Fantastic Four #101
Bedlam in the Baxter Building!
Johnny, Crystal, Ben, and Alicia are spending time together singing and dancing when they are suddenly interrupted by the lobby attendant of the Baxter Building. He passes them a letter dropped off by someone who stopped by the building. When Johnny reads the letter, he is shocked to learn that the Maggia crime family have legally purchased the Baxter Building, and they have ordered the Fantastic Four to move out immediately. As Johnny and Ben begin to lose their tempers, Reed and Sue return home with Franklin. Reed tells the others to calm down, telling them that their lawyers can sort out the matter in court.
Meanwhile, at a shady restaurant across town, the Maggia's leader, the so-called Top Man, has called a meeting of his highest ranking minions. There, the Top Man explains to his minions that they intend to force the Fantastic Four out of their headquarters in order to get a hold of Reed Richard's top-secret experiments. When his men question this plan, the Top Man shows them a creation of their own: protective clothing that renders the wearer impervious to harm.
The following day the Fantastic Four are spending time in Central Park. The Thing becomes depressed seeing Reed and Sue, as well as Johnny and Crystal, enjoying themselves. He decides to try and cheer himself up by entertaining some children by lifting a car. As he does so, he watches as a ship makes a landing on top of the Baxter Building. Realizing that the Maggia are making their move, Reed tells the Torch to go investigate. Johnny flames on and battles it out with the Maggia goons that are on the roof, but they prove impervious to his flame, managing to tranquilize him and take Johnny, a prisoner.
Meanwhile, Reed, Crystal, and Ben arrive at the building and enter the security monitoring station. There Reed orders the Maggia goons to get out of their headquarters, but they refuse, explaining that they have the Torch as their hostage. Before the Fantastic Four can act, they are caught by the Maggia and gassed. When they finally pass out, the four heroes are loaded into crates and then dumped into a river in New Jersey. Crystal revives first and breaks free from her makeshift coffin with her elemental powers and then helps free the others. Having escaped their watery graves, the Fantastic Four then hitch a ride back to base.
Back at the Baxter Building, the Invisible Girl sneaks through the Maggia thugs, but a Maggia device detects her presence, leading to a fight. The Maggia's field commander Gimlet forces Sue to stop when he explains that they found Franklin and will harm the boy if she doesn't surrender. Before he can make good his promise, the rest of the Fantastic Four return to base. While Gimlet is distracted by the Thing, Sue encases him in a force field, forcing him to stand down. As they are questioning him as to the identity of the Top Man, Gimlet is shot by the lobby attendant.
The attendant explains that he heard the commotion and came to the team's rescue. However, Reed sees through this ploy and unmasks the attendant, revealing him to be the Top Man. With the Top Man in police custody, Sue wonders why their son has to grow up in a world of crime and violence. Reed tells her that, while he does, they will do everything they can to try and fix it.
Recurring Characters
Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Girl, Thing, Human Torch, Crystal), Maggia, Alicia Masters, Franklin Richards
Continuity Notes
Franklin Richards is seen here having been picked up from his nanny Agatha Harkness after being left in her care in Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Comics Magazine #5.
This story states that the Top Man purchased the Baxter Building, however, what happened to the building owner is not fully explained until the Maggia entry in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Delux Edition #7 which states that the courts reverted ownership to Walter Collins. That same entry states that the Top Man died in jail, executed by orders of the Maggia.
Mentions are made to Woody Allen, Cassius Clay, and Sammy Davis. These should be considered topical references per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616.
This story was reprinted in Fantastic Four #180 due to a production delay. That reprint updates some of the topical references mentioned in this story. For example, Cassius Clay is referred to as Mohammad Ali in the reprint as it was printed after Clay changed his name. Comparing the two issues is a great example of how topical references change with the times.
