Page 1 of 1

Major John Richards

Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 3:42 pm
by wolframbane
When I read that in OHOTMU:FF that Reed Richards had a grandfather during WWII named Major John Richards, I did some checking and found he appeared in Marvel Knights v4 #4. For those who have the issue, was he only refered to or acually depicted? Was there any indication the alleged appearances of Reed himself during WWII in SGTF 3 was actually his grandfather?

Re: Major John Richards

Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 4:11 pm
by Arthur
depicted as well as referenced.

Reed thinking to himself....

“ From pictures, and what I remember about him...there’s a lot of my grandfather in me – in my looks.
Two weeks before his twentieth birthday, my grandfather enlisted. During World War II, he served as a paratrooper with the 101st Airborne.

He was a jumper.

On June 6th, 1944, the young men of the 101st leaped into the fog-clotted skies over Normandy. None of them were older than 22, and most of them died in the air.

Years later, after John Richards had left the army – and started a business – and made a fortune – and retired – and become a widower – he still talked about the war.

There’s no way to be sure, but I think my grandfather would’ve liked Sue.”

It was Reed Richards in SGTF #3

Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 8:38 pm
by Agent of Shield
The narrative in SGTF #3 clearly states that the character Fury meets is indeed the Reed Richards of mainstream Marvel continuity. This is backed up by the earliest FF stories which CLEARLY state that Reed and Ben Grimm were both WWII veterans. I think it's FF #11 that states Grimm was involved in Guadalcanal and Okinawa. Plus, Grimm appears in Captain Savage (#7?) set in the Pacific during WWII.

This conceit held out into the mid-late 1970s, after which it became cumbersome to presume they'd actually been in the war. My understanding about the MCP is that it doesn't factor in topical references per se, just chronological appearances. I think we're on our own to reconcile the earlier "facts" of Reed and Ben's involvment in an historical war with the fact that the war took place some 60+ years in our past.

My personal preference is to consider that the Marvel Universe has "reset" periodically over the years. Anytime we get a major cosmic entity interfering, or a mutant going reality-crazy, we get a "new" 616 reality that looks a lot like the previous one only Franklin Richards is still a kid (at least Kitty Pryde isn't 13 anymore).

Re: Major John Richards

Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 6:26 pm
by Enda80
"My personal preference is to consider that the Marvel Universe has "reset" periodically over the years. Anytime we get a major cosmic entity interfering, or a mutant going reality-crazy, we get a "new" 616 reality that looks a lot like the previous one only Franklin Richards is still a kid (at least Kitty Pryde isn't 13 anymore)."
Sort of similar to that Genis-Vell story that impacted the Absorbing Man?

Other than that, a similar case, oddly enough also involving the FF, but not WII: Idi Amin's MTIO appearances got attributed to
Eda Arul from War Machine in the FF Encyclopedia and possibly elsewhere.

Re: Major John Richards

Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 9:48 pm
by Agent of Shield
You confuse me.

Re: Major John Richards

Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 2:13 am
by Somebody
Agent of Shield wrote:You confuse me.
Enda usually has that effect on people. Don't worry about it.

Re: Major John Richards

Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 3:54 am
by Enda80
Other than that, a similar case, oddly enough also involving the FF, but not WII: Idi Amin's MTIO appearances got attributed to
Eda Arul from War Machine in the FF Encyclopedia and possibly elsewhere.

Idi Amin served as dictator of Uganda in the 1970's. During that time, a fictional depiction of him appeared in MTIO. Well, since Amin has long since fallen from power and died, the FF Encyclopedia decided to attribute that MTIO appearance to Eda Arul, a fictional dictator of an African nation who appeared in War Machine.

Re: Major John Richards

Posted: Thu Sep 04, 2008 8:59 pm
by Agent of Shield
Ah.

Not so confused now.