HYPERSTORM

Real Name: Jonathan Reed Richards

Identity/Class: Extratemporal (Earth-967) human mutant

Occupation: Former monarch

Group Membership: Leader of an immense interstellar monarchy

Affiliations: Formerly Zarrko the Tomorrow Man

Enemies: Ant-Man (Scott Lang), Dr. Doom, Fantastic Four, Galactus, Invisible Woman, Mister Fantastic, Namor, Psi-Lord, Nathaniel Richards, Kristoff Vernard; the rebels of Alterra-4

Known Relatives: Earth-967 counterparts of Franklin Richards (father), Rachel Summers (mother), Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic, paternal grandfather), Sue Richards (Invisible Woman, paternal grandmother), Scott Summers (Cyclops, maternal grandfather), Jean Grey (Phoenix, maternal grandmother) and presumably all of their various and sundry relatives.

Aliases: Master Supreme, Monarch Absolute

Base of Operations: A stronghold on Earth-967

First Appearance: (Behind-the-Scenes) Fantastic Four I#381 (November, 1993)
    (Partially seen) Fantastic Four I#404 (September, 1995)
    (Fully seen and named) Fantastic Four I#406 (November, 1995)

Powers/Abilities: Hyperstorm's abilities all derived from hyperspace, from which emanated all electromagnetic, strong nuclear, gravitational, (and presumably weak (van der Waals)) forces. He described the ability to manipulate this collection of forces as the Power Supreme. The power of hyperspace was virtually infinite. He could open dimensional and spatial portals, fire devastatingly powerful energy blasts, and shrug of virtually any attack, though attacks that drew on the power of hyperspace proved able to harm him to some degree.
    Via technology gained from Zarrko, he could transport others across time as well. He had an unknown--but large--number of armies serving him across the known universe, as well as his virtually unstoppable Destructoids, just a few of whom could slaughter an entire army. He was also served by a number of robots. His fortress contained a number of stasis tubes and other restraining devices, as well as monitors via which he could observe distant events, even across dimensions.

Height: 6' 1"
Weight: 215 lbs.
Eyes: Red
Hair: Brown

History:
(Fantastic Four I#414 (fb) - BTS) - Earth-967 was a world virtually identical to Earth-811 (Days of Future Past), a dystopian future in which the Sentinels had conquered much of Earth. On Earth-967, Franklin Richards survived and married Rachel Summers, and their child was gifted with vast power, which he used to become one with hyperspace, the source of all energy. The youth--Jonathan Reed Richards--saw how his parents had been hunted like animals, and he vowed to use his power to bring absolute peace and harmony to the universe. He soon conquered his world and many others, and he came to believe that true order could not co-exist with individual freedom. He obliterated entire civilizations and enslaved countless worlds, eventually becoming the most feared despot (and the most heartless monster) in the known universe: Hyperstorm.

(Fantastic Four I#409 (fb) - BTS) - Hyperstorm became monarch of his Earth and all the inhabited planets in explored space.

(Fantastic Four I#406 (fb) - BTS) - Hyperstorm encountered Nathaniel Richards. The details of their encounter(s) are unknown, but Nathaniel later stated that Hyperstorm was the reason why he was forced to become a vagabond of time and space.

(Fantastic Four I#407 (fb) - BTS) - Following a failed alliance with Loki, Zarrko was nearly lost in the timestream. He linked up with Hyperstorm, adding his own time travel technology to Hyperstorm's raw power.

(Fantastic Four I#381 - BTS) - Dying from wounds at the hands of Hunger, Dr. Doom unleashed a lethal blast against Reed Richards that left only two piles of ashes remaining.

(Fantastic Four Unlimited#12 (fb)) - Before Doom and Richards could be destroyed, Hyperstorm pulled them from the timestream and brought them to his stronghold. Hyperstorm declared them both his prisoners and mocked the dying Doom, deciding to help him enough to keep him just barely alive so that he could torment him further. Hyperstorm further convinced Doom that Richards was to blame for his impending torture, which included images of the darkest moments in his past. Richards escaped the miasmic aura holding him in place and assaulted Hyperstorm, who easily overpowered and banished him back to the Hyborian era (12,000 - 8,000 B.C., presumably of Earth-616).

(Fantastic Four I#396-400, 400/2, Fantastic Four: Atlantis Rising#1, Fantastic Four I#401-403 - BTS) - Hyperstorm made an alliance with Zarrko the Tomorrow Man, with Zarrko posing as the Latverian Boris and acting as the aide to Kristoff Vernard (the one-time successor to Dr. Doom) and infiltrating the Fantastic Four.

(Fantastic Four I#404) - Zarrko (as Boris) notified Hyperstorm that the Sub-Mariner had joined the Fantastic Four on a mission in Brazil and intended to demand membership. The communication was observed by Cassie Lang.

(Fantastic Four I#405) - Zarrko (as Boris) reported to Hyperstorm that he had neutralized Ant-Man (Scott Lang) and had secured Four Freedoms Plaza and was preparing a suitable reception for the returning Fantastic Four. The FF--including the recovered Ant-Man--defeated Zarrko (who revealed his true identity). In exchange for his freedom, Zarrko offered to reveal the true fate of Doom and Richards and lead the FF to them, but Hyperstorm transported him back to his fortress, leaving behind only a pile of ashes.

(Fantastic Four I#406) - Hyperstorm and Zarrko watched from Hyperstorm's stronghold as the Fantastic Four discussed tracking the blast that had struck Zarrko. One of Hyperstorm's soldiers reported that rebels had overrun the capital city of Alterra-4, and Hyperstorm dispatched his Destructoids to obliterate them.
    Nathaniel Richards, who knew that Hyperstorm was behind Reed and Doom's disappearances, futilely attempted to dissuade the Fantastic Four from tracking the blast that had struck Zarrko. Hyperstorm intercepted Nathaniel Richards' transmat beam and brought him to his fortress. The Invisible Woman, the Thing, Namor, and Kristoff Vernard arrived in Hyperstorm's era and were assaulted by his robots. Hyperstorm transported them into his fortress and placed them in stasis tubes, but Lyja--who had taken the form of Sue's vest--freed them and they wandered the fortress, encountering the trapped Doom before being confronted by Hyperstorm. They attacked Hyperstorm, but he shrugged off all of their assaults and sent them to join Reed Richards.

(Fantastic Four I#407) - Hyperstorm mocked Nathaniel Richards, who was being held in a stasis tube. After Hyperstorm left, Richards warned Zarrko that he was only a pawn to Hyperstorm. When Zarrko later checked in on Doom, the monarch used his Ovoid mind-transfer technique to take over Zarrko's mind.

(Fantastic Four Unplugged#3) - Hyperstorm gloated to Zarrko about how all of his plans had come to fruition. It is unclear whether Hyperstorm realized that Doom had possessed Zarrko's form.

(Fantastic Four I#407) - Hyperstorm observed via his monitors as the Doom-controlled Zarrko freed Nathaniel Richards.

(Fantastic Four Unlimited#12) - Hyperstorm watched as Zarrko (possessed by the mind of Doom) and Nathaniel Richards wandered his fortress, waiting for the proper moment to strike Doom down.

(Fantastic Four I#408) - Kristoff brought himself, Reed, Sue, Ben, Namor, and Lyja to Hyperstorm's era. Reed attempted to convince them to return to Four Freedoms Plaza so he could devise a weapon to neutralize Hyperstorm, but the others outvoted him. Noting their arrival, Hyperstorm ordered a squad of Destructoids to be sent to greet them. Ant-Man sent the Torch to join the others, but ultimately it was Sue, coached by Nathaniel, who used her ability to access hyperspace to tune her energies to the proper harmonic cord and shatter the Destructoids. Hyperstorm then confronted them himself, striking down Sue so that only he could utilize the vast power of hyperspace. Reed attacked Hyperstorm but was easily hurled back, and Hyperstorm revealed the source and extent of his power. Meanwhile, Doom--having returned his mind to his own body and achieved freedom from his manacles--worked on designing a device with which he could steal Hyperstorm's power.

(Fantastic Four I#409) - Each of the heroes in turn attacked Hyperstorm, who was unphased and struck them each down. Nathaniel led Reed back to Hyperstorm's stronghold, leaving Sue to try to hold off Hyperstorm with her own hyperspace powers. Though he was vastly superior in power and control to her, Sue managed to hold her own until Doom could use his power siphon device against Hyperstorm, who fell to the ground, but then recovered and confronted Doom back in his stronghold. Hyperstorm destroyed Doom's power siphon, after which Kristoff (with Zarrko's aid) transported Doom back to Latveria on Earth-616. Hyperstorm claimed that he had allowed Doom to try to steal his power and to be transported back to Latveria, simply to prove his superiority and to force Doom to live with such humiliating defeat. Hyperstorm then turned towards his remaining foes. He healed the Thing's face (previously damaged by Wolverine), so that his reflection would remind him of Hyperstorm. He then transported everyone back to Earth-616, warning that he was sparing them once and that they would perish if they tried to interfere with his plans again.

(Fantastic Four I#413) - Reed Richards completed work on a Dimensionally-Transcendental Probe which would travel through sub-space to the Crossroads of Infinity, and from there it would locate either Galactus or the Silver Surfer to aid them against Hyperstorm. Reed joined the probe on its journey, and he soon located the Surfer, who informed him that Galactus had perished via the Ultimate Nullifier in battle against Tyrant. After the Surfer told him where that conflict had occurred, Reed returned to Four Freedoms Plaza and announced his plans to take down Hyperstorm, little aware that Hyperstorm was watching them from his stronghold. Hyperstorm then created a time platform that passed over Psi-Lord, replacing him with the young Franklin Richards who had never become Psi-Lord.

(Fantastic Four I#414) - Nathaniel Richards revealed Hyperstorm's origins and told the Fantastic Four that in every timeline--besides Earth-616--that he had ever observed, the Fantastic Four vanished from the plane of reality around the time of their second battle with Hyperstorm, and he believed they had been destroyed by Hyperstorm. Though Reed believed that the secrecy of his plan to use Galactus ensured its success, Hyperstorm watched them all from his stronghold. The FF soon traveled through sub-space to a wormhole that took them to the site of Galactus' battle with Tyrant, and Reed tracked Galactus to the parallel dimension to which he had escaped from the Ultimate Nullifier. Before Reed could summon Galactus, however, Hyperstorm appeared and struck down his Trans-Dimensionalizer. Nathaniel caught Hyperstorm off guard with a powerful blast that stunned him, but Hyperstorm swiftly recovered and overpowered Nathaniel and the FF and then prepared to annihilate them all. However, Reed had brought a back-up device, which he activated, bringing Galactus to them. Voracious after his extradimensional exile, Galactus attempted to consume Hyperstorm--whose power Reed had showed him. Reed led the others to flee, as Galactus drained the virtually infinite power of hyperspace through Hyperstorm, binding them together in the process. The effects of the Trans-Dimensionalizer then began to fade and Galactus was returned to the dimensional void, taking Hyperstorm with him.

 

 

 

 

Comments: Created by Paul Ryan & Tom DeFalco (pictures, plot, and words), and Dan Bulanadi (inks).

And Galactus returned in Silver Surfer: Dangerous Artifacts#1. What happened to Hyperstorm?

Hyperstorm has an entry in Marvel Legacy: The 1990s Handbook.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Hyperstorm should be distinguished from:

But has no known connection to:

images:
Fantastic Four I#406, p18 (full body except feet)
        p21, panel 1 (face)
    #414, p13, panel (full body)

Fantastic Four I#381 (November, 1993) - by Paul Ryan & Tom DeFalco (pictures, plot, and words), Dan Bulanadi (inks), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Fantastic Four I#404-407 (September-December, 1995) - by Paul Ryan & Tom DeFalco (pictures, plot, and words), Dan Bulanadi (inks), Nel Yomtov (editor)
Fantastic Four Unlimited#12 (December, 1995) - by Roy Thomas (writer), Herb Trimpe (artist), and Nel Yomtov (artist)
Fantastic Four Unplugged#3 (January, 1996) - Mike Lackey (writer), Adriana Melo (pencils), Tim Dzon (inks), and Nel Yomtov (editor)
Fantastic Four I#408-409 (January-February, 1996) - by Paul Ryan & Tom DeFalco (pictures, plot, and words), Dan Bulanadi (inks), Nel Yomtov (editor)
Fantastic Four I#413 (June 1996) - by Paul Ryan & Tom DeFalco (script, plot, and pencils), John Lowe & Bob Wiacek (inks), Suzanne Gaffney (editor)
Fantastic Four I#414 (July, 1996) - by Paul Ryan & Tom DeFalco (script, plot, and pencils), John Lowe (inks), Suzanne Gaffney (editor)

Last updated: 11/19/05

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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