Spider-Man has had a long relationship with the Fantastic Four. Fans know all about Spidey’s friendship/rivalry with the Human Torch and the way he connects with Mr. Fantastic on an intellectual level. Spider-Man’s even attended several of Ben Grimm’s famous poker games and once led an entirely new Fantastic Four team that helped take down Thanos in an alternate timeline.
At one time, though, Peter Parker actually dated the FF’s most glamorous member – Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman. Before fans start accusing Spidey of being a homewrecker, though, they should know this took place before Sue was married to Reed. Even so, it didn’t end well for Spidey…
The story took place in Kurt Busiek’s Untold Tales of Spider-Man Annual 1996, which told stories about Spidey’s early superhero career, back when he was still in high school. At the time, Spider-Man had a regular feud going on with the Human Torch and came up with a brilliant way to get under Johnny’s skin – ask his sister out on a date! Spidey showed up at the Baxter Building with a bouquet of roses and gallantly asked Sue if she’d like to go out to dinner with him. Although Peter meant this as a gag and didn’t expect Sue to take him up on his offer, Sue – who was feeling ignored by her then-boyfriend Reed – eagerly accepted.
Floored that he actually got a date with a superhero celebrity like the Invisible Girl, Peter spent the next few hours with his head in the clouds. In typical Spider-Man fashion, however, he had to turn down his then-love interest Betty Brant when she suggests they go out that night. The rest of the night continued to go downhill. When he picked up Sue (sporting a web bow tie), Spidey realized that as a superhero-on-a-budget he couldn’t afford to take Sue anywhere fancy. Sue even had to drive the two in the FF’s flying car and Spidey could only take her out for pizza. To make matters worse, Sue did nothing but talk about her problems with Mr. Fantastic, Reed Richard and the Sub-Mariner during their entire date!
Meanwhile Johnny, still fuming over his sister’s date with Spider-Man, managed to convince the Sub-Mariner that Sue has been kidnapped by Spider-Man. Furious, Namor smashed into the pizza parlor and challenged Spider-Man to a fight. Sue had to call in the rest of the Fantastic Four and explain the situation to Namor. Everyone got to walk away happy – even Spider-Man, who got his revenge on Johnny by webbing his car to the ceiling of his garage and letting it smash to the ground.
While Peter and Sue never mentioned this embarrassing episode during Spidey’s later adventures with the Fantastic Four, it does stand out as one of Spider-Man’s more unusual dates. Interestingly, considering both Sue Storm and Betty Brant must have been in their early twenties (while Peter was still a senior in high school) this also marks an era when Spider-Man was attracted to and frequently dated older women with dangerous backgrounds. Considering how poorly these relationships ended, perhaps this was the reason Spider-Man began to finally date girls in his age group?
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April 20, 2020 at 07:02AM
