# Invisible Woman
The Invisible Woman is the superhero codename of Susan "Sue" Storm Richards, a founding member of the [Fantastic Four](https://www.edgepedia.org/fantastic-four) in [Marvel Comics](https://www.edgepedia.org/marvel-comics) who can turn herself and other objects invisible and project force fields. Created by writer [Stan Lee](https://www.edgepedia.org/stan-lee) and artist Jack Kirby, she first appeared as the Invisible Girl in *Fantastic Four* #1 (November 1961) and has remained a central member of the team for more than six decades.[1](https://www.comics.org/character/6275/) • [2](https://www.marvel.com/teams-and-groups/fantastic-four/in-comics)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name | Susan Storm Richards; also written Susan Storm-Richards, Sue Storm, Sue Richards[1](https://www.comics.org/character/6275/) |
| First appearance | *Fantastic Four* #1 (November 1961), as the Invisible Girl[1](https://www.comics.org/character/6275/) |
| Creators | Stan Lee and Jack Kirby[1](https://www.comics.org/character/6275/) |
| Powers | Invisibility and the projection of force fields; force-field projection was added in *Fantastic Four* #22 (1964)[3](https://firstappearanceof.com/characters/invisible-woman/) |
| Codename change | Renamed from Invisible Girl to Invisible Woman in *Fantastic Four* #284 (1985), during [John Byrne](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-byrne-comics)'s run[3](https://firstappearanceof.com/characters/invisible-woman/) |
| Family | Older sister of Johnny Storm (the Human Torch); wife of Reed Richards (Mister Fantastic); mother of Franklin Richards and Valeria Richards[1](https://www.comics.org/character/6275/) |
| Live-action portrayals | Rebecca Staab (1994, unreleased), Jessica Alba (2005 and 2007), Kate Mara (2015), Vanessa Kirby (2025)[4](https://apnews.com/article/fb899c626f0eb2a67dead45e8f90198b) |
## Origin and powers
In the character's origin, [Reed Richards](https://www.edgepedia.org/reed-richards), Ben Grimm, Susan Storm, and her brother Johnny Storm were exposed to cosmic rays during an experimental space flight, which gave each of them superhuman powers; Sue gained the ability to turn invisible.[2](https://www.marvel.com/teams-and-groups/fantastic-four/in-comics) Upon the team's public debut, she took the codename Invisible Girl, while Reed became Mister Fantastic, Johnny the [Human Torch](https://www.edgepedia.org/human-torch), and Ben the Thing.[2](https://www.marvel.com/teams-and-groups/fantastic-four/in-comics)
Her power set expanded early in the series. Force-field projection was added in *Fantastic Four* #22 (1964), and over time the fields became the more prominent half of her abilities.[3](https://firstappearanceof.com/characters/invisible-woman/) Marvel's own character material describes her as initially possessing only invisibility, with powers that have since evolved to make her what the publisher calls the Fantastic Four's secret weapon; documented uses include trapping [Jean Grey](https://www.edgepedia.org/jean-grey) in a force field to neutralize her powers, deflecting a blast from Galactus, and turning an entire planet invisible.[5](https://www.marvel.com/comics/discover/2509/sue-storm-s-coolest-powers) She has also used her invisibility as a secret agent for [S.H.I.E.L.D.](https://www.edgepedia.org/s-h-i-e-l-d)[5](https://www.marvel.com/comics/discover/2509/sue-storm-s-coolest-powers)
## From Invisible Girl to Invisible Woman
The codename change is one of the most discussed points in the character's history. Sue spent twenty-four years introduced as an adult woman with the word "girl" in her hero name before being renamed the Invisible Woman in *Fantastic Four* #284 (1985) under writer-artist John Byrne.[3](https://firstappearanceof.com/characters/invisible-woman/) The change followed the Malice storyline, in which the villain Psycho-Man's manipulation brought out a dark alternate personality; her first appearance as Malice was in *Fantastic Four* #280 (July 1985).[1](https://www.comics.org/character/6275/)
Scholarship has read this trajectory through the lens of second-wave feminism. One analysis locates a shift in 1964's *The Fantastic Four* #22, when Sue learns to craft powerful force fields while remaining visible herself, and reads her eventual standing as an equal team member as a "classic feminist victory," even though the character was created by men.[6](https://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/download/460/384) A 2025 study notes that the Invisible Woman is among the oldest continuously published female superheroes and that her powers have long invited a feminist reading in which erasure is both her ability and her narrative fate.[7](https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/16/10/306) A California State University, Sacramento thesis on the character records that she has been affectionately deemed "Marvel's First Lady" because of her standing as the first female superhero in Marvel Comics.[8](https://scholars.csus.edu/esploro/outputs/graduate/Woman-made-visible-Marvel-Comics-Invisible/99258334545901671)
## Family and team role
Sue married Reed Richards in *Fantastic Four Annual* #3 (1965), a wedding depicted as a major event attended by numerous Marvel heroes.[1](https://www.comics.org/character/6275/) • [9](https://www.marvel.com/articles/comics/women-s-history-month-invisible-woman?linkId=207543637) She is the mother of Franklin Richards and [Valeria Richards](https://www.edgepedia.org/valeria-richards) and the older sister of Johnny Storm.[1](https://www.comics.org/character/6275/) Within the team she has at times taken on leadership, including during a period when the team believed Reed to be dead.[10](https://www.marvel.com/articles/comics/fantastic-four-how-sue-storm-richards-designed-the-changing-looks-of-marvel-s-first-family?linkId=62150480)
**Costume design.** Sue is depicted as a clothes designer, and in *Fantastic Four* #3 she created the team's first "colorful costumes," reasoning that a team should look like one.[10](https://www.marvel.com/articles/comics/fantastic-four-how-sue-storm-richards-designed-the-changing-looks-of-marvel-s-first-family?linkId=62150480) Her uniform choices have tracked her character's evolution: a more revealing look in *Fantastic Four* #371, a toned-down version with added material and a jacket in *Fantastic Four* #386 while she led the team, a short-sleeve variant in *Fantastic Four* #554 that her teammates copied, white costumes with a new logo in *FF* #1 for the [Future Foundation](https://www.edgepedia.org/future-foundation) era, and red costumes in 2014's *Fantastic Four* #1.[10](https://www.marvel.com/articles/comics/fantastic-four-how-sue-storm-richards-designed-the-changing-looks-of-marvel-s-first-family?linkId=62150480)
## Solo series and other continuities
Sue received her first solo series only in 2019, when Marvel published *Invisible Woman*, a five-issue miniseries written by [Mark Waid](https://www.edgepedia.org/mark-waid) with art by Mattia de Iulis, focusing on her past work as a S.H.I.E.L.D. spy.[11](https://womenwriteaboutcomics.com/2019/07/invisible-woman-1-review/) A separate [Ultimate Marvel](https://www.edgepedia.org/ultimate-marvel) version of the character debuted in *Ultimate Fantastic Four* #1 (February 2004) and as that universe's Invisible Woman in #21 (September 2005).[12](https://www.comics.org/character/3751/)
In the 2025 Fantastic Four comic run by writer Ryan North, a storyline titled "The Invincible Woman" sees Sue transformed back into her villainous Malice persona after Galactus sends the galaxy after her; the arc ran through *Fantastic Four* (2025) #6 to #10.[13](https://www.gamesradar.com/comics/marvel-comics/one-of-the-most-popular-marvel-rivals-skins-is-coming-back-to-comics-in-a-new-fantastic-four-story-that-comes-with-a-free-malice-spray/) • [14](https://www.marvel.com/comics/issue/134988/fantastic_four_2025_10_variant/variant) The Malice design also became one of the most popular skins for the character in the video game *Marvel Rivals*, which added Sue Storm as a playable hero in January 2025.[13](https://www.gamesradar.com/comics/marvel-comics/one-of-the-most-popular-marvel-rivals-skins-is-coming-back-to-comics-in-a-new-fantastic-four-story-that-comes-with-a-free-malice-spray/) • [15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhgYIMEG1Zo)
## Film and television
The character's screen history spans four live-action portrayals. Rebecca Staab played Sue Storm in a low-budget 1994 [Roger Corman](https://www.edgepedia.org/roger-corman) production that was never released.[4](https://apnews.com/article/fb899c626f0eb2a67dead45e8f90198b) [Jessica Alba](https://www.edgepedia.org/jessica-alba) played her in *Fantastic Four* (2005) and *Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer* (2007), and [Kate Mara](https://www.edgepedia.org/kate-mara) in the 2015 reboot, which underperformed at the box office.[4](https://apnews.com/article/fb899c626f0eb2a67dead45e8f90198b) Vanessa Kirby took the role in Marvel Studios' *The Fantastic Four: First Steps* (2025), the first Fantastic Four film released by Marvel Studios, set in a 1960s-inspired retro-futuristic world in which Sue is pregnant with Franklin Richards and faces Galactus.[4](https://apnews.com/article/fb899c626f0eb2a67dead45e8f90198b) • [16](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_fantastic_four_first_steps) Reviewers singled out Kirby's performance, with one outlet's first-reviews roundup quoting critics who called her the film's standout and "perhaps the MCU's best female hero."[17](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/the-fantastic-four-first-steps-first-reviews/)
## References
1. [GCD :: Character :: Susan Storm Richards](https://www.comics.org/character/6275/)
2. [Fantastic Four In Comics Members, Enemies, Powers | Marvel](https://www.marvel.com/teams-and-groups/fantastic-four/in-comics)
3. [1st App of Invisible Woman, Fantastic Four #1 (1961)](https://firstappearanceof.com/characters/invisible-woman/)
4. [As Marvel reveals the new 'Fantastic Four' cast, here's a look back at all the past versions, AP News](https://apnews.com/article/fb899c626f0eb2a67dead45e8f90198b)
5. [Sue Storm's Coolest Powers | Marvel Comic Reading List](https://www.marvel.com/comics/discover/2509/sue-storm-s-coolest-powers)
6. [The Evidence of Things Not Seen: Invisible Woman #1, Transformative Works and Cultures](https://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/download/460/384)
7. [Care, Authority, and the Limits of Visibility: Sue Storm, Postfeminist Containment, and the Reconfiguration of Heroism in The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025), Societies (MDPI)](https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/16/10/306)
8. [Woman made visible: Marvel Comics' Invisible Woman amid second-wave feminism, California State University, Sacramento](https://scholars.csus.edu/esploro/outputs/graduate/Woman-made-visible-Marvel-Comics-Invisible/99258334545901671)
9. [Women's History Month: Invisible Woman | Marvel](https://www.marvel.com/articles/comics/women-s-history-month-invisible-woman?linkId=207543637)
10. [Fantastic Four: How Sue Storm Richards Designed the Changing Looks of Marvel's First Family | Marvel](https://www.marvel.com/articles/comics/fantastic-four-how-sue-storm-richards-designed-the-changing-looks-of-marvel-s-first-family?linkId=62150480)
11. [The Evidence of Things Not Seen: Invisible Woman #1, Women Write About Comics](https://womenwriteaboutcomics.com/2019/07/invisible-woman-1-review/)
12. [GCD :: Character :: Invisible Girl](https://www.comics.org/character/3751/)
13. [One of the most popular Marvel Rivals skins is coming back to comics, GamesRadar+](https://www.gamesradar.com/comics/marvel-comics/one-of-the-most-popular-marvel-rivals-skins-is-coming-back-to-comics-in-a-new-fantastic-four-story-that-comes-with-a-free-malice-spray/)
14. [Fantastic Four (2025) #10 (Variant) | Marvel](https://www.marvel.com/comics/issue/134988/fantastic_four_2025_10_variant/variant)
15. [Invisible Woman: Unseen Force | Character Reveal | Marvel Rivals, YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhgYIMEG1Zo)
16. [The Fantastic Four: First Steps | Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_fantastic_four_first_steps)
17. [The Fantastic Four: First Steps First Reviews, Rotten Tomatoes editorial](https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/the-fantastic-four-first-steps-first-reviews/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Film characters and fictional worlds › Marvel Comics characters › Superheroes and heroic characters › Cosmic and mythological heroes*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license