The Friends are a race of creatures that have lived near Benson, Arizona for an unknown period of time. Every 10000 years, they judged the human residents of the area to see who was worthy of living there by showing them their inner darkness. Many could not handle this, and thus every ten thousand years, the communities were decimated, either by the people dying of fright or fleeing the area in the aftermath. In the modern era, the Friends appeared to the residents of Benson and "tested" them in this same manner, with only a relative handful both surviving the experience and willing to stay and continue the town.[1]

Friends from Fantastic Four Vol 1 239 0001

Wendy with her "Friends"

During their judgment, the Friends befriended a young girl named Wendy who had met the Fantastic Four when they investigated the Friends when they judged Benson. Even after the Friends' judgment, Wendy remained the Friends' friend.[1] Years later, the Friends let Wendy know that Franklin Richards was in Benson as he was fuming over not being allowed to join the team during a mission in Latveria to stop one of Doctor Doom's schemes. Wendy introduced herself to Franklin and invited him into her home to watch news footage of the Fantastic Four on television.[2]

When Wyatt Wingfoot arrived to retrieve Franklin, Wendy lashed out and sent the Friends after Wyatt. The Friends pursued Wyatt as well as Alicia Masters, Jacob Grimm, and Petunia Grimm. The Friends were eventually dealt with when Franklin's sister Valeria used a teleporter she built to retrieve the Fantastic Four from Latveria to first send the Friends to Latveria as a test run before retrieving the Fantastic Four.[3]

Powers and Abilities


Magic users


Habitat: Terrestrial
Gravity: Terrestrial
Atmosphere: Terrestrial


Level of Technology: Magic

See Also

Links and References

