That said , having a choice of an FF without Franklin ever having existed and an FF in which Franklin does exist, I would choose the latter. Not really a fan of those uber-powers he is supposed to have though... I guess it's OK as a kind of looming 'this is something we'll have to deal with one day' problem, but once again, it's a kind of problematic aspect to the kid that was probably best not introduced at all rather than having it as a perpetual can to kick down the road.

Hard one for me, but I think I like Franklin more than I don't. The problem for me is some writers cannot write children. Franklin has said some lines that no child comes close to. Also, he's been established to have no power limits.

He's best when you can include him in a story when you want, but he's off with a sitter whenever you want.

By the way, Pacheo brought "back" Valeria after some time-warp thingy. It was a good story, though I'm not sure if the character has been handled well since.

One more note: even if you don't like the idea of Franklin, there are plenty of good stories that include him. I equate it in this way to the Pete/MJ marriage.

Showing how much of a family the FF was? I think Stan and Jack had that pretty well covered.

And I don't mind having a kid there... but that meant pulling in at least one more character as a nanny/babysitter. There are fun possibilities, but I'm not sure they're worth it... "Hey, webhead, it's Bashful Benjy here. Yeah, we need a hand at the Baxter Building tonight. Naw, it's nothin' hard.."

Franklin the Boy Hostage? Who would dare? The Frightful Four? The Wizard had been trying to kill the FF for decades - without success - so why make them angry? "Awright, Pete, ya got to three before they start callin' ya the one armed Trapster." "WIZARD! We want to see him healthy and we want to see him now if you want to continue having good health!" "I'd listen to her, Wizard. Sue doesn't take well to threats against our son."

And let alone the FF, what about their friends? "By the hoary hosts of Satannish! I will find young master Richards before all reality is threatened!"

"My X-Men, Franklin Richards is at the least a pseudo-mutant. I will use Cerebro to find him.. Cyclops, take the team to the X-Jet. We must retrieve our friends' child. "On our way, Professor!" "Indeed. It would be a most poorly planned provocation to enrage Mr. Grimm and crew."

"I get a faint tingle that he's still in the city somewhere. All I have to do is swing in bigger and bigger circles, and my ever reliable Spidey Sense will track him down in no time."

"HEIMDALL! I require your assistance! AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!"

He'd probably be the safest kid in the United States.

And I'm just not sure that one can get enough soup out of that stock for sufficiently interesting stories,

1) Would Cerebro detect Franklin Richards?

2) In X-Men #140, Franklin was wearing a tunic with the damning "M" on it. Were the sentinels just generalizing because their scanners weren't good enough?

Thanks for clarifying!