World's Greatest Comic: The Fantastic Four Appreciation 2023

[Gaastra]

Bet ben had words for reed letting him and spider-man rot in limbo in avx also and not pulling them out "not getting involved".

[Mantis-Ray]

Well, Sue did leave him for, like...a month, I guess?

Credit to Reed he's managed to get Sue to stick around all this time despite his many, many, many personality issues.

There must be something there that makes her so eternally committed.

[Crimz]

No..it wouldn't. He needs someone new he has never dated before and settle down.

Agree with finding someone new. Disagree with settling down. We have 3 out of the 4 married. I think Johnny should never get married or at least be a non monogamous relationship as the end game.

[CaptCleghorn]

Agree with finding someone new. Disagree with settling down. We have 3 out of the 4 married. I think Johnny should never get married or at least be a non monogamous relationship as the end game.

Johnny is best served by not being permanently tied down. That being said, this situation makes it very convenient for each new writer to ship Johnny with someone new for that run. Granted, this could easily fall into the FF trope like "Reed develops personal social skills" or "Johnny gains some maturity" that many writers use. Still, that general idea is one I'd be happy with and actuarially speaking, I won't live long enough to get sick of it.

[Frontier]

I'm trying to think of the last great love interest Johnny had. I don't count Skye .

[Gaastra]

I liked the married johnny from the 80s. He grew up some and even led to him leading fantastic force. But he had the same fate as spider-man and sandman. He got a writer who wanted the torch from their childhood. The child, hothead torch so "wifes a skrull." Back to status quo. Reset.

[CaptCleghorn]

I liked the married johnny from the 80s. He grew up some and even led to him leading fantastic force. But he had the same fate as spider-man and sandman. He got a writer who wanted the torch from their childhood. The child, hothead torch so "wifes a skrull." Back to status quo. Reset.

The Lyja situation is one that went through multiple writers. Byrne connected up Johnny with Alicia which was really a dick move on Johnny's part. Roger Stern married Johnny to Alicia (as she was believed to be at the time). Tom DeFalco introduced Lyja as having taken Alicia's place and developed her as a character.

Blaming a single writer for this is difficult as the ongoing plot went from writer to writer changing with each.

[Chris0013]

Agree with finding someone new. Disagree with settling down. We have 3 out of the 4 married. I think Johnny should never get married or at least be a non monogamous relationship as the end game.

Johnny is best served by not being permanently tied down. That being said, this situation makes it very convenient for each new writer to ship Johnny with someone new for that run. Granted, this could easily fall into the FF trope like "Reed develops personal social skills" or "Johnny gains some maturity" that many writers use. Still, that general idea is one I'd be happy with and actuarially speaking, I won't live long enough to get sick of it.

Johnny needs some long reaching storyline showing he has matured. So either
1. A committed, monogamous relationship that will lead actually lead somewhere...
B. Let him be a father to his kid. Have it be that the mom only went back 6 months when she went into the time platform and moved upstate.

[Crimz]

Johnny needs some long reaching storyline showing he has matured. So either
1. A committed, monogamous relationship that will lead actually lead somewhere...
B. Let him be a father to his kid. Have it be that the mom only went back 6 months when she went into the time platform and moved upstate.

Marriage and Parenthood aren't the only two options to show maturity and growth. It would be boring to have all the FF married and/or with kids. I'd rather Johnny be an eternal bachelor.

Also, neither marriage nor kids ensures that he'd still be written as mature past the run that introduces them. Johnny was married before and it didn't stick, characters go from parents to childless all the time in comics.

[CaptCleghorn]

Marriage and Parenthood aren't the only two options to show maturity and growth. It would be boring to have all the FF married and/or with kids. I'd rather Johnny be an eternal bachelor.

Also, neither marriage nor kids ensures that he'd still be written as mature past the run that introduces them. Johnny was married before and it didn't stick, characters go from parents to childless all the time in comics.

Johnny's marriage was made up of some pretty weird circumstances and the ending isn't necessarily due to his immaturity. Johnny has a big man-child personality. As much as the claim has been made that "it's the Torch we grew up with", it's part of his personality. Examples of characters who embrace their inner child but still adult when needed abound in fiction and in real life. His big problem has been thinking with his "little head". His relationships have not gone well. He's chosen extremely poorly (Medusa, Alicia atop the list).

His parenting abilities could be showed in his dealing with Franklin and Valeria. I still think a relationship could be introduced, but one not getting too intense or serious.

[Digifiend]

Yeah, let Johnny be the cool uncle to Frank, Val, Nikki and Jo. He could be one to Spidey's kids too if they ever restore Peter's marriage.

Tony Stark is older of course, and he still dates different women in every run instead of settling down with a wife and kids.

[cmore]

Yeah, as a single woman who's never had kids, I'd hate to think people consider me immature. Although I still have people ask me why I haven't gotten married and had kids.

Has anyone on the team really settled down? Even Reed and Sue had superhero 'aunties' helping out all the time, including Harkness and the Inhumans. Ben has Alicia to look after his kids. While Johnny meeting a grown up version of his kid would be an interesting story, I think four kids in the FF is plenty. Personally, I wish he'd hook up with Wyatt, but I'm wondering whether we'll ever see him again.

[Chris0013]

Marriage and Parenthood aren't the only two options to show maturity and growth. It would be boring to have all the FF married and/or with kids. I'd rather Johnny be an eternal bachelor.

Also, neither marriage nor kids ensures that he'd still be written as mature past the run that introduces them. Johnny was married before and it didn't stick, characters go from parents to childless all the time in comics.

My argument for parent hood is because the story is already out there of a woman pregnant with Johnny's kid...and the solution was to make sure Johnny never had to live up to the responsibility by having the mom jump into a time platform and be sent where ever the hell she went in time. They should never have told that story in the first place if that was the resolution.

Yeah, as a single woman who's never had kids, I'd hate to think people consider me immature. Although I still have people ask me why I haven't gotten married and had kids.

Has anyone on the team really settled down? Even Reed and Sue had superhero 'aunties' helping out all the time, including Harkness and the Inhumans. Ben has Alicia to look after his kids. While Johnny meeting a grown up version of his kid would be an interesting story, I think four kids in the FF is plenty. Personally, I wish he'd hook up with Wyatt, but I'm wondering whether we'll ever see him again.

I am single and never had kids either...but my point is what I said above. They introduced a woman pregnant with Johnny's kid...then threw her into the time stream so that it never had to be mentioned ever again. The point is if they were not going to commit to him having a child then they never should have told that story. And meeting a grown up version of his kid would be a cop out.

[Crimz]

My argument for parent hood is because the story is already out there of a woman pregnant with Johnny's kid...and the solution was to make sure Johnny never had to live up to the responsibility by having the mom jump into a time platform and be sent where ever the hell she went in time. They should never have told that story in the first place if that was the resolution.



I am single and never had kids either...but my point is what I said above. They introduced a woman pregnant with Johnny's kid...then threw her into the time stream so that it never had to be mentioned ever again. The point is if they were not going to commit to him having a child then they never should have told that story. And meeting a grown up version of his kid would be a cop out.

It's Marvel. They do stories all the time that are dropped by the next run. The kid thing is no different.

[Darkshadow]

Franklin is just the right age now where Johnny can be the cool Uncle he turns to because he doesn't want to confront his problems with his parents. Let Johnny get him a beer and talk through his situation in the imperfect, but applicable way only someone like Johnny can. Let Sue find out, get furious at Johnny, only to have a situation develop that ratifies Johnny's approach. And why on Earth would Johnny and Wyatt "hook up"? Men can have close friendships without it becoming romantic, but by the same token, bring Wyatt back.