GoCollect Blog: Women's History Month - Invisible Woman (womens-history-month-invisible-woman )

In celebration of Women’s History month, we’re going to profile some of the most important heroes in comics. Let’s take a look at Invisible Woman.

Invisible Woman’s First Appearance

She’s not the most popular of Marvel’s female superheroes, but she is the first among many. Originally conceived as the weak member of the team, Susan Storm would, over time, develop greater superpowers and eventually become the most powerful member of the team.

In many respects, her evolution as a character over the decades reflected changing attitudes in America, albeit oftentimes much later than those changes were occurring in real life.

The Invisible Woman, of course, made her first appearance in Fantastic Four #1. One of the holy grails of the Silver Age, if not all comics, in the high grades this is a seven-figure comic. Even in the mid-grades, you’re likely to only find a copy for sale through the big auction houses.

For example, the most recent sale of a 6.0 graded copy occurred in December 2022 and sold in a Heritage auction for $31,200. That’s down considerably from the $63,000 paid for this grade in a November 2021 Heritage auction. Yet that sale itself is an outlier. What we find now is a trajectory that’s fairly consistent – if down a little – if the 2021 outlier is removed.

Invisible Woman Gains New Powers

In 1964, a little over two years after the Fantastic Four first exploded on the scene, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby made a big change to the then Invisible Girl. They augmented the character by adding a new superpower: invisible force fields.

Initially used primarily as a defensive weapon, the use of her force fields expanded over time to the point where she could even knock out the Hulk. Those force fields first appeared in Fantastic Four #22.

For an early FF issue, it’s an often overlooked one. Other than the second appearance of the Mole Man, there’s nothing to mark it as a key. However, that makes it a fairly affordable early Lee/Kirby issue. The latest sale of a 9.4 graded copy in the February 20 Heritage auction for $1,800 is roughly where the price has been for a few years now.

Even the 2021 peak price of $2,100 isn’t that far above the current value. If you’re an FF fan, and especially if you’re an Invisible Woman fan, it’s worth adding to your collection. Just know that, while you likely won’t find a steal, so long as you stick in that $1,800 range for a 9.4, you won’t overpay.

Marriage and Children

The Invisible Woman finally married her long-time fiancé, Mr. Fantastic, aka Reed Richards, in Fantastic Four Annual #3. It was the first of many Marvel weddings and the event really cemented the team as Marvel’s first family.

This is a pretty undervalued comic, especially when you consider that just about every Marvel character from that time makes an appearance. The most recent sale was an 8.5 graded copy going for just $365 in a March 5 eBay auction.

Susan Richards would also become the first Marvel superhero to give birth to a child, Franklin Richards in Fantastic Four Annual #6. Due to the first appearances of both Franklin and the Negative Zone villain Annihilus, this has become a key issue for Marvel Silver Age collectors.

While prices have dropped over the past year, you’re still looking at prices of $1,000 and higher for copies graded 8.5 and above.

Becoming the Invisible Woman

Being a character written primarily by men, the Invisible Woman’s growth came in fits and starts as the folks at Marvel struggled over the years with what to do with a superhero who is also a wife and mother.

While the 1970s saw a separation between Sue and Reed, they eventually reunited and the character continued as before, sometimes showcasing originality in the use of her powers, but, more often than not, being portrayed almost solely as a wife and mother with little regard to her value outside of those two roles. It wasn’t until John Byrne’s run on Fantastic Four that Sue Richards finally began to blossom.

Byrne was the first to truly show the extent of Sue’s powers and imagination in the ever-widening use of her force fields. While further solidifying her as the glue of the team, he also allowed her leadership qualities to shine. It would still be some time until she would become a leader of the team, but the seeds had been sown. Most importantly, Byrne finally changed Sue’s superhero moniker from the dated Invisible Girl to the long-overdue Invisible Woman.

This occurred in Fantastic Four #284. Being more of a run filler than a key, 9.8 graded copies can be found for less than $60 while raw copies can easily be found for $5 or less. It’s an important issue in the evolution of the Invisible Woman, so it’s worth picking up a copy.

First Solo Adventure

Despite the importance of the Invisible Woman to the Marvel Universe, it wouldn’t be until 2019 that she would receive her first mini-series, beginning with Invisible Woman #1. The series told a story of Sue as a spy working for Nick Fury, which, duh, she’s invisible; why didn’t they think of this earlier?

Anyway, this is a comic better sought out as a raw copy – high grade copies should be relatively plentiful – and sent in for grading.

The Future for the Invisible Woman

Unfortunately, portrayals of the Invisible Woman in film have been lackluster at best, in keeping with the Fantastic Four’s cinematic history. The hope remains, however, that perhaps finally Kevin Feige and team will give fans a truly great Fantastic Four film, and, most importantly, one that shines a bright light on the team’s most powerful member, the Invisible Woman.