Franklin Richards: Son of a Genius reinvented the Fantastic Four as a love letter to Calvin and Hobbes, giving Marvel a cartoonish reinvention.

Thanks to the scope of the Marvel multiverse, variants of popular characters can be full reimaginings of classic ideas. People like Spider-Man can be reinvented to reflect different genres like noir or focus on elements usually missing from those stories, like music in Spider-Punk. Sometimes, creators even use it as a means of referencing another piece of art -- more or less transforming a Marvel character into a love letter to a beloved comic strip.

The version of Franklin Richards from the Franklin Richards: Son of a Genius stories takes more cues from Calvin and Hobbes than the Fantastic Four -- making him one of the most cartoonish and charming variants of the character.

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In most versions of the Marvel Universe, Franklin Richards is among the most powerful forces in the cosmos. While current events in Earth-616's timeline have left him powerless, he's typically a universal-level figure, capable of creating entire other pocket dimensions if he so chooses. But that's not the case on Earth-6513, where Franklin is a far more comical -- and human -- character. This was the version of Franklin who appeared at the heart of the Franklin Richards: Son of a Genius series of stories. Illustrated by Chris Eliopoulos and co-written by Eliopoulos and Marc Sumerak, the initial back-up strips featured in Power Pack led to a series of one-shot adventures focused on the character -- with the pair collaborating on twelve of them before Eliopolus took over for the final three.

In his world, Franklin is a mischievous and curious little boy, whose life with the Fantastic Four offers up plenty of absurd elements for him to interact with. To watch over him, his father constructed a version of H.E.R.B.I.E., who quickly became Franklin's constant companion. Together, the pair engaged on a number of adventures, all reflecting a more childish perspective of the Marvel Universe. Franklin would frequently get into trouble around the Baxter Building as a result of messing around with his father's inventions, causing all sorts of chaos that he and H.E.R.B.I.E. would then have to resolve without anyone noticing. He also encountered other elements of the Marvel Universe -- at various points facing off with a Skrull imposter, stole candy from the Hulk, and developing a reciprocated crush on Katie Power of the Power Pack.

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In many ways, this version of the character is a reinvention of Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes, which remains one of the most critically-lauded comic strips of all time. The titular Calvin was a mischievous and imaginative little boy, whose distinct spiky blonde design and surprisingly introspective attitude still resonate with readers decades later. His best friend was his stuffed tiger Hobbes, a quietly philosophical but casually silly creation. The comic strips' flights of fancy would take Calvin to all sorts of bizarre locales and into other genres, often parodying sci-fi, noir, and superhero characters. Reinventing Franklin in this style works really well for the character, who quickly gains a couple of parallels with Calvin -- as well as some advantages over the more grounded little boy.

H.E.R.B.I.E. serves as the stand-in for Hobbes, but is a far more cautious guardian than a reserved friend. Calvin's flights of fancy become very real for Franklin, who doesn't need to use his imagination to interact with aliens and masked heroes. Notably, Franklin's relationship with his sweet mother and absent-minded father is a far cry from the more sardonic and caustic relationship Calvin has with his parents, who are often portrayed as emotionally and physically exhausted by Calvin's antics (while maintaining a firm love for their son regardless). Franklin Richards' stories also don't carry as much introspective subtext as Calvin and Hobbes, which was one of the elements that truly elevated it to its current perch among the legends of the genre. But it's still fun to see Franklin embrace a more overtly silly and mischievous tone, giving the fifty-plus-year-old character an edge of childish adventure and whimsy he can sometimes lack in the core-Marvel Universe.

Brandon Zachary is a Senior Writer with Comic Book Resources and has written for CBR since 2018. He covers breakouts on comics, film, television, video games, and anime. He also conducts industry interviews, is a Rotten Tomatoes certified film critic, and knows a LOT about the X-Men. For requests, comments, or to hear his pitch for a third Avatar series that incorporates robots, you can contact him through bs.zachary@gmail.com.

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