'H.E.R.B.I.E.': Nathan Stockman Sends the Fantastic Four’s Robot on New Adventures

As a family that also functions as a super hero team, the Fantastic Four lead very busy lives. When they aren’t saving the world from certain doom, they’re running the Future Foundation, making important scientific discoveries, and trying to raise Franklin, among other responsibilities. So, to make everyone’s day a little easier, Mister Fantastic created H.E.R.B.I.E.—and this little robot assistant eventually became a member of the family himself!

Speaking to Marvel.com, H.E.R.B.I.E. INFINITY COMIC (2025) creator Nathan Stockman explained what makes H.E.R.B.I.E. so much more than just a helper. He promised appearances from the Fantastic Four’s wider cast of characters, as well as “new friends, new enemies, and new connections.” He also shared the challenges and joys of capturing each character’s authentic voice, his goal of giving H.E.R.B.I.E. an expressive personality, his hopes of making the reader laugh, and so much more.

MARVEL.COM: Set the stage for us. What do readers need to know about H.E.R.B.I.E. before diving into the very first issue?

NATHAN STOCKMAN: H.E.R.B.I.E. (or Humanoid Experimental Robot B-Type Integrated Electronics) is a robot created by Reed Richards to help out around the Fantastic Four’s headquarters, the Baxter Building. Being a super hero team, interstellar explorers, and a family, sometimes they just need an extra pair of hands. That’s where H.E.R.B.I.E. comes in!

Having said that, we try to introduce the readers to H.E.R.B.I.E. in a way where you don’t need to know anything about him. You can just jump right in and go for the ride, learning about him as you go!

MARVEL.COM: Since 1961, the Fantastic Four have enjoyed a very stable dynamic as a family. Where does H.E.R.B.I.E. fit into that?

NATHAN STOCKMAN: As stable as the family is, there’s a lot of instability in all the other aspects of their lives. For example, Reed and Sue have a young son, Franklin; as any parent, guardian, or older sibling knows, childcare can take a lot of extra work—especially if their parents have to suddenly go fight aliens in another galaxy or journey to the Negative Zone.

But H.E.R.B.I.E. is much more than a babysitter. He’s an assistant, a friend, and a confidant to the Fantastic Four and more. While Reed may have primarily built him to help, I like to think he programmed him to compliment the family dynamic. H.E.R.B.I.E brings an eager (sometimes overeager) positivity to the group.

Plus, who wouldn’t want a cool robot to hang out with?

MARVEL.COM: In his first issue, H.E.R.B.I.E. finds himself in a pretty pedestrian predicament that just keeps escalating. What other sort of shenanigans does the Fantastic Four’s beleaguered robot assistant get pulled into?

NATHAN STOCKMAN: Being New York City in the Marvel Universe, you never know who or what you’re going to run into around any given corner. Rest assured, there’s never a dull moment in the life of our hero! Our robot pal makes new friends, new enemies, and new connections all while serving his primary function!

MARVEL.COM: Who else might we run into along the way?

NATHAN STOCKMAN: There’ll be familiar faces from the Fantastic Four’s extended cast and beyond—some old faces and some new. Maybe some old faces will get new ones too! 

A big part of the fun for this series is getting to play with some of the most iconic heroes and villains of the Marvel Universe and carving a little corner for H.E.R.B.I.E. to fit into!

MARVEL.COM: You’re also the creator of THE LOVABLE LOCKHEED INFINITY COMIC. What, in your experience working on both Infinity Comics, set H.E.R.B.I.E. apart?

NATHAN STOCKMAN: The first thing that springs to mind is “words.” THE LOVABLE LOCKHEED series was silent, which brought its own fun challenge.  But with H.E.R.B.I.E., I found myself getting to write dialogue for some of the greatest comic characters of all time! No easy feat! 

With a series like this, even though it’s a little more lighthearted, it’s still so important that the character’s voices sound authentic. Thankfully, I had great editors in Darren Shan and Noah Sharma to help steer me in the right direction, all overseen by the mighty Watcher (and sometime commenter) Tom Brevoort.

While each issue is a standalone adventure, I also had the opportunity to work a few subplots in—the benefit of this series being a little bit longer than LOCKHEED. I think the results are a lot of fun. Hopefully, readers will dig what we’ve come up with!

MARVEL.COM: I love how both H.E.R.B.I.E. and THE LOVABLE LOCKHEED incorporate sight gags in the artwork. What is one of your personal favorites from H.E.R.B.I.E.?

NATHAN STOCKMAN: With the Infinity Comics, I try to take advantage of the format when I can, so a gag set up at the top of a panel can pay off at the bottom. There’s a couple that I enjoyed in the series, but honestly, the most fun I had was trying to give H.E.R.B.I.E. as expressive a personality as I could. You won’t have to guess what he’s thinking! Hopefully, folks will get a chuckle out of his adventures and misadventures!

MARVEL.COM: Tell me a little about working with colorist Matt Milla and letterer Ariana Maher. What did they bring to the story?

NATHAN STOCKMAN: Working with Matt was an absolute thrill!  With each page he colored, he seemed to be reading my mind as to what I would have loved to see—then exceed all of that and give me something even better than I imagined!  His storytelling is so great. Color choices, mood lighting, and rendering add so much to the reading experience. I can’t say enough good things about him! But don’t take my word for it: see for yourself!

And it's been so great to see what Ariana Maher has done with the lettering, too. Her balloon styles, font choices, and excellent placements really help to guide the reader through the story with the utmost of ease! I've been very fortunate to be working with such a talented team on this. They're—dare I say it—FANTASTIC!

MARVEL.COM: What are you most excited for readers to see in H.E.R.B.I.E.?

NATHAN STOCKMAN: Mostly, I’m just excited for readers to get to know H.E.R.B.I.E. and how he interacts with the people and ’bots around him. My goal with each issue is just for readers to get a kick out of following him around and hopefully give them a laugh or two along the way!

H.E.R.B.I.E. INFINITY COMIC (2025) #1 is available to read now on Marvel Unlimited!

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