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The latest issue of Fantastic Four: Life Story just revealed a factor that could have destroyed the marriage of Mr. Fantastic and Invisible Woman.
WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Fantastic Four: Life Story #2 by Mark Russell, Sean Izaakse, Nolan Woodard, VC’s Joe Caramagna, on sale now.
A reinvisioning of the complete history of the Fantastic Four has revealed how the marriage between Reed Richards and Susan Storm could fall apart if the right stressors were in place. Set against the backdrop of the various decades when their stories took place, the Fantastic Four: Life Story #2 took an in-depth look at how Mister Fantastic’s obsessions could lead to the disintegration of his marriage without him even realizing it, while simultaneously drawing a contrast with how his dedication to exploration can keep his family healthy and functional in the main Marvel Universe.
In the previous issue, Reed could not shake the vision of Galactus from his mind and feared that the Devourer of Worlds would one day find his way to Earth. This fear became the foundation of an obsession that would slowly destroy his marriage over the course of years.
Terrified about Galactus’ eventual arrival, Reed began focusing his efforts on a way to stop him. At first, he tried to juggle his responsibilities, attempting to give equal time to the Fantastic Four, Susan, and his own projects. But things began to change shortly after Franklin Richards was born. Reed began to deem his work more important, unintentionally relegating to Susan all the work of raising their child, at the cost of her own interests and ambitions.
To her credit, Sue tried to make things work. As time passed though Susan began to realize that Reed wasn’t even considering their marriage in his decisions any more, at one point even calling Susan while she was in the middle of a march to ask her to watch Franklin so Reed could work in peace. But it wasn’t until they began letting other people into their respective lives that Susan finally reached her breaking point.
The final straw came in the form of Reed declining an invitation for both of them to attend a meeting of heroes. At this point, Susan decided to exert her independence. It was during this meeting that she first met Namor, who showed her more respect and consideration in a few minutes than Reed had in the last few years.
Over on his end, Reed had made a new friend who only exacerbated his worst impulses: Victor von Doom. The two began working on ways to defeat Galactus together, but Reed’s fear had blinded him to Doom’s lesser qualities. Doom stole the weapons they developed to defeat Galactus, intending to use them to conquer the Earth, ostensibly to make it more focused in their efforts to save the world.
Doctor Doom then attacked the United Nations, where Susan was speaking at the time. Reed tried to stop Doom, but could only provide Susan the opening she needed to clean up his mess. But at this point, Sue had enough. Unable to deny that Reed was in his own world now, she left him, moving away with Franklin and beginning a relationship with Namor. Reed was left desolate and moved in Ben so he wouldn’t be alone.
It’s a sad tale, how obsession and miscommunication can lead to the end of a once happy marriage. But Reed’s mistakes painted a picture for why this version of his marriage failed, whereas the main one is happy and healthy. All Susan wanted here was to be included in the decisions, not being shunted off to the side to get rid of distractions. Reed’s fear made him feel like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders and this kept him from seeing that he had people to turn to for help. Instead, he turned to the wrong person.
In contrast, the main universe has a Reed Richards who is devoted to the concept of study and exploration. This is a positive attitude towards a goal that he can share with other people, including his wife and children. It has made his family stronger, because whatever they face they do it together, forging bonds through experiences that no one else can share with them. But Fantastic Four: Life Story isn’t over yet. There is still time for this Reed Richards to turn over a new leaf and make amends with Susan.
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