There Are Four of Them, Anyway...

Unless you a) haven't read Civil War and b) are living under some sort of large rock (if you fall into one or both of these categories, I guess a SPOILER ALERT is in order), you know that the honeymoon is more or less over for Sue Storm and Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four. Since "The Fantastic Two" just doesn't have the same ring, many people have been wondering what will become of the super-team. Thanks to a slip-up at the Marvel offices, we may have an answer.

According to Newsarama, the cover image to Fantastic Four #544 was leaked online and then quickly pulled down. Not quickly enough, however; many people saw the cover by Michael Turner and noticed something different in the line-up. On the cover, The Human Torch and The Thing are joined by a married couple-- Storm and The Black Panther.

The post-Civil War FF will begin in March, and Dwayne McDuffie will be writing with Paul Pellitier on art. If this leaked info is true, it will mean a huge change for the Fantastic Four, and shows that Civil War is having real effects in the Marvel Universe. And it is an interesting choice; Reed and Sue were the sweethearts of Marvel until being torn apart by the Registration Act, and Storm and Black Panther are set up to be the new dream couple (after all, theirs was the "Wedding of the Century").

And, as was pointed out by Dan, Black Panther books are getting awesome. Hopefully this carries through into the Fantastic Four title. And hopefully it's better than McDuffie's work on Beyond!, because... yeah.

-Elizabeth