Fantastic Four #34
A House Divided!
While the Fantastic Four comment on the Thing's latest gift from the Yancy Street Gang – A Beatles Wig – greedy millionaire Gregory Gideon makes a bet with his competitors: If he cannot defeat the Fantastic Four within a week, he will forfeit his entire fortune to them, but if he succeeds, he gains their wealth.
Gideon's plan starts by convincing the Thing that Reed is really a Skrull imposter, and convincing Sue that Johnny is a robot imposter created by Doctor Doom. Although they clash with each other, they soon realize that they were tricked. They rush to the Baxter Building, unaware that Gideon's men have set up Dr. Doom's time machine in the floor, so that whoever crosses it gets sent to another time.
Gideon's plan ultimately fails because his son Tommy is a big Fantastic Four fan, and when he learns that his father is going to kill his favourite heroes, the boy goes to the Baxter Building to warn them. Tommy walks through the time machine trap, and although the Thing tries to save the boy, the two are transported to another era. After the Fantastic Four round up the crooks and turn off the time machine, Gideon arrives and begs Reed Richards to bring back his son, and is willing to pay anything to get Tommy back. When the boy appears safe and sound, having been returned to the present when Reed turned off the device, Gideon realizes that in his mad quest for ultimate wealth, he neglected the most valuable thing he had: his family.
After listening to an appeal from his wife, Gideon swears to give his fortune to charity. The Fantastic Four let the Gideon family go, to rebuild their troubled family.
Recurring Characters
Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Girl, Human Torch, Thing), Alicia Masters, Gregory Gideon, Thomas Gideon, Claire Gideon
Continuity Notes
The Yancy Street Gang shows animosity toward the Thing because, as revealed in Thing #1, Ben used to be a member of their gang. His departure from them as a youth was viewed as a betrayal. They last sent a harassment letter to the Thing in Fantastic Four #23. They next send Sue flowers to celebrate her wedding in Fantastic Four #36.
In the context of the story, the British rock group known as the Beatles as spoken about as though they were still active as musicians. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616. At the time of this publication it was still five years before the Beatles would break up and they were at the height of their popularity.
The Thing wears his Beatles wig again in Strange Tales #130.
Gregory Gideon convinces the Thing that Mister Fantastic is actually a Skrull imposter. Four Skrulls previously posed as members of the Fantastic Four back in Fantastic Four #2.
Gideon's trick on Sue was to convince her that Johnny was really a robot duplicate created by Doctor Doom. However, per Fantastic Four Annual #2 Doctor Doom was uninterested in the Fantastic Four after being tricked into thinking that he killed Reed Richards.
The Time Platform featured here is a duplicate of the one created by Doctor Doom in Fantastic Four #5. The original is still at his American castle as seen in Avengers Annual #2. Fantastic Four Annual #11 explains that although this is referred to as "Doctor Doom's" time machine, it's actually a duplicate that Reed built.
Gregory Gideon's ultimately reneged on his promise to renounce his fortune after his family was caught in a nuclear blast. as seen in Fantastic Four #135.
