Fantastic Four #384
Writers: Tom DeFalco and Paul Ryan
Ink: Dan Bulanadi

Something often talked about in comics is the way they portray people in the drawings. Men are ridiculously buff. Women are ridiculously buff. Men are hunky. Women are sexy. It’s just the way it works. But while readers stare at these delicious bodies, they often miss out on the tiny details. I, however, am not so easily distracted. This is why when Sue Storm parades around with the Fantastic Four (or three for this issue — whatever) and instead of a black “four” being on her chest there is merely a cut-out of her shirt in the shape of a four, I start laughing.

Is that really necessary? Are as a people that desperate to see cleavage? I know the hunt for cleavage invades award shows, reality shows, film, television, magazines, dance clubs, etc. but do comics really need to stoop that low? I’d understand if the rest of the Fantastic Four had the same outfit, but this is just too fitting of a coincidence.

I really don’t understand the whole obsession with cleavage in random medias. Before you ask: yes, I am a straight male. But I’m also the type who immediately finds someone less attractive if they’re trying too hard (or at least look like they are). Sue Storm could so much more easily strut her stuff in a good ol’ fashion spandex / leather get-up, and she’d be just as hot, especially considering comic art from 1994. Lara Croft did fine without cleavage, so I’m sure she could have pulled it off too. Hell, if you really need to see the womanly curve, then normal cleavage would have sufficed, but I’m not even sure what we’re looking at with this little cut out deal. 

Oh well, I guess Sue Storm’s just not for me. She is taken, after all. Or IS SHE!? You’re going to need to read this comic because if the title’s not a hint enough, a certain member of the FF went missing about 14 years ago. As for when and how that certain member comes back, I guess you’ll need to leave to issue 385.