Active Topics | Member List | Search | Help | Register | Login
The John Byrne Forum
Byrne Robotics > The John Byrne Forum
Topic: Reed and Sue - the Age Difference (Again) Post ReplyPost New Topic
Author
Message
John Byrne
Avatar
Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 135366
Posted: 12 December 2025 at 2:11pm | IP Logged | 1 post reply

THIS bit of blather once again conjures forth the spectre of the “inappropriate” relationship I established between Reed Richards and Sue (then) Storm.

Couple of things: anyone who sees anything sexual in what I drew and wrote should clean up their own house before they drag me off to the pillory.

But more important, this scene was inspired by something Stan Lee wrote in an early FF letter column.

A fan had written in to ask the ages of the members of the team. Stan replied that Reed and Ben were in their late thirties, Johnny had just turned 16 (older than me, at the time), and Sue—well we were told that “being female” she would “never forgive” revealing her age. Suffice to say she was “in her twenties”.

That means that as of that writing, she would have been no more than 29.

So do the math. If Reed was, say, 38, he was at least nine years older than Sue, according to Stan. (And if Johnny was 16, how much of a gap was there between the siblings? Thirteen years? Hmm. )

So—minds out of the gutter, people!

Cue exit music…..

Back to Top profile | search
 
Michael Penn
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 12 April 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 13064
Posted: 12 December 2025 at 5:07pm | IP Logged | 2 post reply

My younger daughter and all her friends are 13 and recently for school they read and then watched the movie-version of THE OUTSIDERS, and my daughter informed me that they were all excited to see the film because "the guys are so hot" -- at least half of that male cast back then were teenagers, around college-freshman age. (I was a 17 year old freshman, myself.) And a further clue into how non-creepy real kids are, one of her friends recently was said to have lost her virginity... because for the first time ever she hugged a boy.

GET OUT OF THE GUTTER! 
Back to Top profile | search
 
John Byrne
Avatar
Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 135366
Posted: 12 December 2025 at 5:40pm | IP Logged | 3 post reply

It’s worth noting that when I did the scene there was nary a whisper of concern from editorial, and the mail was positive. In fact, the distaff contingent declared it “sweet”.
Back to Top profile | search
 
Brian Miller
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 28 July 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 31759
Posted: 12 December 2025 at 6:27pm | IP Logged | 4 post reply

The writer of the article seems to want to make Reed out to already be in
his 30s when he first met Sue when she was 12. The caption clearly
indicates he was a Freshman in college. So even if the second smartest man
in the world (Doom!) didn’t start college early, he would’ve been 17 or 18
when he did so. Which would only be a five or six year difference. Also,
keep in mind the actual comic says absolutely nothing about Reed having
the hots for 12-year-old Sue. Indeed, the art would indicate his
embarrassment at being the subject of her affections.
Back to Top profile | search
 
John Byrne
Avatar
Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 135366
Posted: 12 December 2025 at 7:23pm | IP Logged | 5 post reply

See how easy it is without an agenda?
Back to Top profile | search
 
Petter Myhr Ness
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 02 July 2009
Location: Norway
Posts: 4170
Posted: 12 December 2025 at 10:14pm | IP Logged | 6 post reply

Even the worst hater in the comments section defend you on this one, that says a lot (and what a truly disturbing way to start a comment. The Internet keeps on giving...). 
Back to Top profile | search
 
James Best
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 02 March 2014
Location: United States
Posts: 956
Posted: 12 December 2025 at 11:38pm | IP Logged | 7 post reply

I think it is safe to say that as a child prodigy in math and science, Reed would have graduated high school early and started college a few years before his peers. That would have put him even closer to Sue's age when they first met.

The creepy trolls that want to imply a large age difference between Reed and Sue seem to forget that artists (including our distinguished host) have regularly portrayed him as having his hair gone prematurely gray around the temples.

This feature has made him appear to be older than his peers and much older than Sue. But he is probably about the same age as other MCU child prodigies like Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, etc, who likely started college early as well. The "going gray" was supposedly caused by the stress of Reed's pursuit to get his rocket built and launched before the Russians.
Back to Top profile | search
 
Rick Whiting
Byrne Robotics Member
Avatar

Joined: 22 April 2004
Posts: 2258
Posted: 12 December 2025 at 11:46pm | IP Logged | 8 post reply

The whole thing about the age gap between Reed and Sue being creepy originated from comments made by one of the screenwriters from the 1994 Roger Corman FF movie. Screenwriter Craig Nevius called the romance "icky". I remember reading an interview with either him or another screenwriter of the film back in the 90's where they talked about it. Doing a Google search, they also talked about the age gap in the Doomed!: The Untold Story of Roger Corman's The Fantastic Four documentary. The documentary is available on Youtube for free. Here is the link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzhmBdqzuJI
Back to Top profile | search
 
John Byrne
Avatar
Grumpy Old Guy

Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 135366
Posted: 13 December 2025 at 12:14am | IP Logged | 9 post reply

Stan said nine years. No point trying to squeeze that closer.
Back to Top profile | search
 

If you wish to post a reply to this topic you must first login
If you are not already registered you must first register

  Post ReplyPost New Topic
Printable version Printable version

Forum Jump
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot create polls in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum

 Active Topics | Member List | Search | Help | Register | Login