Invisible Woman

Real name: Sue Storm
Name used in the reviewed stories: Invisible Girl
First appearance: Fantastic Four #1 (1961)
Affiliation: Founding member of the Fantastic Four
Powers: Invisibility, including making objects invisible, and invisible protective force fields.
Review coverage: Through Fantastic Four #43.

More to do than disappear

Sue Storm begins as the Invisible Girl, one of the four people changed by the team’s space flight. Her powers become considerably more useful in Fantastic Four #22, which introduces her invisible shield and ability to make objects unseen. My review singled this out as a major development for Sue, in a story that gives every member of the team a worthwhile part to play.

That is a better measure of her place in the group than simply calling her its calming influence. We should be able to point to what she does. Her rescue of Reed from the sealed container in Fantastic Four #42 is a particularly direct example: she gets him out before he suffocates, allowing their fight to continue.

Family, loss and a future with Reed

Sue’s personal life has also moved beyond the early uncertainty surrounding Reed and Namor, explored in Fantastic Four #11. She and Reed become engaged in Fantastic Four #35. At the current review point, their wedding is still ahead of them.

Their plans are shadowed by the loss of her father. Fantastic Four #31 brings Franklin Storm back into the story and has him save an injured Sue. In Fantastic Four #32, he dies protecting the team after the Skrulls’ deception. The speed of that loss is something I questioned in the review, but it is an important event for Sue and Johnny.

Fantastic Four #37 gives that grief consequences. Sue wants those responsible held accountable, and her determination drives the team’s journey to the Skrulls. I would not reduce that to a simple demonstration of her compassion. There is anger and loss here too, with the story leaving room to ask where justice ends and vengeance begins.

Sue at the current review point

The latest conflict puts Sue and Reed together under pressure while Johnny and Ben appear to be on the other side. My Fantastic Four #42 review reads their effort as a struggle to recover the people they love. It is an effective way to show the family bond through action, and a stronger place to leave Sue’s profile than a general promise about her eventual importance.

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