Today in Comics History, April 12, 1961: Reed Richards's Secret Mission for President Kennedy!

from Fantastic Four: Life Story #1 (Marvel, July 2021), script by Mark Russell, pencils and inks by Sean Izaakse, colors by Nolan Woodard, letters by Joe Caramagna

Today in Comics History, January 29, 1958: Later, Richards was heard to proclaim, "Well, it's not rocket science."

from "Liftoff" in Marvel Comics Presents (2019 series) #2 (April 2019), text by Mark Waid

365 Days of KirbyTech, Day 77: Reed Richards' Movie Camera

Panel from Fantastic Four (1961 series) #56 (November 1966), co-plot and script by Stan Lee, co-plot and pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Joe Sinnott, letters by Artie Simek

365 Days of KirbyTech, Day 63: Reed Richards' Nega-Gamma Gun

The Incredible Hulk is on the loose!



No, no, no, not like that. But wouldn't it be cool if the Hulk played bass in a Canadian power rock band?

Perhaps I oughta have said the Hulk is on a rampage, and altho' we need Sue Richards to describe it (because geez, y'can't show that sorta thing in a comic book), the Green Goliath has just tossed Daredevil against an army jet! You know, Daredevil, I don't care how award-winning your series is, that's gotta hurt. Luckily Reed Richards has brought his handy-dandy Nega-Gamma Gun! And remember, folks, when Nega-Gamma Guns are outlawed, only criminals will have Nega-Gamma Guns! And, I suppose, Reed Richards would have one too.


Panels from Incredible Hulk (1968 series) #153 (July 1972), script by Roy Thomas and Gary Friedrich, pencils by Dick Ayers and Herb Trimpe, inks by John Severin, letters by Jean Izzo

365 Days of KirbyTech, Day 36: Reed Richards' Neuromantic Disruptor

I hope you were here yesterday when I asked the musical question "How do you solve a problem like Victor von Doom?" "Is Reed going to use his totally cool Psionic-Refractor (which Dr. Doom stole) to battle the world's greatest psionic threat, Egg-Fu Onslaught, exactly 300 issues later?


Panels from Fantastic Four (1961 series) #116 (November 1971), script by Archie Goodwin, pencils by John Buscema, inks by Joe Sinnott, letters by Artie Simek
And the answer is...well, not specifically. He's going to create a much more powerful machine, one which I like to guess was based on and improved over the Psionic-Refractor: the Neuromantic Disruptor!


Panel from Fantastic Four (1961 series) #416 (September 1996); script by Tom DeFalco; pencils by Carlos Pacheco; inks by Bob Wiacek and Harry Candelario; ink assists by Ariane Lenshoek, Craig Huston, and Ed Lazzelari; letters by Richard Starkings and Kolja Fuchs

365 Days of KirbyTech, Day 7: The Silly Contraption [Unidentified KirbyTech]

Pin-up from Fantastic Four Annual #2 (September 1964), script by Stan Lee, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Chic Stone, colors by Stan Goldberg, letters by Artie Simek
Well, if Reed don't know, ain't nobody who knows!

Today in Comics History, October 3, 1958: Reed Richards discovers the great mint flavor in new Wrigley Doublemint Gum

from Startling Stories: Fantastic Four: Unstable Molecules #1 (March 2003), script and layouts by James Sturm, pencils and inks by Guy Davis, colors by Michael Vrana, letters by Paul Tutrone

Countdown to Infinite Weddings, Day 0: Oh, Fantastic Day

The Wedding of Susan Storm and Reed Richards!

from Fantastic Four: The Wedding Special (Marvel, January 2006), script by Karl Kesel; pencils by Drew Johnson; inks by Karl Kesel, Drew Geraci, and Drew Hennessy; colors by Morry Hollowell, letters by Dave Lanphear
(Click the picture to big-love-size)


from Fantastic Four Annual (1963 series) #3 (Marvel, 1965), script by Stan Lee, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Vince Colletta, letters by Artie Simek

Say, who are those two party crashers outside giving the boys a hard time? Find out tomorrow!

Marvel Bubble Gum Comics, Day 3: This sucks

Comics card #13 from Marvel Comics trading card set (1978)

It's not a stretch to be evil.

Attention, do-gooder dogs! Evil Bully here, showing you that no matter what you cowardly peons think of the power of "good," evil is always the mightier force in the universe? Don't believe me? Why not ask Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four? What's that, you snivel? "Reed Richards isn't evil?" That's what you think, you puny altruists! Doctor Richards is one of the most intelligent men in the world: a man clever and smart enough to realize the sheer force and power of evil! Why, just take a look, and despair, worms!














To be continued!

Reed Richards, Genius Inventor

Mister Fantastic, Reed Richards! One of the most brilliant minds of his universe. Creator of the Negative Zone portal, the Flying Bathtub Fantasticar, and one bajillion ways to turn the Thing back into Ben Grimm. (Uh, forget that last one.) Can turn a paperclip and a rubber band into a time machine faster than you can say "MacGyver." Able to calculate pi to a googol digits in his head. Inventor of the phone without a zero key:


"Reed, oh no! Franklin's choking on his Hulk-i-Os cereal! Quickly, dial the operator to get an ambulance!"

"Uhhhhhhhh..."

Oh well, it's just a phone. It's not rocket science, is it?


Reed Richards: Loving husband. Faithful friend. Doting father. Heckuva nice guy. Sometimes can't invent his way out of a paper bag.