War on the Thirty-Sixth Floor!

Returning to the Baxter Building following the revelation that Sue is willingly staying with Namor, the downtrodden Fantastic Four soon find that they are not alone in the Baxter Building. Reed is attacked first by the Sandman who is hiding out in Reed's lab. Freeing the rest of the FF who were trapped in an elevator, they begin searching out the rest of their headquarters for the other members of the Frightful Four.

The Sandman reunites with the Wizard and Trapster and they begin their hunt for each of the members of the Fantastic Four. The Trapster finds the Human Torch first and manages to immobilize him with his super-paste. The Wizard tracks down both Reed and Medusa and is able to defeat them by placing anti-gravity discs on their backs. Finally, the Thing is attacked by the Sandman, however he avoids defeat when their fight is interrupted by Thundra, who has come to make good her previous warning to her former teammates in the Frightful Four about attacking the Fantastic Four ever again.

Meanwhile, Johnny manages to break free of the Trapster's paste-trap and easily defeats his old foe. He then finds the Wizard and uses the Trapster's paste gun to immobilize him. Freeing Reed and Medusa, the FF reunite and contain the villains they have defeated. When Reed asks Thundra how she knew they were in trouble, the possible answer is interrupted when they all become aware that Namor has risen sea monsters from the sea and intends to renew his aggressions towards the surface world.

Recurring Characters

Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Medusa, Human Torch, Thing), Invisible Girl, Frightful Four (The Wizard, Sandman, Trapster, Thundra), Sub-Mariner, Triton (incognito)

Continuity Notes

• Reed's emotional collapse is due to the on going separation between he and his wife that began in Fantastic Four #130. After he was forced to shut down his son Franklin's mind in Fantastic Four #141, Sue filed for divorce and left to be with the Sub-Mariner last issue.

• The Trapster makes reference to his past history with the Human Torch and his former name Paste-Pot Pete. The Trapster first clashed with the Torch back in Strange Tales #104. He used that Paste-Pot Pete moniker from that story until he abandoned it in Fantastic Four #38 for the name Trapster. Pete has not lived down his original name.

• The device Reed uses to try and track members of the Frightful Four down is based off the Psi-Amplifier device he created in Giant-Size Super-Stars #1.

• Thundra here mentions her previous affiliation with the Frightful Four and her past battles wit the Thing. These occurred in Fantastic Four #129-130 and Fantastic Four #133.

• The reason why Thundra is so adamant about defeating the Thing in battle because:

  • Thundra comes from the 23rd Century where in a possible future the Earth -- renamed Femezonia -- is a world where the entire world is dominated by women. Her reality was first seen in Savage Tales #1. This reality was identified as Earth-715 in Marvel Encyclopedia: Fantastic Four.

  • As revealed in Fantastic Four #151, the reason why Thundra is seeking to defeat the Thing in combat is that her world is merging with the world of Machaus, a future world where men are the dominant gender. Thundra believes if she defeats the world's strongest mortal male in the modern age, she will prevent this merger from happening.