Nick Peron

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Fantastic Four #71

... And So It Ends...

Credits

With her teammates all knocked out trying to restore the Thing's personality after it was altered by the Mad Thinker, only the Invisible Girl is left standing when the Thinker's android comes crashing through the wall. In order to get away she turns invisible, but when the android turns its attention to her husband, she blasts it with an electro-force beam. While it stuns her foe, it also works to revive Reed, Ben and Johnny. Sue then begins dodging the robot when it begins tracking her with its radar system until the Thing gets up. Ben has been restored back to his normal personality and begins fighting the android. With Sue's help, Ben manages to knock the robot out of the building.

However, when Johnny and Reed revive they believe that the Thing is still under the Thinker's control and is attacking Sue and come to her "rescue", until Sue tells them that Ben is back to normal and they all stand down. While down below, the android picks itself off the ground and flies back up to the Fantastic Four's headquarters. When it begins to attack, Johnny tries to use his flame powers, but the android counteracts this by coating its body in ice. When Johnny was then frozen and knocked out, the android attempted to throw him from the building, but was stopped at the last moment by Reed who saved Johnny's life. Reed then lured the android into his space-time laboratory and sent it hurtling into the open portal into the Negative Zone, ending its threat. In the aftermath of the battle, Reed went to rush to his wife's aid while Crystal went to check on Ben and Johnny to see if they are all right. In the aftermath, Reed informs the team that due to Sue's pregnancy and the constant danger in their lives, the pair are quitting the Fantastic Four.

Recurring Characters

Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Girl, Human Torch, Thing), Crystal, Mad Thinker’s Android

Continuity Notes

  • This is not the last we see of the Mad Thinker's android. Per Fantastic Four #183 it was recovered by Annihilus, the ruler of the Negative Zone. He transformed the Android into his minion called the Scavenger and it was later seen in Fantastic Four Annual #6.

  • Reed's "departure" from the Fantastic Four proves short lived as he is dragged back into his leadership role next issue. However, Sue remains out of active duty until Fantastic Four #89 not long after giving birth to her child in Fantastic Four Annual #6.