And we’re back!
They’re killing someone in the Fantastic Four! If your reaction was “God, I hope it’s not Chris Evans!” you can leave. If you thought, “Oh No!” then we’re on the same level. If you thought “What’s a Fantastic Four?” then I’m here to help!
The Fantastic Four is a comic created in the “Mighty Marvel Manner” in 1961 by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. It’s one of the first ongoing comics to gain popularity and led to the creation of a multitude of characters still in existence today.
But now, over 500 issues later, Jonathan Hickman and Steve Epting have decided that NOW is the time to kill one of these members. Before a new comic series starts, one must fall. So I’m here to explain who these characters are, and what the chances are that they’re going to kick the bucket.
Look for the first two characters today, and then a couple more later in the week.
The Thing (Ben Grimm)
For every team, there has to be a brute with a heart of gold. That’s Ben Grimm’s job. As part of the initial experiment that created the four, Grimm’s skin turned to rock and his strength increased exponentially.
Since becoming The Thing, his issues with appearance have been an issue. Reed Richards has worked his butt off to try to turn Grimm back to normal. So far, no good.
Until lately. Somehow Richards managed to turn Grimm back to normal for one day a year (only in comics, folks…), so his story is near complete.
This is why I think he’s very likely to be on the chopping block. He’s finally happy, so why not kill him? Again, only in comics.
Odds? I’d say middle of the road, leaning more towards yes.
Mr. Fantastic (Reed Richards)
Theoretically, it’s all Richards' fault that this happened to the Fantastic Four. His work with Dr. Doom led to the mistakes that screwed up the plane. Now he has super stretchy powers to go along with his already huge… brain.
He is the stereotypical genius with a slight lack of grip on reality. By being so smart, Richards has been alienating his family since the '60s. During the past few years he and Sue Storm actually broke up, but of course reconnected.
Reed’s brain is an issue. He’s almost too smart sometimes. And lately his urge has been to “fix everything." Could that be a hint of what’s to come? Maybe an ultimate sacrifice of some kind?
Odds? Again middle of the road, leaning more towards no. The current writer seems to love Richards too much to take that dive.
More next time!
Dan
