ALMA CHALMERS

Real Name: Alma Chalmers

Identity/Class: Human

Occupation: Homemaker

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Elspeth Cromwell, Dr. Stephen Strange, Alice Winchell, Martha Winslow, other residents of Belle Porte

Enemies: None;
formerly Franklin Benjamin (Franklin Richards), Reed Benjamin (Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic), Susan Benjamin (Susan Richards/Invisible Girl);
she probably wasn't too happy with the Knights of Hades & Mephisto showing up as well

Known Relatives: Martin (husband, deceased)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Belle Porte, Connecticut

First Appearance: Fantastic Four I#268 (July, 1984)

Powers/Abilities: Alma Chalmers did not possess any superhuman abilities, but her nosiness bordered on the extreme. She used strong binoculars and home-made periscopes during her "investigations". She tended to distrust newcomers, sharply judging anyone and anything she deemed inappropriate. She also had a keen interest in the supernatural, reading up on demons, witchcraft and the occult, despite her late husband misgivings.

Height: Unrevealed (5'4"; by approximation)
Weight:  Unrevealed (145 lbs.; by approximation)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Gray

History:
(Fantastic Four I#274 (fb) - BTS) - Alma Chalmers was born in Belle Porte, Connecticut, and had lived there for all of her 58 years. She was known as the town's busy-body and nosy neighbor, spending most of her time keeping tabs on the comings and goings of every family in Belle Porte.

(Fantastic Four I#259 - BTS) - In order to give their son Franklin a more normal childhood, Susan and Reed Richards bought the house across the street from Alma Chalmers.

(Fantastic Four I#263 - BTS) - During a particularly uneventful couple of months, Reed and Sue had quietly moved into their Belle Porte home. In order to help sell their new identity as "Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin," Sue wore a brown wig, while Reed simply used his powers to change the shape of his face. They mostly kept to themselves, trying to act as unremarkable as possible.

(Fantastic Four I#268) - Suspicious about the Benjamins--after all, she hadn't even seen them move in--Alma snooped around their house, peering through windows in hopes of learning more about them. She was caught in the act by fellow neighbor Alice Winchell. Alma tried to explain her presence on the Benjamins' property by claiming she saw someone in the house while the Benjamins were supposed to be out. Winchell didn't fall for this and pointed out that there was no need for Alma to come over herself, not with the "million-power binoculars" she used to regularly sweep the neighborhood. Alma then admitted she was indeed merely curious, feeling there was something odd about the Benjamins.

(Fantastic Four I#274) - Still convinced there was something off about her new neighbors, Alma once again sneaked up to the Benjamins' house and used a home-made periscope to spy through the kitchen window. There, she watched Jennifer Walters turn into the She-Hulk and lift the refrigerator so the Invisible Girl could retrieve her lost earring. Shocked by what she saw, Alma dropped the periscope and rushed home. Sue and the She-Hulk found the crude device, but figured it belonged to an inquisitive neighborhood kid. Back home, Alma had decided the Benjamins were witches and monsters who had to be dealt with.

(Fantastic Four I#276 - BTS) - After reading a feature article about Elspeth Cromwell in OCCULT magazine, Alma sought out the exorcist and extended an invitation for her to come and deal with the "witches" across the street. Elspeth accepted the invitation and traveled to Belle Porte.

(Fantastic Four I#276) - While Reed and Sue were hosting a housewarming party for their neighbors, Alma used her binoculars to spy on them from her own house; she was extremely suspicious of the party, convinced it was merely a trick to convince everyone how normal they were. She urged on her house-guest Elspeth Cromwell to stop and destroy them. Cromwell remained calm, however, claiming it was important to find out if the party was a ruse to lure in innocents, and stressed the importance of making sure there wasn't any innocent blood spilled during the exorcism she was planning, for fear of unleashing a far greater evil than two suburban witches. After the party, Alma watched on as Cromwell confronted Reed and Sue and tried to banish them by summoning the demonic Knights of Hades. During the fight, Franklin was inadvertently wounded. With the blood of an innocent spilled, the demon lord Mephisto appeared and announced himself to be the final judgement. At the same time in Manhattan, Doctor Strange sensed a great evil had breached the interdimensional barrier between Earth and Hades, so he set out to Belle Porte to confront it.

(Fantastic Four I#277) - In the aftermath of Mephisto's appearance on Earth, Doctor Strange arrived in Belle Porte, where he soon encountered the lifeless bodies of Reed, Sue, Franklin and Elspeth Cromwell. As he examined them, Strange overheard a defiant, gloating Alma Chalmers tell the police that the Benjamins had met the fate they deserved, even though it had cost the life of the world's greatest exorcist as well. Strange approached Chalmers, who was more than willing to fill him in on what had happened, not to mention her pivotal role in the process.

(Fantastic Four I#277 - BTS) - Thanks to his talk with Alma, Doctor Strange had learned enough to figure out Mephisto was to blame for both the interdimensional incursion and the fate that had befallen one half of the FF. Strange prepared himself for a confrontation with Mephisto, but before he left for the realm of the lord of lies, he erected an invisible protective barrier around the bodies of Cromwell and the Richards family.

(Fantastic Four I#277) - As Strange faced Mephisto to free Reed, Sue and Franklin, a Belle Porte policeman remained baffled by the invisible barrier surrounding their bodies. However, Alma was convinced it was the doctor's doing; she claimed he must have been a witch as well who had cast some sort of evil spell. Just then, Doctor Strange appeared behind Chalmers. Alma was tongue-tied when she realized he really was the Sorceror Supreme she had read about in her occult journals. Strange berated Alma, pointing out to her that her meddling had unleashed the forces of ultimate evil that had almost killed two members of the Fantastic Four and their son. After Reed, Sue and Franklin recovered, Alma pleaded with Strange to rescue Cromwell's soul from Mephisto as well; but Strange denied her request, claiming it was beyond his power. As he left the sobbing Alma, Strange told her to remember these events the next time she felt the need to pry into her neighbors' lives.

Comments: Created by John Byrne.

The moral lesson offered by Doctor Strange at the end of Fantastic Four I#277 makes Alma's story sound like something straight out of Rod Serling's classic Twilight Zone TV show. "Imagine if you will... A nosy neighbor. Meet Mrs. Alma Chalmers, 58 years of age, a lifelong resident of beautiful suburban Belle Porte. Mrs. Chalmers feels it's her duty to keep an eye on her neighbors. But not only beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as Alma is about to find out in... John Byrne's Fantastic Four." It's also interesting to note that for some reason, all gray-haired women over 50 dress alike in Belle Porte. Don't believe me? Compare Alma's choice outfit to what Martha Winslow was wearing when she showed Sue around the house back in FF I#259. Incidentally, Alma's also possibly the oldest looking 58 year old ever.

I remember reading in a Byrne interview somewhere that he based the character of Alma Chalmers on Gladys Kravitz, the nosy snooping neighbor from the old TV series Bewitched.
--Ron Fredricks

Profile by Norvo. Expansion by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
 Alma Chalmers has no known connections to:

Alice Winchell has no connections to:

Martha Winslow has no connections to:

Alice Winchell

A resident of Belle Porte, Connecticut, she was walking through the neighborhood with her son Danny; when she reached the house purchased by "Reed and Sue Benjamin," Alice caught Alma Chalmers snooping around. Although Alma claimed she saw an intruder, Alice knew that wasn't true, because Alma had the reputation of being a nosy neighbor.

(Comment: Alice and Danny Winchell would seem to be patterned after Alice and Dennis Mitchell, characters from the Dennis the Menace comic-strip -- if this is the case, then perhaps "Henry Mitchell" is actually Alice's husband. And Danny was first seen in FF I#259, when Katie Dwyer was babysitting him.)

--Fantastic Four I#268

Martha Winslow

Martha was married to George Winslow; they had no children.

When the house across the street from Alma Chalmers went up for sale, Reed and Sue Richards were one of the prospective buyers -- they were planning to move out of the Baxter Building to ensure their son Franklin would have a more normal childhood.

After Susan, wearing a brown wig and calling herself "Sue Benjamin," took a tour of the house given by next-door neighbor Martha Winslow, she decided to buy it. Before leaving, Martha introduced Susan to local babysitter Katie Dwyer, who was babysitting Danny Winchell at the time.

(Comment: Martha Winslow would seem to be patterned after Martha Wilson, the next-door neighbor from the Dennis the Menace comic-strip -- Martha Wilson's husband was also named George.)

--Fantastic Four I#259 (Fantastic Four I#259 (fb) - BTS, Fantastic Four I#259

images: (without ads)
Fantastic Four I#268, p11, pan3-4 (Alma Chalmers snooping; Alice and Danny Winchell [background])
Fantastic Four I#276, p7, pan4 (headshot - Alma Chalmers)
Fantastic Four I#274, p2, pan6 (Alma Chalmers decides to contact Elspeth Cromwell)
Fantastic Four I#277, p22, pan4 (Alma Chalmers with Dr. Strange))
Fantastic Four I#268, p11, pan5 (Alice and Dennis Winchell)
Fantastic Four I#259, p2, pan1 (Martha Winslow)
Fantastic Four I#259, p2, pan4 (Martha Winslow shows house to "Sue Benjamin" [left])

Appearances:
Fantastic Four I#268 (July, 1984) - John Byrne (writer, pencils, inks), Bob Budiansky, Michael Higgins (editors)
Fantastic Four I#274 (January, 1985) - John Byrne (writer, pencils), Al Gordon (inks), Michael Carlin (editor)
Fantastic Four I#276 (March, 1985) - John Byrne (writer, pencils), Jerry Ordway (inks), Michael Carlin (editor)
Fantastic Four I#277 (April, 1985) - John Byrne (writer, pencils), Jerry Ordway (inks), Michael Carlin (editor)

First posted: 09/23/2013
Last updated: 01/20/2024

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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