Invisible Woman

Origin

Sue Storm and her younger brother Johnny had a pretty normal and happy childhood until their mother died in a car accident. Their father, Dr. Franklin Storm who was a famous and talented surgeon, could not save her life. Unfortunately, Franklin was unable to cope with the loss. As a result he became an alcoholic and a gambler. He got into a scuffle with a loan shark and accidentally killed him, and was later charged with murder, sending him to jail. Sue visited him in jail but her father asked her not to visit anymore and to tell Johnny that he was dead. He felt ashamed of his actions and believed he was not worthy of his children. At this point Sue was forced to become both mother and sister to Johnny. Caring for her brother throughout most their childhood caused Sue to mature far earlier than most children her age. Eventually, the Storm siblings moved in with their aunt who owned a boarding house, and it was there she met the man who would shape her life. Sue met and fell for Reed Richards, a tenant of her aunt’s boarding house. Richards was a genius and a brilliant scientist. He was attending Columbia University at the time.

Many years passed before Sue and Reed finally crossed paths again. In an attempt to become an actress, young Susan went to California to pursue acting and met up with Reed once again. Reed was taken by the woman Susan had become and shortly afterward they began dating.

Around this time, Reed was trying to accomplish his lifelong dream of building a spaceship, which he funded with his own money along with government grants. The government threatened to cut off funding as it was tiring of what they considered to be Reed’s overly fastidious preparations. Desperate to try out the ship, Reed took his best friend and test pilot Ben Grimm, Sue, and Johnny on an unauthorized trip into outer space. They had all helped in the design, but the ship did not have adequate shielding and they were bombarded by cosmic rays. The ship was forced back into Earth’s atmosphere and crashed-landed. The four discovered that the cosmic rays had mutated them and given them superhuman abilities. They decided to use their powers to fight evil and became the Fantastic Four. Their first adventure was against the Mole Man and his monster allies.

Creation

Sue Storm was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. She first appeared in Fantastic Four #1 in November 1961 as a founding member of the Fantastic Four, Marvel’s first superhero team. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created the Fantastic Four after seeing what a success their main competitor DC Comics’ superhero team comic book ” Justice League of America” was. It has also been rumored that Stan Lee got his inspiration to create the Fantastic Four from DC Comic’s Sea Devils team. If this is true, then Susan Storm was originally Marvel Comic’s counterpart to Judy Walton of the Sea Devils. Due to the success of the Fantastic Four, DC Comics produced its own version of the Marvel team (called Challengers of the Unknown.) Thus a character such as June Robbins could be said to be based on Sue Storm (or alternately a DC character based on a Marvel character that was based on a DC character.)

Character Evolution

Silver Age

In the 1960s the silver age represented a significant step forward in the presentation and tone of comic books. While at DC the silver age had been introduced in the early 1960s with a more science-fiction based approach to some of its main characters ( the Flash, Hawkman, Green Lantern) at Marvel the silver age was started anew as the company rose to prominence under Stan Lee. Thus Sue Storm alongside her teammates on the Fantastic Four served as one of the most prominent examples of silver age characters – those based more around the concepts of science as opposed to mysticism. Correspondingly early Fantastic Four stories features many elements such as space travel or miniaturization to new worlds. This aspect of the characters and the team has stayed with them throughout the majority of their appearances since.

During the early days of the Fantastic Four, Sue’s role was portrayed generally as somewhat maternal to her teammates. Team leader Reed was the scientist who was always busy in his lab. Team powerhouse Ben Grimm was lonely and depressed over his physical appearance and Johnny Storm acted like an the quintessential rebellious teenager – irresponsible and reckless. In the light of these patterns of behaviour Sue was often presented as a female voice of reason and one that sought to more closely knit the team together. In one variation or another she had continued to maintain this same relationship throughout her many years of publication history with the team (with some periods with notable exceptions.)

As Sue was a character that represented a step forward from the golden age of comics to the silver age, the depiction of the character still remained a changing one as the depiction of women gradually changed in comics. In the late golden age publishers in general had difficulty maintaining interest in superhero themed titles as even such stalwart characters in the industry such as Superman and Batman had difficulties maintaining consistent sales. As this applied to female characters is that they were either outright ignored or that they were given a romantic role in comics (this being the case with Lois Lane and Wonder Woman.) At the time in comics one of the more consistent mediums was that of the romance comic which was ostensibly aimed towards women (and for instance one of Marvel’s longest running characters was Millie the Model, a rare case of a golden age success story for the company.) Although the silver age represented a break from this past, female characters still carried the legacy of this depiction of women forward. At DC Comics this was maintained through most male heroes having a female love interest who was essentially there to serve in the damsel-in-distress role (such roles were played by for instance – Iris Allen, Carol Ferris, Lana Lang and Lois Lane.) As an industry standard thus Sue’s early appearances had this as a consistent attribute among them.

Thus for instance although Sue’s powers would later come to be considered quite powerful her powers (mainly turning only herself invisible) were almost useless on the battlefield and she was frequently portrayed as the helpless female constantly in need of rescue.

This trend was well established in the early days as follows:

• Fantastic Four #1 – The legendary cover that began the Marvel Age of Comics had the Invisible Girl a captive of Mole Man’s giant green monster friend called Giganto….
• Fantastic Four #3 – Miracle Man became the first foe to kidnap the Invisible Girl. He put her into a trance and commanded her to summon her partners. Then when he was unable to defeat the three men, he still ran away with Sue. …
• Fantastic Four #4 – The Invisible Girl’s first hostage cover, as Sue was captured by the Sub-Mariner.
• Fantastic Four #5 – Dr. Doom held Sue hostage to force the others to go back in time.
• Fantastic Four #8 – held hostage by the Puppet Master and thanks in large part to a controlled Thing who refused to help Sue escape the Puppet Master’s gas attack.
• Fantastic Four #13 – hostage of the Red Ghost and his apes.
• Fantastic Four #14 – hostage of Sub-Mariner.
• Fantastic Four #19 – Sue not only was a hostage of Rama-Tut, aka Kang, but he also sprayed her with a ray gun that took away Sue’s will, as he fully intended to force her to be his bride.
• Fantastic Four Annual #1 – yet again Sue was held hostage by Sub-Mariner and when Lady Dorma saw how Namor loved Sue, she angrily shouted, “You shall not come between us surface girl!! I’ll destroy you first!” Dorma next broke the glass in an attempt to drown Sue Storm, whose hands were helplessly tied behind her back. She tried to swim away from a smiling Lady Dorma, but couldn’t get far as long strands of kelp had tightly wrapped Sue Storm up at the bottom of the sea. If a fighting Ben and Namor had not seen Sue by sheer chance, Lady Dorma would have drowned the Invisible Girl!
• Fantastic Four#27 – The Sub-Mariner used sleep gas to once again make a hostage of the Invisible Girl for a fourth time, as he just refused to give up on his love for Sue Storm.
• Fantastic Four #28 – This issue was a real surprise as the X-Men attacked the Fantastic Four and they took Sue Storm hostage. They did all this while they were under the control of the Puppet Master.
• FF #31 – Sue was held hostage by Mole Man and as a result the FF managed to convince Thor and the Avengers to hold off taking any action against Mole Man for 24 hours.
• Fantastic Four #38 – Sue was brilliantly captured by Madam Medusa and abducted by the Frightful Four to an isolated Pacific Island. This was the most famous of all of Sue’s captures, as it led to the FF’s first real defeat and a loss of their powers for the next 1 and 3/4 issues.FF #44 – the cliffhanger ending had Dragon Man kidnap Sue and fly away with her, as Sue pleaded for Reed to help her. Following FF #44, the frequency of Sue’s hostage/victim roles began to decrease. There were not any more real hostage roles for Sue for the rest of the Silver Age in the pages of the Fantastic Four comic, though Klaw tried to take her hostage in FF #56 and Sandman briefly seized her in FF #57, in an attempt to stop Mr. Fantastic from interfering with his invasion of the Baxter Building. However, somehow concurrent with FF #70-71, Sue found the time to be captured by the Trapster in the pages of Daredevil #35-36. Here Trapster came very close to finishing Sue off, as he had set a powerful explosive device to go off, as soon as anyone were to enter her room to try and free her from his paste trap. Daredevil was able to snare the bomb and throw it out the window, just before it exploded.

While this remained a characteristic of her portrayal it became less and less of a defining attribute of the stories in which she was involved even if this tendency to be portrayed as helpless still showed up periodically. Looking at the Bronze Age era, for any lovers of 1950’s monster films, FF #124- #125 gave us an Invisible Girl as a captive of the Monster/Creature From the Lost Lagoon. (reference Julie Adams in the 1954 classic, “The Creature From the Black Lagoon”). FF #134 had Sue and little Franklin both kidnapped by Dragon Man at the direction of Gideon. FF #171 gave us another storyline that seems to have been loosely based upon a Hollywood film. Here a giant yellow ape named Gorr seized Sue and took her to the top of the Baxter Building. This scene was extremely reminiscent of King Kong at the top of the Empire State Building with lovely blonde actress Naomi Watts, aka Ann Darrow. While these appear to be the only hostage roles for Sue during the Bronze Age, several issues certainly qualify as an example of victim roles, especially in regards to her relationship with Mr. Fantastic. The prime example of this would be FF #115-116. Here Sue’s husband was under the control of the Overmind. FF #115 had Reed Richards brutally seize Sue’s wrist, forcing both the Human Torch and the Thing to come to her aid.

However, things got much worse in FF #116. There not only did Mr. Fantastic attack her, but he tried to kill Sue and he almost succeeded in choking her to death. Then you had FF #222 where Reed Richards slapped his wife for the first time. Lest we forget, the cliffhanger ending to FF #105 had Sue facing grave danger from the Monster in the streets. Yet when the Torch went to Reed to plead for him to save Sue, he is shown as hesitating and he cannot decide whether to sacrifice the life of his friend, Ben Grimm, or that of his wife, Sue Storm Richards. Finally, there was the marital separation which lasted from the end of FF #130 to the end of FF #149.

It should be pointed out that the Frightful Four made a hostage of Sue two more times in later years:

• The second time was in Fantastic Four: The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine #9 of 12. This issue had a great cliffhanger ending, as Sue was bonded by the Trapster’s paste and left alone with the Frightful Four, while her teammates were trapped in the Negative Zone.
• The third time was in Fantastic Four #547-548. This event was quite brutal for Sue, as the Wizard viciously backhanded her face in an effort to make her admit he was superior to her husband, Mr. Fantastic. Nevertheless, Sue showed considerable courage and refused to say the Wizard was superior to Reed Richards.

On a more positive note, her common sense was often of great use to the team. After having her invisibility power for just a few adventures her powers developed even further and she discovered that she could turn other objects invisible as well. Next she discovered she had the power to generate invisible force fields which she used almost exclusively for defensive purposes until she later thought of other offensive and transportation uses for them.

Before leaving the Silver Age era, special mention should be made of perhaps the most dramatic story for Susan during the early years. FF #32 showed her father, Dr. Franklin Storm, sacrificing his life to save the lives of Susan and her teammates. A tearful Sue and her brother, Johnny Storm, were by his bedside when he died.

Bronze Age

The changing attitude of society at large meant that Sue gradually became less and less of a passive, motherly character and became more assertive. The greatest changes in this regard were made during John Byrne’s run on Fantastic Four starting in 1981. During this period, Sue suffered a miscarriage and changed her codename to the more mature ‘Invisible Woman’ (from Invisible Girl). Her powers also became more varied and versatile in combat.

Possibly the most dramatic storyline of the Bronze Age was FF #147- #149. Reed and Sue were having major marital problems. Sue had left Reed and the FF at the close of issue #130. Her feelings of estrangement from Reed were only reinforced when Reed’s gun put Franklin into a coma-like state at the end of FF #141. Namor faked what looked like a real effort to win Sue away from Reed, in an attempt to actually anger Reed and save Sue’s marriage. This did cause a big fight between Reed and Namor and forced Sue to eventually choose a reconciliation with Reed. It took a few more issues for Sue to return to the team and for Medusa to leave, but FF #149 stands out as a real key issue in the annals of FF history. It was Sue’s desertion of Reed and her general attitude during the FF #130’s and 140’s, that angered one fan so much that she wrote a letter to the FF Fan Page in FF #152. The fan urged the FF Bullpen to kill Sue off! The editorial staff even implied that a few other fans had also called for Sue’s demise, though apparently more called for Reed and Sue to divorce. The FF Bullpen conceded that they needed to find a way to make Sue think again.

Another stunning storyline of the Bronze Age was when Reed went into the Negative Zone, but got replaced by his evil counterpart, Reed Richards from Counter-Earth, aka The Brute. Sue gradually became suspicious of this fake Reed and at the end of FF #182 they had a confrontation and he transformed from Reed into The Brute. Sue’s force field was no match for the strength of the Brute, however. After a series of blows, one final hit finished the force field and knocked the Invisible Girl unconscious. Then in the possibly the scariest Sue Storm cliffhanger ending ever, the Brute threw her out of a Baxter Building window then she plummeted 30-stories.

The Bronze Age issues that defined her character’s heroic nature and redefined her power levels were:

• Fantastic Four #245 when Sue fought alone for the life of her son
• Issue #266 which introduced a new female foe, Karisma, who hypnotized the Thing and then forced him to fight Sue with all his might.

Modern Age

Sue has continued to grow and develop as a character, becoming a central figure in the Marvel Universe alongside Reed Richards. Sue even became team leader of the Fantastic Four in Reed’s absence, when it looked like Dr. Doom and Reed had both been vaporized. There seems little doubt but what Sue’s character has changed more from the Silver Age to the Modern Age than any other character in the Marvel Universe.

Romantic Relationships

After the marriage of Sue and Reed, in the third annual of the series, their relationship signified a break from the traditional depiction of comic book marriages. Generally marriage in comics had represented that the hero would have to go into semi-retirement, however in the case of Reed and Sue it made them all the more dedicated to their team. Thus in terms of a comic relationship theirs has been remarkable consistent over the course of their publication history, the few bumps being created for some dramatic stunts to elicit interest in the series more so than to signify a parting of ways.

Despite being married Sue is nonetheless the constant source of affection of a number of other characters in the Marvel Universe, chiefly among them Namor (this despite the fact that Namor was for a time one of Reed’s closest friends and advisers.) This role as romantic interest of other characters ties back into her root to the damsel-in-distress role which she played in her earliest appearances. In some cases in alternate realities these romantic roles (notably with Namor) have been expanded upon. The Sub-Mariner has, in the past, kidnapped Sue many times. He would take her to his sea kingdom. Sometimes, he would challenge Reed to a fight and the winner would have the Invisible Woman. Most of the times she was kidnapped, Mr. Fantastic got mad, since he always loved Sue (since the very first issue actually) and would even threat to kill Namor, but Johnny and Ben would calm him down and help Reed rescue the woman he always loved.

Major Story Arcs

In terms of story arcs, the early Fantastic Four issues were marred by the same problems across the remainder of early silver age series, namely that stories were generally aimed at being self-contained within a single issue (so there were generally no overlapping stories) and the stories focused more on the action and adventure and not so much on the characters. As with many characters thus the early years of the Fantastic Four contained characters that were far more one-dimensional than there modern counterparts. It should be pointed out that the development of certain characters such as Sue Storm over the years greatly helped to break this trend and to focus more on who the characters are as opposed to only focusing on what they do. This became increasingly less the case throughout the silver age.

Thus as the earliest examples of the series attest to, there were not exactly story arcs within the series nor as they pertained to the character. Rather there were recurring themes (both for the characters individually and the team as a whole) which underlay individual issues and stories.

Courtship and Marriage

Shortly after the Fantastic Four first assembled, the derelict Prince of Atlantis, Namor regained his memories after a chance encounter with the Human Torch. Johnny recognized the homeless man as Namor and dropped him into a body of water where Namor regained his memories and remembered who he was. Namor immediately returned to Atlantis and found it destroyed. Believing the surface-dwellers were the cause of Atlantis’ destruction he went on a rampage. He stopped only when he saw Susan and marveled at how lovely she was. This created an attraction between the two, which ended up causing Susan to have to make a difficult decision. She had to decide whether she wanted to marry Reed or attempt to have a life with Namor. This made her very distraught, but in the end she chose to marry Reed, wanting to be a wife more than a Queen. Even though she had rejected him, Namor has harbored a love and strong attraction for the lovely surface-dweller ever since. Since then Susan has always viewed Namor as a close friend, although she too holds an attraction for him. Sue and Reed’s wedding was not without event though as several villains hired by Dr Doom take the opportunity to attack them.

First Pregnancy

Shortly, after marrying Reed, Sue became pregnant with Franklin and took a maternity leave from the team, where Crystal, the then Inhuman girlfriend of the Human Torch, took Sue’s place. Sue’s pregnancy was riddled with difficulty from the beginning. Due to her exposure to cosmic rays, Sue’s body was unable to handle the pregnancy properly which put the lives of both mother and child in danger.

To save both her and her unborn child, the Fantastic Four entered the Negative Zone to obtain the Cosmic Control Rod of Annihilus. After a long and strenuous battle against the ruler of the Negative Zone, the Fantastic Four made it back to earth where they used the Cosmic Control Rod to facilitate Sue giving birth. Sue’s and Reed’s son was born and was named after Sue’s father, who had saved both her life and the team’s life on two separate occasions in their superhero career. In Reed’s memory, their first child was named Franklin Benjamin Richards.

Franklin also manifested strong powers at an early age. Annihilus returned and captured Franklin, wanting to amplify his powers and use them for his own ends. Reed had to restrain Franklin’s superhuman abilities, fearing that his son’s awesome powers might cause mass destruction. Reed shut down Franklin’s mind which infuriated Sue. Feeling that Reed didn’t view her as his equal, she took Franklin and left him. Sue was on a second hiatus because of this, and Medusa took her place on the team. Sue soon returned after Namor helped the team with a plan to reconcile Reed and Sue. The Atlantean Ruler only wanted Sue’s happiness because of his love for her. The plan worked and Sue came back to the team, and back to Reed.

Second Pregnancy

Sue and Reed went to The Negative Zone for a holiday and while there conceived another child. Sue then convinced Reed to move to Connecticut and they both used a second last name, the Benjamins. Sue’s second pregnancy was even more difficult than the first. It was soon discovered that her blood cells were giving off a radiation that was greatly weakening both mother and child. Admitting that he did not know enough about the field to save his wife and daughter, Reed sought the help of some of the best minds and doctors in the world, including Morbius and Bruce Banner. When none could help Sue, Reed swallowed his pride and asked for help from Doctor Octopus due to his exceptional research in the field. Alas, it was not meant to be, Sue eventually lost the child causing a great emotional strain on her.

Malice: Mistress of Hate

Because of Sue’s loss, and her easily susceptible emotions, Psycho-Man decided to take advantage of the situation. He amplified her negative emotions which resulted in her transformation into Malice, The Mistress of Hate. She turned on the FF and almost single-handedly defeated the team. But Reed theorized that if he could get Susan to feel true hatred for a few seconds, it would alert her to what was really going on. Putting the plan into motion, Reed managed to use Sue’s true emotions to snap her back to reality, where Susan immediately realized someone had tampered with her emotions. Sue was freed for a time, but that would not be her last encounter with the Psycho-Man. It should be noted here that after goading Sue for a moment or two, Reed resorted to violence. He gave Sue Storm a brutal slap across the face! (reference FF #281) A few posters on various websites have complained about him hitting his wife, though not in very large numbers. Whether or not Reed’s slap of his wife was justified, under the extreme circumstances given, is up to each person to decide on their own. For the record, this was not the first time that Reed had hit Sue. He also slapped her in FF #222, though the panel there was a very small one and did not stand out as much as the slap in FF #281. It would seem that while Reed’s goading was important, it was his stinging slap that finally broke Psycho-Man’s hold on the emotionally captive Invisible Girl.

Sue poured her heart out to Reed and the rest of the team about the violation of her emotions and how none of them understood how she felt. The team then decided to postpone their search for the Beyonder (who had recently come back to Earth to help Sue deal with the mental strain and violation she suffered at the hands of her enemy).

After traveling to the micro-world that Psycho-Man hailed from, the team was ambushed by the Psycho-Man. FF #283’s title was “Torment” and that truly does describe what Psycho-Man did to Sue in said issue. He put Sue’s mind through one nightmare after another. First he showed her a scene where her brother, Johnny Storm, died in her arms. Then he showed her Ben dying in a lake of acid. Next came an unreal scene where Reed chastized her for being too slow to save Ben and Johnny, only to then have Reed be smashed to death by giant spikes. Last, but not least, Psycho-Man even showed Sue her parents as skeletons speaking to her. Finally, when Sue was on the brink of a complete emotional breakdown, Reed saw a crack in his prison and he squeezed himself through the crack and saved his wife. In Fantastic Four #284 they eventually broke free of Psycho-Man and Sue did the unthinkable, she used Psycho-Man’s own machine against him.

After that last confrontation with Psycho-Man, and feeling that she had been forced to mature and let go of the pains of her past, Sue changed her codename from the Invisible Girl to the Invisible Woman. At the same time she was learning the full extent of her powers. She realized she could create actual objects from the force-fields she manipulated to create her protective shield. From that point on, Sue would only become more powerful with her abilities.

Inferno

Sue left the FF once again to take care of Franklin. Both Sue and Reed worked with the Avengers for a while, rescuing Franklin from the demonic invasion of Inferno.

Infinity War

During the Infinity War, Magus, the evil persona of Adam Warlock, created an army of evil copies of Earth’s heroes. The evil Reed Richards detonated a gamma bomb at the Fantastic Four’s Baxter Building to attack a gathering of the real heroes of Earth. The Fantastic Four joined in with the Infinity War and Sue again encounters her own dark side, Malice, who was sent from the Dimension of Manifestations and controlled by Magus. Sue defeated and absorbed Malice, but this persona gradually asserted itself more and more in her mind. She was losing control over herself when her son Franklin intervened. Franklin had been sent to the Elsewhen dimension by Reed’s father Nathaniel and returned to the present, already aged into a teenager and calling himself Psi-Lord. Psi-Lord absorbed Malice’s life from Sue and returned to the future.

When Reed was apparently killed battling Dr Doom, Ant-Man took his place, appointed by Sue as the team’s new scientist. Sue finally found Reed, displaced in time by Hyperstorm, but he found himself unsettled by Sue’s new confidence and her capable handling of her role as team leader and began to doubt himself.

Onslaught

After Professor X wiped Magneto‘s mind for removing the adamantium from Wolverine‘s body, a massively powerful physical manifestation of Professor X’s dark side and Magneto’s consciousness called Onslaught appeared and battled the world’s heroes. The Fantastic Four and many other heroes sacrificed their lives to help defeat him, but Franklin had created another universe called the Counter-Earth and sent them there to save them. In this alternate world, the Fantastic Four started their lives over again, along with the Avengers.

Abraxas and Valeria

The FF returned to their original universe and met Valeria von Doom who claimed to be Doctor Doom‘s daughter from the future, with Sue being her mother. Valeria was the key to defeating Abraxas, whom Reed then banished, but an unexpected consequence of his defeat was that Valeria was drastically de-aged and returned to pre-birth in Sue’s womb. The team then learned that Franklin had sent his sister (the second child whom everyone thought Sue had lost at childbirth) to “someplace else” in order to save her from the fate that awaited her at birth. Sue once again suffered from an extremely difficult pregnancy, her cells giving off radiation which greatly weakened her.

To make matters worse, Sue went into labor during a period of rampant hysteria against the Inhumans who had returned to Earth and came to the Baxter Building. The building was infiltrated and Sue was forced to help protect her friends while also dealing with the immense stress and pain of going into labor. In an effort to his save his sister’s life, Johnny Storm sought out the help of the only other super-genius they knew since Reed was being helped captive by the Hidden Ones at this time. After some convincing, Dr Doom agreed to help in exchange for the right to name the child. Sue was reluctant but eventually accepted knowing her and her daughter’s life was in danger. Using magic and science Doom helped Sue give birth to a baby girl. Doom named her Valeria, after his first love. However, secretly Doom cast a spell on Valeria at birth, making her his magical familiar, and he carried out a devastating attack against the team.

During the encounter, Franklin was kidnapped by demons and Valeria kidnapped by Doom, which was obviously hard on Sue. To add to the injury, Doom captured the team and, using his magic, forced them to live painful versions of their teammates powers. Sue gained Johnny’s powers. In time, Reed with the help of Doctor Strange, saved the team and they then saved Valeria and Franklin from Doom’s grasp, vanquishing the supervillain in the process.

Reed claimed Latveria in hopes of helping the Latverians become more independent and uncovering the truth about their former ruler. He wanted to end the threat of Doom’s weapons. The people of Latveria eventually warm up to the group, although Sue along with the rest of the team, are a bit unnerved with Reed’s actions. Behind the scenes, Reed was secretly planning to travel alone to the dimension where Doom was trapped to make sure he never escaped. Unfortunately the other Fantastic Four members came with him Doom, allowing Doom to escape by possessing Sue. In a battle between the Fantastic Four, the UN (who were opposed to Reed’s takeover) and Dr Doom, Doom possesses Ben Grimm. Ben managed to break through Doom’s control long enough to ask Reed to kill him and he does so. Afterwards Sue was distraught at this event and left Reed. Reed avoided criminal charges by giving most of his money and inventions away. Reed wanted to make things right and convinced Johnny and Sue to go to the Heaven where Grimm’s soul had been sent and resurrected him. As a gift for all the work they had done for humanity, they were blessed with meeting the “One Above All” during that trip into Heaven.

Now the FF had a bad reputation and so briefly returned to living normal lives. Reed revealed that he wanted to become a working class citizen to see what if felt like to live a real life. Eventually though, they went back to being the Fantastic Four. Johnny took the job of being business manager for FF Inc. so Sue could show him responsibility.

Zius, and Sue as The Human Torch

A group of aliens came to Earth, led by a man named Zius. They had developed a cloaking device which hid planets from Galactus, thus saving them from being eaten by the World Devourer. At the same time they sought out anything or anyone who could disrupt the machine’s functions which eventually led them to Earth, knowing that Sue’s powers could be used reveal hidden things. Knowing that she would prove to be a liability, and that Galactus had caught onto their plan, they wanted to kill Sue, and threatened destroy Manhattan unless Sue was handed over to them. In desperation Reed created a machine which switched Sue’s powers with Johnny’s making it seem as if she had lost her powers. In reality Johnny now had Sue’s powers and she had Johnny’s. Zius was pleased and believed the ruse, leaving Earth, thinking that they were safe. Galactus then came to Earth seeking Susan to become his herald but he realized she didn’t have those powers anymore. Sensing them in Johnny, Galactus made Johnny became his herald and amplified his new abilities, giving him the power to see people’s personalities down to their deepest core.

Sue was forced to cope with her brother’s powers and realized that controlling them was none too easy. She gained a new respect for him during her time with his powers. At the same time the team worked desperately to get Johnny back. With Quasar’s help, they travel to where Galactus was. Following a plan concocted by Johnny and Reed, they managed to get Johnny back but not without consequences. Thanks to Johnny’s new powers, Galactus had been turned back into Galan, his original form, and he was brought back to Earth to be taught the ways of humans. Shortly afterwards, when Reed was ready to switch Sue and Johnny’s powers back to the appropriate person, the machine went haywire and the entire team was forced to play musical chairs with their powers, chasing after their powers all over the city. Eventually they once again got their original powers back.

Civil War

In the superhuman Civil War, Reed supported the Superhuman Registration Act. Sue’s views differed from Reeds, but she was willing to stand by her husband. However, Johnny and Sue are attacked when a rioting crowd outside a nightclub are furious that Johnny’s superhero status gives him easy access to the club and superiority over normal humans. The attack leaves Johnny in a coma. During one of the longer and most meaningful battles in the Civil War, against Captain America‘s Secret Avengers, Sue as well as the other heroes see a clone of Thor join the battle. This “clone Thor”, Ragnarok, kills Bill Foster and was ready to make quick work of the other heroes. Susan realized how deadly and corrupted the Pro-Registration side had become. Wanting to save her friends, Sue placed herself in between Ragnarok and the Secret Avengers while he performed one of his devastating lightning attacks, saving the life of Captain America and the other heroes. She tells them all to leave. Reed tries desperately to explain to her that he had nothing to do with Ragnarok, but Sue tells him not to speak and leaves. Shortly afterward, Johnny is released from the hospital and both he and Sue go to join the Secret Avengers. Before leaving, she leaves Reed a note to explain her actions and begs him to spend time with his children whom he’s neglected since the start of the struggle.

Towards the end of the Civil War, in the climactic battle, Sue decides to protect the innocent civilians while the other heroes fight. Taskmaster – one of the criminals hired by the pro-registrants to bring in the resistance – notices Sue and was ready to shoot her when Reed intervened and took a bullet for his wife. In anger and disgust, Sue manipulates her field into an offensive weapon and flattens the Taskmaster for harming her husband. Later on, Sue accepts amnesty and helps in the reconstruction of the New York street where the battle took place. After receiving a letter from Reed, she returns home.

At this time both Sue and Reed decide to pick up the pieces of their marriage. They take a break from the Fantastic Four. Storm fills in for Sue with her husband King T’Challa ( Black Panther) taking over from Reed.

The Second Honeymoon

Reed takes Sue to Titan, one of the moons of Saturn, as a means for them to have a honeymoon, since they never took one when they originally married. While there, Reed discovers a strange object and begins to examine it. Unfortunately he is unsure of it and he teleports back to Earth so other scientists can see and help him determine what it was. In doing so, however, he leaves Sue alone on the ship, where she is ambushed by the Frightful Four. Sue fights them off for as long as she can, however she is overcome by the Wizard’s new gun which emits a frequency wave that can pass through Sue’s force field. Sue is immediately knocked unconscious by the Wizard’s terrific new weapon. Wizard then calls Reed on the televiser and tells him, “I’m about to kill your wife! Come and get me, if you can.” Before it can land safely, Reed’s ship appears to explode…. The Wizard then places a power dampener on Sue, who is held prisoner on her own ship, in order to make her and everyone else recognize the Wizard as Reed’s superior. Sue refuses to acknowledge him as such, and he attacks her now that she’s subdued, slapping Sue brutally. Reed, along with Johnny, Ben, Storm, and Black Panther head for the ship to stop the Frightful Four and rescue Sue. Finally, Storm finds Sue and releases her from the special machine that neutralized Sue’s powers. In revenge, Sue threatens the Wizard with creating a force field around his heart. The Wizard, intimidated by the more powerful Sue, subsequently faints and the Frightful Four are then rocketed out into space on a smaller vessel. This Frightful Four saga is similar to her encounter with Psycho-Man. First, in each case Sue is held captive and put through an extreme ordeal. The Psycho-Man tale was totally emotional torment, while this Frightful Four saga gives Sue both emotional and physical trauma. The second similarity is that in each case we see a side of Sue Storm never shown back in the Silver Age. We see a Sue Storm overcome by vengeance, at least to some degree.

Secret Invasion

On a trip to Canada, Sue is ambushed by a Skrull taking Reed’s likeness and then taken up to a spaceship. Lyja Lazerfist then takes on Sue’s form and infiltrates the Baxter Building, opening a portal that sends the top three floors of the building into the Negative Zone and trapping her there with Ben, Johnny, Franklin and Valeria. Meanwhile the Skrulls continue their plans to infiltrate Earth by disguising themselves as various heroes. During the closing events of this Secret Invasion, Iron Man goes up to space to help destroy the Skrull armada, only to find and commandeer a ship that housed all the kidnapped heroes. Sue is found among them. Upon reaching the ground she is reunited with Reed and they take notice of the Baxter Building, rushing to make sure Franklin and Valeria, as well as Johnny and Ben are fine.

Nu World and the Death of the Invisible Woman

Reed’s old flame Alyssa Castle (nee Moy) comes back into his life and confides in him the secret of a ” Nu World” being built by her and her husband Ted in order to house the Earth’s population when the current world ends. A robot known as C.A.P., created to police this new world against crime, escapes and teleports to Earth in order to eliminate all threats, which in this case is Earth’s heroes. The heroes unite to try to defeat the machine, but Sue and the others are beaten. Reed eventually manages to stop it by building his own robotic suit called Anti-Galactus. Alyssa tells Reed she still loves him, but Reed says he really only loves Sue.

Sue and Reed travel back in time to celebrate their wedding anniversary at the restaurant near where they first met as adults. Sue comments to her husband about letting Alyssa down easily. He questions her on this but she laughs it off and tells him that she knew from the beginning. At that point they look out the window to see the younger versions of themselves cross each other’s path once more, as adults.

Sue then seeks out a babysitter for Franklin and Valeria and finds one in the form of Mrs. Tabitha Deneuve. Dr. Doom then arrives at the Baxter Building seeking for help only to be kidnapped by a new bunch of super powered individuals. This leaves everyone curious. Not long after, Alyssa Castle gets in contact with Sue about helping her expose her husband and his Nu World project. It turns out that the true purpose of Nu World was to house only the richest and brightest. Alyssa joked with Sue that she’s probably not Reed’s favorite person at the moment and would have felt stupid revealing this to Reed. Johnny is then kidnapped which really worries Sue. Soon after the Baxter Building is attacked from within. In a scramble to protect Valeria and Mrs. Tabitha (not knowing she was the one who orchestrated the attack) Sue tells Tabitha to follow her to safety. Tabitha tells Sue to put Valeria down. Sue realizes that Tabitha is behind the attack, but is defeated by her own power – a Force Field in the shape of a beam. Sue is knocked out and Mrs. Deneuve casually leaves. Valeria runs after her saying “No mom stop!” aware that Tabitha is in reality the future self of Sue.

In actuality, the super powered team that kidnapped Doom and Johnny were the New Defenders who had traveled to the present day Earth from their ruined future 500 years from now. They planned to construct a device called the Galactus Engine to bring billions of refugees back to our time to save them. Tabitha (the future version of Sue) led the team in their attack. Reed devises an ingenious plan to find the New Defenders. Theorizing that ‘Future Sue’ is the same as the current one he injects Susan with a tracker and they subsequently find their hideout. Galactus, Johnny and Doom’s powers power up the Galactus Engine, but instead of transporting the billions from the decrepit future into the past they are sent instead into Nu World (thanks to Sue and Alyssa’s plan to change the coordinates in the machine). Tabitha goes to free Doom and apologize, but Doom kills her for what she’s done. As a means to honor her, Susan and the rest of the Fantastic Four, hold a funeral in honor of Susan and the family moves on.

Future Foundation

After a future version of Franklin returns to the present on Franklin’s birthday and warns the Fantastic Four about an upcoming War of Four Cities, the team discover four lost civilizations. One of these is a lost realm of Old Atlantis in Lake Vostok under Antarctica. The people of this city appoint Sue as their ambassador, but when Sue returns with Namor to negotiate with them, things turn bad and Namor kills their King Ul-Uhar, leaving Sue to assume control as their Regent. After Johnny dies while sealing off the Negative Zone from the inside, the team re-forms as the Future Foundation, including the assembled individuals who now live at the Baxter Building. Sue welcomes Spider-Man as he comes to join the team. She explains the design of the new uniform to him, saying that the old one seemed wrong after losing Johnny and the black and white colors reflect the current situation in the world.

War of the Four Cities

When Valeria decides to go ahead with her plan to rectify her mistake of setting the Council of Reed Richards loose on our world, she enlists the help of Doctor Doom. Sue expresses her strongest concerns to Reed and threatens Doom if he does anything wrong, but she goes along with their plan to seek the help from Reed’s enemies: Mad Thinker, Wizard, High Evolutionary and Diablo. Sue goes with Bentley 23 to pick up the Wizard who is surprised that they managed to track him down. She then travels to Old Atlantis when she hears a warning through the spiral in her room at the Baxter Building.

Fall of the Fantastic Four

After defeating Fin Fang Foom, the team returns to the Baxter Building. That night, a swarm of creatures from a pocket dimension dreamed up by Franklin Richards, attacks NYC. The swarm requires the attention of every available hero in the city. After these events, the Fantastic Four are taken to court to answer for the damage they’ve done to the city and it’s inhabitants over the years. Franklin and the other children of the Future Foundation are taken from Susan and Reed who are deemed unfit to raise and provide for them. The Baxter Building is locked up, and Susan and Reed have no home left. Ben is taken into custody, and Johnny loses his powers and his record deal. In a state of emotional frustration, Susan lashes out at the Avengers, who are preventing their entrance into the Baxter Building. She is able to quickly and effectively take out the Avengers on her own, including heavy hitters, such as the Hulk and Thor. Jim Hammond arrives and talks Sue down. The Avengers do not retaliate, saying that they understand her situation. Sue and Reed leave and travel to Eden to “make the world a better place”. While Reed is busy with work, Susan sneaks into Camp Hammond and steals one of the Fantastic Four’s jets back.

Attack on Latveria

Sue flies the jet to Latveria where she seeks to retrieve her daughter, Valeria Richards. Valeria had previously decided to leave her parents and seek the company of her godfather, “Uncle” Victor von Doom, Monarch of Latveria. Valeria and Doom were working together to make the world a better place. Her positive influence on Doom is significant. Sue explains that she’s lost nearly everything that she held dear to her, and wants to bring Valeria back. Valeria comforts her mother, saying she is needed more in Latveria because of the importance of her work. Sue refuses to take take no for an answer, and her emotions as a mother seeking to protect her child take over. In a stunning display of power, Sue defeats and humiliates Doom and his Latverian forces. She uses her powers in unique ways to slip particles of her shield into Doom’s armor, and then removes it. One woman took on an entire nation, and won. But Valeria, now scared of her mother, declares that it must be Malice, once again, in possession of Sue’s body. Susan, looking at all the damage she’s caused, decides to leave Latveria, and her daughter.

Avengers & X-Men: AXIS

In the AXIS event, Sue is a part of the group of reinforcements sent to the Red Onslaught’s “Reeducation Camps” on the previously abandoned island-kingdom of Genosha. She, along with the others, battled the Red Onslaught and his forces.

Time Runs Out

Jumping ahead 8 months into the future, Sue Storm is seen as an Avenger, helping to lead the hunt for the members of the Illuminati – including her husband, Reed Richards.

Powers and Abilities

Sue can now generate and control a form of energy from hyperspace. She bends light waves away from her which make her invisible. She also wears a special suit which has unstable molecules. This special suit allows her clothes to become invisible with her as well. Soon after, she was able to render other objects invisible. By rendering objects invisible, she uses her imagination rather than visuals. For example, she can make pipes in a building invisible without actually seeing them. With this, she could also disrupt the energy waves making someone else invisible. She could also make invisible objects and use them a projectiles, something small being much like a bullet and something large like a battering ram. With this, she could make a temporary ladder or something which she could use to reach higher places. She also has the ability to form force fields around her and other people. She can control the texture of these force fields, making them as tough as she wants or as soft. She can also fly or levitate by pushing her energy through air molecules. Can also assimilate telekinesis which developed to the point that she destroyed a piece of a Celestial’s armor.

Sue’s powers have grown and she’s learned to use them in new and creative ways.

With her invisibility she can.

• render all of herself, or any part of herself invisible
• render others and other objects invisible
• make walls, the floor, or the ceiling, invisible so she can see through them
• sense other things that are invisible and make them visible
• partially disguise her clothing to modify her appearance (notably hiding her costume when posing as a civilian.)

With her force fields she can…

• create strong shields
• create ladders, bridges, platforms, elevators and other things to get places
• create a board or saucer to levitate herself or others
• use her force fields to move things (like telekinesis)
• create Weapons (i.e. a sword)
• create a projectile weapon
• create a battering ram (to bust open doors, etc)
• create something soft to catch someone (like a giant glove or mattress)
• make things explode by creating a shield inside of it then expanding it
• suffocate someone by putting them in a shield and not letting air in
• create an air bubble, she can go places without air and not let air out

She has had some training in hand to hand combat, and is a capable unarmed combatant.

Her earliest appearances had her ability as only being able to become invisible, but as a more scientific approach was taken to explain her powers, it was decided to expand them to include force fields (she uses force fields to bend the light around her.) Thus although she was a relatively weak character to begin with she has become one of the more powerful.

Characteristics and Personal Data

• Height: 5’11”
• Weight: 150 lbs
• Eye Color: Blue
• Hair color: Blonde
• Citizenship: American
• Place of Birth: Glenville, Long Island. New York
• Education: High-School Graduate, unfinished college classes
• Occupations: Adventurer, Teacher, Model, Actress,
• Known Relatives: Valeria and Franklin Richard (Children), Johnny Storm (Brother), Franklin Storm (Father, Deceased), Mary Storm (Mother, Deceased … Alive in Ultimate Universe), Evelyn and Nathaniel Richards (Parents-in-Law, Deceased)
• Marital Status: Married to Reed Richards

Uniform

Sue’s uniform is made out of the same unstable molecules that the rest of the Fantastic Four wear. The suit itself is made to work and mold to the persons wearing it special powers. (i.e. The suit turns invisible as Sue does). Her uniform has also taken on some more costume like looks, some involving a mini-skirt. After becoming Malice and returning to normal, for a time Sue’s costume was more revealing, with a ‘4’ cut out over her breasts and an exposed midriff and thigh high boots.

Although the one thing that never changed was that she always had the ‘4’, which represented her team, with the formation of the Future Foundation this feature has now disappeared for a time from the team’s outfits, replaced by black and white hexagons.

Alternate Realities

Earth-TRN891 (Dark Ages)

In this reality, Susan formed a team with Thing, Vision, Doctor Strange, and Scarlet Witch to save the Earth before it could end. They travelled to the center of the Earth to do so and Susan used her force field powers to protect her teammate’s from the Earth’s heat. With her teammate’s dying and the world in danger, Susan managed to hold onto a small pocket of their reality and protect the Earth for some time. However, she needed Stephen to come to her aid, and he conjured a portal to save Earth from what was destroying it, the Unmaker. It worked but Stephen had to sacrifice himself and, at the last moment, sent Susan through the portal so she would live.

7 years later, during that time, Susan’s husband Reed Richards and her son Franklin Richards were missing and presumed dead. After Iron Man disappeared and Quicksilver went to look for him, Quicksilver came back was mind-controlled and attacked the heroes. He ended up killing Susan’s brother Johnny Storm in the process, which devastated her, and she used her force fields to protect everyone else in the room when he died. Afterward, when she visited Quicksilver as he was recovering, Pietro revealed that he had seen Reed. Susan, given hope that her husband and son could be found alive, raced out of the room.

Earth-982

In this reality, Sue became incapacitated holding together holes that appeared in reality from the Negative Zone. She managed to return and joined the Fantastic Five.

Earth-1610 Ultimate Universe

In the Ultimate universe Invisible Woman is a bit younger than her 616 counterpart. In this reality, Susan is a genius who is known for her work in the field of biology. She’s the daughter of Franklin Storm, who is the director of a government sponsored program in the Baxter Building. She remains the older sister of Johnny Storm.

It’s during her time in this program that she meets the Ultimate Version of Reed and develops feelings for him. Throughout their years there her feelings grow. She was one of the first people to help Reed with his experiments in opening up a new reality called the N-zone. When the machine used to access this reality is tampered with, Johnny, Susan, Reed, and Ben (he’d come to visit his best friend Reed) were all hit with an unknown energy and transported to different parts of the world where they developed their powers. Ben became rock hard and became the Thing. Johnny gained flame-based powers, Reed could stretch his anatomy and mind, and Susan could turn invisible and create invisible constructs. When teleported, Sue was recovered by the Mole-Man and was rescued by her teammates. Later on when coming back from an alternate reality (Marvel Zombies) it was revealed that Sue’s mother, who was thought to be dead, was indeed alive. Although her mother’s intentions for her return seemed pure she just wanted their help to acquire Namor’s tomb which was later revealed to be a prison. In order to get rid of this Water King he asked for a kiss from Sue. She agreed and kissed him and according to Namor she meant it. Later on she helped get rid of the zombies, Diablo, Thano’s sons, Psycho Man and Red Ghost.

In the Red Ghost arc she was kidnapped by the Red Ghost with the intent of stealing her powers. Next Sue left for what she thought was a conference which both her and Reed were invited to attend. Reed was too busy to go because he was working on the Cosmic Cube. Upset, she left and as a consequence was kidnapped. Dr. Kragoff is killed by his assistant, a brilliantly evil woman, Rutskya. While Sue survived the explosion that occured during the attempt to steal her powers, Rutskya is transformed into a gothic-looking female Red Ghost with invisibility powers just like Sue. The cliffhanger ending to Ultimate FF #48 had a very scared Sue Storm being grabbed by the female Red Ghost and was just as powerful a cliffhanger as the Ultimate FF #48 cover. Ultimate FF #49 showed Sue barely escaping Rutskya’s wrath. After battling her way out and the Fantastic Four arriving to save her they, along with the help of the Crimson Dynamo destroyed the lab and left to go home. On the ride back to the Baxter Building Sue told Reed that it was over between them.

Ultimate Enemy

Sue Storm, genius biologist and now ex-teammate of the world famous Fantastic Four, uses her invisible powers to hide herself from the rest of the world while taking a walk in the city. She feels better when not having to be a spectacle to the rest of the world. Once back in the Baxter building she wonders all alone the place only for Ben Grimm to interrupt her loneliness. After a brief catching up between the two, Sue examines Ben’s recent shedding of rocks. Ben drops a bomb on her by telling her that he loves her. Now that her relationship with Reed is over he took the opportunity to tell her that. One of the Thing’s rocks falls and he leaves Sue by saying: “something to remember me by”. Then a huge, purple, cloud/octopus-like creatures overtakes the Baxter building and Ben is thrown to the street.

Earth-81122 Fantastic Four Head an Anti-Mutant Regime

After the death of her brother, Johnny Storm at the hands of the Ultimate Wave she was driven by grief to rid the world of mutants and super- heroes. She created the N- Zone Facility that would house any captured mutants or anybody with special powers. When Reed Richards accompanied her to the N- Zone she betrayed him and left him stranded. She reformed the Fantastic Four that contained Iron Man who was Ben Grimm and Firestar. She also began a romantic relationship with Namor. Later, the past version of Reed Richards was brought to the present and Sue captured him and manipulated him into building a machine that was similar to the one the future version of Reed used to free Ben Grimm from his mutation. She was planning to use this to free the world of anyone with special powers but was stopped by Reed when he stripped her from her powers and freed her prisoners.

Earth-2149

In the Zombieverse, Invisible Woman is, as most other heroes, transformed into a zombie. In this reality, after she and Reed lose Franklin and Valeria to the She-Hulk during the start of the plague, a madness driven Reed concocted a plan. Reed theorized that it was only a matter of time until the world was devoured by the plague, and seeing it as the next step for humanity, he infected the team with the virus, without their knowledge. Susan and the rest of the team still retained their powers.

Earth-311

In the 1602 reality, Susan Storm is a member of the Four of the Fantastik. This is the same universe where the Marvel event “1602” took place. In this reality, when Sue gained her powers, she was unable to become solid again. In this ghost-like phase she, as well as the others could see the development of Sue and Reed’s child. Her child wasn’t plagued with the same curse of his mother and was visible.

Earth-1720

Susan Storm is Earth-1720’s Madam Hydra and leader of Hydra who devastates her Earth to achieve world domination. Her first appearance was in Exiles vol.1 #91. She and her followers, including the Hand, fight and kill some of Earth’s heroes, and brainwash many others as her followers. She was the ex-wife of Reed Richards, who opposed her and led the forces of Free Earth. Her adjutant Wolverine is her lover. Madame Hydra encounters the Exiles and easily defeats them and brainwashes Blink, Spider-Man 2099, and Longshot. They become obedient members of Hydra, and unquestioningly follow Sue’s orders. Following this, Madam Hydra learns of the Multiverse and desires to spread her domain across the infinite dimensions. She and her remaining followers team up with an alternate and war-like Lilandra Neramani of the Shi’ar in fighting against the Exiles a second time. She comes into conflict with Shadowcat and is killed by her when she rips out an artery within Madam Hydra’s body.

Earth-721

Here Sue Storm never got any powers, and so never became Invisible Woman because only Ben and Reed were on board the ship when it got bombarded with cosmic rays. She marries Ben Grimm who in this reality is Mr. Fantastic.

Earth-772

In this reality Invisible Woman is a member of Fantastic Five alongside Mr. Fantastic, Human Torch, Thing and Spider-Man. Since their ship isn’t big enough for five, Sue is left behind while the team goes to the Blue Area of the Moon where they meet Uatu, Red Ghost and some Super-Apes. Meanwhile Sue is kidnapped by Namor who is being controlled by Puppet Master. Although the team defeats Puppet Master, Sue stays behind and marries Namor and has a baby with him. Reed and Johnny attack Namor after failing to hoax the world into thinking that Atlantis a threat, but Reed repents after seeing Sue with her baby. (What If? Volume 1, #1)

Earth-917

In this reality Invisible Woman is a member of Fantastic Five alongside Mr. Fantastic, Human Torch, Thing and Namor. Here she is married to Namor. (What If? Volume 2, #27)

Earth-912

In this reality Invisible Woman is a member of Fantastic Five alongside Mr. Fantastic, Human Torch, Thing and Silver Surfer.

Earth-4400

Invisible Woman was also a member of Fantastic Five in this reality, alongside Mr. Fantastic, Human Torch, Thing and Spider-Man. They were all killed by Hyperion and Weapon X. (Exiles #43)

Earth-2301

In the alternate universe of the Marvel Mangaverse, the Invisible Girl is Sioux Storm, half-sister of Jonathan Storm. Sioux has near psychosis-level emotional detachment and may suffer from Borderline personality disorder (with both her personality and appearance heavily inspired by Rei Ayanami). In order to get her to fight — or show any interest in what is going on — Reed has her suit dump near- overdoses of battle stimulants and aggressor hormones into her bloodstream. She is a member of the Megascale Metatalent Response Team Fantastic Four. The team uses power packs that allow them to manifest at mecha-sized levels. Sioux projects a 200 ft (61 m tall “invisible friend” constructed from her invisible force fields. The team fights Godzilla-sized monsters from various alien xenocultures that attack Earth in order to put an end to experiments that endanger all of reality. In Mangaverse volume 1 the team destroys a mecha-like Annihilus. In New Mangaverse Sioux is murdered by ninja assassins dispatched by the Hand.

Earth-7712

In What If #6 (1977) Susan and the others each obtains different powers. She gains Reed’s ability to stretch and becomes Ultra-Woman, while Reed is Big-Brain, Johnny is Mandroid and Ben is Dragonfly. Because of Reed’s power turning him into a living brain Sue develops feelings for Ben instead of Reed. Doctor Doom kidnaps Reed and Sue and the others attempt to rescue him. After surviving the traps he leaves for them, the teams comes face to face with Doom. Reed watches in anger as Sue is beaten by Doom which causes a explosion. After the dust clears, Reed’s brain is gone. The group soon discovers his mind has been transferred into Doom’s body. With Reed able to have a normal life again Sue and he rekindle their relationship. The group are seen again In What If – Issue 39 (1995). The Time Variance Authority Deputy Secretary, Mobius (or one of his clones) recruits the Fantastic Four to try to get the young Nathaniel Richards of Other Earth to take the Saturyne Symbiont, preventing him from absorbing too much chronal energy, as his potential future counterpart Immortus had done (Time Quake, W? II#35-39) . The secretary had ignored Uatu the Watcher’s recommendation for agents, choosing this group because they were in his opinion far more powerful than the Earth-616 version of the team. However, their threatening appearance upsets Nathaniel Richards, who attacks them with weapons of the Warlord’s Fortress, killing them.

Earth-90210

In an apocalyptic future where Earth is dying, Sue is the leader of the New Defenders. As part of their plan to save everyone from the future, they must take all the survivors to the past. She infiltrates the Fantastic Four, posing as Tabitha Deneuve and getting a job as nanny to Franklin and Valeria. Here she easily defeats them and retrieves the finally piece of equipment needed for their time machine.

Earth-TRN667

While traveling across the Multiverse in order to find Reed, Sue, Franklin, Valeria and the Future Foundation children following their apparent deaths at the end of Secret Wars, Ben and Johnny end up in an alternate reality where the Fantastic Four’s first encounter with Galactus went much differently and had a far darker outcome. In this timeline, Ben was quickly killed by Galactus, and Doctor Doom, not Reed, was the one to ultimately save the day, this time by switching bodies with the world devourer. Unable to cope with the death of his best friend, Reed suffered a severe mental breakdown and went into exile, which led to the Fantastic Four disbanding and the end of his relationship with Sue. With the Fantastic Four no more, Sue eventually became the head of S.H.I.E.L.D., and used the organization as a means to unite Earth’s heroes after the Skrull invasion nearly wiped them out. In the present, Sue reunites with Reed and teams up with the Earth-616 versions of Ben and Johnny to stop Doom from consuming the planet.

Appearances In Other Media

Television

Fantastic Four (1967)

Susan was a major character in the Hanna-Barbera Fantastic Four cartoon, voiced by Jo Ann Pflug.

Fantastic Four (1978)

This second FF cartoon series had Herbie the Robot replace the Torch as the 4th FF member. Ginny Tyler played the voice of the Invisible Girl for all 13 episodes.

Fantastic Four (1994)

Invisible Woman was a main character in the 1994 Fantastic Four TV series, voiced by Lori Allan.

Spider-Man: The Animated Series (1994)

The Invisible Woman appeared in the “Secret Wars” arc of Spider-Man: The Animated Series, voiced by Gail Matthius.

Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes (2006)

Sue was a main character in Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes, voiced by Lara Gilchrist.

The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes

The Invisible Woman appears in the episode Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes episode “The Private War of Doctor Doom,” where she is revealed to be a Skrull impostor. The real Sue later appears in the episode “Prisoners of War” as one of the man humans held captive after being replaced by the Skrulls. She also appears in “Avengers Assemble!”, the final episode, as one of the numerous heroes who helps fight off Galactus’ invasion of Earth. She was voiced by Erin Torpey.

Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.

The Invisible Woman makes a guest appearance in the Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. episode “Monsters No More,” voiced by Kari Wahlgren

Movies

The Fantastic Four (1994)

Susan Storm appeared in the low budget Roger Corman FF film, played by Rebecca Staab.

Fantastic Four Film (2005)

The first film of this series was set up half as an origin film and half as the team’s first mission against Doctor Doom. At the beginning of the story Sue is ostensibly a romantic inter of Victor von Doom though his feeling are mostly not reciprocated. After making the same journey to outer space the four (plus Victor in a departure from the comics) are exposed to the cosmic rays and return to Earth where they undergo various transformations. Ben Grim, unhappy with his transformation runs away and finds that his fiancee is no longer interested in him. As he ponders his fate atop the Brooklyn Bridge he stops a man from killing himself but in the ensuing chaos causes a massive traffic accident. The remaining three turn up and help to defuse the situation and are branded by the media as the Fantastic Four.

This begins the focus on the characters as creations of the media, an undertone to both films which is mostly absent in the comics. In this case Sue turns out to be opposed to Johnny’s depiction of the group as a team of superheroes and is hesitant to assume the role of superhero. Eventually the team is brought together as Victor von Doom grows increasingly mad with power and must be stopped by the team. At the end of the movie Sue and Reed finally admit their feelings for one another. In the movies her powers are almost identical with the exception of the fact that intense focus to create exceptional power force fields causes her nose to bleed (the cause of this is never explained.) One of the most notable changes to the character in the movie is her strong scientific background.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)

The second movie was produced after the unexpected financial success of the first film, but it lost much of what had been the focus of the previous movie. Sue Storm’s depiction has generally been considered to be one of the main reasons for the inability to connect with audiences as many felt the character became too one-dimensional and interested not in superheroics but rather was portrayed as a female stereotype of a woman wanting to get married (which formed a significant portion of the background to the movie’s plot.) As the Sue and Reed try to get married it is the first appearance of the Silver Surfer and they seek to track him down. The U.S. government brings in Victor von Doom to assist them and with his help they eventually capture the Silver Surfer.

However, Doom betrays them and steals the Silver Surfer’s board. This brings them to a battle in China where they first must defeat Doom and then must deal with the threat of Galactus. Eventually the two are married, and despite previous hesitation over their role within the team, the Four are reaffirmed as necessary for humanity in the dangerous world which “needs them.” Due to the poor reception of the second film, no further sequel was proposed. Additionally due to this fact the characters as depicted do not fit into the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe. Notably the actor that played the Human Torch (Chris Evans) was later cast as Captain America.

The Fantastic Four (2015)

The Invisible Woman is played by Kate Mara in Josh Trank’s 2015 Fantastic Four reboot. In the film, Sue is an orphan from the war-torn nation of Kosovo who was adopted by the Storm family, rather than Franklin Storm’s biological daughter. She is also one of the students at the Baxter Foundation, an institute for young prodigies founded by Franklin. Together with the other scientists, Sue works on the Quantum Gate project, which is designed to open a doorway to a parallel dimension known as “Planet Zero” (the film’s version of the Negative Zone).

When Reed Richards, Victor Von Doom, Ben Grimm and Sue’s younger brother Johnny go on a drunken expedition to Planet Zero without authorization, Sue is the one who mans the controls of the Quantum Gate to bring them back home. However, an accident causes the Quantum Gate to explode, which alters Sue (as well as Reed, Ben and Johnny) on a genetic level. It is soon discovered that the accident has given Sue the ability to turn herself invisible, as well as project forcefields, much like her comic counterpart.

Video Games

Fantastic Four (2005)

In the Fantastic Four game Sue and Victor von Doom never showed a sign of a relationship like in the movie, until a cutscene where Sue says that Reed really needs her help with dealing with their new powers and how to understand them. Reed didn’t propose to her again like in the movie, so like Victor, the game didn’t show anything of Reed ever dating her before. In the game, Sue is the best fighter both defensively and offensively. For blocking Sue would create a dome-shaped force field that can repel projectiles and she can also redirect the projectile to any opponent she wishes. Sue had mostly used her force-fields to freeze her opponents in place and which were both the Force Burst and her Force Blast and her other special attack is called the Force Wall where she fires a huge burst of force field energy from her hands. Sue’s super attack has no name but she lifts every opponent on screen and releases crystal-shaped force fields from her body killing all of them. In order for Sue to access any of her powers she must turn Invisible. Sue is also the other character with a stealth kill, where if you are invisible and you press the action button behind their back she would do a kick flip behind her enemies back and hit them with a force-field. She is voiced by Jessica Alba who played Invisible Woman in the movie version of the video game.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 1 and 2

Invisible Woman appears as a playable character in the Marvel Ultimate

Alliance series. She is one of the most powerful female characters to use in the games, as shown in a pole on there Official Forum’s. She has all her trade mark skills, such as going invisible, and creating force fields that can protect the team (a good show of this is in the first game, where missiles are firing at you as your walking across the platform). In the second game it has been tested out and proven that they made her concussive blasts stronger than Jean Grey’s form of that power when maxed out. If this was an accident or meant this way is still uncertain. She however in both game games has no form of levitation, just a jump. In Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 she can be chosen for either the Pro- or Anti-Registration sides. She is not a console exclusive in both games and can be used on any system.

Marvel: Avengers Alliance (2012)

Invisible Woman is an unlockable character in the Facebook game Marvel: Avengers Alliance. She is an Infiltrator class. This allows her to gain Combat Awareness buff after attacking Tacticians. She has her Invisibility, Force Fields, and can attack with force projections. She appears in her classic costume and in her future fundation attire.

Her bio says: Sue Storm accompanied Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, and her brother Johnny on the maiden flight of Reed’s first spacecraft. The cosmic ray storm that created the rest of the Fantastic Four left her with the ability to become invisible and to project psionic force fields. She married Reed Richards after the founding of the Fantastic Four.

Marvel Super Hero Squad Online

Invisible Woman is a playable character voiced by Grey Delisle.

Her description says: Invisible Woman can both disappear from sight and create powerful, invisible force fields to protect her friends.

She was later released in her Future Fundation Costume:

Her bio says: Invisible Woman can both disappear from sight and create powerful, invisible force fields to protect her friends.

Marvel: War of Heroes

Invisible Woman is playable in multiple cards in Marvel: War of Heroes mobile game. Her cards are:

1. Invisible Woman
2. [Psychokinetic] Invisible Woman
3. [Invisibility] Invisible Woman
4. [Unseen Power] Invisible Woman
5. [Fundamental Forces] Invisible Woman
6. [First Family] Invisible Woman
7. [Future Foundation] Invisible Woman
8. [Malice] Invisible Woman
9. [Kinship First] Invisible Woman
10. [Invisible Avenger] Invisible Woman
11. [Vanishing Act] Invisible Woman

12. [Lost] Invisible Woman

Marvel Heroes

Invisible Woman is available as a playable character in the free-to-play MMO called Marvel Heroes.

Her bio says:

After accompanying Reed Richards, Benjamin Grimm and her brother Johnny on a trip to space in an experimental rocket that Reed had built, the group was bathed in cosmic rays leading to the development of amazing powers. Sue’s powers manifested in the form of light-bending force fields that allow her to turn invisible, protect herself and others, as well as use them as a destructive force to defend herself.

She is informally known as the most powerful member of the Fantastic Four due to the limitless potential of her powers.

She was released in several costumes.

Marvel Puzzle Quest

Invisible Woman is a playable character in the game.

Her bio in the game says: A founding member of The Fantastic Four, Sue Richards is a true leader and fiercely loyal to those she cares about.

The magnitude of Invisible Woman’s psionic power is legendary.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order

Invisible Woman appears in the third Ultimate Alliance game as part of the Fantastic Four: Shadow of Doom DLC pack, voiced by Kari Wahlgren.

Merchandise

• Invisible Woman (under her original name of “Invisible Girl”) was featured in Mego’s World’s Greatest Super Heroes line of figures back in the 1970s.
• Invisible Woman was featured in ToyBiz’s Marvel Super Heroes action figure line.
• Invisible Woman was featured in ToyBiz’s Marvel Team-Up series as part of a two-pack with the Ben Reilly version of Spider-Man.
• Invisible Woman was featured in ToyBiz’s line for the 1990s Fantastic Four animated series.
• Invisible Woman was featured in ToyBiz’s Marvel Hall of Fame line.
• Invisible Woman was featured in ToyBiz’s Marvel Famous Covers line as part of a two-pack with Mr. Fantastic.
• Invisible Woman was featured in the HeroClix figure game.
• Invisible Woman was featured in ToyBiz’s Marvel Legends line. She was exclusively available in the company’s two Fantastic Four box sets.
• Companies like Bowen Designs, Sideshow Collectibles, Kotobukiya and Eaglemoss have created statues and busts of Invisible Woman.
• Invisible Woman was featured in Diamond Select’s Minimates line.
• Invisible Woman was featured in ToyBiz’s action figure line for the first Fantastic Four movie.
• Invisible Woman was featured in ToyBiz’s Fantastic Four Classics line.
• When Hasbro took over the Marvel Legends license, Invisible Woman was featured in the Ronan Build-a-Figure wave, as well as a two-pack with Human Torch.
• Invisible Woman was featured in Hasbro’s Super Hero Squad line.
• Invisible Woman was featured in Hasbro’s line for Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
• Invisible Woman was featured in Hasbro’s Marvel Universe line.
• Hasbro later released another Marvel Legends Invisible Woman figure, this time as a Walgreens exclusive.
• Hasbro later released another Invisible Woman figure as part of the Marvel Legends Super-Skrull Build-a-Figure wave.

Depiction

Despite being portrayed and displayed in a prominent role in a medium not well-known for an accurate and non-exploitative depiction of women, Sue Storm has usually maintained a fairly conservative overall appearance throughout her many years of publication history. This ties into both her original costume (coming from a time when all costumes were more conservative and less gratuitously revealing) and is also due to the fact that she serves in a notably maternal role, both within her team and within the Marvel Universe as a whole.

Popular Recognition

• Wizard magazine’s Greatest Comic Book Characters of All Time list: Invisible Woman ranked #99
• IGN’s Greatest Comic Book Heroes of All Time list: Invisible Woman ranked #66
• Comic Buyer’s Guide’s 100 Sexiest Women in Comics list: Invisible Woman ranked #85