OMU History: Invaders 1945

The last official photo of the original Captain America with the Invaders. Yalta, 1945

 

L to R: Sub-Mariner, Spitfire, Union Jack, Captain America, Toro, Human Torch, Whizzer, Miss America

Front Row: Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin

OMU: Fantastic Four -- Year Four

After reaching its creative peak in 1966, Marvel’s flagship title Fantastic Four started a downward slide less than two years later. Jack Kirby’s formidable imagination suddenly seemed to dry up, and the few new characters he introduced tended to be bland and forgettable. In fact, Kirby had merely become disenchanted with Marvel management and, feeling he was being ill-used, decided to reserve his best new ideas until he was able to secure a more favorable arrangement, whether at Marvel or one of its competitors. In the meantime, he brought back previous villains for rematch after rematch until it became rather tedious, with the unimpressive Mad Thinker being the FF’s most persistent foe. Worse, Kirby slowed down the pace of his storytelling to the point where an entire issue could go by with nothing much happening. Fantastic Four #89, for example, featured five splash pages—meaning fully 25% of the story consisted of single panels in which very little occurred. The next issue just transitioned between two storylines without making much progress. The opening page of most issues during this time featured the FF standing around doing nothing. By early 1970, Kirby had had enough of Marvel and quit in the middle of a story arc, moving to DC to develop his “Fourth World” concept.

Nevertheless, the next twelve months in the lives of the Fantastic Four feature several significant events, such as the birth of Franklin Richards, and are filled with insights into the characters’ personalities as Stan Lee used the storylines to really explore the heroes’ psychology in depth. Reed Richards’s attitude toward his wife during and after her pregnancy, Ben Grimm’s conflicted feelings about regaining human form, and Johnny Storm’s tempestuous relationship with his “foreign” girlfriend all make for a fascinating read. The female stars, Sue Richards and Crystal, receive less attention, unfortunately, but even they display stronger personalities than ever before, and the book remains rich with interpersonal dynamics despite Kirby’s growing lassitude.

Note: The following timeline depicts the Original Marvel Universe (anchored to November 1961 as the first appearance of the Fantastic Four and proceeding forward from there. See previous posts for a detailed explanation of my rationale.) Some information presented on the timeline is speculative and some is based on historical accounts. See the Notes section at the end for clarifications.

Continuing on with… The True History of the Fantastic Four!

January 1964 – The Fantastic Four enjoy a quiet month at the Baxter Building in New York City. Sue Richards informs her husband, Reed Richards, that she is going to have a baby, though they keep it to themselves for the time being. Reed begins to worry about Sue getting into dangerous situations as a member of the team now that she’s pregnant. As no major crises arise, Reed makes significant progress on a multitude of research projects. Ben Grimm and Alicia Masters continue dating, but Ben worries constantly that Alicia will leave him for a normal man. When she starts hearing strange voices when she’s alone in her apartment, Alicia decides to see a psychiatrist. She doesn’t tell Ben about it, not wanting to worry him. Johnny Storm and Crystal start having sex, and though she sees no shame in it, he insists they try to be discreet. Crystal’s chaperone, Triton, is satisfied that she has acted in accordance with the Inhumans’ moral code and returns to the Great Refuge, feeling his presence is no longer required. One day, the Avengers call the Fantastic Four for help after Diablo steals the Dragon Man from Henry Pym’s laboratory, so Reed gives them the coordinates for Diablo’s castle in Transylvania.

February 1964 – The Fantastic Four are captured by Ronan the Accuser, a high official of the alien Kree, who sentences them to death for destroying Sentry #459 and the abandoned depot several weeks ago. Despite his fearsome Universal Weapon, the FF overwhelm Ronan and drive him off. Wounded in the fight by his own weapon, the Kree adjudicator does not return. The next day, the FF discover that Alicia has disappeared. Ben is frantic with worry while Reed methodically pursues his efforts to find out what happened to her. Using his experimental devices, Reed determines that she was taken from her apartment by a form of transdimensional teleportation. Another day passes as Reed assembles a new device that will enable them to follow Alicia to her unknown destination.

Finally, they are ready to go, but Reed insists that Sue remain behind in the Baxter Building. Unaware of Reed’s reasons, Johnny asks Crystal to stay with Sue. The teleportation device then takes the three men to an enormous research installation elsewhere in the world, where they battle a number of armed guards. The defeated guards reveal that Alicia has been taken into the caverns below the complex, so the FF race to her rescue. They find her being menaced by an immensely powerful creature lurking in the dank tunnels and rush her back to the teleportation terminal. The creature’s energy blasts start wrecking the installation, but the FF escape to the Baxter Building just in time.

Alicia is overcome with exhaustion after her ordeal, so the team takes her to the hospital for observation. There, she reveals that she was kidnapped by a group of four famous scientists bent on world domination: Maris Morlak, Wladyslav Shinski, Carlo Zota, and Jerome Hamilton. Reed is shocked, as all four are believed to have been dead for twenty years. Alicia reports that they faked their deaths and retreated to their hidden research complex to attempt to create a powerful artificial lifeform to serve them. They were successful but could not control the creature, which was just about to emerge from its cocoon when the FF rescued her. Reed is curious what sort of creature it was and what became of it. However, Ben insists that Reed redouble his efforts to cure him of being the Thing so he and Alicia can have a normal life together. Having recently come upon a promising new avenue of research, Reed agrees. He contacts the world-renowned physician José Santini and invites him to the Baxter Building at his earliest convenience.

March 1964 – When Sue suddenly faints one evening, Reed announces that she is going to have a baby. Johnny, Crystal, Alicia, and Ben cannot contain their excitement. Thus, Reed elects to remain behind when Ben and Johnny go to investigate the theft of a large package from Alicia’s apartment. A frightening figure calling himself the Psycho-Man and his three accomplices had taken the package after debilitating the Thing with some kind of fear ray. As the thieves made their escape, Alicia overheard them bragging that they would now be able to control the emotions of everyone on the planet. Fortuitously, Triton arrives with Lockjaw just then to check on how Crystal is doing, so Ben and Johnny recruit his help in tracking down Psycho-Man.

Lockjaw teleports the Human Torch, the Thing, and Triton directly to Psycho-Man’s hidden base, where they are surprised to find the rest of the Inhumans and the Black Panther are already battling the villains. Together, they overcome fearsome illusions and destroy Psycho-Man’s weapons, learning in the process that he has come from a microverse to conquer the earth for colonization. When Psycho-Man is defeated, the heroes are unsure whether their microscopic foe has escaped back to his own world or is trapped somewhere within his damaged armor. Lockjaw returns Ben and Johnny to the Baxter Building. After hearing their report, Reed immediately begins devising a means to explore this microverse.

The Human Torch agrees to appear in a film directed by Federico Fellini, but while shooting on location in Manhattan, Johnny is attacked by Spider-Man, who mistakenly believes the Torch has gone berserk. Their well-documented fight becomes a media sensation, and a few days later, the Torch is contacted by Paragon Studios in Hollywood with an offer to make a feature film out of the incident. Johnny agrees and goes out to Los Angeles. Meeting Spider-Man outside the studio, the two hot-headed heroes agree to try to get along for the duration of the project. But, while Johnny is in his trailer studying his script, Spider-Man suddenly attacks him. They battle on one of the soundstages until they realize they’ve been set up. They flush out the villains behind the plot, the Wizard and Mysterio. After their foes are defeated, the Torch collects the reward money for their capture and gives half to Spider-Man. Learning that Paragon Studios was just an elaborate front for the Wizard’s scheme, Johnny returns to New York. Meanwhile, fretting about the effect pregnancy will have on her appearance and hoping to keep her husband’s interest, Sue designs a miniskirt version of her FF uniform.

Several days later, after Reed has made the necessary preparations, José Santini arrives to try to cure the Thing. As the two scientists work throughout the day, Reed becomes concerned when Santini displays an unaccountable carelessness. Sue also feels suspicious of their guest, but since she can’t explain why, she keeps it to herself. Finally, they are ready to begin and Ben is subjected to a series of chemical and radiological treatments. At the critical moment, though, Santini adjusts the controls, producing unexpected results. Ben remains the Thing but has been changed into a murderous, paranoid menace. He immediately attacks Reed, Sue, and Johnny as Santini gloats. Reed orders Johnny to take Sue and Crystal to the safety of a nearby police station while he faces the Thing alone. The ensuing battle carries the former friends into the streets outside the Baxter Building. Reed’s attempts to reason with Ben are fruitless, and the Thing knocks the Torch unconscious when he tries to rejoin the fight. Aboard a police helicopter, Sue enables Reed to get away from Ben by turning him invisible. The Thing slips into the evening shadows as the rest of the FF regroup at the police station.

Reed deduces that Santini is an imposter and is really the Mad Thinker in disguise. Thus, he leads the police in a search of the Thinker’s last known hideouts in the city, and they soon discover the real José Santini. Mister Fantastic stops the Mad Thinker from killing Santini and batters the villain into unconsciousness. The police take him into custody and escort Santini to his hotel, while Reed and Johnny prepare to hunt down Ben. However, the Thing finds them first and attacks. Mister Fantastic is able to lead them back to the Baxter Building before the Thing can kill him. Once there, he shocks the Thing into unconsciousness with his menta-wave unit. Fearing their teammate is dead, Reed and Johnny collapse in exhaustion. Suddenly, the Mad Thinker’s most powerful android smashes through the wall just as Sue enters the room. Sue avoids the green android’s initial attacks by turning invisible. Then, the Thing revives and proves to be back to normal, though his memory of the last day is rather hazy. However, the android quickly defeats the Thing and the Human Torch. It is on the verge of killing Mister Fantastic with its disintegrator ray when he manages to open the portal to the Negative Zone. The android is sucked through the dimensional barrier and flung into the antimatter universe with no way to return. In the aftermath of the battle, Reed realizes the Baxter Building is too dangerous for his pregnant wife and announces that he and Sue must take a leave of absence.

April 1964 – Reed and Sue take a transcontinental train out to California, leaving Ben, Johnny, and Crystal to look after things at the Baxter Building. Then, the Watcher suddenly appears at their headquarters and warns Ben and Johnny that the Silver Surfer is preparing to attack the human race in a misguided attempt to unite the world against a common foe. While the Torch and the Thing do their best to battle the Surfer in Manhattan, the Watcher materializes in front of the train, bringing it safely to a halt, and explains the situation to Reed and Sue. Though Sue wants to accompany her husband, Reed forbids it, so the Watcher teleports Reed back to New York alone. Mister Fantastic and the Human Torch regroup in the Baxter Building and locate the Silver Surfer heading straight for Washington, D.C. They pursue him in the Pogo Plane, picking the Thing up on the way. The trio learns en route that the military has launched its experimental Sonic Shark missile, which Reed believes may be powerful enough to kill the Surfer. They intercept the missile before it reaches its target and Ben knocks it off course, causing it to explode harmlessly in the upper atmosphere. The Silver Surfer is willing to listen to them, enabling the FF to convince him to abandon his scheme. He agrees to leave the human race in peace. Finally, Johnny and Ben return to New York as Reed meets up with Sue in California. While there, Reed continues to collaborate with José Santini through correspondence, and they make significant progress on a cure for Ben. After a couple of weeks, Reed decides he must return to his laboratories in New York, and Sue insists on coming with him.

May 1964 – While Sue is alone in the Baxter Building one day, she admits a visitor she believes is Daredevil. However, upon entering he reveals himself to be the Trapster in disguise. She is rescued by the real Daredevil, who disposes of the Trapster’s bomb before Reed and Johnny return. The FF are grateful for his help and reminisce about how they fought Doctor Doom together a year ago. Daredevil reveals he has hypersensitive hearing when he detects the Trapster returning on his anti-grav platform. The Torch takes off after the Trapster, but DD insists it’s his fight. Reed agrees and calls off the Torch. Daredevil leaps aboard the anti-grav platform, and their battle carries them away from the Baxter Building.

A couple hours later, after the Thing has returned, the FF receive a call on their secret radio frequency from Doctor Doom, claiming to be Daredevil. He warns them that Doom switched bodies with him and is coming to destroy them disguised as Daredevil. Reed thinks the story is plausible, based on Doom’s past schemes. To be on the safe side, Reed has Crystal take Sue out of the city. An hour or so later, they receive a second call from Daredevil, saying the disguised Doom will soon attack the Baxter Building. The Torch scouts the area and sees Daredevil approaching across the rooftops. Daredevil manages to knock Johnny unconscious, then fights with Reed and Ben at the Baxter Building, trying to convince them he’s the real Daredevil. The problem grows when Thor and Spider-Man intervene and the FF can’t be sure they’re not impostors too. Thus, the Thing battles Thor, the Torch goes after Spider-Man, and Mr. Fantastic continues the battle with Daredevil. The Baxter Building suffers extensive damage in the melee. Though Reed begins to second-guess himself during the fight, he realizes he can’t take the chance of trusting DD before he has subdued him. Finally, Sue arrives and stops the fight with her invisible force fields. She has heard on the news that Doctor Doom just arrived in Latveria to meet with his ministers to rescind the declaration of war he ordered a little over an hour before, thus Daredevil must be who he says he is. There are no hard feelings, and Daredevil, Spider-Man, and Thor go their separate ways.

While making repairs to their headquarters, the FF learn from the Silver Surfer that Galactus is returning for his former herald, which indicates that the world-devourer is starving and desperate. Sure enough, Galactus’s drone, the Punisher, soon attacks them. The Human Torch and the Thing hold him off while the Surfer goes into hiding. Meanwhile, in a hotel across town, Reed is trying to convince Sue to leave the city until the baby is born, due to the constant threat of their many enemies. Looking out the window, Crystal notices the Torch’s aerial battle with the Punisher and signals Reed. Keeping Sue in the dark, he rushes off to join the fight. The three teammates are unable to defeat the Punisher, but suddenly, the strange robotic creature vanishes into thin air. Then they see a search beam from space scanning the city. Reed realizes it is Galactus looking for the Silver Surfer himself. Unable to locate the Surfer, Galactus attacks the FF, creating crude but powerful doppelgängers of Reed, Ben, and Johnny to fight them. The FF manage to defeat their doubles by switching foes, forcing Galactus to contact them directly with a telepathic ultimatum. He threatens to send a large planetoid crashing into Earth unless they hand over the Silver Surfer. With no other option, Reed agrees, and they track the fugitive alien into Psycho-Man’s microverse using an exploration capsule Reed had only just finished.

Reed, Ben, and Johnny soon catch up to the Silver Surfer, but he easily drives them off and outdistances them. Undeterred, the FF continue their pursuit, until they are attacked by an indestructible android. The battle takes place on a planetoid with stronger gravity than Earth’s, putting the FF at a disadvantage. Their unspeaking foe counters their every move, and the frustrated FF realize that time is running out. Reed yells to his partners to go find the Surfer while he holds off the android, willing to sacrifice himself so the earth may be saved. Suddenly, the android is disintegrated. The Silver Surfer, standing on a nearby ridge, announces that he had returned to watch their defeat but was moved by their selfless heroics. He volunteers to return to Earth and surrender himself to Galactus rather than allow the world to be destroyed. As the Surfer flashes off into the void, Reed says they need to take this opportunity to track down Psycho-Man, which was his main reason for wanting to explore the microverse. They can never rest easy while Psycho-Man remains a threat. However, Psycho-Man soon captures them and transports them to his stronghold, where he taunts them with artificial versions of himself. They finally confront the real Psycho-Man, clad in a new suit of battle armor. Mister Fantastic ends the battle by convincing Psycho-Man that if Galactus destroys the earth, his microverse will be destroyed along with it. Not wanting to waste time, Psycho-Man transports them directly to the Baxter Building using his own technology.

Reed, Ben, and Johnny materialize back in their headquarters and realize that the Silver Surfer was successful; Earth has been saved from the threat of Galactus. Crystal informs them that Sue has been taken to the hospital after suffering some complications, though her condition is now stable. Reed is very concerned when he learns that Sue’s doctors have determined that the residual cosmic radiation in her body is having an adverse effect on her pregnancy. Meanwhile, Ben and Johnny keep themselves busy by finishing the repairs to their headquarters and getting the Fantasti-Car back in service.

A few days later, Reed summons Ben and Johnny to the lab and announces that he believes he and José Santini have finally created a chemical formula that will cure Ben of being the Thing. The treatment causes Ben’s body to discharge a blast of cosmic radiation as he changes back to his human form. However, they are suddenly attacked by the Wizard sporting his latest weapon, a pair of deadly gauntlets he calls his “wonder gloves.” His first blast knocks out Ben, and his second attack sends the Torch crashing into a wall. Ben quickly regains consciousness and, forgetting he is no longer the Thing, leaps into the fray and attacks the Wizard. The villain easily defeats him, but Mister Fantastic prevents the Wizard from killing Ben. The Torch is able to defeat his old foe with the help of the equipment in Reed’s laboratory and confiscates his wonder gloves. Reed and Ben enter, having finally regained consciousness, but while they are talking to Johnny, the Wizard comes to and uses his anti-gravity disk to escape out the window. Feeling useless, Ben asks if Reed can figure out a way for him to change into the Thing and back again at will, but Reed says that if he becomes the Thing one more time, the change will be permanent.

June 1964 – For several days, Ben procrastinates about calling Alicia, afraid of how she’ll react to him as just a normal man. Finally, he can put it off no longer and arranges to pick her up for a date. Due to his nervousness, he takes the wrong box with him, so instead of a gift for Alicia, he has the Wizard’s wonder gloves instead. While out to dinner, Ben convinces himself that Alicia is less attracted to him now that he’s not the Thing. Suddenly, they are attacked by a super-powerful android who has mistaken the energy signature of the wonder gloves as a homing beacon. Ben attacks him but is no match for the artificial man, who reveals that he was created by the Mad Thinker. When the strange being menaces Alicia, Ben decides he must become the Thing again. He reasons that, since an energy surge turned him human, another energy surge will reverse the process. Thus, he dons the wonder gloves and gives himself a shock. He instantly changes back into the Thing and smashes the android to a pulp. The Human Torch soon arrives on the scene and is shocked to find the Thing, but Ben downplays his transformation.

Meanwhile, Sue is being kept in the hospital for observation, and Reed works with her doctors to research the effects the cosmic radiation in her body is having on her pregnancy. Reed begins to worry about the very real possibility that their child will be born a mutant, but he can’t bring himself to tell Sue about it. Nevertheless, she senses that he is hiding something from her. Later, after hearing Ben’s account of how he changed back into the Thing, Reed conducts extensive tests on the wonder gloves but can find no means by which they could have caused it. He is further puzzled that Ben seems less depressed than before. A few weeks later, Ben celebrates his 39th birthday, and Reed and Johnny both wonder why he seems so happy to be the Thing.

July 1964 – At a Fourth of July picnic at Avengers Mansion, Reed tells Captain America about Doctor Doom’s time machine, still at Doom’s remote castle in the Adirondack Mountains. However, he warns Cap against trying to use it due to the unpredictability of time travel. A few days afterward, Reed, Ben, and Johnny are paid a surprise visit by Spider-Man, who is desperate to get to Algeria. Reed has been meaning to take a Stark Industries aero-car prototype for a shakedown cruise and sees this as a perfect opportunity. He flies Spidey to Africa and drops him off over the Casbah in Algiers, then turns around and flies home. Reed is pleased with the vehicle’s performance and submits a positive review to Stark.

Later, Johnny receives a letter from Wyatt Wingfoot, who is spending his summer vacation back home in Oklahoma. He requests the FF’s help as his tribe is being attacked by a mysterious menace. Thus, Reed, Ben, and Johnny take the Pogo Plane and fly out to the Keewazi Indian Reservation, where they meet Wyatt’s grandfather, Chief Silent Fox. The chief tells them the tribe has been threatened of late by the angry god Tomazooma. They have also been harassed by the Red Star Oil Company, which seeks to acquire the tribe’s oil fields, the source of their great wealth. The FF then find one of the oil fields has been set on fire by the gigantic armored form of Tomazooma, but during the battle they determine that it is actually just a robot. With the help of Wyatt’s tribe, the FF destroy the robot. Silent Fox then announces that the Red Star Oil Company has been exposed as a front for Soviet espionage and ordered shut down by the American government. The Keewazi lands are safe and their faith in the true Tomazooma is undiminished. And so, after visiting with Wyatt for a while, Reed, Ben, and Johnny return to New York. Soon after, they have a party in the hospital to celebrate Sue’s 25th birthday, though her condition is worsening.

August 1964 – As Sue’s health deteriorates, Reed determines that the antidote to the cosmic radiation affecting her pregnancy can only be found in the Negative Zone. But when Reed, Ben, and Johnny enter the strange dimension to search for it, they are immediately captured by a murderous, armor-clad, insectoid despot called Annihilus, who confiscates the jetpacks they need to maneuver in the Negative Zone. Reed realizes that the source of Annihilus’s power is the cosmic control rod he wears at his throat, and it is exactly what he needs to save Sue and the baby. And so, in escaping from the villain’s deathtraps, the Thing knocks Annihilus out and Reed takes the cosmic control rod. They make a hasty escape and head back to the dimensional boundary, with Annihilus in hot pursuit. When they all become trapped in the matter/antimatter annihilation area, Reed strikes a bargain with Annihilus to return the cosmic control rod in exchange for their jetpacks. Desperate, Annihilus agrees and, after Reed drains the rod’s energy into a receptacle he has brought with him, the exchange is made. The FF jet back to the dimensional interface and seal the portal behind them. They then race to the hospital, where Reed administers the treatment to Sue. The childbirth begins to proceed normally, so Reed is ushered into the waiting room. After several hours, the doctor announces that the delivery was successful and mother and son are doing fine. A crowd of reporters descends on the waiting room to record the happy moment. Then, Reed, Ben, Johnny, and Crystal go into the maternity ward to meet the newest member of their family.

Sue remains in the hospital for several days for recovery and observation. Crystal, who is frustrated by the way the others constantly try to keep her out of danger, decides she will replace the Invisible Girl on the team, hoping their attitude will change if she is a full-fledged member of the FF. Thus, she designs a modified blue uniform for herself. However, Johnny and Reed are initially resistant to the idea. But then the Baxter Building comes under attack by the Wizard, who has created a new, more powerful set of wonder gloves. His first act is to destroy the original pair from afar. The Human Torch flies out to intercept him, but the Wizard battles him to a standstill. Mister Fantastic, the Thing, and Crystal soon arrive in the Fantasti-Car, driving the Wizard to the riverfront. Intent on proving herself, Crystal takes the lead and uses her elemental powers to batter the Wizard until he decides to retreat. Though the villain manages to escape again, the three male members of the FF are very impressed with Crystal’s abilities and welcome her officially to the team.

After the shocking suicide of presidential candidate Paul Destine, his ancient Helmet of Power is taken by the police and turned over to the government for study. The Thing is enlisted to safely deliver the helmet to Washington, D.C. However, the Sub-Mariner claims the helmet is an Atlantean artifact and wrests it from the Thing after an epic battle. Ben is helpless to prevent Namor from taking the helmet down into the ocean depths. Shortly afterwards, Sue brings the baby home from the hospital, and they all work on trying to come up with a name for him. Then, Reed celebrates his 42nd birthday.

September 1964 – The Fantastic Four are invited to the wedding of the Wasp and Yellowjacket, which is being held at Avengers Mansion. Sue and Crystal help the Wasp get ready before the ceremony. Reed, Ben, and Johnny mingle with the other guests, who include Captain America, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Vision, the Black Knight, the Black Panther, Spider-Man, Daredevil, Doctor Strange, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Angel, Iceman, Beast, and Nick Fury. The ceremony is brief and straightforward, but the reception is interrupted when a giant python bursts out of the wedding cake. Reed volunteers to help, but the Avengers ask their guests to step out for a while so they can deal with the situation. About half an hour later, the police arrive to take the Ringmaster and his Circus of Crime into custody. The guests are surprised to discover that the mysterious Yellowjacket is none other than Hank Pym, the Wasp’s long-time beau. Not long after, while the Hulk is on a rampage in New York, Reed is asked by Air Force personnel to finish designing a weapon started by Bruce Banner months ago, intended for just such an emergency. Reed agrees and soon has the weapon constructed, handing it over to Major Glenn Talbot and Rick Jones. Reed has grave concerns that the device might kill Banner while neutralizing his green-skinned alter-ego. After learning that the device was only temporarily successful, Reed decides to keep working on a solution for the problem of the Hulk.

Crystal decides she must return to the Great Refuge to obtain official permission from Black Bolt to be a full-time member of the Fantastic Four. However, Lockjaw suddenly materializes, followed by a horde of Alpha Primitives, the Inhumans’ worker drones, who kidnap Crystal. Reed, Ben, and Johnny fly to the Himalayas aboard their passenger missile but are immediately attacked by a large robot called Zorr. The robot reveals that it serves Maximus, who has once again usurped the throne from Black Bolt, confirming the FF’s fears. Zorr quickly overpowers the FF and leaves them trapped. Reed soon theorizes that their prison is illusory, resulting from some form of hypnotic field, which enables them to escape and defeat Zorr. They hear a chanting crowd and look out a window into the main square. They see Maximus, in full regalia, addressing his subjects. He proclaims himself Emperor Eternal and boasts that his latest weapon, a giant Hypno-Gun, will make everyone on earth his helpless slaves before he turns it on the stars and conquers the universe. Suddenly, Crystal and the rest of the royal family appear, having escaped from Maximus’s traps. Crystal unleashes a shockwave that shatters the Hypno-Gun, and Maximus decides to flee with his band of loyal followers. Black Bolt reclaims his rightful position and calms the outraged populace. The FF join them outside in time to witness Maximus’s escape rocket blasting off. It soon disappears into the sky, but the Inhumans know that someday Maximus will return to plague them again. Black Bolt grants his permission for Crystal to join the FF.

On their way home, the Fantastic Four are intercepted by S.H.I.E.L.D. fighter jets and directed to a secret base elsewhere in Asia. There they are briefed by Colonel Nick Fury himself, along with his trusty right-hand man, “Dum Dum” Dugan. Fury asks the FF to investigate rumors of a secret army of robots being created by Doctor Doom. Reed agrees to help, and so the FF are air-lifted to Yugoslavia, where they cross the border into Latveria by car. They are immediately attacked by Doom’s armored soldiers and gassed into unconsciousness. The FF wake up the next morning in a luxurious inn in a small walled village in the shadow of the imposing Castle Doom. The FF are perplexed by this show of hospitality. As they leave the inn, they are met by the mayor, who declares a festival in their honor. Though the villagers participate in the celebration, the FF can see they are merely going through the motions out of fear. To force Doom to show his hand, Reed makes a run for it but is brought down by a stun blast. A video monitor rises from a hidden alcove and Doom announces that he has stripped the FF of their powers, and they shall be his helpless subjects for the rest of their lives.

Later that day, a grim announcement is made—Doctor Doom’s new robot army is out of control and heading straight for the village. The FF realize this is a field test of Doom’s new robots and he is willing to sacrifice the entire village to put his artificial soldiers through their paces. Reed rallies the villagers to mount a defense while he tries to hack into Doom’s own defensive systems. As the robot army descends, the FF find their powers gradually returning as Doom’s hypnotic conditioning wears off. However, Ben and Johnny prove no match for the robot horde, and the cache of weapons the villagers find proves useless. They fall back to the town hall to make their last stand. After finally locating a control unit for Doom’s defense grid, Reed manages to destroy the robot army using the dictator’s own weapons. Suddenly, the village is annihilated in a tremendous explosion as Doom detonates a powerful bomb. But to everyone’s surprise, the building the FF and the villagers are in is left untouched. Stepping outside, they discover the Invisible Girl, who shielded them with her force field. Sue says she forced Nick Fury to tell her where they were, left the baby with Alicia, and rushed to their aid. Then, as the villagers flee into the hills, Reed, Sue, Ben, Johnny, and Crystal head straight to Castle Doom for the showdown.

As soon as they arrive, the villain captures Sue and Crystal, leaving the men to storm the castle. Inside, Doctor Doom invites the pair to an elaborate formal dinner, playing the perfect host, much to their consternation. Meanwhile, Reed, Ben, and Johnny make it into the castle and pass through an art gallery filled with masterpieces from all over the globe. There they find Fury’s missing S.H.I.E.L.D. agent being threatened by one of Doom’s underlings with a flame-thrower. The former Nazi, Gustav Hauptmann, is about to incinerate the entire gallery in an attempt to kill his foes when he suddenly dies screaming. Sue and Crystal meet up with their teammates moments later and tell them that Doom killed Hauptmann to save his art collection. The dictator then summarily dismissed them, promising them safe passage out of the country. Confused but not surprised by Doom’s incredible arrogance, the FF and the secret agent depart. On the way home, Reed reports to Fury that Doom’s robot army has been destroyed.

Upon returning to New York, Sue announces that, while they were away, she found an unusual little house out in the country to serve as the Richards family residence. The team flies out in the Fantasti-Car to take a look. The remote structure proves to be more bizarre than they expected, but despite the strange underground design, it seems to suit their unique needs. Reed is hesitant to commit to the purchase, but Sue thinks it’s perfect. Then, early one morning, a mysterious intruder steals Reed’s latest energy weapon, the “Space Scrambler.” Johnny chases the thief into the sky but can’t fly high enough or fast enough to catch up. Reed is frustrated by how easily their security was breached. Soon after, the Thing hears a nationwide radio broadcast by an unidentified villain demanding a ransom or he will blackout the entire country. Ben turns off the radio, thinking it must be a prank. A few days later, the FF celebrate Johnny’s 20th birthday.

Believing that he has developed a means to cure Bruce Banner of being the Hulk, Reed makes an announcement to the mass media, hoping that Banner will see the headlines and come to the Baxter Building. That very night, the Hulk smashes his way into their headquarters. During the ensuing battle, Crystal and Sue see a small pouch on the floor that had been tied to the Hulk’s waist. Opening it, they find a handwritten chemical formula scrawled by Banner at some point. They finally manage to subdue the Hulk and strap him into the apparatus Reed has prepared. He works Banner’s ideas into the process and by morning he is ready to activate the device. The machine breaks the Hulk down into his component molecules, treats them, and then reassembles them into the form of Bruce Banner. Revived, Banner is eager to leave and does not want to subject himself to the battery of tests Reed advises. To Reed’s surprise, Banner demonstrates that his additions to the formula will not prevent him from becoming the Hulk but will instead allow him to control the transformation and maintain his own intellect while in the Hulk’s form. Ben convinces his teammates to leave Banner alone, and Reed is satisfied that the experiment was a success. They wish Banner good luck as he leaves.

October 1964 – Sue talks Reed into purchasing the weird house in the country, and they begin moving their things out of the team’s headquarters. However, as the move progresses, each member of the FF begins to experience severe eye-strain, and they all visit an optometrist whose office is in the Baxter Building, though none of them wants to mention it to the others. After Sue serves her first home-cooked meal at the new house, the FF are suddenly struck blind and attacked by the Mole Man, who reveals the building is actually part of a gigantic machine he has constructed to cause a worldwide epidemic of blindness. Despite their disability, the FF defeat the Mole Man and destroy his blindness ray. They recover their sight, though Reed is badly wounded in the battle and requires CPR. While he’s recovering, the Mole Man escapes and causes the house to self-destruct. The FF get out just in the nick of time.

Returning to the city, the Thing is kidnapped by a Skrull slaver who disguises himself as Reed Richards. The FF become worried when Ben fails to return to the Baxter Building, and they immediately initiate an exhaustive search. While hunting through the city, the Human Torch happens upon Spider-Man battling the Lizard. Seeing that Spidey’s in trouble, the Torch decides to lend a hand, although his heroic rival keeps telling him to get lost. As the Lizard continues his rampage, the Torch can’t understand why Spider-Man seems determined to go easy on the monstrous menace. The battle leads them to the waterfront, where the Lizard is finally defeated. The Torch is ready to have it out with Spider-Man once and for all, but Spidey tells him his “spider-sonic hearing” detected a distress call from the Fantastic Four. Thinking there is news of Ben, Johnny speeds back to the Baxter Building, only to learn that the web-spinner has duped him. Extremely angry, the Torch goes looking for Spider-Man but fails to locate him again.

Meanwhile, the Thing is transported to the Andromeda Galaxy and learns that he has been abducted to serve as a slave in the Skrull equivalent of the gladiatorial arena. He is taken to the planet Kral, which Ben is shocked to find is a recreation of Prohibition-era Chicago gangland culture. He learns from a guard that, on a visit to Earth in the 1930s, a Skrull slaver captured the notorious gangster Machine-Gun Martin, and the Skrulls were so amused by his antics that they based their entertainment world on the stories he told. Despite all his efforts to escape, the Thing is purchased by a Skrull calling himself “Boss Barker” and sent to fight other aliens in the arena. In the training center, he gets to know his scheduled opponent, Torgo, a mechanical life form. Torgo reveals that if the slaves refuse to fight, their home planets will be destroyed by the Skrull’s weapons. During their match, Ben tries to talk Torgo out of fighting and turning on their alien masters.

On Earth, various clues lead Reed to believe that Ben was most likely kidnapped by a Skrull, and so he preps their interstellar flying saucer for the team’s second voyage to the Andromeda Galaxy. He orders Sue to remain at home with the baby and takes Johnny and Crystal on the mission. Once in space, Reed is able to track the energy signature of the slave ship’s radiation emissions, and it leads them straight to Kral. Near the planet, they intercept the slave ship and board it, forcing the pilot to reveal the Thing’s location. Entering the city, the FF disguise themselves as gangsters to blend in and reach the arena just as Torgo refuses to deliver the killing blow. To punish him, the Skrulls activate their planet-destroying weapon, but Crystal shatters it with a shockwave. With the weapon destroyed, Torgo frees the other combatants and they massacre the Skrulls. The FF slip out in the confusion and make it back to their saucer. Ben is grateful to his friends as they jump into hyperspace and head for home. A few days later, the Fantastic Four have a strange experience as they are all suddenly overcome by an all-consuming determination, as feelings of sympathy and mercy well up within them, followed by a deep-seated desire for freedom and a sense of needing to right the wrongs of centuries. Finally, a wave of courage and decency washes over them, and then their minds clear. They are at a loss to explain what has just happened.

Then, a week before Halloween, Reed and Sue announce that they have named the baby Franklin Benjamin Richards. They have also hired a child-rearing expert to care for Franklin at her remote mansion on Whisper Hill in upstate New York. The FF fly up there in the Fantasti-Car, where Agatha Harkness meets them at the door with her cat, Ebony. Since a bad storm has rolled in, she invites them to spend the night. However, as the team is getting ready for bed, they are attacked by the Frightful Four. The Wizard, Sandman, and the Trapster manage to imprison the unsuspecting heroes, but then Medusa turns on the villains and attempts to rescue her friends. She is subdued by the Trapster’s paste. Suddenly, Agatha Harkness confronts them and easily defeats all three criminals with her sorcery. The FF and Medusa suddenly find themselves free and their enemies all unconscious. Rushing upstairs, they discover Agatha Harkness knitting in her rocking chair with Franklin sound asleep in his bassinet. Reed and Sue are reassured that their baby is in good hands, though Ben is a bit disturbed by the suggestion that Agatha Harkness may be a witch. On the way back from Whisper Hill, the FF are prevented from entering Manhattan by a force field over the city, created by the international crime cartel Zodiac. Several hours later, the force field dissolves and the FF learn that Daredevil and the Avengers have dealt with the crisis and captured the crooks.

November 1964 – Following the controversial presidential election, the Fantastic Four are recruited to guard the delegates at a special meeting of the United Nations. Mister Fantastic, the Invisible Girl, and the Thing patrol the area in the Fantasti-Car, but they are attacked by an unseen assailant with a disintegrator beam. Analyzing the damage to the Fantasti-Car, Reed creates a means of countering the weapon. They flush out the assassin at the UN building, neutralize his disintegrator weapon, and apprehend him. Calling himself the Monocle, the enemy agent refuses to divulge who he’s working for. Meanwhile, Lockjaw brings Medusa to the Baxter Building to take Crystal back to the Great Refuge, by royal order of Black Bolt. Johnny argues with them about it, but though she doesn’t want to go, Crystal obeys. Lockjaw and the two sisters dematerialize, leaving Johnny angry and sullen.

A few days later, the Human Torch and the Thing try to stop a bank robber calling himself Janus, the Nega-Man, but are soundly defeated. While recovering at the Baxter Building, they fill Reed in on the situation, only to unexpectedly receive a video-call from Janus, who turns out to be an old college classmate of Reed’s. Ben and Johnny are surprised by the drastic change in their foe’s demeanor; where before he had been bellicose, he is now almost meek. The transmission is cut off when Janus is attacked, so Reed decides to split their forces. He sends Ben and Johnny to patrol the city in case the Nega-Man should strike again, while he and Sue go to visit Janus in the suburbs. Once there, Reed’s suspicions are confirmed as he learns that Janus was conducting experiments with energies derived from the Negative Zone and accidentally created the Nega-Man, his evil doppelgänger. When the Nega-Man returns after besting the Torch and the Thing a second time, Janus takes out a gun and shoots his insane double, causing him to dissolve into crackling energy. The crisis solved, Reed and Sue return to New York, leaving Janus to his own tortured thoughts.

Later, Ben, Sue, and Johnny are captured by android doubles created by the Mad Thinker. Luckily, Reed overcomes his double and storms their headquarters to free the Thing. Ben smashes the androids as Reed captures the Mad Thinker, forcing him to reveal how he bypassed their security. They find a secret passage leading to the basement of the Baxter Building, which Reed realizes could only have been installed while they were in Latveria. On the building’s lowest level, they discover the Thinker’s lair, defeat his henchmen, and free Sue and Johnny from stasis tubes. The Mad Thinker is then turned over to the police. A day or so afterwards, the FF are visited by a military officer who asks them to track down the Silver Surfer to assist with the American space program. However, the Surfer misinterprets their intentions, believing they are trying to capture him. The Human Torch pursues the Surfer all over New York, trying to get him to listen to reason, but the Surfer is too angry at the apparent betrayal. The chase ends when the Surfer blasts the Torch into unconsciousness in a subway station and disappears. Soldiers revive the Torch, who observes that the Silver Surfer must hate humanity more than they thought.

Reed and Sue take Franklin on a vacation to Florida, accompanied by Ben and Johnny. Reed is contacted by the U.S. Navy and asked to investigate a number of reports of a monster sinking ships in the area around Lost Lagoon. Reed agrees on the condition that he gets to try out the Navy’s new air-sea cruiser from Stark Industries. Reed hires a dolphin-handler from the Lost Lagoon Oceanarium who exhibits superhuman skill in the water to guide them on an expedition to the underwater caves in the area. At the bottom of the lagoon, he suddenly destroys their vessel and swims off, but the FF manage to find an air-filled cavern before they drown. There they encounter the monster they are looking for and Ben battles him. However, they soon discover that the monster is merely an alien castaway trying to protect his mate while repairing their spacecraft. The aliens leave Earth, and Reed regrets that they were unable to communicate with them. Upon returning to the Baxter Building, he immediately begins working on a device to translate alien languages.

After months of frustrating setbacks, NASA finally launches their first manned mission to the moon. In his lab, Reed intercepts a transmission from space that he recognizes as being of Kree origin. Though his universal translator is still in its initial stages, he manages to decipher a single word: “tranquility.” Its meaning eludes him until he sees a headline in Ben’s newspaper about the Apollo 11 mission landing on the moon’s Sea of Tranquility. He speculates that the Kree are planning to disrupt the moon landing to keep the human race earthbound. Reed, Ben, and Johnny trace the signal to an uncharted island in the Pacific Ocean, where they find Kree Sentry #9168 operating a strange device. The device is sending an energy beam directly to the Apollo 11 landing site, no doubt to some sinister purpose. After defeating the Sentry, the Thing demolishes the machine. It causes a chain reaction that destroys the entire island, and the FF escape to their rocket ship just in time. As they launch into the sky, they see the Sentry beating a hasty retreat. Back in New York, the team hears reports that the moon landing occurred with no problems.

Reed initiates a project to capture and cure the Hulk and recruits Tony Stark and Charles Xavier to work on it with him. He meets with Air Force General Thaddeus E. “Thunderbolt” Ross, who arranges for them to have facilities set up at Hoover Dam. The three scientists then begin working on the project in close collaboration. Later, Reed uses his instruments to verify that the aerial phenomenon plaguing S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters is in fact the Silver Surfer. He discusses the situation with Nick Fury over the video-phone, but Fury is clear he doesn’t want the FF to interfere. When Reed gets a fix on the Surfer’s current location, he alerts S.H.I.E.L.D., then leaves it up to Fury’s agents to deal with the problem.

Fed up with being separated from Crystal, Johnny slips out one night and flies around the world to the Great Refuge in the Himalayas. Discovering his note the next day, Reed, Sue, and Ben follow him in one of their aircraft. Reaching his destination, the Torch confronts the royal family of the Inhumans. Crystal begs him to leave, but Johnny thinks she’s been brainwashed, so he fights with Medusa, Karnak, and Triton, refusing to listen to anything they have to say. Crystal blasts him to stop the fight, and Johnny takes it as a rejection. In a blind rage, he creates a massive fireball to destroy the palace. Luckily, the rest of the FF arrive at that moment, and Reed launches a cylinder to absorb the flames. Sue yells at Johnny and forces him to listen to Crystal’s explanation. It turns out that Black Bolt had been injured while conducting an experiment and they needed Crystal to administer micro-shockwaves to keep his heart beating until a cure could be devised. Gorgon arrives with a restorative serum for Black Bolt, and the shamefaced Johnny is reconciled with Crystal. The FF remain in Attilan for a few days while Black Bolt recovers his strength. They introduce the Inhumans to the traditions of Thanksgiving.

On the way home from the Himalayas, the FF’s aircraft is attacked while over the Middle East. Reed, Sue, Ben, Johnny, and Crystal bail out, and Crystal uses her elemental powers to give them a safe, slow descent. The FF inspect the wreckage of their airship but are suddenly attacked by Kang the Conqueror and Doctor Doom. Crystal blasts a large tree, causing it to fall on the villainous pair. Moving in for a closer look, Reed realizes they are androids and deduces that they are once again being attacked by the Mad Thinker. Suddenly and in rapid succession, they are attacked by android doubles of a Kree Sentry, Dragon Man, the Sub-Mariner and his Atlantean legions, the Hate-Monger, Diablo, the Super-Skrull, the Red Ghost and his Super-Apes, the Wizard, Sandman, and the Trapster, but the FF defeat them all. Finally, they reach a nearby NATO base and hitch a ride home on a military jet.

Days later, the Fantastic Four foil a plot by the international crime syndicate known as the Maggia to evict them from their headquarters and gain possession of all their technology. They unmask the Maggia leader known as the Top Man, who was disguised as one of the Baxter Building doormen, after he assassinates his own lieutenant, Gimlet, who was overseeing the takeover operation. Charged with murder, the Top Man’s scheme unravels and the Baxter Building reverts to its previous owners.

December 1964 – Reed continues to collaborate with Tony Stark and Charles Xavier on their project to capture and cure the Hulk. He also continues his study of the Inhumans and their culture, showing his teammates a film he shot in the Great Refuge. Crystal admits she is worried about her family since their discovery by the outside world. Later, Reed and Sue take Franklin Christmas shopping. Johnny and Crystal dance to some music on the record player, but Ben has started to feel ill and decides to rest in his room with the newspaper. Soon, Ben discovers that Lockjaw is holding his door closed and he struggles to open it. When the door breaks off its hinges, Black Bolt and Karnak subdue Ben, shredding his bathrobe in the process. Medusa puts Crystal out of action with her hair while Gorgon takes on Johnny, quickly knocking him unconscious. Then, Reed and Sue return with the baby to find their residential wing a shambles. However, the Inhumans announce that their conflict has ended, explaining that the Great Refuge had suffered a missile attack for which the FF had been framed. While the rest of the royal family tried to capture the FF, Triton checked up on Maximus and discovered that he was the true culprit. By way of apology, Black Bolt repairs Ben’s bathrobe by manipulating its molecules, then Lockjaw takes the Inhumans back home. Their rash retaliatory action only makes Crystal more worried about the situation in the Great Refuge.

Ben’s illness gets worse and he is diagnosed with a bad case of the flu. Reed is concerned for Franklin’s health in the midst of the city-wide influenza epidemic, but the constant thunderstorms have discouraged him from flying back up to Whisper Hill. In the meantime, Reed uses his scientific know-how to fine-tune the recipe for Franklin’s baby formula. After the latest rainstorm clears up, the city is subjected to a stranger phenomenon, a storm of small pieces of metal that sweeps across town. Reed determines it is being caused by a magnetic force and traces its source to Atlantis. He sends a powerful sonic wave to the source as a warning. Suddenly, the magnetic force invades their headquarters, causing their own defensive systems to turn on them. Crystal destroys the machines with a shockwave. Angry, Ben launches a concussion missile at the source in retaliation. Reed takes him to task for his rash actions, and soon after, their long-range scanners detect a fleet of Atlantean warships heading for New York.

After contacting the Pentagon and the White House, Mister Fantastic convinces the government to give the Fantastic Four a chance to end the crisis before the military gets involved. He orders Sue to take Franklin to the safety of Whisper Hill, then tells Crystal to remain in the Baxter Building’s communication center to coordinate with the authorities while he, the Torch, and the Thing intercept the fleet. Crystal is angry at being left out of the fight again, but Johnny insists she comply. As the Fantasti-Car approaches the fleet, Namor’s flagship launches a missile at them, followed by the Sub-Mariner himself. Mister Fantastic explodes the missile harmlessly with an energy beam, but Namor is caught in the blast. The Thing leaps into the sea to fight with him, and Mister Fantastic and the Human Torch soon join the fray as the Atlantean fleet leaves them behind. Meanwhile, as the Invisible Girl arrives in her aero-car to rendezvous with her teammates, the vehicle suddenly goes haywire. She is knocked out, captured, and taken inside the flagship. While fighting with Namor, the FF learn that both sides were manipulated into this conflict by Magneto, the infamous mutant terrorist. Then, they all discover that Magneto has seized control of Namor’s flagship and has taken both the Invisible Girl and Lady Dorma hostage.

The FF and the Sub-Mariner decide to join forces against Magneto. The evil mutant leads the Atlantean fleet into Upper New York Bay and starts bombing the city. He also uses the Atlanteans’ technology to greatly amplify his magnetic powers so he can disable the American military forces at long range, grounding jets, deflecting missiles, and causing destroyers to drift out of control. Though they feel powerless to stop Magneto, Reed convinces Namor to return to his fleet and pretend to serve the villain, until they have an opening to strike back. After apprising the President of the situation, Reed works furiously on a device to counteract Magneto’s powers. Meanwhile, in Central Park, Sue and Dorma are on display in transparent cylinders on either side of Magneto’s throne. Namor is outraged at this treatment of Dorma, but Magneto ignores him and orders the FF to come out and swear allegiance to him, the new overlord of the earth. When they do not appear, he sends Atlantean soldiers to storm the Baxter Building. While the Thing, the Human Torch, and Crystal hold them off, Mister Fantastic finishes his weapon. Then, they take it in the Fantasti-Car and meet Magneto in Central Park. Crystal causes a distraction that gives Reed a chance to activate his weapon, which turns Magneto’s power back on him. The Torch and Namor free Sue and Dorma from confinement, and then Namor orders his legions to withdraw and return to Atlantis. Defeated, Magneto is taken into custody by the American military. Finally, back in the Baxter Building, Ben has a chance to relax and recover from his bout with the flu.

Crystal and Johnny continue to argue about her value to the team in combat, as she insists she’s easily as powerful as any of them and has been instrumental in their victories on a number of occasions. However, Johnny refuses to back down and so, fed up with his overprotective attitude, Crystal announces that she’s returning to the Great Refuge to spend a couple weeks with her family. After she leaves, Johnny sinks into a funk of self-pity. With his project at Hoover Dam nearing completion, Reed suggests they spend their third annual Christmas vacation in Las Vegas. Thus, on Christmas Eve, Reed, Sue, Ben, and Alicia take the Fantasti-Car to pick up Franklin at Whisper Hill before heading out west. Johnny, not feeling the holiday spirit, decides to remain at the Baxter Building. His sulking is interrupted by Spider-Man, who has come to alert the FF that the Sandman has resurfaced. Comparing notes, the two heroes speculate that the Sandman must have a hideout somewhere in the vicinity of the George Washington Bridge, and they agree to team up to try and track him down. They finally trail the Sandman to a modest residence in Fort Lee, New Jersey, which the crook reveals is the home of his ailing mother. He plays on their sympathies and the heroes agree to give him five minutes alone with her. However, by the time they go in to check on him, he has escaped down the drain in the bathroom sink. Deciding to call it a night, Spider-Man goes off for a date with his girlfriend, leaving the Torch to return to the deserted Baxter Building. Realizing he’s been behaving foolishly, Johnny flies out to Las Vegas to join his teammates for Christmas morning.

Notes:

January 1964 – The FF’s adventures pick up again in Fantastic Four #65 and following. Reed lends the Avengers some tactical assistance in Avengers #42. During this time, the FF hear the worldwide broadcast of HYDRA’s ultimatum, as seen in Strange Tales #156.

February 1964 – The creature lurking in the caverns beneath the Enclave’s secret laboratory, referred to as “Him” in this story, will later be better known as Adam Warlock.

March 1964 – Reed and Sue’s big announcement, as well as the battle with Psycho-Man, is featured in Fantastic Four Annual #5. Then the Human Torch and Spider-Man tag-team the Wizard and Mysterio in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #4. Italian film director Federico Fellini, a Marvel fan and “close personal friend” of Stan Lee, is called “Bellini” in this story. Stan loves to tell the tale of Fellini’s surprise visit to the Marvel offices in 1965 and their mutual admiration for each other’s work.

May 1964 – Daredevil saves the FF from the Trapster and then briefly switches bodies with Doctor Doom in Daredevil #35–38. The story continues directly into Fantastic Four #73.

June 1964 – The story in Fantastic Four #79 is the basis for the theory, developed further by John Byrne 166 issues later, that Ben Grimm’s anxieties about his relationship with Alicia cause his body to reject all attempts to cure him of being the Thing. Ben believes that as a regular guy he is unworthy of Alicia’s love and that she would surely leave him if he were no longer the Thing. Furthermore, it suggests that Ben was never truly trapped in his Thing form. Changing back to Ben Grimm was difficult, perhaps even physically painful, but he could have done it at any time—at will—just as his teammates could control their own powers. The crucial difference is that Ben believed he couldn’t. And after meeting Alicia, he didn’t want to, deep down. Thus, in this story, the wonder gloves actually have nothing to do with changing him back into the Thing beyond allowing him to believe that it could be done. They provide a sort of placebo effect, but that’s it. This incident would plant the seeds of the idea in Reed’s mind, but it would be several years before he worked out the truth. Later, when the Thing was living on the planet created by the Beyonder in Secret Wars, the psychological blocks were removed and he suddenly found he could change at will. This was because Alicia was on the other side of the universe and Ben was realizing on some level that their relationship was over. After returning to Earth, Ben had some ups and downs, but I believe he eventually mastered the ability to control his transformations.

July 1964 – Captain America mentions having discussed the time machine with Reed Richards in Avengers #56. Reed then helps Spider-Man with his travel plans in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #5.

August 1964 – The birth of Franklin Benjamin Richards occurs in Fantastic Four Annual #6, which also introduces the last great character created by the team of Stan Lee & Jack Kirby, Annihilus. The Thing battles the Sub-Mariner for possession of the Helmet of Power (a disguised Serpent Crown) in Sub-Mariner #8.

September 1964 – The chaotic wedding of Janet Van Dyne and Henry Pym is chronicled in Avengers #60. Mister Fantastic helps the Air Force battle the Hulk in Hulk #105. The story of the FF’s first trip to Latveria in Fantastic Four #84–87 was Stan Lee & Jack Kirby’s homage to The Prisoner, the hit British spy show that premiered on American TV during the summer of 1968. Eight years later, Kirby adapted the show into a comic book for Marvel. He wrote and penciled the first issue, but Stan Lee cancelled the project and it was never finished. The mysterious thief of the “Space Scrambler” was none other than the Silver Surfer, as seen in Silver Surfer #5. The Thing is unimpressed by Egghead’s ransom demands in Sub-Mariner #14. The FF attempt to cure Bruce Banner of being the Hulk in Hulk #122–123.

October 1964 – The Human Torch competes with Spider-Man to capture the Lizard in Amazing Spider-Man #76–77. The storyline featured in Fantastic Four #91–93, which has an alien planet imitating the Chicago gangsters of the 1920s, is clearly Stan & Jack’s homage to the Star Trek episode “A Piece of the Action,” which had premiered in mid-January 1968. Then the FF are part of Professor X’s worldwide consortium of righteous human minds that repels the approaching Z’Nox invasion fleet in Uncanny X-Men #65. The take-over of Manhattan orchestrated by Zodiac occurs in Avengers #82.

November 1964 – For more on the 1964 presidential election in the Original Marvel Universe, see OMU: POTUS -- Part Three. The Fantastic Four’s battle with the Nega-Man is seen in flashback in Fantastic Four #108. The Human Torch chases the Silver Surfer all over New York in Silver Surfer #15. The Apollo 11 mission to the moon, depicted in Fantastic Four #98, was ready five years earlier in the Original Marvel Universe than it was in the real world due to advanced technology from Stark Industries and others. Reed’s joint project with Tony Stark and Charles Xavier to cure the Hulk is revealed in Avengers #88, and he helps S.H.I.E.L.D. defend itself from the Silver Surfer in Silver Surfer #17. When the Fantastic Four are attacked by an army of android duplicates of their old foes in Fantastic Four #100, they immediately realize they are being attacked by... the Puppet Master! This is nonsensical, as the Puppet Master’s modus operandi was to control actual people’s minds using puppets created from radioactive clay. Android doppelgängers are the calling card of the Mad Thinker, as seen four issues previously. Actually, the Mad Thinker and the Puppet Master were working together, and I think Stan just got a little confused.

December 1964 – Maximus the Mad frames the Fantastic Four for a missile attack on the Great Refuge in Amazing Adventures #1–2. Fantastic Four #102, which starts off the classic Sub-Mariner / Magneto team-up / double-cross story, turned out to be Jack Kirby’s last issue. After Kirby quit, John Romita had to be brought in at the last minute to finish up the tale in the next two issues. Romita drew the President to look like Richard Nixon, who was in office at the time, but this is a topical reference. This brings us up to Fantastic Four #104. The Thing is seen recuperating after the battle in Sub-Mariner #31, and then the Human Torch and Spider-Man have themselves a Sandman little Christmas in Marvel Team-Up #1. Johnny’s fight with Crystal happens behind the scenes before the story begins.

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Richards / Xavier

In the Original Marvel Universe, Reed Richards and Charles Xavier were never exactly friends, but their paths crossed many times as leaders of their respective superhero teams, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, and they had an interesting relationship. The two men had a great deal in common, besides being gifted with superhuman powers. Both came from wealthy families and were raised in luxurious homes with servants. Both were highly educated scholars and brilliant scientists who were held in high esteem. Both were very secretive and even obsessive about their research projects. Both were war veterans and natural-born leaders with a knack for strategic planning. And both were driven by a sense of duty to use their skills and abilities for the greater good of humanity.

As Mister Fantastic, Richards chose a very public role and became an international celebrity for his heroic exploits. Xavier, however, chose to remain very much in the background, concealing his association with the X-Men and acting as the shadowy Professor X. Though their methods were different, their goals were much the same, and when circumstances warranted, they were eager to further each other’s interests.

Chronological analysis suggests that Charles Xavier was about seven years younger than Reed Richards. Both possessed of genius-level intellects, their academic careers were accelerated beyond the norm. Richards had completed a full course of study at the California Institute of Technology as a teenager before enlisting in the Army with the outbreak of World War II. He was recruited into the espionage service and spent most of the war working in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). After the war ended, he returned to his studies and enrolled at the State University of New York in Hegeman, where he focused on rocket science. Following graduation, he pursued further degrees at other universities until receiving his terminal degree from Columbia. After that, he returned to California to work full-time at his father’s research complex, Richards Laboratories.

Charles Xavier was a teenager when World War II ended but was already enrolled in Bard College, near his home in Westchester County, NY, pursuing a degree in biology. Upon graduation, he went to England to attend Oxford University, where he rapidly earned his doctorate in genetics. When the Korean War broke out, Xavier enlisted in the U.S. Army to serve his country, although he decided to keep his telepathic abilities a secret. Badly wounded in combat and suffering from a broken heart, Xavier retreated to the Greek islands for his convalescence and spent several years wandering the Mediterranean region. After losing the use of his legs, he returned to the United States, secured a position at Columbia University, and built his reputation as a scholar.

For many years, Xavier had envisioned a special taskforce of super-powered mutants like himself, to promote the peaceful co-existence of mutants and baseline humans. When Reed Richards and his three colleagues gained super-powers in a freak accident and became a team of costumed superheroes called the Fantastic Four, Xavier was inspired to follow a similar course with his dream. He decided that his agents would wear matching superhero costumes, have dramatic code-names, and act as a team when battling menaces to society. As the Fantastic Four established a worldwide reputation and enjoyed almost universal acclaim, Xavier recruited the first five members of his own team and dubbed them the X-Men.

Reed Richards and Charles Xavier first met, quite by chance, in March 1963 when Richards was invited to give a special lecture at his alma mater, SUNY Hegeman. Xavier and his personal assistant, Scott Summers (also deputy leader of the X-Men) had come to the school that day to “interview” a number of students Xavier suspected might be mutants. On their way out, Xavier and Summers encountered Richards and his team, who had just arrived. They exchanged pleasantries and then went their separate ways. However, Richards was determined to get to know the reclusive geneticist better, and so he invited him to his engagement party about a week later. Coincidentally, the X-Men were also invited, but to preserve Xavier’s anonymity, he and his team arrived separately and spent the evening pretending not to know each other. Richards and Xavier chatted throughout the party but did not have the opportunity for a more substantive discussion. Nevertheless, they began a professional correspondence in the weeks to follow, and Richards was impressed that Xavier could conduct such brilliant research while acting as headmaster at an exclusive upstate boarding school. That June, Xavier attended the wedding ceremony of Richards and his teammate Susan Storm. Again, the X-Men were also present but kept their distance from Xavier. Obliged to appear on a television debate that evening, Xavier could not stay for the wedding reception, but he left the happy couple with his warmest regards.

Richards and Xavier would next meet a year and a half later, in November 1964, when Richards proposed that they work together, along with renowned inventor Tony Stark, on a project to capture and cure the Hulk. The three men worked in close collaboration for a couple of months and were granted facilities at Hoover Dam to set up the devices they had designed. The entire project was overseen by Air Force General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, who had been charged with bringing the menace of the Hulk to an end. Finally, in January 1965, Richards and Xavier met at Hoover Dam to execute their plan, though Stark was absent. They succeeded in capturing the Hulk by subduing him with massive amounts of electricity. But, before they could begin the second phase of their project, the Hulk suddenly vanished into thin air, leaving the two scientists stumped. General Ross was enraged and suspended the project indefinitely. Still, Richards and Xavier had developed a great respect for each other in the course of this project, and Xavier came to believe that Reed Richards was a man he could trust.

Thus, in May 1967, Charles Xavier paid a visit to Reed Richards in his Baxter Building headquarters and revealed that he was, in fact, Professor X, leader of the X-Men. Xavier was cagey about the exact nature of his mutant powers, however, fearing how Richards and his teammates might react to a powerful telepath. The purpose of his visit, he explained, was to secure the formula Richards had developed for unstable molecules, as he was planning to recruit several new members to the X-Men whose powers would require more from their costumes than his original team’s had. Honored to be taken into Xavier’s confidence, Richards happily provided the formula and worked with Xavier in fashioning costumes that were more flexible and durable than ordinary garments.

Four months later, Richards and Xavier had cause to meet again when a young mutant named Jamie Madrox wreaked havoc in New York with his power to create multiple duplicates of himself. A special suit Madrox’s father had created to dampen his son’s powers was shorting out, and Xavier helped the Fantastic Four defeat the army of duplicates so the fault in the suit could be corrected before it reached critical mass and exploded. Xavier assured Richards and his team that he would take Madrox to a place where the youth could learn to deal with his power and receive training in its safe use.

Richards learned soon after that Madrox had taken up residence at the Mutant Research Centre on Muir Isle, off the coast of Scotland, which was run by an old associate of Xavier’s, Dr. Moira MacTaggert. Richards was glad to know that not every mutant Xavier took under his wing was obliged to join the X-Men, and over the next few years, as the Fantastic Four encountered mutants who needed training and guidance, such as Willie Evans Jr. and Xi’an Coy Manh, Richards had no reservations about referring them to Charles Xavier.

In July 1972, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, including Professor X, were kidnapped alongside a host of other super-heroes and super-villains, by a cosmic entity known as the Beyonder. Out of curiosity, this godlike being had decided to set the humans against each other to study them in the course of their conflict. Richards was immediately surprised to find Xavier no longer required the use of his wheelchair, but Xavier would only say that his injuries had been corrected through an advanced surgical technique. A general distrust of the X-Men among the heroic faction caused them to keep largely to themselves during the many long weeks they were all held captive by the Beyonder, but Richards and Xavier still found occasion to renew their acquaintanceship.

After finally returning home, the two men’s paths would continue to cross infrequently, partly as a result of the growing anti-mutant sentiment in society causing the X-Men to become increasingly reclusive. In fact, Charles Xavier would seem to drop off the face of the earth for years at a time. But as Richards’ own son Franklin had already manifested dangerous mutant powers, Reed Richards had a more-than-professional interest in the work of Charles Xavier and his School for Gifted Youngsters. As Franklin grew, events seemed to be drawing these two enigmatic men ever closer together.

What Might Have Happened Next

OMU: Fantastic Four -- Year Three

Marvel’s flagship title, Fantastic Four, was hyped as “The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine,” but after making an initial splash with its daring new take on the superhero genre, it seemed to become somewhat moribund due primarily to sub-par inking. Jack Kirby’s powerful pencils were ill-served by the sloppy rush-jobs turned in by George Roussos and Vince Colletta, and to a lesser extent, Chic Stone. As the art suffered, the stories seemed to follow suit. The title was in a definite slump. Also, the companion series in Strange Tales, which focused on the Human Torch and the Thing, became increasingly silly and juvenile. Then, in the summer of 1965, Joe Sinnott took over the inking chores and Fantastic Four seemed to suddenly hit warp speed. In rapid succession, we were introduced to the Inhumans, the Silver Surfer, Galactus, Wyatt Wingfoot, the Black Panther, and the Negative Zone. Even stories featuring relatively lame villains, like the Sandman, or no villain at all, were bursting with a new dynamism. Kirby’s design work grew increasingly complex and innovative as Sinnott lent weight and dimension to the world they were depicting. In response, writer/editor Stan Lee pulled out all the stops. Real life-changing events happened one after the other, and the characters seemed to live and breathe as never before. And this was only the beginning. The next twelve months in the lives of the Fantastic Four would rock the Marvel Universe to its foundations while moving it forward by leaps and bounds.

Note: The following timeline depicts the Original Marvel Universe (anchored to November 1961 as the first appearance of the Fantastic Four and proceeding forward from there. See previous posts for a detailed explanation of my rationale.) Some information presented on the timeline is speculative and some is based on historical accounts. See the Notes section at the end for clarifications.

Onward and upward with... The True History of the Fantastic Four!

January 1963 – The Fantastic Four help mount a search for Spider-Man when a group of costumed criminals called the Sinister Six force newspaper publisher J. Jonah Jameson to relay a message to their web-spinning foe. Johnny Storm, a.k.a. the Human Torch, eventually finds Spider-Man on a rooftop and offers his help, but the wall-crawler tells him he’d rather handle it alone. Johnny is willing to give the masked man the benefit of the doubt. After Ben Grimm, a.k.a. the Thing, suddenly tries to kill Johnny, Reed Richards, a.k.a. Mister Fantastic, determines that it was another plot by the Puppet Master. Reed retreats to his lab to develop a defense against the Puppet Master’s strange mind-control powers. Then, the Torch helps Spider-Man battle the Green Goblin at a meeting of the Spider-Man Fan Club in a downtown ballroom. However, Spider-Man suddenly runs out on the fight, allowing the Green Goblin to escape. The hapless hero is branded a coward in the papers, prompting Johnny to argue with his teammates about whether Spider-Man has really “turned chicken.” A day or so later, when the Torch and the Thing complain about Mister Fantastic’s leadership, Reed devises an elaborate scheme, which involves him dressing up as a green-clad “mystery villain,” to teach them a lesson. Later, after Johnny is taken prisoner by the Sandman and the Enforcers, Spider-Man redeems himself by coming to the rescue.

Soon after, the FF are invited to a gala reception at the Latverian embassy in New York. Unfortunately, they quickly discover that it is merely a trap set by Doctor Doom, who is revealed to be the true ruler of that small Balkan nation. Mister Fantastic tricks Doom into believing that a contest of wills involving a device called an “encephalo-gun” proved fatal for Reed. Realizing Doctor Doom is entitled to diplomatic immunity, the FF know there is little they can do but watch their enemy walk away under his hypnotically induced delusions of victory.

Next, the team is drawn into combat with the Mole Man in his subterranean kingdom, after he causes several city blocks to descend into the bowels of the earth. Though the Mole Man’s plans are foiled, Sue Storm, a.k.a. the Invisible Girl, is badly injured in the melee. The subsequent news reports cause her father, the disgraced physician Franklin Storm, to appear at the hospital, even though he had just escaped from the state penitentiary. A week later, when Sue and Johnny go to visit him at the prison, Dr. Storm suddenly declares himself to be invincible, and demonstrating incredible superhuman powers, he smashes his way out of jail. In the days that follow, he goes on a crime spree, calling himself “the Invincible Man” and foiling the FF at every turn. However, Reed soon deduces that the Invincible Man is not Franklin Storm at all but is actually the Super-Skrull. After the alien is defeated, Reed arranges a prisoner exchange and the Skrulls return Franklin Storm to Earth. But in an attempt to get revenge, the Skrulls attach an explosive device to Dr. Storm’s chest, and so he sacrifices his life to save his children. Sue and Johnny can do nothing but grieve for their long-lost father.

February 1963 – Lady Dorma enlists the aid of the Fantastic Four when the undersea marauder Attuma launches an all-out invasion of Atlantis. Using technology developed by Reed to help them operate effectively underwater, the FF destroy many of the barbarians’ weapons while the Sub-Mariner battles Attuma himself in hand-to-hand combat. Though Namor remains unaware of their involvement, the FF give him the advantage he needs to emerge victorious. Days later, on an afternoon when Reed and Sue are out, the Human Torch and the Thing get into a fight with Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch after the outlaw mutants suddenly barge into the Baxter Building. Inexplicably, the siblings soon give up the fight and, not knowing what else to do, Johnny and Ben let them leave in peace. Then, having developed an anti-gravity device, the Wizard escapes from prison and attempts to get revenge on the Human Torch. During their battle, however, his prototype for a miniaturized anti-gravity disk malfunctions, leaving the Wizard stranded in the upper atmosphere, lost in the clouds. A day or so later, he is rescued by Paste-Pot Pete and the Sandman after their own jailbreak. The three villains decide to work together to destroy the Fantastic Four once and for all.

Meanwhile, the FF are set against each other through the machinations of the billionaire financier Gregory Gideon on a high-stakes wager, but Gideon has a change of heart when his son Thomas stumbles into the trap set for the FF at the Baxter Building. The rivalry between the Human Torch and Spider-Man comes to a head when the web-slinger comes across a plot by the Beetle to kidnap Doris Evans. Soon after, the Torch and Spidey get into another fight when the wall-crawler crashes a party at Dorrie’s house. Johnny’s teammates decide to intervene before anyone gets hurt, but Spider-Man remains defiant to the end. Later, “Handsome Harry” Phillips, Yogi Dakor, and Bull Brogin break out of jail and manage to capture the Human Torch. The Thing comes to the rescue and defeats the “Terrible Trio” single-handedly. Soon after, when the Avengers are wanted for treason, President Kennedy declares a national state of emergency and Pentagon officials tell the Fantastic Four to keep a low profile. However, the Avengers are soon cleared of the charges after it is revealed they were framed by the Maggia crime boss Count Nefaria.

March 1963 – The Fantastic Four pay a visit to Reed and Ben’s alma mater, State University in Hegeman, New York. After a brief encounter with the renowned geneticist Charles Xavier, the team happens upon a monstrous, inert android created by Professor Gregson Gilbert, which he calls “the Dragon Man.” Reed’s guest-lecture to the students is interrupted when the Dragon Man is brought to life by Diablo, who seeks to turn the creature into a weapon of conquest. Dragon Man overpowers the FF until the Invisible Girl makes an emotional connection with the simple-minded brute. Frustrated, Diablo incapacitates the team with his alchemical potions, but they recover before he can leave campus with the creature. As the FF renew their attack, Dragon Man suddenly turns on Diablo and carries him through the ice covering the campus lake, disappearing into the network of caverns at the bottom. The FF finish their visit to State University and, as Johnny and Ben are packing up the Fantasti-Car, Reed takes Sue to see the Sweetheart Tree on Lover’s Lane, where he finally proposes to her. She happily accepts and they begin planning for a June wedding.

A few days later, Ben and Johnny plan to attend a rock ’n’ roll concert with Dorrie and Alicia Masters but end up missing the show when they must chase down a gang of armed robbers. Meanwhile, the public announcement of Reed Richards and Sue Storm’s engagement kicks off a media frenzy and the Baxter Building is besieged by reporters. As the wedding preparations quickly move forward, Reed and Sue host an engagement party, to which they invite the Avengers and the X-Men, along with some of Reed’s scientist colleagues and Sue’s society friends. Reed makes a point of inviting Charles Xavier, wanting to get to know the reclusive geneticist better. Later that evening, after the guests have left, the Fantastic Four are attacked by the Wizard, the Sandman, and Paste-Pot Pete, who together with a mysterious woman called Madam Medusa, have banded together as the Frightful Four. Though initially overcome, the Fantastic Four drive them off after a hard-fought battle, and the villains make good their escape.

While Reed perfects his new subspace energizer, the Human Torch and the Thing are invited to the dedication ceremony for a new dam, which is disrupted by a flying sphere, roughly the size of a bowling ball, that nearly destroys the dam before the Torch manages to melt it with a blast of nova-intensity flame. Afterwards, Reed speculates that it may have been the handiwork of the Mad Thinker. Then, Sue insists that they bring her father’s killer to justice, even though it would mean a trip to the Skrull Empire. Reed agrees, wanting to test a new warp-drive ship he has built from captured alien technology, of which the subspace energizer is a vital component. After negotiating a cooperative agreement with NASA, the Fantastic Four’s ship is launched into space. Reed then activates his warp-drive device and successfully navigates the ship through hyperspace to emerge near the Skrull Throneworld in the Andromeda Galaxy.

However, the FF are soon captured by the Skrull Warlord Morrat when a cosmic-ray storm reduces their powers to negligible levels. Morrat is planning to use the team’s death in a gambit to seize the throne until Mister Fantastic tricks him into turning the subspace energizer on them, restoring their powers to peak levels. The ensuing battle with Morrat’s forces is cut short by the arrival of Emperor Dorrek, who brands Morrat a traitor and orders him executed on the spot. Dorrek’s daughter Anelle, who is in love with Morrat, runs into the line of fire and is saved only by the quick action of the Invisible Girl, who shields her with a force field. Dorrek realizes he is indebted to the humans for his daughter’s life and offers to grant them a boon. Reed demands he turn over the Skrull responsible for the death of Franklin Storm, and Dorrek is pleased to announce that it was Morrat, who now lies dead at their feet. Considering his debt paid in full, Dorrek tells the FF he views Earth as beneath his imperial notice and allows them to depart. Sue is satisfied that justice has been done, and the Fantastic Four return home. Upon arriving at the Baxter Building, they meet with the minister who will perform the wedding ceremony.

Soon after, the Human Torch is recruited by NASA to go undercover and prevent a suspected security risk named Professor Jack from sabotaging a mission in high-earth orbit. With some help from the Thing, Johnny ensures that the satellites are successfully launched and Professor Jack is exposed as a traitor. Then, while attending an art exhibit with Alicia and Dorrie, Ben and Johnny stumble into a revenge plot by the Puppet Master. They manage to defeat him before the girls even become aware of his sinister scheme. Later, the Watcher appears in the Baxter Building while Reed and Sue are out and sends the Torch and the Thing back to the sixth century A.D. to prevent Kang the Conqueror from wresting control of Camelot from King Arthur. Following their return, Reed is dubious that the Watcher would involve himself in such a manner, suspecting that it may have been an impostor seeking their help to foil Kang’s scheme.

April 1963 – The Frightful Four kidnap the Invisible Girl after luring her to a prominent New York fashion house, making sure the crime receives immediate media coverage. Mister Fantastic grows frantic as he tries to track them down. Finally, he detects their spherical anti-grav ship flying over the city and pursues them in the Pogo Plane with the Thing and the Human Torch. The chase leads them to a lonely atoll in the western Pacific Ocean, where the Frightful Four’s weapons wreck the Pogo Plane. The Thing manages to bring down the anti-grav ship and a battle ensues with the Wizard, Sandman, Madam Medusa, and Paste-Pot Pete, now calling himself the Trapster. However, when Ben hears Sue calling out from inside an underground chamber, her teammates abandon the fight to get her out. The villains use the distraction to escape in their anti-grav ship just as the heroes discover a nuclear bomb the Wizard has primed to go off any second. Stranded on the atoll, the Fantastic Four gamble that Sue’s invisible force field will protect them from the blast. Moments later, the bomb explodes and a mushroom cloud roils up over the ocean.

Satisfied, the Frightful Four return to New York and try to take over the Baxter Building, only to be scared off by Balder the Brave, who has traveled from Asgard to Earth in a nimbus of flame. Believing their enemies to have escaped the blast unharmed, the Frightful Four go into hiding. Meanwhile, the Fantastic Four have indeed survived the explosion inside Sue’s force bubble, but enough radiation got through to rob them of their superpowers. When the force field fades away, the team is left treading water in the open ocean. It is more than 24 hours before they are rescued by the United States Navy. The exhausted heroes recover aboard the U.S.S. Sea Hawk nuclear submarine as it returns to North America. Realizing how vulnerable they are to their many enemies, the Fantastic Four hole up inside the Baxter Building as Reed begins researching ways to artificially recreate their lost abilities. Ben envisions a whole new future for himself and Alicia.

May 1963 – Reed determines that his subspace energizer might be able to restore their powers, but it has been completely drained by their trip to the Andromeda Galaxy and will need a few weeks to recharge. Thus, as a precaution, Reed spends that time developing crude mechanical means for the team to simulate their powers, including building a Thing robot for Ben to operate by remote control. Finally, Reed contacts their attorney, Matt Murdock, and arranges a meeting at a nondescript warehouse in the city where the team is testing the devices. When Murdock arrives, Reed goes over their estate planning with him until the warehouse suddenly comes under attack. They quickly discover that Doctor Doom has taken over their headquarters and is using their own equipment against them. Suddenly, Daredevil appears on the scene and helps the FF to survive Doom’s onslaught and reach the Baxter Building safely, although all their power-simulation devices are destroyed along the way. Fearlessly, Daredevil enters the building first to confront Doctor Doom and keep him occupied while the FF make it up to their laboratories. Once there, Reed activates the subspace energizer, even though it is not yet fully charged, and successfully restores all their abilities. Reed even transforms Ben Grimm back into the Thing, despite his old friend’s vehement objections, due to the crisis situation. Seething with rage, the Thing relentlessly pursues Doctor Doom, shrugging off everything the villain throws at him, and nearly crushes Doom’s hands in the process of disabling his armor. Thoroughly humiliated and defeated, Doom retreats, and the FF don’t try to stop him due to his diplomatic immunity. But rather than celebrating their victory, the Thing turns his fury on his friends. He angrily quits the team and storms out of the Baxter Building, disappearing into the city.

However, pushed past the point of exhaustion, the Thing is easily captured by the Frightful Four. The Wizard subjects the Thing to his “id machine,” which causes the evil parts of his nature to dominate his personality, in order to “recruit” him to their cause. Thus, when the rest of the Fantastic Four find them at the Wizard’s ramshackle mansion in New Jersey, the heroes are caught off guard by the Thing’s betrayal and taken prisoner. They quickly break free and turn the tables on the Frightful Four by taking advantage of the mind-dulling effects of the brainwashing to capture the Thing. Reed and Sue rush Ben back to the Baxter Building while the Human Torch delays their enemies. The Wizard subjects Johnny to the id machine, unaware that the Invisible Girl had disabled it during the battle. The Torch plays along, pretending to be evil, but the villains soon see through the ruse and take him prisoner. Then, with Johnny as a hostage, the Frightful Four fly to the Baxter Building in their anti-grav ship to force the rest of the Fantastic Four to surrender. However, the Frightful Four are quickly defeated when Reed’s treatment for Ben’s brainwashing proves effective. The Wizard, Sandman, and the Trapster are taken into custody, but for some reason the Torch allows Madam Medusa to escape. Weak and groggy from his ordeal, the Thing makes peace with his teammates.

Shortly afterwards, the Human Torch responds to a telepathic call for help from the X-Men’s leader. Directed to their secret headquarters in Westchester County, the Torch helps the X-Men defeat a powerful menace called the Juggernaut. However, at the conclusion of the battle, Professor X removes all memory of the event from Johnny’s mind. Confused to find himself flying around so far from the city, the Torch returns home. A few days later, Reed, Sue, and Ben attend Johnny’s graduation ceremony at Glenville High School. For a graduation present from his teammates, Johnny receives a brand-new Corvette Sting Ray coupe.

June 1963 – The big day finally arrives for Reed and Sue, and their wedding proves to be a major media event. Worried about the team’s many powerful enemies, Nick Fury, recently installed as the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., decides to work security at the Baxter Building with some of his top agents. As the guests are arriving, everyone’s worst fears are realized when a veritable army of super-villains stages a mass attack. With the help of the Avengers, Daredevil, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, and the X-Men, the Fantastic Four battle Attuma and his undersea legions, the Beetle, the Black Knight, the Cobra, Diablo, the Eel, Electro, the Enchantress, the Executioner, the Grey Gargoyle, the Human Top, a squad of HYDRA shock troops, Kang the Conqueror, the Mad Thinker and his Awesome Android, the Mandarin, the Melter, Mister Hyde, the Mole Man, the Porcupine, the Puppet Master, the Red Ghost and his Super-Apes, the Super-Skrull, and the Unicorn. Finally, the Watcher intervenes, bending his own rules by allowing Mister Fantastic to choose one device from his store of otherworldly machines. When Reed activates the device he has selected, it creates a time-displacement vortex that returns all the villains to the moment before they decided to attack, with no memory of what happened in the meantime. Reed speculates that the mastermind behind the scheme could only have been Doctor Doom. The wedding ceremony then proceeds without interruption, followed by a lavish reception in the Baxter Building’s ballroom. Between the two events, the Fantastic Four make an appearance for all their fans out in the street and are greeted with deafening cheers. During the party that evening, Ben wonders if he and Alicia will ever be able to get married, while Johnny begins to realize that he and Dorrie are just going through the motions.

The next morning, the Fantastic Four read in the newspapers that an anti-mutant riot broke out in the city during their party, sparked by a televised debate between Charles Xavier and a demagogue named Bolivar Trask. However, Nick Fury had kept news of the trouble from them so as not to spoil their evening. Soon after, Sue sells the house in Glenville and she and Johnny move into the Baxter Building. Busy with moving and modifying his new Corvette, Johnny neglects to call Dorrie. Reed turns his attention to inventing sophisticated new household appliances, as well as developing a new Jet-Cycle. Later in the month, Ben celebrates his 38th birthday.

July 1963 – While settling into married life, Sue celebrates her 24th birthday. The Fantastic Four are astounded when news leaks out that the Hulk was actually the alter-ego of noted nuclear scientist Bruce Banner. The Hulk is currently believed to have been vaporized following an altercation with the U.S. military in Washington, D.C., and news of his secret identity travels fast.

Then, after a quiet few weeks, Madam Medusa returns, being relentlessly stalked by a mysterious man named Gorgon, whose cloven hooves can shatter a building. She forces the Human Torch to drive her out of the city, so he takes her up to the campus of State University in Hegeman. Once there, they draw the attention of the Dragon Man, causing the creature to emerge from its underground hiding place. Gorgon appears, and the ensuing battle carries them all back to Manhattan, where the rest of the FF join the fray. However, when Dragon Man seizes Sue and flies off, Gorgon takes advantage of the distraction to demolish the tenement building they are all standing on. By the time the FF recover, he and Medusa have disappeared. Sue manages to tame the Dragon Man enough that he flies her back to the Baxter Building, where a much-relieved Reed decides to study the creature. Realizing he hasn’t seen Dorrie Evans since the wedding, Johnny calls her up for a date. However, Dorrie turns him down, having decided to date other guys. Stung by her rejection, Johnny wanders around the city, until he finds himself in an abandoned riverfront slum which is scheduled for demolition. To his surprise, he encounters a stunningly beautiful teenage girl in a white dress, but she flees when he tries to talk to her. For the rest of the night, Johnny can’t get the mysterious girl out of his thoughts.

The next day, while the FF work on preparing a room in which to house Dragon Man, Johnny loses his temper and leaves the Baxter Building. He returns to the slum, hoping to find the girl, and is not disappointed. Though she runs away again initially, she stops when she sees his flaming form and introduces herself as Crystal. After showing Johnny her gigantic bulldog, Lockjaw, she takes him though a secret passage into an underground hideout to meet her family. Wondering what he has gotten himself into, Johnny is shocked to find Gorgon and Medusa, as well as two more super-powered beings named Karnak and Triton, and learns that Crystal and Medusa are sisters. He manages to get away by burning through the ceiling of their hideout and then summons the rest of the FF. When his teammates arrive, they are attacked by these mysterious beings, now joined by their leader, Black Bolt. Without saying a word, Black Bolt fights off all four of them single-handedly. But when Triton suddenly disappears, the group abandons the fight in fear that they have been discovered by “the Seeker.” As the Fantastic Four watch in astonishment, their adversaries enter a glowing nimbus surrounding Lockjaw and vanish into thin air. Reed speculates that they are an evolutionary offshoot of humanity distinct from mutants and is determined to learn more about them. For his part, Johnny has fallen head over heels in love with Crystal.

Returning to the Baxter Building, the FF discover a huge hole in the wall of their headquarters and find Dragon Man has gone missing. Reviewing their surveillance-camera footage, they learn he was taken by the Seeker. Using Reed’s high-tech devices, the team tracks the Seeker to his otherworldly airship, parked in an empty lot elsewhere in the city. However, they are immediately captured and brought before the Seeker, who treats them cordially and offers to return Dragon Man to them. Reed demands an explanation and the Seeker obliges, describing his mission to hunt down members of the “Inhumans” who have escaped from their Great Refuge. He reveals that the Inhumans had developed advanced technology when the human race was still dwelling in caves but isolated themselves when their barbaric neighbors began to greatly outnumber them. The Seeker also informs them that Black Bolt, Medusa, and the others are members of one of their society’s oldest families and must be made to return home, by order of their sovereign Maximus the Magnificent. But then, the conference is interrupted when Dragon Man breaks out of his holding cell, escapes from the ship, and goes on a rampage. While the Thing and the Human Torch try to recapture Dragon Man, Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Girl save the aquatic Triton from death by suffocation when his water-filled chamber is wrecked in the melee. With Triton recaptured, the Seeker orders Reed and Sue off the ship. But unwilling to let the matter drop, Reed attaches a small homing device to the outer hull so he can track the ship as it flies off into the sky. Meanwhile, the Torch and the Thing succeed in defeating Dragon Man, though Alicia’s apartment is wrecked in the process. Afterwards, Reed turns Dragon Man over to the government for study, and the creature is relocated to a desert island.

Reed tracks the Seeker’s ship to its destination somewhere in the Himalayan Mountains. Since both the Fantasti-Car and the Pogo Plane were wrecked in the initial battle with Gorgon, the FF charter a private jet and head around the world to Asia. They are amazed to discover the uncanny metropolis of Attilan nestled within a remote valley, and no sooner do they enter the Great Refuge than Crystal appears, eager to be reunited with Johnny. Black Bolt, Medusa, Gorgon, and Karnak then emerge and inform the FF that Black Bolt has regained the crown of his kingdom. The Inhumans demand that the Fantastic Four leave immediately and never reveal their secret, but Reed argues that they have no reason to remain hidden from mankind. The debate is cut short when Maximus activates his latest weapon, sending out wave after wave of powerful vibrations which knock everyone off their feet. Black Bolt quickly locates the weapon and shuts it down, but Maximus gloats that his scheme to destroy the human race has succeeded—until he sees the Fantastic Four are still alive. As it turns out, the vibrations were not nearly powerful enough, for Maximus greatly miscalculated the physiological differences between humans and Inhumans. Still unwilling to concede defeat, Maximus activates another device, which forms an impenetrable force field around the Great Refuge. The Fantastic Four barely make it out before the dome solidifies completely. Johnny is distraught at being separated from Crystal, perhaps forever. Unable to breach the barrier, the FF glumly return to their private jet and head for home.

On their final approach to New York City, the Fantastic Four are met with a frightening phenomenon—the entire sky is suddenly engulfed in flames. The city is in a panic as they race from the airport back to the Baxter Building. Flying on ahead, the Human Torch is attacked by an angry mob with a firehose. His teammates arrive via the Jet-Cycle before anyone gets hurt, and then the flames in the sky suddenly vanish as mysteriously as they appeared. Upon reaching their headquarters, Reed locks himself in his lab to investigate the bizarre occurrence. After several hours, Sue starts to get really annoyed with him.

August 1963 – A day or so later, Sue has had enough and demands admittance to Reed’s lab, where she is shocked to find he is working alongside the Watcher. The enigmatic alien explains that it was he who created the fire in the sky, just as he is now responsible for the curtain of space debris currently encircling the globe. He has violated his oath of non-interference because he has detected the approach of the Silver Surfer, the advance scout of Galactus, the Devourer of Worlds. Soon, the Silver Surfer is spotted zooming over the city, and the Human Torch flies up to intercept him. Easily outmaneuvering the Torch, the Surfer lands on the roof of the Baxter Building. Without a word, the Silver Surfer releases a massive energy surge from his body, then does not resist as the Thing knocks him off the roof with one punch. The Watcher joins the FF on the roof as a great spherical spaceship descends through the sky, releasing a series of sampling devices. It finally settles over the Baxter Building, and from it emerges the gigantic figure of Galactus, who is ready to feed on the life energies of the planet.

Ignoring the humans, Galactus addresses the Watcher, who tries to dissuade him from destroying Earth, as it is inhabited by intelligent beings. Galactus concedes that it is regrettable, but his need for energy must be satisfied without delay. The Thing and the Human Torch attack, but Galactus brushes them aside like insects. Worried, the FF retreat inside their headquarters while Galactus commences with the assembly of his Elemental Converter. The Watcher conceives of a plan, and so while the Human Torch is transported to a far distant galaxy, to the planet-dwarfing space station that Galactus calls home, his teammates seek to delay Galactus by damaging his instruments. Annoyed, Galactus unleashes a powerful armored cyborg called the Punisher to deal with the FF while he conducts his repairs. Though they put up a valiant fight, Mister Fantastic, the Thing, and the Invisible Girl are quickly battered into submission. All seems lost when suddenly the Silver Surfer returns, and to the astonishment of all concerned, he launches a blistering attack on Galactus. Protected by Sue’s invisible force field, the FF can only stand in awe of the cosmic energies that are unleashed in the battle between master and servant. Then, finally, the Human Torch rematerializes nearby, in a state of shock. Reed retrieves the weapon Johnny has brought across the universe, a small metal device the Watcher calls the Ultimate Nullifier. Immediately, Reed threatens Galactus with the device, and the giant surrenders, amazed that the Watcher would go to such lengths to save one little world. Given Galactus’s unbreakable vow to leave them in peace, Reed surrenders the Ultimate Nullifier. But before disappearing in a storm of crackling energy, Galactus sentences the Silver Surfer to exile on Earth for his betrayal. With Galactus and all his machinery having vanished without a trace, the Watcher departs as well.

The Fantastic Four then learn that Alicia was responsible for the Silver Surfer’s change of heart, and Ben becomes depressed when he mistakes Alicia’s fascination with the noble alien for a romantic attachment. He wanders off into the city, becoming increasingly despondent in the days that follow. The media is not sure what to make of the Galactus incident, with papers such as the Daily Bugle declaring the whole thing to be a hoax. The Fantastic Four decline all requests for interviews. Reed withdraws into his laboratory to work obsessively on devising defenses against alien menaces as powerful as Galactus, causing Sue to feel neglected.

A week or two later, when the Avengers are captured by Doctor Doom, the Fantastic Four are ready to help but are denied clearance to launch their long-range rocket by the government. They head for Washington, D.C. for a meeting on Capitol Hill, where they are told that their intervention could precipitate an international crisis. Stymied, the FF return to New York. They are relieved when the Avengers defeat Doom on their own. Later, Sue is finally able to draw Reed out of his lab to celebrate his 41st birthday, but being on the verge of a momentous discovery, he is more than usually distracted.

September 1963 – Johnny Storm starts attending classes at Metro College, just across the river from Manhattan in New Jersey. He meets Wyatt Wingfoot, an imposing Native American youth from Oklahoma. The two become roommates in the freshman dorm and find they enjoy hanging out together. Struggling to stay focused on his studies, Johnny does not see his teammates for several weeks. Meanwhile, Reed lends Hawkeye an amphibious airship so he can rescue his Avengers teammates from Attuma, who has been causing sea levels to rise throughout the globe. Hours later, the Avengers return the ship undamaged, reporting that Attuma has been thoroughly defeated.

The Thing is drawn into a trap laid by a mysterious scientist with a grudge against Reed Richards. Ben’s recent depression has been exacerbated by a “subliminal inducer” device, which has also led him to the scientist’s apartment. After giving Ben a cup of coffee laced with a powerful sedative, the scientist uses another invention to make himself into an exact doppelgänger of the Thing, causing Ben to revert to his human form. The Thing impostor then heads to the Baxter Building to kill Reed. Upon arrival, the impostor fools both Reed and Sue, even when Ben Grimm storms in and confronts him. Convinced that Ben must be the impostor, Reed and Sue turn against him. Disgusted, Ben storms out. Getting back to business, Reed reveals the nature of his latest research to Sue and the impostor, explaining that it has entered a dangerous new phase. While investigating the nature of hyperspace, he discovered the pocket dimension dubbed the Negative Zone and is intent on exploring it. Reed asks the Thing to monitor the other end of his tether and to pull him back if he encounters anything dangerous. Seeing a perfect opportunity to get rid of his rival, the impostor agrees. However, after working closely with Reed, the impostor realizes his hatred is unjustified. Thus, when the cable snaps and Reed is in danger of falling into the Negative Zone’s matter/antimatter annihilation area, the impostor sacrifices his life to get Reed back to Earth. At the moment of the impostor’s death, Ben Grimm reverts to being the Thing, and he races to the Baxter Building. Arriving in time to overhear Reed eulogizing him, Ben’s mood brightens and the old friends are happily reunited.

A few days later, Reed and Ben save Captain America’s life when an anti-grav device he is using fails high over Manhattan. Cap tells them that he and Nick Fury are attempting to stop an alien invasion on Liberty Island, so Reed lends Cap an experimental weapon to turn the tide of the battle. The weapon draws so much electricity from the power grid that it causes a blackout of the entire east coast of the United States. Afterwards, Cap reports that he and Fury were successful, although they were unable to determine who was behind the invasion attempt. Meanwhile, swamped with schoolwork, Johnny decides he will spend his 19th birthday with Wyatt at Metro College. Sue is disappointed but decides to respect her brother’s newfound independence.

October 1963 – The Fantastic Four receive an invitation to the remote African kingdom of Wakanda, and as Johnny has a break from school following his midterm exams, he and Wyatt Wingfoot accompany them on the trip. Upon arriving, they are astonished to discover a technological wonderland hidden within the jungle. They meet their host, the chieftain T’Challa, also known as the Black Panther, when he attacks them to test his own fighting prowess. Once he is satisfied, T’Challa explains that he is pledged to protect Wakanda’s sacred mound of vibranium, an ultra-rare mineral with amazing properties. Ten years before, he reveals, the unscrupulous Dutch scientist Ulysses Klaw had killed his father, the previous chieftain T’Chaka, during his first attempt to hijack the vibranium. Recent intelligence suggests Klaw is ready to try again. And so, when the villain makes his move, the Fantastic Four join the Black Panther in fighting back. They find that Klaw has developed the means to create artificial creatures out of solidified sound, and the FF are kept busy battling his creations while the Black Panther tracks down Klaw in his hidden lair. After Klaw is defeated in a tremendous explosion, the FF are treated to a lavish Wakandan victory celebration. However, Johnny remains dejected about losing Crystal, and he decides to use the rest of his long weekend to take another crack at freeing the Inhumans. Wyatt volunteers to accompany him, and to show his gratitude for their help, T’Challa gives the pair an amazing vehicle called the Gyro-Cruiser. Reed and Sue decide it would be a good time to start their honeymoon, after dropping Ben off in New York.

While Johnny and Wyatt are crossing the Sahara Desert that night, the Gyro-Cruiser suddenly falls into an incredibly deep shaft that leads to a large subterranean crypt. Exploring the ornate chambers, the pals discover a man in a chair who appears to be in suspended animation. Awoken by their approach, the dusty figure rises and introduces himself as Prester John, then tells them of his adventures in the 13th century which led to his discovery of the fabled land of Avalon. He demonstrates the fearsome weapon he obtained there, known as the Evil Eye. Realizing the Evil Eye might be powerful enough to free the Inhumans, Johnny seizes it and flies off. However, its energies are quickly building to a critical mass, so Wyatt and Prester John must chase him down in the Gyro-Cruiser. Wyatt shoots the weapon out of Johnny’s hand just in time, and the Evil Eye explodes over the desert with the force of an atom bomb. The shockwave snuffs out the Torch’s flame, but he is otherwise unharmed. Sympathetic, Prester John returns to his crypt, while Johnny and Wyatt continue on toward the Himalayas.

Meanwhile, back in the Baxter Building, Reed and Sue pack for their trip while Ben goes to visit Alicia. An hour or so later, though, the newlyweds receive a frantic phone call from Alicia, telling them that the Thing has gotten into a brawl with the Silver Surfer. Reed and Sue soon find the pair demolishing a block of abandoned warehouses and put a stop to the fight. They convince Ben that his jealousy is completely unfounded. Baffled by human behavior, the Silver Surfer streaks off without holding a grudge. On the other side of the world, Johnny and Wyatt reach the Himalayas and stumble upon Lockjaw, who has used his power of interdimensional teleportation to escape from the Great Refuge. Realizing Lockjaw could take them to Crystal, Johnny and Wyatt start trying to gain the canine’s trust. Now having a real hope of success, Johnny decides he will not return to school until the matter is resolved, and Wyatt agrees to see it through to the end.

About a week later, Reed and Sue return from their honeymoon, and Reed immediately immerses himself in further study of the Negative Zone. After learning that it contains complex life-forms, his theories about the nature of his discovery begin to shift, and he becomes convinced that the pocket dimension must be explored, no matter what the dangers. However, Reed’s work is interrupted when the Baxter Building is attacked by Klaw, who has created a new body for himself out of solidified sound after his human body was mortally wounded during his showdown with the Black Panther. Possessing strange new powers, Klaw fights Mister Fantastic, the Thing, and the Invisible Girl to a standstill until Reed manages to contact the Black Panther. Immediately, T’Challa sends two bands of pure vibranium via intercontinental mini-missile that enable Reed to defeat their foe in hand-to-hand combat. The Thing crushes the sonic weapon Klaw wears in place of his right hand, and the villain is turned over to the police.

Not long after, Lockjaw teleports Johnny and Wyatt to the Baxter Building, and they are frustrated that the canine seems willing to take them anywhere but the Great Refuge. Then, wanting to experiment with his nova flame, Johnny flies out to the deserts of Nevada where he can really cut loose. There, to his astonishment, Johnny is attacked by his childhood hero, the original Human Torch, who disappeared in the area eight years before. In the course of their fight, Johnny learns that his assailant was revived by the Mad Thinker and some kind of supercomputer called Quasimodo. Johnny is on the verge of losing when his teammates arrive, accompanied by Wyatt and Lockjaw. The original Human Torch is frantic that Quasimodo will destroy him by remote control, but suddenly Lockjaw teleports them all straight into the heart of the Mad Thinker’s headquarters. Before the heroes can react, the Mad Thinker signals Quasimodo to hit the kill switch. The android Human Torch flares up in a blinding flash, then falls to the floor, apparently dead. While the FF are thus distracted, the Mad Thinker escapes. When Lockjaw then powers up for another teleport, Johnny and Wyatt bid their friends a hasty farewell and go with him, still hoping to penetrate the Great Barrier. Unable to resuscitate the android hero, Reed decides it would be best to leave him where he is, letting the Mad Thinker’s base serve as his tomb. The FF do their best to seal all the entrances upon leaving. Later, Reed issues a statement to the press describing the incident.

November 1963 – Mister Fantastic, the Invisible Girl, and the Thing nearly fall into a trap set by the Wizard and the Sandman as part of an attempted jailbreak. Although the Sandman manages to slip away, the Wizard is recaptured before he can even leave his cell block. Later, the Sandman invades the Baxter Building and makes off with some of the FF’s high-tech equipment before Reed and Sue can stop him. Annoyed, Reed sets about devising a defense against their granular foe.

Soon after, Reed and Sue plan a romantic getaway weekend at a secluded cabin in Southampton on Long Island, leaving Ben alone at the Baxter Building. That night, the Thing is attacked by Doctor Doom, who has somehow stolen the Silver Surfer’s surfboard, as well as his cosmic powers. After kicking him around a bit, Doom knocks the Thing into Central Park and turns him into a living statue. As the power-mad villain zips out to Long Island to kill Reed and Sue, Lockjaw brings the Human Torch and Wyatt Wingfoot to the roof of the Baxter Building. Seeing the damage to their headquarters caused by Doom’s attack, Johnny flies off to investigate. He soon finds the Thing immobilized in the middle of the park and determines that he is still alive. Returning to Reed’s labs, the two college pals find a device that should free Ben. Wyatt rushes to the park while the Torch flies out to Southampton. Upon arrival, he finds Reed and Sue being menaced by the now all-powerful Doctor Doom. The Torch battles Doom, raising his flame to maximum intensity. But even though the cottage is burned to the ground, the villain is unfazed. The Thing and Wyatt soon arrive as well, but despite their best efforts, the Fantastic Four are unable to affect Doom in any way. Finally deciding that the FF are now beneath his notice, Doom streaks off, leaving his foes stewing in the knowledge that they have been thoroughly and hopelessly defeated.

Mister Fantastic makes a worldwide broadcast to warn of the threat posed by Doctor Doom. Then, he secures the cooperation of the American military, which goes on high alert while waiting for the Fantastic Four to make the first move. Fearful that the nations of the world will resort to an all-out nuclear strike against Latveria, Reed works around the clock creating a prototype device that may turn Doom’s cosmic powers against him. However, the hot-headed Human Torch sets off to tackle Doom all by himself, leaving Wyatt to alert the rest of the FF. Using an ultra-fast airship provided by the Black Panther, the team follows Johnny to Europe for the showdown with Doctor Doom. Reed leaves his new weapon to be constructed by Army Ordnance in conjunction with Stark Industries, hoping that they will complete the project in time. When the FF arrive in Latveria, Doctor Doom destroys their ship and toys with them, savoring the helplessness of his foes as they battle valiantly in the face of overwhelming odds. Then, at last, Reed’s weapon is deployed, a flying wing that siphons off a noticeable amount of Doom’s cosmic power. Enraged, Doom pursues the craft atop the Silver Surfer’s surfboard, disappearing high in the sky. Moments later, the effects of Doom’s power suddenly vanish, and Reed realizes his gambit was successful. He explains to his teammates that he had programmed the flying wing to continue into outer space, leading Doom straight into the barrier Galactus must have erected to enforce the Silver Surfer’s exile. While hiking to the nearest city, the FF see the surfboard flash back to Castle Doom, then the Silver Surfer emerges, destroys much of the castle, and finally streaks off into the sky. Assured that the danger from Doctor Doom is over, the Fantastic Four return home.

Having been abandoned by Lockjaw, Johnny loses hope of being reunited with Crystal, so he and Wyatt finally return to Metro College to try and salvage what remains of the semester. Johnny finds he is too depressed to really apply himself, though. Days later, the Fantastic Four are shocked and saddened by news reports of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas. Although the team had frequently butted heads with the Kennedy administration, they had developed a respect for the President and his ideals. That same weekend, Reed gets Sue pregnant.

December 1963 – The Sandman attacks the Fantastic Four again, now wearing a high-tech costume that enables him to achieve a greater variety of effects with his powers. The battle rages through their headquarters until it leads them into the antechamber to the Negative Zone. There, the Sandman knocks the Thing into the delicate apparatus, which collapses. Although Ben could easily lift it, Reed warns him that he might inadvertently set off a chain reaction that would destroy the city. Then, as the Human Torch blasts the Sandman, the crook activates a new defense, releasing a chemical from his costume that interacts with his sand to produce poison fumes when heated. In order to clear the deadly gas before they are overcome, Reed opens the portal to the Negative Zone. Unfortunately, the resulting vortex sucks him through the dimensional barrier. The portal automatically seals itself behind him, but Reed has no means of getting back. Barely escaping the same fate, the Sandman beats a hasty retreat. Before they can pursue their foe, the rest of the FF see Reed floating helplessly within the Negative Zone.

Suddenly, to the anguished team’s astonishment, Lockjaw materializes with Crystal at his side. Johnny can scarcely believe his eyes, but Crystal explains that Black Bolt finally managed to destroy the Great Barrier, though every building in Attilan was shattered in the process. But upon learning of the danger Reed faces, Crystal and Lockjaw teleport away again to confer with the Inhumans. Long minutes later, they reappear with Triton. Accustomed to navigating in the murky depths of the ocean, Triton enters the Negative Zone, maneuvering by means of a compressed-air gun. His instincts lead him unerringly to Reed just seconds before he falls into the matter/antimatter annihilation area. Triton returns Reed safely to the Baxter Building, and the rest of the FF are overjoyed. The crisis averted, Johnny and Crystal depart to celebrate their reunion.

Moments later, the ceiling collapses on Mister Fantastic, the Invisible Girl, the Thing, and Triton, as they are attacked by a menace that slipped out of the Negative Zone behind them. Calling himself Blastaar, the alien being demonstrates his ability to generate powerful concussive blasts from his fingertips. He immediately enlists the Sandman, who has been lurking on the roof, to assist him in conquering Earth. The Human Torch and Crystal postpone their date to stop the evil pair, and the Thing soon joins them in an all-out battle on the streets of Manhattan. Meanwhile, Reed devises a helmet that will cancel out Blastaar’s power and brings it to the fight. The Sandman is defeated when the Thing knocks him into the East River and his sand particles are dispersed on the current. Then the others use teamwork to defeat Blastaar. Ben carries the alien’s unconscious form back to Reed’s lab and tosses him into the Negative Zone where he belongs.

A few days later, Johnny flunks his final exams for not studying and decides to drop out of college. He says goodbye to Wyatt and moves his things back into the Baxter Building. The two pals promise to keep in touch. Triton stays in New York as a chaperone for Crystal while she and Johnny begin dating. Reed and Ben work for several days to secure the entrance to the Negative Zone. Finally, Sue has had enough of her husband’s workaholic ways and insists they take a vacation. Reed agrees, but when all the commercial flights are booked up due to the holidays, he realizes they’ll have to take the Pogo Plane and fly themselves. Ben picks a remote island in the South Pacific at random where he believes they’ll be able to kick back and relax. However, Johnny and Crystal opt to remain in New York to enjoy the festivities the city has to offer. Later, upon arriving at their island getaway, Reed, Sue, and Ben are attacked by a giant robot that identifies itself as a Sentry for an alien race called the Kree. Intent on protecting the long-abandoned Kree depot beneath the island, the Sentry relentlessly battles the heroic trio. When the alien robot gains the upper hand, the Invisible Girl radios a message to the Human Torch, who uses Lockjaw to join the fight instantaneously. The Sentry dodges the Torch’s high-intensity flame blast, but it hits the Kree power grid and causes it to overload. A series of explosions begins to rip the island apart. The Thing manages to rescue two hapless explorers that he finds, and then Lockjaw teleports them back to New York just seconds before the island is obliterated. As they are dematerializing, Reed notices that the Sentry refuses to abandon its post. Once back at the Baxter Building, Reed confers with the explorer, a Dr. Daniel Damian, and listens with interest to his theories about the Kree. However, Sue refuses to let him get sucked into a new research project and insists they choose another vacation destination. The next day, Reed, Sue, and Ben begin their second annual Christmas vacation.

Notes:

January 1963 – The Fantastic Four involve themselves in Spider-Man’s battle with the Sinister Six in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1. The Human Torch and the Thing resume their supplementary adventures in Strange Tales #126 and following. Then, the Torch continues to involve himself in Spider-Man’s affairs, as chronicled in Amazing Spider-Man #17–19. Doctor Doom is revealed to be the ruler of his own tiny kingdom in Fantastic Four Annual #2. Although Latveria was initially described as being located both near Bavaria and in the Balkans, it was eventually established that the latter site was correct. The Fantastic Four resume their primary adventures in Fantastic Four #31 and following.

February 1963 – As was pointed out by Marvel continuity pioneer George Olshevsky in his series of indices, the Wizard story in Strange Tales #118 occurs out of sequence, as the villain could not survive being stranded in the upper atmosphere for three months before being rescued by his partners-in-crime. Similarly, the back-up story in Amazing Spider-Man #8 is also out of sequence, as Peter Parker clearly meets Doris Evans for the first time in Amazing Spider-Man #21, when they battle the Beetle. Count Nefaria frames the Avengers, thus creating a backlash against all other superheroes, in Avengers #13.

March 1963 – On this timeline, the rock ’n’ roll concert depicted in Strange Tales #130 occurs a full year before the Beatles came to America. Thus, the headliners are, in fact, some other band, possibly the Beach Boys. It is likely that it is actually Immortus who recruits the Human Torch and the Thing to travel through time to prevent Kang the Conqueror from changing history, as depicted in Strange Tales #134. He disguises himself as the Watcher to ensure their cooperation. This was the end of the Human Torch’s run in this title; in the next issue the slot was turned over to Nick Fury, agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.

April 1963 – Balder the Brave unwittingly protects the Baxter Building from incursion by the Frightful Four in Journey Into Mystery #116.

May 1963 – The Human Torch helps the X-Men defeat the Juggernaut in Uncanny X-Men #13.

June 1963 – The chaotic wedding of Reed Richards and Susan Storm is chronicled in Fantastic Four Annual #3, with some additional information provided in Patsy Walker’s flashback in Avengers #144. Doctor Doom attempts to include the Hulk is his army of villains, but the jolly green giant is at that moment 500 years in the future. The debate between Charles Xavier and Bolivar Trask, as well as the ensuing anti-mutant riot, is depicted in Uncanny X-Men #14. Although Xavier and the X-Men attend Reed and Sue’s wedding ceremony early in the day, they have to excuse themselves from the reception that evening. The OMU counterparts of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, creators of the FF’s official based-on-true-stories comic book series, attempt to crash the festivities but are turned away by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents at the door.

July 1963 – Rick Jones spills the beans that Bruce Banner and the Hulk are one and the same in Tales to Astonish #77.

September 1963 – The Fantastic Four are prevented from aiding the Avengers in Latveria in Avengers #25, but they do offer some behind-the-scenes assistance against Attuma two issues later. Reed and Ben also give Captain America some back-up in the S.H.I.E.L.D. flashback story in Strange Tales #161.

October 1963 – The new Human Torch battles the original Human Torch in Fantastic Four Annual #4. Although it was believed for several years that the first Torch was subsequently converted into the Vision, this was eventually revealed to not be the case (at least in the OMU). The Original Human Torch makes his next appearance in Avengers West Coast #50. A flashback in that issue shows the Torch’s old partner, Toro, reading of the android’s demise in the newspaper. A similar flashback occurs in Sub-Mariner #14.

November 1963 – In Fantastic Four #57, the Thing is seen watching a television program called The Marvel Super-Heroes Show. While in the real world this was a children’s animated cartoon, in the Original Marvel Universe it was more likely a weekly magazine-format news show that covered the exploits of super-heroes and super-villains. It was sponsored by the same company that published the officially licensed comic books, Marvel, hence the name. The segment the Thing is watching is about Captain America. The Kennedy assassination occurs behind the scenes, naturally. This satisfies my initial research question as far as the Fantastic Four are concerned.

December 1963 – Dr. Daniel Damian returns in Eternals #1. Kree Sentry #459 will soon be found by pearl divers and turned over to the United States Navy and will then be transferred to the NASA installation at Cape Kennedy for study, as seen in Marvel Super-Heroes #13. This brings us up to Fantastic Four #64.

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