Hell of a Mess

The Fantastic Four — Black Panther (T’Challa), Storm (Ororo Monroe), Human Torch (Johnny Storm), and the Thing (Ben Grimm — were attempting to return an alien creature to the Negative Zone using the wildly unpredictable King Solomon’s Frogs.[2] Instead, they have found themselves transported to the Skrull home world. What’s worse, zombie superheroes with the power of Galactus — Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Iron Man (Tony Stark), Giant-Man (Hank Pym), Luke Cage, Hulk, and Wolverine (Logan) — have arrived on the planet to consume every living thing in their path![3]

While the Fantastic Four are forced to fight the alien monster they brought with them, Skrull high command determine that the other invaders have the power of Galactus. They immediately initiate the Galactus Protocols, erecting a force field around their planet.[4] When Spider-Man face plants onto this force field, his fellow zombies get a good laugh at his expense. Wolverine then uses his Adamantium claws — enhanced by the power they absorbed eating Galactus — to cut through the shield. As the zombies continue to make their land-fall, the Skrulls launch missiles at the invaders but these are quickly blown up by the zombies cosmic powers. Iron Man warns the others that they need to feed soon or else they will be sustaining themselves on the cosmic energies in their bodies, leaving them weaker.

On the ground, the Fantastic Four have now been swarmed by every Skrull around them. After fighting the aliens off, they see that the creature from the Negative Zone is still standing and spoiling for a fight. However, before it can attack, Iron Man sneaks up behind it and sinks his teeth into the insect’s flesh. The Fantastic For watch in horror as the zombies — who they recognize as friends and allies — begin swarming the alien and eating it alive. That’s when King Solomon’s Frogs teleport them away, mere moments before the zombie Hulk lands on them.

The team appears in an underground cavern somewhere and as they get their bearings, the Torch is sent to scout ahead. He ends up running into a Skrull woman who looks exactly like his ex-wife, Lyja.[5] She and three others — each one with a powerset similar to the original Fantastic Four — attack the heroes, but are quickly fought to a stand-still. The “Mister Fantastic” of this group explains that the Skrulls have been unable to replicate the Super-Skrull’s ability to mimic all four of the Fantastic Four’s abilities in one individual, and instead created a team since they could recreate at least one power set per person.[6] Explaining that their presence here was an accident, T’Challa offers to assist the Skrull “Fantastic Four” with the zombie invaders.

Meanwhile, on the surface, the zombies have consumed all of the Skrulls they can get their hands on. While they find the Skrull flesh to be disgusting, the cannot help their nature. Once everyone around them is gone, the Hulk complains that he is still hungry. That’s when a Skrull fleet arrives in the air, giving the zombies more aliens to munch on. As they are making short work of the Skrull’s armada, the Fantastic Four and their Skrull counterparts are trying to convince the Skrull leaders that they need to work together. As T’Challa tries reasoning with them, Johnny tries to confirm if the Skrull “Invisible Woman” is really Lyja. She is surprised that the human knows her name, and denies every having gone to Earth. It’s when Lyja says this to them that the Thing figures out that they are not in their universe, but some alternate reality.

As Ben and Johnny go to tell T’Challa this new wrinkle to their predicament, the zombie Luke Cage comes crashing through the ceiling. Recovering from his fall, Cage is delighted to see a fresh meal laid out before him.

Recurring Characters

Fantastic Four (Black Panther, Storm, Human Torch, Thing), Super-Skrull Fantastic Four (Lyja named), Taptor (unidentified), Marvel Zombies (Spider-Man, Iron Man, Giant-Man, Luke Cage, Wolverine)

Continuity Notes

1. The cover of this issue pays homage to John Buscema’s cover art for Fantastic Four #116.

2. This alien invader goes unnamed here. The Negative Zone entry in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #8 identifies the bug as Taptor.

3. As will be verified next issue, the Fantastic Four have been transported to an alternate reality. Per Marvel Zombies: The Book of Angels, Demons & Various Monstrosities #1, this is Reality-2149. As seen in Ultimate Fantastic Four #21-23, this is a world where a contagion turned Earths superheroes into zombies. In Marvel Zombies #1-5, the surviving zombies consumed Galactus when he arrived on Earth and then went into space to literally eat the entire universe.

4. Like on Earth-616, the Skrulls in have a contingency called the “Galactus Protocols” which were intended to protect their world from being consumed by Galactus. The Skrulls of the Prime Marvel Universe used it cloak their home world in Fantastic Four #48. However, this system later failed, allowing Galactus to consume their home planet in Fantastic Four #257. Clearly that incident had not occurred in Reality-2149.

5. Johnny Storm has a complicated history with the Lyja of his home reality. She took the place of Alicia Masters, a long time associate of the Fantastic Four, to spy on the team back in Fantastic Four #265. In this disguise, she romanced and eventually married Johnny in Fantastic Four #300. Her true identity and mission was exposed in Fantastic Four #358. Lyja would remain with the Fantastic Four for a time, however at the time of this story she had disappeared following the events of Fantastic Four #416. Johnny will learn what happened to his Lyja in Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four #1-3.

6. The Super-Skrull, aka Kl’rt, was given the powers of all the original members of the Fantastic Four. The Earth-616 version was first seen in Fantastic Four #18.

The Initiative Reading Order

Civil War: The Initiative #1, Ms. Marvel (vol. 2) #13, 14, 15, 16, 17, Thunderbolts #112, 113, 114, 115, Omega Flight #1-5, Moon Knight (vol. 3) #13, Captain America (vol. 5) #26, 27, 28, 29, 30, New Avengers #27, 28, 29, 30, 31, New Warriors (vol. 4) #1-8, Black Panther (vol. 4) #27, 28, 29, 30, Iron Man: Agent of SHIELD #15, 16, 17, 18, Avengers: The Initiative #1, 2, 3, Fantastic Four #547, 548, 549, 550, Punisher: War Journal (vol. 2) #6-11, Mighty Avengers #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Sub-Mariner (vol. 2) #1-6, The Order (vol. 2) 1-4, Penance: Relentless #1, 2, 3, 4, 5