EARTH-REED RICHARDS ROCKET GROUP
EARTH-REED RICHARDS ROCKET GROUP
Type: Alternate Earths
Core Continuum Designation: Earth-8212
Environment: Earth-like
Usual means of access: Vibrational attunement
Dominant Life Form: Humanity
Significant Inhabitants: Mole Man and his mutates, Giganto, Reed Richards' Rocket Group (Ben Grimm, Reed Richards, Johnny Storm, Susan Storm Richards)
First Appearance: What If I#36 (December, 1982)
History:
(What If I#36) - When the government threatened to cut spending on Reed Richards' rocket project, Reed wisely heeded his old friend Ben Grimm's advice not to launch the ship until they had ensured adequate radiation shielding. Two weeks later, having obtained funding from other means and having completed the shielding, Red and Ben took off. With the advantage of time to think things through, Reed had refused to allow Sue or Johnny--neither of whom had had any experience in space flight--to accompany them. The shields held and the ship successfully entered hyperspace, landing three days later on the planet Epsilon Eridani.
A month later, Reed and Ben returned to Earth, and the entire world showered honors upon them. Within a year, Earth became a true space-faring planet, with small outposts on a dozen distant planets. With renewed government funding and money made from a patent for the star-drive in Reed's name, Reed Richards' Rocket Group grew to create a vast scientific complex, dedicated to the advancement of mankind.
Shortly after receiving notice of large holes in the surface of the Earth forming and swallowing up a nuclear power plant in Russia, a similar phenomenon happened under Reed's complex (with Reed and group observing Giganto in action). Reed pinpointed the origin of the attack to Monster Isle and sent the army to scout around, while he and Ben prepared to investigate. This time Sue insisted on accompanying them, and Johnny demanded to join her, and Reed relented. They followed the tunnel, at which point they were assaulted by a group of rock creatures. As they prepared to fight back, a small cave-in occurred beneath Reed and Johnny, who fell through. Reed dislocated his shoulder in the fall, but Johnny patched him up, and the two found an underground railcar system that brought them to the Mole Man, though the light from the Valley of the Diamonds had left them incapacitated.
Ben and Sue escaped the rock creatures by slipping into a duct they found behind some machinery, and they followed the duct to arrive just in the nick of time to save Johnny from being executed by the Mole Man, who had defeated him in a single combat. Ben tackled the Mole Man, stopping him from pulling the rope that would awaken Giganto, but as they led the Mole Man to the surface, he activated another signal device, summoning other mutates. The Rocket Group fled to the surface and at Reed's urging took off immediately in an Army helicopter, narrowly escaping the detonation of the Mole Man's nuclear device.
(What If II#39 (fb) - BTS) - Reed and Sue were married.
(What If II#39) - The Rocket Group was summoned by the Time Variance Authority, at the recommendation of Uatu the Watcher, in an effort to alter the pre-Rama-Tut Nathaniel Richards so that he could not accrue sufficient temporal energy to become the destructive Immortus Wave which threatened all of existence (Timequake). Having been briefed on the situation by the TVA, including how a previous FF incarnation had been slain by Nathaniel, Reed used an apparatus to set up an energy-dampening field, which neutralized all of Nathaniel's robots. Johnny grabbed Nathaniel and forced him to listen to Reed's explanation, and thus allowed himself to be injected with the Saturnyne Symbiont, which had the effect of weakening his natural resistance to time energy.
With this accomplished, the Immortus Wave faded from existence.
Comments: Created by John Byrne.
This reality diverged from the events of Fantastic Four I#1.
Ben confirms that Reed and Sue are married in What If II#39, but it is not confirmed that she took his last name. Still, I'm calling her Susan Storm Richards, like her counterpart, until proven otherwise.
The above left panel represents one of the greatest comic book humor events of the modern age, IMHO. Ben speaks as if he is giving Sue a pep talk about their upcoming battle, but as he follows her on hands and knees through the duct and says, "I'd say from here things look pretty good.", it is obvious he is admiring her rump.
The only other event that surpasses it in my mind is Peter A. David's "Giant-Size Man-Thing."
Profile by Snood
Clarifications:
not to be confused:
Ben
Grimm
Even without ever becoming the Thing, you can be sure that the experienced soldier and fighter pilot Ben Grimm laid down "Clobberin Time" on a few of the FF's classic foes.
--What If I#36 (What If II#39
Reed Richards
Reed's mind has always been his greatest weapon, and it was never more so than in this reality. He went on to marry Sue.
--What If I#36 ([What If II#39 (fb)], 39
Susan Storm Richards
Sue retained enough spunk to demand to accompany Reed on a mission into the center of the Earth even without any powers, and she remained with the group for every mission.
--What If I#36 ([What If II#39 (fb)], 39
Johnny Storm
Again, without any powers, Johnny remained at the forefront of all of their struggles, corralling Nathaniel Richards to prevent Immortus from destroying all of reality.
--What If I#36 (What If II#39
images:
What If I#36 cover
p13, pan2;
p14, pan4
What If II#39,
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Last Updated: 10/11/05
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