InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Protect my nutcake"

Doop (xdoop) wrote in scans_daily,
@ 2009-08-06 23:36:00

Entry tags:

char: human torch/johnny storm, char: invisible woman/susan storm, char: mr. fantastic/reed richards, char: the thing/ben grimm, creator: jack kirby, creator: stan lee, publisher: marvel comics, title: fantastic four

Sue tries out some new hairdos.
In Fantastic Four #47, Sue feels that Reed isn't giving her enough attention. And what better way to get it than with a new hairdo?

And, after they've landed...

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dr_hermes
2009-08-07 09:11 pm UTC (link)

And to be honest, Sue's power of invisibility by itself was not always useful in a slugfest. But she was part of the group, and even if the cosmic rays had just given her the power to tell when the phone was going to ring, she would have part of the group dynamic.

Lee and Kirby had a concept that is not always remembered all these years later. These weren't four professionals forming a corporation. This was essentially a family that hung around socially before the trip into space. Sue and Johnny had no other relatives (the father was in prison and the mother dead). Reed was a loner except for his relationship with Sue (which entailed having her kid brother tag along). Ben was somethings an uncle figure, sometimes an older brother figure (Reed and Sue treated him both ways, depending on the circumstances).

Seriously, it didn't matter if Sue wasn't tough as a Navy Seal. She provided support. When you're in trouble and want friends around, you don't think, "Well, this one's a good driver and that one is generous and that one knows a lot about movies." You're just glad to have them around.

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psychop_rex
2009-08-08 04:16 am UTC (link)

Exactly - Sue wasn't created as a fighter, per se, but as a love interest for Reed, a mother hen to the group and a big brother to Johnny - roles which she still fills quite capably. The fact that she's now one of the more capable, versatile members of the team is great, but as created, she was just a regular woman - she's grown into her current role organically through the passage of time.

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dr_hermes
2009-08-08 04:57 am UTC (link)

It might be interesting to introduce a character like Sue (as she was in 1961), give her powers and watch her grow into them. It would have to be done rather quickly, so readers wouldn't give up on her. But it could give some nice insights. Some people never would become assertive and aggressive but would use their powers as unobtrusively as possible.. like a helpful unseen genie.

Actually, the way someone receives amazing powers and immediately becomes a tough crimefighter is a convention of the super-hero genre that I've never really liked. Even a montage or a few pages showing the character training and getting motivated helps make them more relatable.

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	psychop_rex 2009-08-08 07:22 am UTC (link)
	Exactly - if a hero doesn't mess up every now and then, especially at the beginning of their career, or have a few moments where they think 'why the hell am I putting my life in danger like this?', then they're not human. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	dr_hermes 2009-08-08 02:55 pm UTC (link)
	This was something about early Spider-Man that really gave the strip power. He had doubts, felt he was in over his head and not appreciated, tried to quit. Echoes of this still make up his characterization. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

psychop_rex
2009-08-08 08:30 pm UTC (link)

It was a common factor with a lot of successful heroes back then, really - at Marvel in particular, of course, given that it was kind of Lee's trademark, but even at DC, where the characters were much more in the 'I am PERFECT' vein, people messed up every now and then. I can think of a number of moments in early Batman stories, for instance, where Batman and Robin have 'whoops! Butterfingers!' moments that would've gotten them killed, were they not very lucky people. I can remember one story in particular where Bats is so disgusted with a particularly egregious mistake he's made that he tells Robin to "kick me in the pants - hard - and don't ask questions!"

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