H.E.R.B.I.E. in the MC2

 

There’s this highly-anticipated movie on the horizon called Fantastic Four: First Steps from Marvel Studios. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? One of the aspects unique to this big-screen theatrical adaption of Marvel’s First Family is the debut of the robotic companion H.E.R.B.I.E. So, let’s look at the history of H.E.R.B.I.E. in the MC2.

 

H.E.R.B.I.E.’s origins lie outside the comics, having been conceived by Stan Lee for 1978’s The New Fantastic Four animated series as a replacement fourth member of the team when the Human Torch was unavailable for use due to a planned but never realized solo film. Fantastic Four co-creator and comic book legend Jack Kirby provided the design for the character.

H.E.R.B.I.E. or ‘Herbie’ was soon after introduced into the comics, making his (‘its’?) first appearance in the pages of Fantastic Four #209 by Marv Wolfman and John Byrne in 1979. Built by Reed Richards (and Master Xar of Xandar), it is revealed the animated series itself exists in-universe as a licenced product and that Reed offered the design to the producers as a replacement for Johnny Storm aka The Human Torch who was out of town that day and unable to sign a contract. According to Richards, H.E.R.B.I.E. stands for Humanoid Experimental Robotic B-Type Integrated Electronics.

Let us hop on over to the MC2 Universe now, where what appears to be a version of H.E.R.B.I.E. makes a cameo appearance as a member of the Fantastic Five in What If #105. But is this really H.E.R.B.I.E.? When we next see the Fantastic Five in Spider-Girl #3, we learn the public story that Reed Richards body was mangled in an accident, leading him to use a robotic form resembling H.E.R.B.I.E. albeit under the codename ‘Big Brain’.

 

We learn more of the mystery surrounding Reed’s accident in Fantastic Five (vol. 1) #1 when the Big Brain robot is destroyed. Soon after we see flashbacks to a battle in the Negative Zone about 5 years beforehand between the Fantastic Four and the villainous Hyperstorm. In the aftermath of this battle, a 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 rip in reality still widening, Susan used her powers to hold the tear in place, with the strain leaving her in a coma, forcing the misshapen Reed to place her suspended animation (Fantastic Five (vol. 1) #4).

 

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).

 

With the destruction of the previous Big Brain robot in Fantastic Five (vol. 1) #1, Reed begins using a new model with a more humanlike shell, marking the last time we’d see the H.E.R.B.I.E. design utilized in the MC2.

 

Until I decide to put my brain in a robot to spend more time with my wife, I remain

 

frogoat

Benjy's Real First Appearance

Hey, really quick: remember when J.J. Abrams and his son Henry Abrams launched a new Spider-Man title that surprised everyone by being set in an alternate universe that introduced Peter Parker’s son, Benjamin ‘Benny’ Parker II? Remember how it caused the comic collectors market to suddenly drive up the value of Spider-Girl #59 because it was tangentially related by having also introduced Peter Parker’s son Benjamin ‘Benny/Benjy’ Parker II, our beloved Li’l Benjy of the MC2?

 

Well, what if I told you they got it wrong? I mean, obviously these two Ben’s are very different characters from completely different alternate realities. But what if I told you Spider-Girl #59 isn’t even Benjy’s real first appearance? That’s right, I’m going to be nit-picky here.

You see, Benjy actually makes his first appearance on-panel in Spider-Girl #57, two issues prior to his credited first appearance. Here, Mary Jane Parker and May ‘Mayday’ Parker pay a visit to the Fantastic Five Building for a prenatal check-up with the team’s Big Brain aka Reed Richards.

It’s here we see a full-term Ben shortly before his birth via Richards’ high-tech ‘diagnostagram’. It’s also here that Mayday get’s her first glimpse of her baby brother, which is a nice when you remember she will miss his birth in Spider-Girl #59. It’s also May who suggests to her mother Mary Jane the name Ben for her as-yet-unnamed brother.

 

Hope you’ve learned something today, and remember the value of a comic is what you get out of it, not how much money it makes in the collector’s market.

 

Until I stop revisiting my favourite series just to ruin things for collectors by picking nits, I remain

 

frogoat