Evil twins are one of the most common tropes in superhero comics. Whether they are clones, alternate personalities, variants from the multiverse, or actual evil siblings, nearly every hero has a dark mirror. Sue Storm of the Fantastic Four knows this well, having had an alternate persona dubbed Malice. However, a recent comic introduced an even more twisted version of the Invisible Woman.
Written by Ryan North, with art by Humberto Ramos, Fantastic Four #8 continues the current ‘Invincible Woman‘ storyline. The team was summoned into space by a message from Galactus, Devourer of Worlds. The message was simple, numbering only three words. “Find Susan Storm.”
The meaning behind this message is not explained until near the end of the issue. Most of Fantastic Four #8 is devoted to retelling the origin of Sue Storm. At least, it is the origin of a version of Sue Storm, whose history took a dark turn at a critical juncture.
The dark origin of Fantastic Four’s Invincible Woman
In a parallel universe, Reed Richards theorized that his wife had barely begun to tap the potential of her powers. Logically, if she could control light particles to become invisible, she should be also be able to control all forms of energy. The two began training, with Sue learning how to control magnetic fields along with photons.
However, Sue discovered her powers did not shut down when she was asleep. This lead to dire consequences one night, when she had a nightmare of facing an endless army of supervillains. When she woke up, she discovered, to her horror, that she had killed almost everyone on Earth.
Indeed, the sole survivor was her brother, Johnny, whose powers protected him when she made everyone on Earth invisible to the effects of heat and they froze instantly. Unable to think of a way to reverse what happened, Sue begged the only other survivor of the Fantastic Four to lobotomize her with his powers.
However, this version of Sue tricked the Human Torch. She did not having him target the part of her brain that controlled her powers. She had him fry the part that controlled her empathy.
Relieved of the guilt that she had killed her planet, this version of Sue Storm went into the stars. How she came to the main Earth-616 universe has yet to be revealed. All that is certain is that the Fantastic Four are in for an epic battle facing this self-dubbed Invincible Woman.
Fantastic Four #8 is now available at comic shops everywhere.
