Impossible Things Happen Every Day: Part 2

Writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa thinks back to when he first started working for Marvel Comics and the advice given to him by editor Warren Simons. Simons tells Roberto that it's important that any story he writes should get a reader up to speed on what is happening, to write the story like its the first one a reader has ever picked up. He also tells him to also be mindful of the long time fans, to also write for them, as they remember everything. Lastly, he tells Roberto that the stories can't just be a recounting of real-life events, but also have a voice that is unique to the writer in question. Roberto hopes he is up to the task now that he is caught in the middle of a battle between the Fantastic Four and four rogue Impossible Men who have assumed the forms of the team.

As the battle rages, Roberto makes a desperate call to his roommate Greg to tell him that if anything happens Greg can have all his possessions. However, the call is cut short when Roberto's apartment is also attacked by Impossible Men. With the battle raging out of control, the Fantastic Four get Roberto to safety and tells him to take the Fantasti-Car to safety. While Roberto makes his escape the Impossible Man posing as the Human Torch chases after him and incapacitates the Fantasti-Car. Back at the scene of the battle the Fantastic Four fight off their Impossible doppelgangers who then flee the scene. With the battle over the team turn their attentions to a more pressing matter: that the Impossible Man and Woman have kidnapped Franklin and Valeria.

Meanwhile, Roberto flies the damaged Fantasti-Car to the Marvel Comics offices where he gets his editor to give him access to the Marvel archives so he can do research on the Impossible Man and his family. Researching the stories about the creation of the Impossible Woman and the Impossible Kids, Roberto discovers that the Impossible Man was attempting to emulate the relationship between Ben Grimm and Alicia Masters and the family life of Reed and Sue Richards. Realizing what's going on, Roberto rushes back to the Fantastic Four. He calls them and learns that they have tracked the Impossible Man and his wife to Belvedere Castle. He desperately explains to them that the Impossibles are grieving the loss of their original children, hence why this latest crop of Impossible Kids are so violent and why Franklin and Valeria were kidnapped -- that the Impossibles are grieving.

Roberto explains to them that the Impossibles are finding it difficult to deal with the departure of their children and that a violent confrontation is not the way to handle the situation. The Fantastic Four then peacefully enter the castle and find that the Impossible Man and Woman are merely acting out as father and mother to Franklin and Valeria. Seeing that their children are safe, Reed and Sue help the Impossibles come to terms with the fact that children grow up and move out and that it is an inevitable part of being a parent. Later, at the Marvel Comics office, Roberto explains that the Fantastic Four agreed to help the Impossibles by providing a device that will allow them to track their children across the multiverse. After the story gets greenlit, Roberto gets a call from his roommate who tells him that the Fantastic Four and the Impossible Family have come by to make him supper as a way of thanking him for his help.

Recurring Characters

Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Franklin Richards, Valeria Richards, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Warren Simons, Impossible Man, Impossible Woman, Impossible Kids

Continuity Notes

• The appearances of Marvel staffers are not subject to the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616. Whereas most real-life individuals are typically considered topical references, Marvel creators are often existing in the modern age in their relative prime.

• Marvel Comics has been publishing adaptations of the Fantastic Four's adventures since Fantastic Four #10.

• Roberto reads adaptations of the creation of the Impossible Woman and the Impossible Kids. These events were first depicted in Marvel Two-In-One #60 and 68 respectively. The representations of those events in this story are vastly different. As later explained in Young Allies Comics 70th Anniversary Special #1, comic book adaptations in the Marvel universe are based on real events but often have deviations from the "true account".