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Alicia Reiss Masters is a supporting character to the Marvel Comics superheroes the Fantastic Four and Silver Surfer. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, she first appeared in ''The Fantastic Four'' #8 (Nov 1962). Alicia is a blind sculptor who is able to create incredibly lifelike representations of real people by touch and memory alone; her sculptures of the Fantastic Four and other superheroes are frequently depicted. A caring, sensitive character, she has been a romantic interest and confidant of The Thing, a member of the Fantastic Four who is frequently ashamed of his monstrous appearance. She has also helped explain human life and emotion to the alien Silver Surfer. Actresses Kat Green played her in the unreleased ''The Fantastic Four'' film from 1994, and then Kerry Washington portrayed her in the 2005 film ''Fantastic Four'', and the 2007 sequel ''Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer''. ==Fictional character biography== Alicia is introduced in ''Fantastic Four'' #8, along with her stepfather, the supervillain known as the Puppet Master. She initially aids him out of obedience in his first scheme against the Fantastic Four, though she immediately senses the "gentle" and "sensitive" spirit of the Thing when she first feels his palpably monstrous face. Alicia turns on her stepfather when she realizes that he is mad and power-hungry, and accidentally causes him to fall to his apparent death out of a window. A subsequently published story explains that the Puppet Master had been responsible for her permanent blindness, which was caused by an explosion of radioactive clay during his fight with a rival. Alicia Masters was a recurring character in early issues of ''Fantastic Four'' as the love interest of the Thing, serving as a plot device to cause him to resist changing back to a normal human form, for fear that Alicia would not love him as "plain Ben Grimm."〔''Fantastic Four'' #25 (April 1964), p.2. Marvel Comics.〕 The physically vulnerable Masters was also frequently used as a damsel in distress. The character plays an integral role in one of the most acclaimed comic book stories of the Silver Age, "The Coming of Galactus," in ''Fantastic Four'' #48–50 (March – May 1966). In that story arc, the Silver Surfer first comes to Earth as a herald to the powerful, world-destroying being Galactus, and crashes into Alicia's apartment after fighting the Fantastic Four. Her passionate pleading with him about the value of life convinces him to reject his master and defend the Earth from destruction. After the Thing chooses to remain on an alien planet where he could change back to human form, Alicia falls in love with the dashing Human Torch, another member of the Fantastic Four. The Thing returns to unhappily attend their wedding.〔"Dearly Beloved," by Roger Stern, John Buscema, and Sal Buscema. ''Fantastic Four'' #300 (March 1987). Marvel Comics.〕 In ''Fantastic Four'' #300, Johny Storm and Alicia have their wedding, but it is nearly foiled by the Mad Thinker, the Wizard, and Alicia's stepfather, the Puppet Master. These three villains planned to attack the wedding, but at the last moment Puppet Master stopped them, with the (unwilling) help of Dragon Man. However, a retroactive rewrite of the story published years later depicts the "Alicia Masters" that the Torch married was actually Lyja, a female member of the shapeshifting alien race the Skrulls, who had abducted and replaced Masters to serve as a spy. After the ruse is discovered, the real Alicia Masters is rescued from suspended animation by the Fantastic Four, unaware that any time had passed. With her relationships with Ben and Johnny now complicated by Johnny's marriage to 'Lyja' and Ben's prior attempts to resolve his old feelings for her after Lyja's marriage, Alicia subsequently becomes romantically involved with the Silver Surfer and eventually leaves Earth with him, traveling through outer space at his side in an armored suit that allows her to see energy signatures and take a more active role than she was previously capable of. Alicia later returns to Ben, but their reunion was short-lived due to the manipulations of the Puppet Master, and, with both having felt they'd moved on, they resolve to stay friends. Alicia is frequently trusted as a babysitter for Franklin Richards, the son of Invisible Woman and Mr. Fantastic. During the year-long period in which the FF were missing ("Heroes Reborn"), Alicia is seen as his primary caretaker.〔''Thunderbolts'' #2. Marvel Comics.〕 In the pages of ''Defenders'' the Silver Surfer briefly re-unites with Alicia, wishing she would accompany him once more. After their breakup, Ben's newfound discovery of his vast fortune leads him to mingle with the rich, including a brief relationship with a starlet named Carlotta. At the end of his most recent solo series, Ben and Alicia are shown to be back together once again. In a 2007 storyline set in the aftermath of an apparent assassination of Captain America, Alicia designed the memorial to him.〔Loeb, Jeph (w). ''Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America'' #5 (July 2007), p. 3. Marvel Comics.〕 Following the events of the 2008 "Secret Invasion" storyline, Alicia is made part of a support group for people replaced by the Skrulls, as she has firsthand knowledge of what it is like being replaced and then returned after a long period of time.〔''Avengers: The Initiative'' #20. Marvel Comics.〕 After the Fantastic Four have disbanded following the collapse of the multiverse, Peter Parker purchases the Baxter Building to keep it safe until the team are ready to come back together, including a statue of the FF in the entrance hall that was made by Alicia.〔''Amazing Spider-Man'' Vol. 4 #3〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Alicia Masters」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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