Fantastic Four #181
Side by Side with - Annihilus??
Continued from Fantastic Four #179...
Reed Richards is alone and powerless in the Negative Zone after being dumped there by his evil counterpart from Counter-Earth, and now he has to deal with the Negative Zone's ruler Annihilus. Annihilus attacks Reed to prove to himself that Reed Richards has indeed lost his powers, making him useless to his cause. When Richards asks why, he explains that he needs help stopping a threat to both the Negative Zone and Earth.
On Earth, the Thing and Tigra have just finished their battle with the Metalloid and are assisting the military in trying to salvage the robot out of New York Harbour. Learning of the incident from the television Thundra and the Impossible Man travel out there to lend a hand to recover the robot from the bottom of the harbour.
While back at the Baxter Building, Sue confirms her suspicions that the Reed living in the Baxter Building is really her husbands evil counterpart that came from Counter-Earth after she kisses him. However wanting to be absolutely certain she tells him that she wants to go check on Franklin, but in reality is seeking to get Alicia to come to the Baxter Building as a final test to prove her suspicions once and for all. Taking a cab to Alicia's apartment, Sue tells Alicia her fears and is about to collect Franklin when suddenly Agatha Harkness appears to come and take Franklin. When Agatha can't stop to explain, Sue tries to stop her from taking the boy with an invisible force field but Agatha manages to teleport away with Franklin.
The Human Torch meanwhile has been flying around the city brooding about his situation with Frankie Raye. Deciding to stop in Washington Square Park to think, he spots her out on a date with another person and confronts her about it. Frankie gets mad at Johnny for confronting her and tells him she doesn't like fire. When he tries to make a joke about it, she gets visibly upset and storms off. While at the harbour, the military has come to collect the Metalloid robot, but Ben wants to bring it back to the Baxter Building for Reed to examine. When the military tries to stop them, Thing and Thundra use their strength to fight their way through the military.
While back in the Negative Zone, Annihilus takes Reed Richards to his fortress where they come across a giant creature that has taken over the location that is under the control of the Mad Thinker who intends to use the monster to not only take over the Negative Zone, but the Earth as well.
Recurring Characters
Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Girl, Human Torch, Thing), Alicia Masters, Franklin Richards, Agatha Harkness, Frankie Raye, Impossible Man, Thundra, Tigra, Brute, Metalloid, Annihilus, Mad Thinker, Scavanger
Continuity Notes
Reed refers to himself as a World War II veteran. In Fantastic Four #11 it was first stated that Reed fought in World War II. This has been changed, as Reed fighting in World War II would drastically age the character. Any reference to Reed being in the military should be generalized. In History of the Marvel Universe #2, Marvel introduced the Sin-Cong Conflict, a fictional war created to place all modern age character’s pre-Fantastic Four war service.
Reed lost his powers in Fantastic Four #178, a natural progression since he first discovered it in Fantastic Four #157. His powers are eventually restored in Fantastic Four #197.
Sue refers to how a blow to the head made the Counter-Earth Reed Richards evil, this was seen in Fantastic Four #178.
Agatha Harkness was Franklin's nanny between Fantastic Four #94 and 150. She left that job in Avengers #128 in order to train the Scarlet Witch in the art of sorcery.
As revealed in Fantastic Four #185, Agatha is being hunted by her people the Witches of New Salem.
Agatha says that she seeks to utilize Franklin's powers to help her, apparently having forgotten that she was present in Fantastic Four #150 when Franklin's powers went dormant after they were used to shut down Ultron.
Frankie Ray's fear of Johnny is because at this moment she suffers from pyrophobia as explained in Fantastic Four #238. It stemmed from the fact that he stepfather Phineas Horton -- creator of the original android Human Torch -- accidentally doused her in chemicals that endowed her with flame powers of her own. Horrified by what he had done, Horton used hypnosis to submerge those memories and give her a fear of fire.
The massive creature seen here is the Mad Thinker's "Ultimate Android" that was dumped into the Negative Zone in Fantastic Four #71. It was last seen as the Scavanger of Annihilus in Fantastic Four Annual #6. How the android went through all these transformations is revealed next issue.
