SUE AND ALICIA - PEAS IN A POD...?

Images copyright MARVEL COMICS

When the November-dated first issue of The FANTASTIC

FOUR debuted in August of 1961, there was a suggestion that BEN

GRIMM carried a torch (no pun intended) for his teammate SUSAN

STORM.  That was repeated in FF #4, but I can't recall if there were

ever any further examples between that fourth issue and the eighth,

in which we were introduced to ALICIA MASTERS.

As you'll no doubt remember, Alicia unwillingly impersonates

Sue, to whom she  fortuitously bears an uncanny likeness.  (And

gasp at how quickly Alicia's step-father, The PUPPET MASTER,
knocks up a duplicate costume.)  It's clear from JACK KIRBY's art

that Alicia has her hair cut 'n' dyed to match Sue's, but STAN LEE's

dialogue refers to it as a wig.  However, when Alicia pops up again 

later in the tale, although her hair is back to its natural colour,

it's still styled after Sue's, which is shorter.

So, Ben might not win Sue's love, but he does end up with a

Sue Storm lookalike, which is something I'd like to have seen ex-

plored to some degree.  Years later, in a back-up tale in FF # 118,

writer ARCHIE GOODWIN revealed that, in an alternate universe

somewhere, Ben actually did marry Sue, as, on that world, he was

Mr. FANTASTIC and REED RICHARDS was The THING.

So take heart  if you're a loser in this world - on an alternate

one you may well be a winner!

Ain't it strange 'though, that no one ever referred to Sue

and Alicia looking like twins after that one issue?  Just think

what someone like ALAN MOORE would've done with that

dangling plot-thread.  Who knows?  Maybe one day.

Posted in: Cartoons