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Born in Central City, California, Reed is the son of
Nathaniel and
Evelyn Richards. Since Nathaniel is a scientific genius, it’s
no
surprise that Reed is too. Reed has always been something of a prodigy,
enrolling in college level courses at the age of fourteen. Reed
attended numerous colleges including State University in Hegeman, New
York.
At Empire State
University,
he met and became roommate of Benjamin J. Grimm. Reed had already begun
designing a starship capable of traveling in hyperspace. Sharing his
plans with his new roommate, Grimm jokingly volunteered to pilot the
craft.
When Reed
continued his
education by attending Columbia University in Manhattan, he rented a
room in a boarding house owned by the aunt of a young girl named Susan
Storm. To his embarrassment, the young girl instantly fell in love with
him. Even though Reed had to move on, they continued to carry a torch
for each other. Moving on to Harvard where Reed earned a Ph.D. in both
physics and electrical engineering, all this by the age of 22. After
spending six years in the military, Reed began using his inheritance,
along with government funding, to finance his research. Determined to
reach the stars, the project began, based in Central City.
Susan
Storm, now an adult, moved into the area and within a short time found
herself engaged to Reed. Likewise, Reed’s old college
roommate had gone
on to become a successful test pilot and astronaut and was indeed
slated to pilot the craft.
All
seemed well: however, when the government threatened to cut funding and
cancel the project, Reed, Ben, Sue and her younger brother Johnny, all
decided to sneak aboard the starship and take it up immediately. They
knew they had not completed all the testing that had been planned but
Reed was confident they would be safe.
However,
when their ship passed through the Van Allen belt they found their
cockpit bombarded with nearly lethal doses of cosmic radiation. Reed
had somehow neglected to account for the abnormal radiation levels in
the atmosphere. The cosmic rays wreaked havoc on the
starship’s
insufficient shielding and they were forced to return to earth
immediately.
The crew
successfully
lands, and soon discovers that the rays have given them more powers
than any humans have ever possessed. Reed found that his skin was
malleable and that he could elongate any portion of his body at will.
Each member of the fateful crew in turn discovered how they had been
significantly changed.
Deciding
to use this unexpected turn of events for the benefit of mankind, Reed
convinced the others to band together as The Fantastic Four, Sue as The
Invisible Woman, Johnny as The Human Torch, Ben as The Thing, and Reed
as the stretchable Mr. Fantastic.
Mr.
Fantastic was chosen to lead the group. Under his guidance, the team
went on to become Earth’s most celebrated band of heroes.
Together,
they would save the world countless times. Ever driven by his the quest
for knowledge, Reed is believed by most to be the Earth’s
foremost
intelligence. There is little he cannot create, fix, or understand
given time. The patents and royalties on his inventions alone have
funded the group over the years.
After
countless adventures as the Fantastic Four, Reed married Sue, and
before they know it Sue has a child, young Franklin Benjamin Richards.
Who turns out due to unforeseen circumstances to have power that can
rival Galactus, he has the power of a living god in the body of a small
child.
In the past year
Reed was
killed at the hands of Doctor Doom. However unknown to his teammates at
the time he was thrown back into the time of barbarians and onto an
alien world by a being called Hyperstorm, so far into the past and with
no technology even his brilliant mind couldn’t find a way
back home.
Reed, unable to find a way back home wandered about aimlessly for about
a year. A while later the remaining members of the FF along with the
Sub-Mariner, Lyja and the Ant-Man found themselves trapped in the same
era. With some luck they found Reed but faced a new problem, Reed with
his time alone believed it was impossible for his old friends to return
and attacked them. Upon realizing that these were truly his friends he
sought out Galactus as he was the only being in the Universe who could
defeat Hyperstorm, upon Hyperstorm’s defeat the FF returned
to present
day where they continued their life, not only as a team but as a
family.
Upon their
return, the FF were
encountered by a being called Onslaught, This demon spawn took control
of an army of sentinels and invaded New York city, hunting down every
metahuman being he could find. Onslaught wished to add the abilities of
the godlike Franklin Richards to his own. Only through the Sacrifice of
the Fantastic Four’s own lives and that of most of the heroes
in the
marvel universe was Onslaught finally vanquished. The hero’s
would have
died there and then, if not for Franklin who created a whole alternate
reality for them to reside in. Completely oblivious to what had taken
place Reed and his compatriots relived most of their lives. In their
absence the Fantastic Four’s headquarters, Four Freedoms
Plaza was
annihilated by a super villain group called the Masters Of Evil, posing
as heroes, The Thunderbolts. One-year later Franklin returned his
family along with the other hero’s from the parallel reality.
Reed was
overjoyed to see his son again, but he and the rest of the FF found
themselves without a home, moving into Reed’s storage
warehouse on Pier
4, overlooking the east river and making this their home the Fantastic
Four continue to go with their lives.
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