Valeria Richards
| Valeria Richards | |
|---|---|
 Valeria Richards as seen in Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four #3. Art by Alan Davis. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | as Valeria von Doom, Fantastic Four vol. 3 #15 (March 1999) as Valeria Richards, Fantastic Four vol. 3 #50 (February 2002) |
| Created by | Chris Claremont and Salvador Larroca |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Valeria Meghan Richards |
| Team affiliations | Fantastic Four Future Foundation |
| Notable aliases | Marvel Girl, Valeria von Doom, Valerie Meghan Richards |
| Abilities |
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Valeria Meghan Richards is a fictional character of Marvel Comics, the daughter of Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards) and the Invisible Woman (Susan Storm Richards), husband and wife and two original members of the superhero team the Fantastic Four. She is the younger sister of Franklin Richards (though because of time travel she has sometimes been older than her brother). Valeria made her first appearance under the name Valeria von Doom and the code name Marvel Girl.
Publication history
Valeria von Doom first appeared during writer Chris Claremont and artist Salvador Larroca's run on Fantastic Four. While Chris Claremont intended to resolve the storyline, he never got the chance, as Rafael Marín and Carlos Pacheco and Jeph Loeb took over Fantastic Four and brought Valeria back into the title, changing the character's origins. In the comics themselves, Roma professed to have cared for the girl, but the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe took the opportunity to tie up some loose ends by claiming that Valeria was actually raised in an alternate future as the daughter of Doom and Sue. Loeb and Marín and Pacheco brought Valeria back into the book.
Fictional character biography
Mr. Fantastic, The Thing and the Human Torch were on the moon of an alternative future when they saw Susan Richards, appearing as the Baroness von Doom, with her children Franklin and Valeria.[1] Valeria von Doom later appeared in the main timeline by suddenly materializing in the Fantastic Four's headquarters, professing to be from the future, as well as being the daughter of Doctor Doom (Victor von Doom) and the Invisible Woman. This was very disturbing to the Fantastic Four, but after an initial period of conflict, the Invisible Woman accepted Valeria into the FF's home[2] and she aided them on several missions.
It was unknown how Doctor Doom and the Invisible Woman would come together in the future, and how Mister Fantastic would be removed from the picture. Things seemed to be coming together when Mister Fantastic became trapped in Doom's armor,[3] and publicly pretended to be the villain, re-marrying Sue and making her his baroness shortly after Valeria is sent to Haven, a safe house at the end of the universe, for her own protection,[4] but as events proceeded, Reed was freed from the armor,[5] again calling Valeria's future into question.
She was revealed to be the second, unborn child of Reed and Sue Richards, whom Sue had seemingly miscarried years before,[6] and who had originally been named Valerie Meghan Richards.[7] Under the guidance of Roma, Franklin had used his powers to save the child, who had been taken by Roma because she knew that the girl would serve a great purpose in the future. As the FF went up against the cosmic menace of Abraxas, Valeria fulfilled her purpose by merging her powers with Franklin and reconstituting Galactus to stop Abraxas.[volume & issue needed] In the restructuring of reality that ensued, Valeria was regressed to a fetus within Sue's womb once again, on the cusp of being born.[volume & issue needed]
As had occurred during the first time she was born, the cosmic rays that gave the Fantastic Four their superpowers made the delivery of Valeria extremely difficult, and because Mister Fantastic was caught up solving a world-threatening crisis, the Human Torch had no choice but to call upon Victor von Doom for help. Doctor Doom used his vast intelligence and mystical capabilities to successfully deliver the baby.[8]
As the price for his help, Doctor Doom insisted that he be allowed to name the child. He did so, naming her Valeria after a woman he had loved in the past (ironically, Doctor Doom would also eventually be the murderer of this woman). Unknown to the Fantastic Four, Doctor Doom also placed a spell on Valeria, making her his familiar spirit, as revealed in the Unthinkable story arc.[9] The Fantastic Four was eventually able to free Valeria from Doom's control.[volume & issue needed]
Due to the numerous supervillain attacks on the Baxter Building, New York City's Child Protective Services questioned the safety of Franklin and Val. After much reluctance, Reed and Sue decided to relinquish custody of their children. However, an initial condition was that a "dummy" safe-house was to be set up, and a press release to be released stating that the children had already been moved. The decision to actually move Franklin and Valeria was rescinded after the safe-house that they were to be placed in was reduced to a crater (along with everything within a half-mile radius) by an attack within four hours of the press release. It is uncertain exactly which of the FF's enemies carried out the attack or why, although it was hinted that the FF themselves had something to do with it in order to get their children back.[volume & issue needed]
It was revealed that the infant Valeria has already manifested her superhuman intellect, but is concealing this from everyone in order to preserve the family dynamic.[10] However, after being encouraged by Tabitha Deneuve (in fact her mother from the far future), she has since revealed her intellect to her family.[volume & issue needed]
Powers and abilities
As Marvel Girl, Valeria Richards exhibited several superpowers, though the exact extent of her abilities is unknown. She inherited the ability of her mother to project force fields, using them for protection or as platforms to stand on and propel through the air. By wrapping the force fields tightly around her body, she could simulate superhuman strength for her punches and invulnerability.[11] Valeria also indicated she had other abilities, such as neutralizing her brother Franklin's powers[12] or "time-dancing", a method she and her adult brother Franklin occasionally used to travel through time.[13] How Valeria first "time-danced" into the present was never explained, and her full retconned origin explained in Fantastic Four Vol. 3 #49 left the entire ordeal somewhat hazy.
In addition, Valeria von Doom showed an intelligence and aptitude for invention and technology rivalling that of Doctor Doom or Mister Fantastic. She did not inherit her mother's ability to turn invisible naturally, but she did design a gadget to turn herself invisible.[14] Valeria also used an armored costume that mixed elements of the Fantastic Four's uniform and Doctor Doom's armor. She could summon the armor on command, apparently through the metallic paint of Doom's mask on her fingernails.[15]
Reborn as Valeria Richards, Valeria is currently a toddler. In Fantastic Four vol. 3 #63 (January 2003), she was tested for superpowers by her father, Mister Fantastic, and found to have no superhuman abilities. In Fantastic Four: The Wedding she is seen to complete a Rubik's Cube with her father saying that she will be playing chess by the time she is two. It was recently revealed that she is, in fact, already incredibly intelligent, nearly at the level of Reed. However, she is hiding her intelligence from her family as she has calculated that at this point, it would cause far too much of a divide between her family. Although Sue would be proud of her, it would alienate Valeria from her, and after eighty-two months, it would inadvertently drive a wedge between Reed and Franklin, whom she said would become estranged from the family.[10] However, she has since dropped the ruse, as she's later shown as the proud creator of a very advanced AI-based toy which Reed and Franklin plan to sell to Disney.[16]
In Marvel Knights 4 Johnny Storm travelled to an alternate future and was saved from Doombots by a grown-up Valeria. She had a superior version of her mother's invisibility powers, allowing her to shield someone's bio-electric aura, kinetic energy, heat energy, and other evidence of their existence.
Other versions
In the Marvel Zombies prequel "Dead Days", Valeria and her brother, Franklin, were killed and partially devoured by an infected She-Hulk. A grieving Invisible Woman kills She-Hulk (restrained by Thing) with a force field for what she had done to their children. Later on, the death of both Franklin and Valeria makes their father so insane, he deliberately infects his teammates. They, in turn, infect him too.
Valeria makes a cameo appearance in the series Ultimate Fantastic Four.[volume & issue needed]
References
- ^ Fantastic Four vol. 3 #15 (March 1999)
- ^ Fantastic Four vol. 3 #22 (November 1999). Marvel Comics
- ^ Fantastic Four vol. 3 #25 (January 2000)
- ^ Fantastic Four vol. 3 #26 (February 2000)
- ^ Fantastic Four vol. 3 #31 (July 2000)
- ^ Fantastic Four #267 (June 1984)
- ^ Fantastic Four vol. 3 #22 (October 1999)
- ^ Fantastic Four vol. 3 #54 (June 2002)
- ^ Fantastic Four vol. 3 #67-70 and Fantastic Four #500 (May–September 2003)
- ^ a b Fantastic Four #558
- ^ Fantastic Four Vol. 3 #22
- ^ Fantastic Four Vol. 3 #24
- ^ Fantastic Four Vol. 3 #20,22
- ^ Fantastic Four Vol. 3 #26
- ^ Fantastic Four Vol. 3 #20
- ^ Mighty Avengers #24
External links
- MDP: Valeria Richards - Marvel Database Project
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