Style and Susan Richards
| Sue has changed hairstyles more than any other character in comics. At times, she has gone from long hair to short hair then back to long while in the midst of the same storyline. Imagine what you could do with your hair if you had an invisible force field at your command! To commemorate Susan's many hairstyles, this gallery presents some of the highlights. | |
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Fantastic Four #1When Sue made her big first appearance back in Fantastic Four #1, she was a very different character from what she is today. First of all, she's a little more relaxed, or at least her hair is. There's no doubt that Ben's thinking, "How much mousse is in that crazy 'do?" On the other hand, Sue's hair was probably all the rage with those commies.Sue was a character trying to find her place in the team. As such, she often became a plot device. Namor held her hostage. Doctor Doom held her hostage. Namor and Doctor Doom teamed up just to hold her hostage! She was often left out of dangerous situations, and sometime depicted as insecure and meek. Fortunately, Sue grew a bit over the years into a battlewise woman that can handle herself. |
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Art by Jack Kirby
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Fantastic Four #88Well, to their credit, Lee and Kirby didn't leave Sue in the lurch for too long. She became more independent and started dictating more of the nature of her marriage to Reed. Kirby also kept her style modern. She lost the June Cleaver hair and moved onto something more indicative of the times. As Kirby's art progressed, however, it became ... clunkier. In this particular issue, that clunky hair must have been putting some weight on Sue's brain. She and Reed go shopping for a house. They find this futuristic number in the middle of nowhere. The house gives them headaches, nausea, and generally does things on its own. And, despite the fact that Reed and Sue both notice this, they move in anyway. What a revoltin' (real estate) development.The future house turns out to be a trap set by the Mole Man. If you think a blind runt who lives in muddy caverns is a good interior decorator, boy, drop me some e-mail. There's money to be made here. |
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Art by Keith Pollard and Pablo Marcos |
Fantastic Four #194Let's skip way ahead. Sue passes through a lot of artists, most notably Rich Buckler and George Perez. Perez was mostly responsible for creating the look for Sue we know so well. That look took hold under later artists like Keith Pollard. As you can see, the hair is much more manageable, and Sue tends to present herself in a much softer way.In this issue, the Fantastic Four has been disbanded. Reed has lost his powers and is exploring a way to get them back. Sue, meanwhile, has returned to acting. You read right, true believer. In the past, Sue had performed in commercials. Here, it turns out she tackles something a bit more ambitious, only to discover that her studio is owned by Namor, the Sub-Mariner! Now, as much as we hate Namor, this issue is played fairly well, with Sue and Subby playing allies and the Avenger of Seaweed minds his manners. Still, this makes you realize why Sue never made it big in the movies. Not even in Hollywood do they take a producer seriously if he's wearing scaly green undershorts ... and nothing else. |
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Art by John Byrne |
Fantastic Four #245Then, there was ... BYRNE!Susan and her hair would never be the same again. John Byrne was determined to recast Sue as an individual who could function without the rest of the team. She was in the public eye and always recognized. Byrne did a lot with the idea that as public heroes, the Fantastic Four were also celebrities. Kurt Busiek followed up on this concept well in Marvels. Sue's look changed constantly under Byrne, who also wanted to put her through her paces to show her as a strong, independent heroine. Shortly after this issue, the Fantastic Four would begin an adventure in the Negative Zone, during which Sue would conceive her second child. That child would die in birth. FF #245 features Sue and her son Franklin. After a bizarre accident accelerates Franklin's aging process, it is Sue that recognizes the tormented adult and helps him to restore things. Sue's strong bond to Franklin has been the keystone plot element of many stories. |
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Art by John Byrne |
Fantastic Four #283Come now, Susan, it can't be all that bad. Your hair has grown out now, sure, but Byrne is still your artist. Well, Byrne before his super cartoony schtick phase, anyway. I mean, it's not like Steve Englehart is going to come along and take you and Reed off the team ... er ... well, that does happen soon. But at least he bought her back in time to sit in suspended animation and have a dream catfight with Crystal. Sheesh. What a turkey that was...Seriously, removing Sue from the team is an idea that invites disaster. She is the key character in the make up of the Fantastic Four. As for the basics, she is married to Reed and the sibling to Johnny, not to mention a friend of Ben since his and Reed's college days. Without Sue, a lot of the cement that holds the team together disappears. Besides, with the versatility of her powers and abilities, she is the most powerful member! Sue went from being called the Invisible Girl to the Invisible Woman in this storyline by Byrne. The Psycho Man wreaks havoc in New York, but this time when he's beat back, the Fantastic Four pursue him for revenge. Psycho Man had messed with Sue's head, warping all that is bad in her into another persona named Malice. Sue overcame the Malice persona with Reed's help, and they pursued the Psycho Man into the microverse. Tom DeFalco followed up on Malice, poorly. He confused the confrontation within Sue with a possession, and Malice was retconned into being a psychic entity that was warping Sue into a power-tripping FemiNazi. DeFalco's Malice may have been the same Malice who was a member of the Marauders during the Mutant Massacre. Who knows? |
