Exclusive Fantastic Four Preview Reveals A Dark Fate For Marvel's Invisible Woman
Contains spoilers for "Fantastic Four" #17 by Ryan North, Carlos Gomez, Jesus Aburtov, and VC's Joe Caramagna
In the latest "Fantastic Four" comic, Marvel's First Family is going on an archaeological dig. However, what Susan Storm finds will lead to significant questions about her potential fate.
Within 2022's "Fantastic Four" series, the titular superteam's stories have leaned heavily into its science fiction elements. Each arc feels like an episode of the "Twilight Zone" that's set in the Marvel Universe. So far, the Fantastic Four's adventures have stuck in a bizarre time loop, sparring with dinosaur Avengers, and facing a villain who controls the population with a cellphone app.
Still, the team's next story is by far their strangest. In Looper's exclusive preview of "Fantastic Four" #17 from Marvel Comics, the Fantastic Four digs up bones in Arizona, which are somehow .. Susan Storm's? Considering the skeleton is from thousands of years ago, the team isn't sure how this is possible nor if they can prevent Sue's ominous potentially time-traveling fate.
Strange discoveries are coming for the Fantastic Four
In our exclusive preview of "Fantastic Four" #17, Sue Storm reveals to the team that the bones found at the site are at least fifteen millennia old, which makes no sense given the age of the dig site. Johnny Storm speculates time travel must be involved. However, Sue drops another major bombshell about the discovery, revealing she found a few blue cloth fibers alongside the skeleton. When Reed Richards looks under a microscope, he sees the same unstable molecules from the Fantastic Four's uniforms he made.
Marvel Comics/Alex Ross
Marvel Comics/Carlos Gomez
Marvel Comics/Carlos Gomez
To confirm assumptions, Sue uses her invisibility powers to find a skeletal match. The bones don't line up with the giant frame of Ben Grimm, nor do they match up with Johnny or Reed. Unfortunately, the skeleton is a direct match to Sue's. But how Sue dies thousands of years before her present — or whether the bones are not a doppelganger's — remains to be seen. Overall, the issue brings forth an unfortunate discovery that leads to more questions than answers.
Marvel Comics/Carlos Gomez
Marvel Comics/Carlos Gomez
Marvel Comics/Carlos Gomez
Fantastic Four 17 brings death and romance
Sue Storm will experience highs and lows during "Fantastic Four" #17, as she will go on an anniversary date with Reed Richards amidst the chaos of discovering her skeleton. But it's probably best she distracts herself until the team learns more here. If it is the Earth-616 Sue's skeleton, the clock on her life may be ticking down quickly.
Check out Alex Ross' cover for "Fantastic Four" #17, featuring the skeleton's discovery. The text solicitation for the issue follows.
Marvel Comics/Alex Ross
When construction unearths something unexpected, Susan Storm is called in—not as a super hero but an archaeologist! But when the bones she uncovers—tens of thousand of years old, dating back to the first arrival of humans in the Americas—turn out to be female...and matching her build...and wearing the shredded and decayed remains of what appears to be BLUE FABRIC constructed of unstable molecules, she must accept the fantastic: Dr. Susan Storm is going to DIE deep in Earth's prehistory...and that time is coming sooner than she might think! Also in this issue: an anniversary date for Reed and Sue! So Sue gets both inarguable evidence of her own death AND some romance. Not in that order though.
Readers can see the epic new adventures of the Fantastic Four when Marvel Comics' "Fantastic Four" #17 arrives in-store and online on February 7, 2024.