in issue number 141 of the fantastic four, published in november 1973, reed richards has to use his anti-matter weapon on his own son, who annihilus has turned into a human atom bomb. his son is the result of richards' coupling with the earthling sue storm, and the problem is that the cosmic rays that infused richards and the rest of the fantastic four on their aborted moon mission have made young franklin a volatile mixture of matter and anti-matter.
and that's what it is to come from a family, if you analyze it closely. each of them is negative matter for the other ones. and that's what dying is -- dying is when your family, which is in fact your personal negative matter from which you emerge -- it's when the family takes you back, thus hurling you back into negative space.
so it's a paradox -- the closer you're drawn back in, the further into the void you're thrown.
i hope you changed the water in that bong from last night.
man, francis, you are one drug addled elitist freak, and when the revolution comes i do not want to be lined up with you and shot, 'cause you're fucking ripe for political reeducation, you know, like in the fields.
i gotta get to english class.
um, libbets. hey, dostoyevsky, i'm also really a fan, and what you were saying, you know, have you ever read the idiot?
if you liked notes from underground, you'll love the idiot.
the idiot.
i'm in love with libbets casey.
it's beyond mere physical attraction.
truly? do speak.
how do you know this shit?
you think francis is going to beat me to the punch here?
good thinking marge.
no more man. i'm about to drop as it is.
where you going?
flame on, asshole.
-- because i've been reading kerouac and ginsberg and those guys were creating beat culture and traveling and sleeping wherever, and, of course, with all kinds of people, but when you read carefully the various contemporary accounts of their lives, and, uh, these guys didn't bathe much, i mean they were really filthy, with like genital crabs, lice, exceptionally strong body odor.
how can you do that man?
sleep all day. i mean, look, it's already getting dark outside, and you're just getting up.
what?
what do you mean?
shit. you're not planning --
don't mess with libbets. i mean it!
hello?
hi dad.
i'm fine dad.
well dad, actually i thought i'd take the morning train on thanksgiving -- got a lot of studying, papers, you know, lab experiments --
charles. have you been keeping out of my shit? have you refrained from entering the sacred precincts of my room?
watching what?
hey charles. charles, calm down -- i wasn't in on it.
to find yourself in the negative zone, as the fantastic four often do, means that all everyday assumptions are inverted -- even the invisible girl herself becomes visible, and so she loses the last semblance of her power.
all right.
good.
fine.
hnnn.
yeah.
about?
uh, dad --
uh, dad, you know i'm 16.
sure dad.
hello, charles.
how are the parental units functioning these days?
i don't know. dad seems a little weird.
may i operate your telephonic apparatus?
calling an individual, charles, in new york. confirming a social outing for friday night.
it's a one-on-one kind of date thing.
her name's libbets.
i'll be out in a second.
see you.
11:30?
libbets. libbets casey.
libbets casey, please.
paul hood.
we?
francis. you gonna leave the seeds in there? in the binding like that?
huh?
hey, it's a sellable skill.
eureka.
valium. seconal. uh, par-er-goric? francis chamberlain davenport the fourth -- tonight you sleep the sleep of the just.
and whence has yon virginal maiden absconded?
check it out. not for the faint of heart.
one for you and one for me.
well, uh, i don't, it's really --
libbets, you really shouldn't mix and match, you know with the beer. i'll put 'em back.
maybe you should have just a half.
i guess he's just real exhausted from, you know, tests and stuff.
you know libbets, i really feel, you know, like a real connection to you --
sure i do, you know, like your aura. that you give off.
it's like very positive, and i feel a real special feeling, because you really --
you do? i'm glad. because i feel for you --
yeah, you're not alone with that line.
right. cool. so, how about we take a bath together?
charles, what time is it?
what time is it?
i'm, uh, in the midst of a moral dilemma. and i was wondering, because i know you're a very moral person, and --
shit. i can't really talk about it. i guess i better get to the train.
what are you doing at home on a friday night?
oh shit!
oh shit oh shit.
oh shit oh shit. c'mon!