FANTASTIC FOUR CLONES

Membership: clones of the Human Torch, Invisible Woman, Mister Fantastic, Ms. Marvel (Sharon Ventura), and the Thing
    note: Sharon's clone went by the alias "Miss Marvel" as "Ms" confused the early memories of the other four.

Purpose: Entertainment of Aron the Watcher

Affiliations: Aron (creator)

Enemies: Avengers (Captain America, Hercules, She-Hulk, Thor), Dr. Strange, Fantastic Four (Ben Grimm, Human Torch, Invisible Woman, Ms. Marvel, Mr. Fantastic), Frightful Four (Hydro-Man, Klaw, Titania, Wizard), Alicia Masters-Storm (actually Lyja), Mole Man (and his Moloids and mutates), Psycho-Man, unnamed stage magician

Base of Operations: a cave in Western Canada;
    briefly Four Freedom's Plaza, Manhattan, New York

First Appearance: Fantastic Four I#328 (July, 1989)

Powers/Abilities: The clones had the powers of the original team at the time from which they were taken. Most notably, the Thing was in a more powerful form, possessing Class 100 strength, and Ms. Marvel was in her original "She-Thing" form, with strength and durability comparable to the Thing right after his initial transformation.
    The clones had many of the memories of the others, but were manipulated by Aron into playing out certain roles. They behaved as they thought they were supposed to, performing specific actions that the original team had done in the past, and expecting similar results. In some cases, they deliberately allowed themselves to be defeated or attacked because that is what the original had done. They were also somewhat exaggerated versions of their counterparts. The Thing added "Bah!" into just about every conversation that they had.

HISTORY:
(Fantastic Four I#321 - BTS) - Aron obtained cell sampled from Ms. Marvel and the Thing.

(Fantastic Four I#328) - Working with the Frightful Four, Aron subdued the Fantastic Four, took cell samples from the rest of the team, and placed them in cryogenic suspension. He then rapidly developed his clones and sent them to replace the originals.

(Fantastic Four I#329) - Taking their place in the Baxter Building, the Fantastic Four clones decided to start off their adventures by acting out the first adventure of the original Fantastic Four: fighting the Mole Man. When Alicia stopped by the mansion, she could tell that their behavior was a little off, and they decided that if she figured out what was going on, they would have to kill her. The Reed clone used a device to raise Monster Isle from below the sea, and they set off mimicking their counterparts' previous encounter. The Mole Man had made his peace with the real FF and had decided to return to the surface world, but that was of no interest to the FF clones, who just wanted to complete the adventure. The clones were nearly overpowered by the mutates, but Aron struck Monster Isle with a series of blasts that shook the caverns. The clones fled and the surface of Monster Isle blew up once again, but the Mole Man's hatred of humanity was renewed.

(Fantastic Four I#330) - The clones battled and defeated the Psycho-Man.

(Fantastic Four I#331) - The clones attacked a stage magician in New York, in an effort to act out their counterparts' early battle with the Miracle Man. After easily defeating the confused performer, they then announced to the crowd that they would be demanding a "Fantasti-Tax," as payment from the New Yorkers for "saving them." They then proceeded to walk the streets, telling everyone to get out of their way, and reminding them to pay their tax.

(Fantastic Four I#333) - The Avengers entered Four Freedom's Plaza, demanding an explanation for the Fantasti-Tax. The clones confronted them and drove them out of the building, and their behavior led Captain America to conclude that they might be imposters. As the two groups fought once again, the clones were teleported back to Aron's Western Canada base, where they saw the real FF fighting the Frightful Four. Having seemingly defeated Aron, the real FF tried to convince the clones that they needn't fight. However, the clones refused to give up their new roles and attacked both the originals and the Frightful Four. The clones were defeated, but then Aron revived and revealed that he had only been feigning defeat and that it had been him that had transported the clones back to the base.
    Aron then decided that the dreams he had observed from the originals' time in stasis was more interesting than reality, and so he placed the clones into stasis and began to monitor their dreams.

COMMENTS: Created by John Harkness, Keith Pollard, and Romeo Tanghal.

    Somewhat interestingly, the Reed Richards clone used the Turino XL computer, which in the real Reed Richards' dream proved to be an alias of Ultron XI. It's an anagram, you know.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Not to be confused with:

 

images:
Fantastic Four I#328, last story page

 

Last updated: 03/06/04.

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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