Earth-717 - What If: Fantastic Four

What If: Fantastic Four

This one-shot, written by Mike Carey and penciled by Marshall Roger, re-imagines the Fantastic Four as if they were Russian cosmonauts instead of American astronauts. In this alternate timeline, the Fantastic Four are known as "The Ultimate Federalist Freedom Fighters." They include Piotr Rasputin (presumably an Earth-717 version of Colossus, member of the X-Men), Illyana Rasputin (an Earth-717 version of Illyana Rasputin, sister of Colossus), Natasha Romanoff (an Earth-717 version of the Black Widow), and Mr. Fantastic, who lived in Russia after World War II. The team is involved in the Cold War and other historical events. A similar tone can be found in an Elseworlds mini-series called Superman: Red Son, which features Superman succeeding Joseph Stalin as Premier of the Soviet Union.

The story actually dates back to when Nathaniel Richards (father of Reed Richards) ends up staying in Russia after the First World War and grows up as a scientist for the Soviet Union. Reed ends up in space with his best friend Piotr Rasputin, Piotr's sister Illyana, and ex-KGB agent Natasha Romanoff.

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    What is a novel? I say: an invented story. At the same time a story which, though invented has the power to ring true. True to what? True to life as the reader knows life to be or, it may be, feels life to be. And I mean the adult, the grown-up reader. Such a reader has outgrown fairy tales, and we do not want the fantastic and the impossible. So I say to you that a novel must stand up to the adult tests of reality.
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