The Invisible Woman is one of the founding members of The Fantastic Four. With the team celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2021, and their MCU debut not too far in the future, fans of the movies and streaming series may be curious about Sue Richards. As with so many Marvel characters, there's a lot only comic book fans know about her.
The Invisible Woman's place in Marvel Comics history is paramount, but a lot of her personal journey in the last six decades is largely unknown to general fans. Now is a great time to discover how The Invisible Girl became The Invisible Woman and one of the most important characters in comics.
She Designs Her Own Costumes
The iconic costumes of The Fantastic Four took a few issues to arrive at their familiar looks, with the classic blue and black scheme first appearing in issue #3 of the series.
Within the world of the comic, it was Sue Storm who actually designed the team's look. She continued to tinker with her costume over the years, including a mini-skirt that didn't last too long. Sue has also had some very bad costumes in the comics, with one of her looks from the '90s easily one of the worst Marvel comics costumes of all time.
The Damsel In Distress
The Fantastic Four was a breath of fresh air in the comics industry in 1961, but Sue's role in the comic was still very traditional for a long time. That included being the requisite damsel in distress, which she was a surprising number of times.
Comic fans are likely familiar with her being captured by Namor, the Sub-Mariner, on several occasions. But she was taken hostage a surprising number of times in successive issues of the early run, captured by Doctor Doom, the Puppet Master, Rama-Tut, and more.
She Dated Spider-Man
The Invisible Woman is part of one of the most famous and enduring relationships in all comic books. But she has had romantic interests in other characters, including Spider-Man.
The story of their brief relationship appeared in the Untold Tales of Spider-Man Annual from 1996. The comic flashes back to before Sue married Reed Richards and she briefly dated Spider-Man. Obviously, it didn't work out and ended with another dramatic intervention by Namor, whose affection for Sue was well-established.
The Invisible Girl No More
For the first two decades of her career, Sue Storm was The Invisible Girl. Though the use of the term "girl" was common in the '60s for women of all ages and still is today, Sue had outgrown it in the '80s. During the epic run by writer and artist John Byrne, Sue officially became The Invisible Woman.
As her powers matured and she did as well, Sue thought the change was appropriate. She had proven herself in battle against the likes of Galactus and Annihilus and also gone through the pain and trauma of losing family members, like her father, Franklin.
Her Evolving Powers
Sue's invisibility powers have evolved considerably from the beginning of The Fantastic Four. Initially, she could simply turn invisible (along with her clothes, thanks to the unstable molecules that comprise it).
But as she entered the '80s, her power set expanded. She was now able to make other objects and people invisible by touching them. She can also create invisible force fields capable of stopping bullets, as well as generate constructs of invisible energy for virtually any use.
Fighting Her (Fake) Husband
Doppelgangers are a fact of life in the Marvel Universe - see all the best variants of Loki from the comics and MCU - and Sue Storm has had to deal with them, too. She once faced off against an imposter version of her husband.
In issue #182 of the series, she realized that Reed Richards had been replaced by a double from Counter-Earth. This Reed could transform into a giant purple creature called the Brute and they got into a massive fight, leading to Brute throwing Sue out of the top of the Baxter Building.
Becoming Malice
Sue's costume as Malice, the Mistress of Hate, is probably something comic fans laugh at now, but the origin behind it was no laughing matter. Sue suffered a miscarriage in the '80s, which led to a dark period for her. The villain Psycho-Man exploited her pain and manipulated her into becoming the supervillain, Malice.
Psycho-Man didn't just take advantage of the loss of her child but also tormented her by showing her visions of her friends and family in nightmarish situations.
Leader Of The Fantastic Four
An early '90s comic book storyline saw Doctor Doom apparently destroy himself and Reed Richards both. This led to The Invisible Woman becoming the leader of The Fantastic Four for a period of time. She led the team during one of its most dire moments, The Infinity War, in which Magus created evil versions of Marvel superheroes.
During this period, Sue brought Ant-Man on to the team as its new chief scientist. It wasn't too long before Reed Richards returned, though it's debatable she ever truly relinquished leadership of the team.
Tempted By Namor
Beyond Spider-Man, Sue has had other romantic interests in the comics. One of the most significant, and the one most likely to have an impact on the MCU, is Namor. From their first encounter, Namor was fascinated by Sue.
The feeling was mutual, even if she resisted the temptation and didn't appreciate at all his repeated attempts to kidnap her. The relationship became more serious in some alternate universes, leading to one of the strangest Fantastic Four romances.
Sue, The Human Torch
For a brief moment, The Invisible Woman became The Human Torch. In Fantastic Four #518 and 519 from 2004, an alien named Zius arrives on Earth seeking to eliminate Sue specifically, as an obstacle to his plan to cloak planets from Galactus.
This complicated but fun story leads to her gaining the powers of her brother, The Human Torch. For a moment, Sue experiences the exhilaration of flying and flaming on, though she also discovers how difficult it is for Johnny Storm to control his abilities.