Mister Fantastic in the MC2

 

By now Marvel Studios’ The Fantastic Four: First Steps has been in cinema for a while, and I want to finish my quartet of posts delving into the MC2 Universe’s own founding members of the Fantastic Four …. or the Fantastic Five, as they became in this world. For today, let’s look at the big brain of the Fantastic Four, the most flexible and elastic Reed Richards aka Mister Fantastic in the MC2.

 

All four core members of Marvel’s First Family debuted in Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s 1961 title Fantastic Four #1, launching the very Marvel Universe itself as we know it today by depicting the fateful space launch which gave this famous four their powers.  

 

 

Unlike  Johnny Storm and Benjamin Grimm, or even Susan Richards, Reed’s first MC2 appearance is less straightforward. There is a cameo of the team in What If #105 which includes a shot of the H.E.R.B.I.E.-like Big Brain robot which Reed pilots remotely from the Negative Zone. Big Brain makes his full debut in Spider-Girl #3 but we don’t physically glimpse Richards himself until Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #1 where we see Reed in flashbacks, before the dénouement of the issue reveals his hand…

 

Approximately five or so years prior to the events of Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #1, the Fantastic Four prepared to battle Hyperstorm, a cosmically powered warlord from an alternate future who had built a doomsday weapon in the Negative Zone (Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #4, Spider-Girl #87). Franklin engaged Hyperstorm in a 'mind-war' on every plane of existence which ultimately left Hyperstorm comatose and apparently stripped Franklin of much of his god-like power (Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #4).

 

 Unfortunately, the doomsday device had already begun to tear a hole in the fabric of reality. When Reed Richards was forced to overload the device to stop it, Susan Richards attempted to shield him from the radiation with her force field. Caught in the blast radius, half of Reed's body was left in a melted and deformed state. With the reality rip still widening, Susan used her powers to hold the tear in place, with the strain leaving her in a coma and she was placed in suspended animation.

 

In the wake of the tragedy, The Fantastistation was built in the Negative Zone around the tear in reality. This allowed Reed to keep Sue company while she remained in suspended animation as he worked to slowly repair the hole in the fabric of reality (Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #4, Spider-Girl #87). Over the next few months, while the Fantastic Four remained in seclusion, rumours and speculation spread about the fate of Susan Richards despite the team never releasing details to the public. Reed developed the Big Brain robot to allow him to remain on the team by remotely controlling it from the Negative Zone (Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #1).

 

It's not until Spider-Girl #87 that things change, with the cosmically empowered Apox the Omega Skrull heading into the Negative Zone to exact revenge on members of the Fantastic Five. During the battle, Reed Richards conceives a method to utilize Apox’s power cosmic to seal the tear in reality and in doing so, heal himself and allow Susan to awaken from her coma (Spider-Girl #88). Finally, a happy ending for the Fantastic Family.

 

While the couple do get some alone time on a vacation to another galaxy, it wouldn’t be long before they were drawn back into another universe-ending threat, this time orchestrated by devourer of worlds Galactus. But that’s a story for another time.

 

Until I find a way to stretch myself even thinner to reach my goals, I remain

 

frogoat

The Invisible Woman in the MC2

 

Marvel Studios has released The Fantastic Four: First Steps in cinema, and I’m inspired to continue delving into the MC2 Universe’s own founding members of the Fantastic Four …. or the Fantastic Five, as they became in this world. For today, let’s look at the most powerful member of the Fantastic Four, the heart of the team herself Susan Storm-Richards aka The Invisible Woman in the MC2.

 

All four core members of Marvel’s First Family debuted in Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s 1961 title Fantastic Four #1, launching the very Marvel Universe itself as we know it today by depicting the fateful space launch which gave this famous four their powers.  

 

Unlike her brother Johnny Storm and Benjamin Grimm, Susan Richards didn’t make a cameo appearance in the pages of What If #105 where we saw a cameo appearance of the MC2’s Fantastic Five. It’s not until Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #1 where we see Susan, albeit only in flashbacks, the most relevant being our first glimpse to a crucial event in Sue’s history…

 

Approximately five or so years prior to the events of Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #1, the Fantastic Four prepared to battle Hyperstorm, a cosmically powered warlord from an alternate future who had built a doomsday weapon in the Negative Zone (Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #4, Spider-Girl #87). Franklin engaged Hyperstorm in a 'mind-war' on every plane of existence which ultimately left Hyperstorm comatose and apparently stripped Franklin of much of his god-like power (Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #4).

 

 Unfortunately, the doomsday device had already begun to tear a hole in the fabric of reality. When Reed Richards was forced to overload the device to stop it, Susan Richards attempted to shield him from the radiation with her force field. Caught in the blast radius, half of Reed's body was left in a melted and deformed state. With the reality rip still widening, Susan used her powers to hold the tear in place, with the strain leaving her in a coma and she was placed in suspended animation.

 

 

In the wake of the tragedy, The Fantastistation was built in the Negative Zone around the tear in reality. This allowed Reed to keep Sue company while she remained in suspended animation as he worked to slowly repair the hole in the fabric of reality (Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #4, Spider-Girl #87). Over the next few months, while the Fantastic Four remained in seclusion, rumours and speculation spread about the fate of Susan Richards despite the team never releasing details to the public. Reed developed the Big Brain robot to allow him to remain on the team by remotely controlling it from the Negative Zone (Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #1).

 

It's not until Spider-Girl #87 that things change, with the cosmically empowered Apox the Omega Skrull heading into the Negative Zone to exact revenge on members of the Fantastic Five. During the battle, Reed Richards conceives a method to utilize Apox’s power cosmic to seal the tear in reality and in doing so, heal himself and allow Susan to awaken from her coma (Spider-Girl #88). Finally, a happy ending for the Fantastic Family!

 

After all that, it’s nice to end on a positive note especially because it speaks to the hopeful outlook of the MC2 overall. I’m enjoying these briefer posts and they leave space to explore more in the future.

 

Until I get to wear a see-through costume without controversy, I remain

 

frogoat

 

The Thing in the MC2

 

Marvel Studios’ has released The Fantastic Four: First Steps in cinema, and I’m inspired to keep delving into the MC2 Universe’s own founding members of the Fantastic Four …. or the Fantastic Five, as they are now known in this world. For today, let’s look at Aunt Petunia’s ever-lovin’ baby blue-eyed Ben Grimm aka The Thing in the MC2.

 

All four core members of Marvel’s First Family debuted in Stan Lee and Jack Kirby’s 1961 title Fantastic Four #1, launching the very Marvel Universe itself as we know it today by depicting the fateful space launch which gave this famous four their powers.  Poor Ben got the rough end of the deal, being permanently rendered rocky in appearance.

 

Just like Johnny Storm, Benjamin Grimm made his first appearance within the MC2 in the story which launched a new universe in the pages of What If #105. While it’s only a cameo appearance, it does give us our first glimpse of the MC2’s Fantastic Five and we see that Ben’s left side is now metallic.

 

It’s not long until the Fantastic Five make their full debut in the pages of Spider-Girl #3 battling Spyral. We learn Johnny now leads this new team comprised of Reed Richards aka Big Brain, Franklin Richards aka Psi-Lord, Lyja Storm aka Ms. Fantastic and , of course Ben Grimm aka The Thing.

 

   

Here’s the MC2-specific events in The Thing’s past. While we don't know the exact point at which the history of the Main Marvel Universe Fantastic Four stops being the same as that of the MC2 Fantastic Four/Five, we do know a few things about the team’s history. While it's unclear exactly when, Ben Grimm and Sharon Ventura married and had twins named Alyce and Jacob Grimm (Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #1, #3, #5).

 

During a battle with the villainous Terrax, Ben Grimm aka The Thing had the rock-like hide torn from much of the left side of his body by a miniature black hole. Reed Richards created bionic armour to cover the exposed tissue but explained it could take years to regenerate his missing hide. As a side effect of his bionics in situ, it would be impossible for Ben to revert to his human form (Fantastic Five Vol. 2 #1- #2).

*I think I should point out the slight continuity error in the flashback above: Other flashbacks depicting events occurring after the one above clearly show the team wearing F4 uniforms and operating under the name Fantastic Four. Likely, the F5 uniforms are a simple oversight or artistic error*

 

Approximately five or so years prior to the events of Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #1, the Fantastic Four prepared to battle Hyperstorm, a cosmically powered warlord from an alternate future who had built a doomsday weapon in the Negative Zone (Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #4, Spider-Girl #87). Lyja was pregnant at this time and did not join the team on their mission, meanwhile Sharon and Ben argued about Ben remaining behind with their twins, though Ben insisted he had to go for everyone’s sake (Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #4). Franklin engaged Hyperstorm in a 'mind-war' on every plane of existence which ultimately left Hyperstorm comatose and apparently stripped Franklin of much of his god-like power (Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #4).

 Unfortunately, the doomsday device had already begun to tear a hole in the fabric of reality. When Reed Richards was forced to overload the device to stop it, Susan Richards attempted to shield him from the radiation with her force field. Caught in the blast radius, half of Reed's body was left in a melted and deformed state. With the reality rip still widening, Susan used her powers to hold the tear in place, with the strain leaving her in a coma and she was placed in suspended animation.

 

In the wake of the tragedy, The Fantastistation was built in the Negative Zone around the tear in reality. This allowed Reed to keep Sue company while she remained in suspended animation as he worked to slowly repair the hole in the fabric of reality (Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #4, Spider-Girl #87). Over the next few months, while the Fantastic Four remained in seclusion, rumours and speculation spread about the fate of Susan Richards despite the team never releasing details to the public. Reed developed the Big Brain robot to allow him to remain on the team by remotely controlling it from the Negative Zone (Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #1).

 

The team formally changed their charter, membership and name, finally re-branding themselves as the Fantastic Five, with John Storm aka The Human Torch leading the team of Ms. Fantastic aka his wife Lyja Storm; Ben Grimm aka The Thing; Reed Richards as Big Brain and Franklin Richards now known as Psi-Lord (Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #1, Fantastic Five Vol. 2 #1).

 

It's not stated exactly when it occurred, but prior to the present day, Ben and Sharon divorced and Ben hadn’t seen the twins Alyce and Jacob for some months (Fantastic Five Vol. 1 #2 - #3). It’s a difficult position in which Ben Grimm finds himself in but he takes it on and keeps going as always.

 

Until I find myself between a rock and hard place like Ben Grimm, I remain

 

frogoat