Who Is Sue Storm? Founding Member Of The Fantastic Four

The Invisible Woman, Sue Storm, is the only female member of the Fantastic Four team. She received her powers after exposure to a cosmic storm while traveling in space with her fiancé Reed Richards.

The powers she acquired gave her the name The Invisible Woman. Formerly known as The Invisible Girl, Sue Storm was created by Stan Lee as a writer and Jack Kirby as an artist in 1961.

This fictional character belongs to the American comic book collection published by Marvel Comics. She is a founding member of the Fantastic 4. She was created in the Silver Age of comics and was the first heroine of that era.

Image via Marvel Comics

Sue Storm’s First Appearances

Sue Storm appears in November 1961 in The Fantastic Four #1. Stan Lee’s inspiration for this character was that she would star alongside Reed Richards.

At first, fans did not understand Sue’s role, thinking that her role was unnecessary. The editorial team responded to this with all the valuable interventions of The Invisible Woman helping her team.

Sue’s other appearance was in January 1964, in issues of Fantastic Four. From here, the character’s powers and abilities expanded. With John Byrne’s authorship, Sue’s personality became more assertive and confident in using her abilities. This made her more impressive and versatile.

Image via Marvel Comics

Superheroine History

Sue Storm is Johnny Storm’s older sister. Her father, Dr. Franklin Storm, and his wife, Mary, grew up in Glenville, Long Island. One night, the husband and wife went to a dinner in honor of the doctor and had an accident. Mary was injured, and her husband insisted on operating on her, dying in operation. This resulted in Franklin becoming an inveterate gambler and alcoholic. He lost his medical license and accidentally murdered a loan shark, for which he went to jail.

Thus, Sue and Johnny moved in with his aunt. She soon met scientist Reed Richards who was attending college at the time. Upon graduating from high school, Sue attended college in California. At the same time, she took up acting as an actress and met Richards again, starting a romantic relationship.

At the time, Reed was working on a project in the field of aerospace engineering, designing an interstellar spacecraft. Everything was going according to plan until the government stopped funding. This led Reed Richards to decide to plan an unscheduled test flight. Initially, it would be him and Ben Grimm, Reed Richards’ best friend. But Sue wanted to attend and take her younger brother Johnny with them.

It all ended badly when the ship was hit by cosmic radiation. The four members were affected, each acquiring special abilities and powers that made them superhuman. Sue developed the ability to be invisible, adopting the name Invisible Girl.

Sue Storm, The Invisible Girl

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After the previous event, the team established its headquarters at the Baxter Building in Manhattan. There were the team’s first encounters with many villains. None of those villains thought to fight for Sue’s affection except Namor. Sue felt strongly attracted to him, but her heart belonged to Reed. This situation was called Marvel’s first love triangle.

After being affected by the space event, Sue Storm’s powers were limited to becoming invisible. However, she eventually discovered she could extend that invisibility to things and people. Sue and Reed decided to get engaged, later marrying. Their wedding was one of the century’s events, attended by several of New York City’s most renowned superheroes.

Sometime later, the Fantastic Four team faced Galactus and Silver Surfer. Then, Sue became pregnant with her first child and decided to take some time off. Because of Sue and Reed’s infected cells, their son Franklin was born a mutant with vast powers.

Annihilus, in his immense evil, used the child’s powers for his own purposes. Due to his fear, Reed Richards shut down Franklin’s mind without consulting his wife, Sue. This caused the relationship to crack, and they separated maritally. Thanks to Namor, Sue returned with Franklin to the Fantastic 4.

The Invisible Woman

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After some time, Sue became pregnant for the second time. But, having been exposed to the Negative Zone, her child was stillborn. The death of her second child led to a great depression. Psycho-Man took advantage of this by manipulating her to become Malice.

In that role, Sue Storm decides to attack her friends and family on the team, using powers at levels she had never shown before. Reed Richards saved her, and she changed her name from The Invisible Girl to The Invisible Woman.

The husband and wife briefly left the Fantastic Four to join the Avengers temporarily. Sometime later, they returned to their original team. From there came iconic fights and events that made her a great leader.

Sue, the Human Torch

The leader of the refugee group Galactus kidnapped Sue to use her powers. However, Reed Richards tricked him and exchanged Sue and Johnny’s powers. This made them both respect each other even more as team members.

Anti-Registration Movement and World War Hulk

Sue Storm’s stance against the Anti – Registration movement was firm in her refusal because of different events. In fact, she abandoned Reed Richards by clandestinely joining Captain America’s resistance forces.

She was joined by her brother Johnny, who civilians had previously transgressed at a night site. After the final battle, dubbed Civil War #7, Sue returns with Reed.

In World War Hulk, Sue helped by deploying her force fields to defend Reed from the Hulk. Despite this, Reed was savagely wounded, and the Fantastic 4 team was defeated and imprisoned.

Sometime later, after the World War Hulk and before the Secret Invasion, Reed Richards’ family hired a nanny, Tabitha Deneuve. At that time, the New Defenders emerged, who kidnapped Johnny. And in parallel, the Earth was in danger; the Fantastic four managed to save Sue, but not the future Sue.

From Secret Invasion to Secret Wars

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In the Secret Invasion, Sue was replaced by a Skrull and managed to enter the Baxter Building. Thus she managed to open the Negative Zone, trapping the fake Sue and the other team members. The real Susan was rescued later.

To reactivate projects for the benefit of the world and science, Reed Richards created the Future Foundation. This happened after the tragic death of the Human Torch. Sue was relegated to certain heroic feats but in the name of this organization. Later, it was learned that Johnny had been revived and was still alive.

In the Secret Wars, a tragic event occurs, Sue and her children die, leaving Reed devastated. But, thanks to the transfer of powers made by the Molecule Man to Reed, he was able to revive his family.

Sue Storm’s Powers and Abilities

Sue Storm’s powers and abilities include dealing with light waves as a primary power, making her invisible to herself and others. Likewise, she can project powerful fields of invisible psionic energy. This allows her a wide variety of defensive and offensive effects. These powers make her a vital member of the Fantastic 4 team.

Sue’s powers include:

• She can become invisible when she manipulates and bends light on herself, others, and objects.
• She can mentally generate solid force fields that she can manipulate to achieve the following effects:
• Expel her force field and strike any object.
• Contain objects and people, as well as levitate them.
• Form objects or construction materials such as columns, barriers, cylinders, cones, discs, darts, platforms, vaults, slides, ramps, and spheres—likewise, weapons such as axes, swords, or spiky masses.
• Generate a sphere or plate from your force field that serves to fly.
• Create a force field that can expand inside a person or object to explode or damage them. This is one of his most deadly attacks.
  Transform his force field into force blasts to cause damage to anything he targets.

One of Sue Storm’s most remarkable abilities is her intelligence, making her an expert scientist. Her powers earned her consideration as the second in command of the team for generating, above all, growing assertive confidence.

The Invisible Woman’s Relationships

Sue Storm is married to Reed Richards. From their marriage, they had two children, Franklin and Valeria. Sue has her younger brother, Johnny, who, within the team, is the Human Torch. They were orphaned when they were both still young, taking care of Johnny, so she is almost like a mother to him.

Sue Storm’s Appearances in Other Media

In other media, Sue Storm has appeared in:

T.V. series

The Invisible Woman, Sue Storm, appears in:

• 1967, Fantastic Four, voiced by Jo Ann Pflug.
• 1978, Fantastic Four, voiced by Ginny Tyler.
• 1994, Fantastic Four in the voice of Lori Alan.
• She appears in Spider-Man, the animated series, in the “Secret Wars” story.
• Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes, voiced by Lara Gilchrist.
• The Super Hero Squad Show, voiced by Tara Strong.
• She appears in The Avengers: Planet’s Mightiest Heroes, specifically in its second season, where Erin Torpey voices her.
• In Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., she is present in the episode “Monsters Never Again,” in its first season, where Kari Wahlgren performs the role.

Image via Disney+

Movies

On the big screen, Sue Storm is present in films such as:

• 1994, The Fantastic Four, where actress Rebecca Staab plays the character. Sue is, as she initially appears in the comics, with a reserved personality, shyness, and in love with Reed Richards. The film concludes with the marriage of the two of them.
• In 2005’s The Fantastic 4, Sue is played by Jessica Alba. Here she is portrayed as a brilliant scientist in charge of Victor Von Doom’s Genetics Department. As Sue acquires her powers and abilities, we see her trying to master them from her emotions.
• The film The Fantastic four and Silver Surfer presents the wedding between Sue and Reed, which is interrupted by the arrival of Silver Surfer.
• 2015, Fant4stic, is directed by Josh Trank. Kate Mara plays Sue, an Albanian national from Kosovo. She is the adopted daughter of Franklin Storm, and her adoptive brother is Johnny Storm. She got her powers from planet zero by developing force field abilities and invisibility power.

Video games

The Invisible Woman, Sue Storm is in the video games, almost always next to her brother Johnny and other teammates, as in:

• 1997, she appears in a video game for the PlayStation original.
• Fantastic Four, voiced by Jessica Alba.
• Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, played by Erin Matthews.
• Spider-Man, Sue has a unique appearance. And when you manage to reach a certain level of play, you can call a limited number to receive help.
• Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, voiced by Danica McKellar. Sue is a buffer or booster, fighter, or melee attacker.
• Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, Sue is a playable character, and Danica McKellar voices her.
• Marvel Super Hero Squad, Sue is a playable character, as in the sequel Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet, where Tara Strong reprises her role.
• Marvel Super Hero Squad Online, where Grey DeLisle voices her.
• LittleBigPlanet, where Sue is a downloadable content, as part of “Marvel Costume Kit 3”.
• Marvel Super Hero Squad: Comic Combat, where Tara Strong voices Sue.
• Facebook Marvel: Avengers Alliance, where Sue is a playable character.

Sue Storm, The Invisible Woman, is the second in command of the Fantastic 4 team. She was one of the first heroines in the Marvel Comics universe, which makes her very important.

A new Fantastic Four movie is coming soon, where Sue will co-star alongside Richard Reed Richards. We still don’t know who will play such a distinguished character in this new movie. Fans are already contemplating some choices of actresses; which one is yours?