In addition, since we only rarely get to hear Mister Fantastic's action name in use when in the field (we can say the same for the Invisible Girl/Woman), we're only going to refer to him as Mister Fantastic for the duration, just to get an idea of how that might have looked and "sounded" in print. We may all become tired of it before long--probably because it's hard to imagine someone as level-headed and unpretentious as Re... whoops, Mister Fantastic to have chosen "Mister Fantastic" as the name for himself right out of the box. Let's also hope that it wasn't Mister Fantastic who coined his team's name*, since it conveys the disturbing implication that he wanted it to be "Mister Fantastic's Fantastic Four."
*It had to be one of the team, given that no one in the general public recognized the name when it appeared in the team's first flare which signaled that it was time to go into action for the first time. Michael France and Mark Frost, writers of the 2005 film, seem to think that person was Johnny Storm.
To cut to the chase, if I had to pick my favorite Mister Fantastic scene, it would be when a so-called monster was roaming the streets of New York, forcing Mister Fantastic to interrupt a critical experiment that involved returning the Thing to his human form in order to deal with the crisis. In this scene we get the complete Mister Fantastic package--decisively acting to save lives, assessing the situation, multitasking when one of his team is in danger, and setting his priorities on how to handle things from here.
Which is not to say that Mister Fantastic doesn't have his limitations or faults--on the contrary, he's demonstrated that he's capable of getting a grip on himself (the man is literally within his own reach, after all) and focusing on the problem at hand.
Those same traits also allow him to have the presence of mind to do what's best for his team--no matter the cost to his pride, or theirs.
There are also times when we've seen Mister Fantastic having to lay down the law as team leader. Sometimes he's in the wrong...
And when it comes to leadership, Mister Fantastic is experienced enough to know that dissension in the ranks can spell disaster in a crisis.
Though if anyone were to doubt Mister Fantastic's feelings for his family, it was family he'd turned to in one of his darkest hours, when an enemy conscripted him to his will.
And speaking of enemies, the mad Thinker was one of the team's most persistent--as meticulous to detail as Mister Fantastic, but restricting his decisions to facts and figures rather than considering other factors that science could not account for.
Nor did Klaw, the Master of Sound, imagine that any of the FF would be able to devise a defense against his power--made possible by Klaw's primary enemy, the Black Panther. And with his power virtually nullified, Klaw is ripe to be on the receiving end of the abilities of Mister Fantastic.
The villain known as the Sandman of course has similar abilities in terms of a quick-changing form, though arguably more pummeling force--which makes a battle between the two a visually exciting one to take in.
Finally, let's see how Mister Fantastic's inventive genius allows him to face off with the likes of Blastaar, the Living Bomb-Burst--uncorking a "haymaker" (i.e., a forceful blow) when the time is right.
I doubt anyone would accuse Mister Fantastic of being a "powder-puff," Johnny--thanks to his artist giving him a pair of guns that Rocky Balboa wouldn't have minded having in the ring. When did you find time to hit the gym, Mister F?
The idea of an "evil", or at least a highly dangerous and morally ambiguous version of Reed Richards has been trotted out many times in Marvel Comics. Too many times to count at this point.
ReplyDeleteYou could say that about pretty much any comic book character, and I put a lotta that down mostly to lazy, hack writing. Talk about a worn-out cliche.
But in the case of Mr. Fantastic, I find it strangely logical, somehow.
There is something scary about the guy. Maybe he's way too smart and wrapped way too tight, psychologically speaking.
I'm not surprised that a lot of aliens (and some Earthlings) have been trying to kill him.
M.P.
Reed...er, I mean Mr Fantastic HAD to shut down Franklin's mind to save the world!! What other choice did he have, eh? EH??
ReplyDeleteI always admired Stan and/or Jack's inspiration to make Mr. Fantastic a stretchy guy. When the F.F. were created, stretching heroes (Plastic Man, Elastic Lad, Elongated Man) were generally comic-relief. Sometimes comic-relief to the point that they resembled toons from funny animal comics sneaking into the serious superhero publications.
ReplyDeleteSo, giving the super-intelligent leader of the Fantastic Four stretching power was a neat twist.
Yeah, I agree with M.P.
ReplyDeleteReed Richards had something of the super-villain about him, hiding in plain sight. A sort of Elon Musk with stretching powers.
Dr Doom was right - Reed was insufferable.
Sue had my sympathies.
-sean
M.P., I don't know that there were all that many instances where Mr. Fantastic was "dangerous" or straddling the fence between doing the right or wrong thing or making questionable choices (e.g., choosing to side with Tony Stark during the Civil War). I'd say the character is as Ben Grimm described him when Mr. Fantastic brought up the subject himself: "[You're] not ruthless, so much as certain. You're absolutely certain that [the conclusion you reach from examining a problem] is the right one. An' being right, you're prepared to do whatever's necessary to resolve the situation. I guess that's a kind of ruthlessness." That obviously held true for some of the examples here, and I'd assume part of that comes from his becoming the de facto leader of the FF from day one*--having such responsibility on your shoulders is a lot of weight to bear by someone who may feel more drawn to scientific research, which requires a different set of disciplines than calling the shots for three other people.
ReplyDelete*Come to think of it, I don't think that was ever formally agreed upon by all of them, at least on panel.
Colin, given the outcome of the situation and how things gradually thawed between them all on the matter, I'd say the other members of the FF came to roughly the same conclusion.
Murray, I'm sure Mr. Fantastic is counting his blessings for his unexpected elongated powers, rather than his creators taking the route of empowering him with mental abilities (aside from inventive genius). I honestly don't think that "Big Brain" (an identity that surfaced not once, but twice) would have caught on with readers as well as the rope-escaping character we know today.
The best ever "Reed loses it" moment was during Walt Simonson's run on the Fantastic Four. Reed, thinking that Sue and Johnny had just died (spoiler: they survived), taunts the Black Celestial into pursuing his time-sled, taking the sled through space and time and finally pulling a sharp turn, with Thor's help, managed to force the Black Celestial to steer into a black hole (that also happened to be Galactus, long story). He acted absolutely mad with grief (and there was evidence that he wasn't entirely acting) and still managed to improv a scenario to defeat a cosmic threat.
ReplyDelete