Earth-Fantastic Four: Alternate Powers
(Big Brain/Dragonfly/Ultra-Woman/Mandroid)

Type: Alternate/divergent Earth
Core Continuum Designation: 7712

Environment: Essentialy Earth-like

Usual means of access: vibrational attunement

Dominant Life Form: Humanity

Known Inhabitants: Big Brain/Mr. Fantastic, Dr. Doom, Dragonfly, Fantastic Four, Mandroid, Mole Man, Namor the Sub-Mariner, Skrulls, Ultra-Woman

First Appearance: What If?...I#6 (December, 1977)

History:
(What If I#6) - When four people piloted a starship into space, they were exposed to cosmic rays that mutated them. Their personality traits affected the ways in which they were mutated: Ben Grimm, who had always loved flying, became Dragonfly; Reed Richards, dominated by his vast intellect, became Big Brain; Johnny Storm, fascinated by things mechanical, became Mandroid; and Sue Storm, whose pliable personality allowed her to adapt and mold herself to fit with her more dominating friends, became the elastic Ultra-Woman. They agreed to use their powers for the benefit of humanity, becoming the Fantastic Four. The Four encountered and triumphed over the Mole Man, the Skrulls, the Miracle Man, and Namor, much like their Earth-616 counterparts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


    They next drove off a demon from the netherworld attempting to steal the modern day Merlin Stones; by doing so they attracted the ire of Dr. Doom, who had summoned the demon. Investigating, Doom discovered that Big Brain was his old college rival, and decided that Richards could be manipulated to help Doom complete a time machine to travel into the past to obtain the Merlin Stones when they were at their height of power. To do so, Doom capitalized on the fact that with Reed a disembodied brain, Sue had begun to grow ever closer to Ben. Doom infiltrated the Baxter Building and convinced Reed that he could help him regain a human body if he would aid him. Big Brain willingly entered a transport tube and was trapped by Doom, who fought off Mandroid as he tried to stop him.

    As Doom prepared to use Big Brain's psychic energy to power his time machine, the rest of the FF fought their way into Doom's castle. Reed managed to generate a psychic blast that gave Doom pause, long enough for the rest of the team to make their way into the chamber. Doom overpowered the others, but when he brutally beat Sue, Reed struck Doom with another blast. Despite the attacks, Doom managed to activate his machine, which exploded. Big Brain's form was destroyed, but not before he could transfer his mind into Doom's body, displacing Doom's mind. Taking the new name Mr. Fantastic, Reed stayed with the group, hoping that Sue could someday love the scarred face beneath his metal mask.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time Variance Authority Deputy Secretary Mobius (or one of his clones) recruited the above Fantastic Four to try to get the young Nathaniel Richards of Other Earth to take the Saturyne Symbiont, preventing him from absorbing too much chronal energy, as his potential future counterpart Immortus had done (It's a complex story. Go read Timequake, W? II#35-39). The secretary had ignored Uatu the Watcher's recommendation for agents, choosing this group because they were--in his opinion--far more powerful than the standard (Earth-616) edition. However, their threatening appearance upset Nathaniel Richards, who unleashed the weapons of the Warlord's Fortress against them, killing them.
    A second group of agents, the Reed Richards Rocket Group--Uatu's first choice--successfully completed the mission and prevented Immortus from threatening the multiverse.

 

 

 

(Fantastic Force#12) - Earth-7712 was shown as Vangaard stated that he had voyaged from reality to reality, eliminating those timelines deemed redundant.

Comments: Created by Roy Thomas, Jim Craig, Rick Hoberg, and Sam Grainger.

    This reality diverged from Earth-616 during the flashback in Fantastic Four I#1. Apparently, for whatever reason, Doom had not yet completed his time machine on this world before he encountered the FF, as he had done on Earth-616.

    At minimum, there is likely a divergent reality where this FF was not killed by Nathaniel Richards. It is also reasonably likely that they might have been restored to life and returned to their own reality. Several other cross-temporal agents of the Time Variance Authority who were slain while serving them were restored to life and sent home, so why not these guys. Whether or not his reality was destroyed by Vangaard is unconfirmed, as is whether a divergent reality in which they survived would have been created by such a situation.

    Though the exact time span between What If I#6 and II#39 is unknown, the group from II#39 is described as relatively inexperienced.

    I believe it was Michael Norwitz (but I may be wrong) who mentioned that he thought that the Earth-Reed Richards-became-Dr. Doom briefly glimpsed in Fantastic Four III#47 was the same as Earth-Fantastic Four: Alternate Powers (Big Brain/Dragonfly/Ultra-Woman/Mandroid). I disagree. In that single panel, we saw an angry Doom reflecting on his past life as Reed. In the alternate powers world, he was known as Big Brain and then Mr. Fantastic...he did take over Doom's body, but that doesn't mean he took his name or that they're the same reality. I will concede it as a possibility, but I'd consider them as separate for now.

    I'd also love to give this world a numeric designation ( a la Earth-616), because the above name is way too unwieldy!
It was finally designated Earth-7712 in the Fantastic Four Encyclopedia --Prime Eternal

Profile by Snood

Clarifications:

Big Brain should be distinguished from:

Dragonfly has no known connection to:

Mandroid has no known connection to:

Ultra-Woman has no known connection to:

Big Brain

Reed Richards. He was transformed into a literal living brain. To compensate for his lack of mobility, he designed a series of pneumatic tubes with which he could travel about the Baxter Building. In addition, he was able to extend his mind so that the Baxter Building itself became his body, and he could control all of its equipment at will. He developed the ability to project psychic blasts, and was able to transfer his mind into Dr. Doom's body when his own form was destroyed. In Doom's form, he presumably had some degree of Doom's armored power.

    He also used the name Mr. Fantastic after taking over Doom's body.

--What If I#6 (What If II#39

 

 

 

 

Dragonfly

 

Ben Grimm. He grew a set of dragon-like wings, with which he could fly and maneuver at great speeds.

 

--What If I#6 (What If II#39

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mandroid

 

Johnny Storm. He was transformed into a human robot, with superhuman strength and a steel body. He later developed magnetic powers as well. His right hand was blown off by Dr. Doom, but it was apparently rebuilt.

 

--What If I#6 (What If II#39

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ultra-Woman

 

Sue Storm. After Reed's transformation into Big Brain, Sue grew more distant from him, and began contemplating a relationship with Ben. Whether Reed regained her affections after taking over Doom's body is uncertain.

 

--What If I#6 (What If II#39

 

 

 

 

 

images:
What If? I#6, p17;
    p45, pan2;
What If? II#39

Other appearances:
What If? II#39 (July, 1992) - Roy Thomas & Jean-Marc Lofficier (writer), Gavin Curits (pencils), Ian Akin & Don Hudson (inks), Craig Anderson (editor)
Fantastic Force#12 (October, 1995) - Tom Brevoort & Mike Kanterovitch (writer), Dante Bastianoni & Pino Renaldi (pencils), Ralph Cabrera (inks), Nel Yomtov (editor)

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Last Updated: 10/11/05

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