that you actually have to start with the original Lee/Kirby run. It's where the series is developed and where you get to see the evolution of Doctor Doom, as well as Galactus for the first time.

You know what I'd do, just wait untill the current story is done with, then jump right in. Honestly, comics aren't nearly as impenitrable as people like to say. SO just wait for #589 in March and get in there. In the mean time I suppose you read some of the trade paperbacks. I can't really help you there since I am not really a big fan of the FF.

At least read the first few Essentials collections to get a firm grip on the characters and their tone.

I'd start with the begining of hickmans run, it's only really just started and I don't think it'll be that hard to find, but yeah as long as you don't jump in during the middle of a story arc I don't see you having any problems.

I'd start with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's run. Many consider it to be their best work. I'm in the same boat you are, and that's what I'm gonna do.