Malice Returns As The Invincible Woman In December’s ‘Fantastic Four’ #6

by Tony Thornley

Sue Storm-Richards is characterized as the heart, foundation and often the leader of the Fantastic Four. But she has a dark side, and in December that dark side returns.

In December’s Fantastic Four #6 from Ryan North and Humberto Ramos, Sue takes center stage in an all new arc called The Invincible Woman. And this new alternate version of the F4’s matriarch has a very familiar and terrifying design.

Malice, Sue’s darker more violent alternate personality, first appeared in comics in the middle of John Byrne’s legendary run in Fantastic Four #280 as the result of an attack by the Hate-Monger and Psycho-Man. It took the rest of the Four everything they had to restore her to herself. Since then, Malice has resurfaced at some of the worst times in Sue’s life.

More recently, Malice was introduced as an alternate costume for Sue in Marvel Rivals. The costume quickly became one of the game’s most popular costumes. (In fact, issue #6 will feature a redemption code for an exclusive “Malice will rule!” in-game spray.)

Now fans get to meet the newest iteration of Malice in Fantastic Four #6-8, “The Invincible Woman.”

From Marvel’s press release:

“Get Sue Storm. so says Galactus!”

When a message hidden in the structure of reality is decoded, Sue Storm becomes the most wanted super hero in the universe. And that makes both her — and planet Earth — a target for invasion! The Fantastic Four venture into space to answer Galactus’ call, and together, they’ll discover the terrifying mystery of the Invincible Woman, forcing Sue to confront possibilities of her powers that she never dared to imagine! Meanwhile, back on Earth, the junior Fantastic Four step up in the main team’s absence!

“Sue has played a lot of roles over her lifetime, and I think she’s a really fascinating character,” North shared. “She’s smart, she’s funny, and she’s determined. The Invincible Woman isn’t our Sue Storm –and our Sue Storm isn’t going anywhere — but she is a version of her that had different things happen over the course of her life. Of course, we’ve seen a similar situation with The Maker, but the true danger of the Fantastic Four was never an evil Reed Richards — it’s an unchained Susan Storm.”

The official solicitation for issue #6 reads:

Extremophile aliens have invaded Earth! Their plan: stop the planet’s rotation so the same side always faces the sun, and then colonize that boiling, deadly side for themselves. Only the Fantastic Four can save the Earth from destruction! But none of their powers involve altering the Earth’s rotation … or do they? And when the Wizard takes advantage of the chaos to attack the Baxter Building, there may be more going on here than meets the eye — including a discovery that’ll change the fate of the Fantastic Four forever! Science, family and punching collide in this issue. Plus: The beginnings of the all-new Future Foundation?