Fantastic Four: The Invincible Woman (Comics) | Review

Cosmic dread rarely wears a familiar face but the newest Fantastic Four arc builds menace from someone they trust. A distress signal from a dying Galactus takes the group into orbit, where an alternate reality version of Susan Storm lurks, twisted by shattering loss and a bleak back-story.

Longtime fans will easily recognize unmistakable echoes of Malice, Sue's warped alter ego from decades past, woven into a stark, menacing counterpart. She isn't merely a corrupted variant of Susan Storm. She hails from an entirely different timeline and newcomers get an unforgettable, startling glimpse of Sue's ultimate power ceiling.

Ryan North (Fantastic Four: Save Everyone, Spider-Verse: Spider-Zero) scripts every single issue, blending rigorous science with genuine emotion for Marvel's First Family. He casts Susan Storm as the group's central powerhouse, building this reckoning since inheriting the title years back.

Humberto Ramos (Spider-Man: Big Time, Spider-Man: Dying Wish) handles art chores for most chapters, combining his signature exaggerated style with the vibrant palette from colorist Edgar Delgado. Their partnership turns explosive showdowns and character beats into striking pages, the kind audiences revisit after closing the book.

Everything starts off when the Supreme Hegemony arrives with a disturbing objective: slow the planet's rotation, then colonize the scorched, sun-facing half for themselves. Reed, Sue, Johnny and Ben alone keep humanity from sudden annihilation, the last line against this alien scheme.

None of the team's abilities involve slowing Earth's rotation or so it seems at first. The situation complicates when the Wizard exploits the chaos to strike the Baxter Building, forcing Reed and company to fight two crises simultaneously while racing hard against a rapidly closing deadline.

Buried deep inside cosmic background radiation sits a message coded directly into the fabric of reality and once decoded, it reveals something absolutely staggering. Susan Storm has suddenly become the most wanted, hunted woman across the vast, uncharted universe, turning her into a seemingly tempting target quite unexpectedly.

A distress call sent from Galactus himself forces immediate action, demanding the group locate Susan Storm before major catastrophe strikes. The reason is truly chilling: Sue from an alternate world of the main continuity has left him badly beaten down, gasping and barely clinging to life.

Reed Richards, Johnny Storm, Ben Grimm and Susan Storm anchor this tense arc. Scarlet Witch, Maria Hill and S.H.I.E.L.D. join once the whole fight reaches Earth. The Invincible Woman looms ominously over all of them, a merciless variant of Sue wielding unexpected, destructive energy.

Her origin unfolds mid-tale: this Sue comes from a parallel Earth so achingly similar to our own, before deliberately undergoing a drastic, wholly irreversible self-inflicted procedure. The brutal process methodically strips away every trace of remorse, gradually transforming grief into cold ambition, fully warping her into a living weapon.

She specifically targets Galactus to lure out anyone strong enough to challenge her, treating the Devourer of Worlds as bait rather than a credible threat. This single choice proves Susan Storm ranks among the most powerful beings found anywhere within the sprawling Marvel Universe.

Stranded on a hostile, alien planet with no backup available, Reed, Johnny, Ben and Susan must confront their deadly opponent completely alone. With combined reserves pushed to the limit, the outcome remains desperately uncertain against a grim enemy who refuses to yield an inch.

Meanwhile down on Earth, conditions grow increasingly worse by the hour. With its protectors helplessly trapped, light-years away among the silent, distant stars, humanity draws the notice of countless nameless, watchful eyes described as vast, cool and utterly unsympathetic toward its fragile, rapidly shrinking chances of existence.

When the Invincible Woman reaches Earth, chaos instantly erupts worldwide, converging with a separate extraterrestrial assault already underway. Scarlet Witch and S.H.I.E.L.D. also rush in to help. Sue then unlocks untapped electromagnetic abilities that give the heroes the upper hand.

Victory arrives but the price is steep. Maria Hill's proposal to turn S.H.I.E.L.D. into a new Future Foundation, tied to their older One World Under Doom team-up, finally earns the team's verbal agreement. With immediate threats cleared, the heroes head back out to save a dying Galactus.

North's scripting shines brightest during subdued, intimate beats, particularly scenes exploring Susan's inner fear surrounding her limitless strength. Occasional stretches lean too heavily into dense scientific exposition, slowing the pace in key instances that call for suspense rather than detailed lessons in complex astrophysics theory.

Ramos delivers spectacular scope, rendering galactic destruction and hushed emotional pauses with confidence. His exaggerated linework gives Sue's escalating powers visible physical weight. Each faceoff feels massive, personal and dangerous, its raw energy building from start to finish.

Edgar Delgado's vivid coloring elevates each page, contrasting warm, grounded tones on Earth against searing brightness whenever Sue channels her fresh light-based capabilities. The palette shift alone announces danger before even a single word gets read, letting color choice carry the tension entirely, so no dialogue is ever required.

Together, North and Ramos ultimately build more than either could achieve solo, blending hard science with cosmic scale. Then pacing suffers during the climactic ending, where many threads compete for space but the creative partnership proves remarkably special from cover to cover.

This arc succeeds as an unsettling psychological study disguised as a galaxy-spanning spectacle, forcing Susan Storm into hostile territory rarely explored, with brutal, unflinching depth. It fully earns its considerable ambition even when certain choices feel rushed as it wraps up, delivering one of its most jarring and searing stretches yet.

Sue Storm emerges permanently transformed, having confronted a darker version of what she could become without restraint. That thematic heft lingers well past the final panel, propelling her beyond comic relief or supporting-cast status into the actual heart of Marvel's First Family.

Criticism holds fair regarding the closing chapters, where the extraterrestrial invasion concludes abruptly and certain supporting players recede into irrelevance unnecessarily. Some exposition-heavy passages also feel self-indulgent, slowing key-scenes that would land harder with tighter, more compact, cleaner dialogue choices overall.

Recommended reading for anyone curious about Susan Storm's actual ceiling, this tale rewards patience despite its rough patches near the end. Newcomers and longtime fans will understand why Marvel's First Family remains essential within today's ever-crowded superhero landscape.

Fantastic Four: The Invincible Woman is a six-part storyline, which collects Fantastic Four (2025) #6-11. Physical edition is available for purchase in trade paperback format via local comic-book retail shops. Digital version is also accessible through ComiXology, Kindle and Marvel Unlimited.