Fantastic Four #263
R and R
Reed and Sue Richards have just moved into their new home in Belle Prirte, Connecticut where they hope to provide Franklin with a stable family home, disguised as the Benjamin family in order to maintain their privacy. This morning Sue is trying to paint the kitchen when Reed walks in on his way out to work. He is concerned that she is doing such work now that she is visibly pregnant, but she shows him that she has it under control when a paint bucket spills over and she manages to catch the falling paint in an invisible force field. Convinced that everything is fine, Reed refreshes young Franklin on why they need to keep their identities secret before using his stretching powers to alter the appearance of his face before heading out to work. "Reed Benjamin" then takes the city bus to a storage warehouse where he keeps the Fantasti-Car stored. He then flies it to the Baxter Building in Manhattan where he changes into his alter-ego of Mister Fantastic. When he arrives he decides to check in on the android Avenger known as the Vision to see how his recovery is going. Reed is happy to hear that while the Vision's body is still inactive, his mind is alive and well and controlling the mansions computer systems. After the briefing, the Vision cuts their conversation short to attend to other business. Reed finds the Vision's behavior somewhat odd, but his attention is taken away from this concern when the building's scanners begin to detect something.
Meanwhile, at the Wonderworld Amusement Park in California, Johnny has been invited to participate in a special racecar competition where the drivers have to keep their identities a secret to the general public. Joining him is the Thing, and the two soon discover that their long-time friend Julie Angel is in California as well. Julie explains to Johnny that she came here along with Grey Landers who had an acting job lined up. When this failed to pan out, Julie decided to stay where she became a magazine model, which landed her the gig as a bikini model for the racing gig. With the race about to begin, Julie kisses Johnny to wish him luck, much to Johnny's dismay as he had just gotten over his interest in Julie Angel. When the race begins, Johnny's Formula-1 racer manages to get ahead of the pack and zips into a tunnel on the race track. When the car emerges on the other side one of the tires suddenly bursts causing the car to crash in a fiery explosion. Ben rushes to the wreckage to did Johnny out but is shocked when he finds that the body within the wreck is burned beyond recognition. Later as paramedics are treating the Thing's hands for burns and collect that apparent corpse of Johnny, Ben finds it hard to believe considering the fact that the Human Torch is immune to fire, and recalls how Johnny has previously melted through fighter planes without any harm caused. But the crew is adamant about the end result: Johnny Storm is dead. When Julie expresses her condolences to Ben, the Thing tells her that he finds the entire accident highly suspect and asks more about who runs Wonderworld. She tells Ben that it is owned and operated by a man named Alden Maas, a recluse who has hidden from the public eye for over fifteen years. Ben decides that its time that Maas takes the company.
Soon, Ben is flying his own Fantasti-Car to the massive star-shaped island off the California coast that is home to Alden Maas. When he arrives he is greeted by three suited men who inform him that Aladen is waiting for him and granted the Thing an audience. When Ben is in a waiting room he is suddenly greeted by a hologram of a young woman who begins telling him about something called Project: Worldcore. The Project, the hologram girl explains, is based on Alden Maas' opinion that the Earth has gone through a continental shift not because of the established science, but because of something even more fantastic: the Earth is actually expanding from within. She goes on to explain that it is believed that this expansion will cause the Earth to begin to cool and contract and ultimately entire continents will be forced together. The purpose of Project: Worldcore is to reignite the Earth's core so that the planet can continue to expand to suit the needs of an ever-growing population. The hologram then shows Ben the source of this heat: Johnny who is strapped to a machine that painfully forces him to flame on at full power, shooting his flames deep into the core of the Earth.
Before Ben can smash through the screen, he is interrupted by Alden Maas, who tells Ben that Johnny is needed to save the Earth. When the Thing contents that this constant force of Johnny's powers could eventually kill him, Maas does not seem to care, more concerned with preventing his perceived catastrophe so that he can be seen as a messiah who saved the human race. Unwilling to let Maas get away with his mad scheme, the Thing smashes through what he thinks is glass separating him from Johnny, but it turns out to be nothing more than a television screen. On the other side is a deep tunnel, which Ben then plummets deep into. Landing deep under the Earth, the Thing tries to recover from his fall when he is suddenly struck with a stunning blow issued by the Fantastic Four's oldest foe: The Mole Man. Believing that the Thing is responsible for the danger to his underworld domain, the Mole Man vows to destroy the Thing and his allies.
Recurring Characters
Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Girl, Human Torch, Thing), Franklin Richards, Julie D’Angelo, Aiden Mass, Vision, Mole Man
Continuity Notes
Reed and Sue are now living in Belle Porte, Connetecruit starting this issue. This was a means of providing a stable family home for Franklin, a decision they made in Fantastic Four #257. They purchased the home after the events of Fantastic Four #259. There were a number of factors that played in this decision:
Primarily the purpose was to give Franklin a safe environment to live. This was following a time when Franklin was tortured by the Negative Zone ruler Annihilus in Fantastic Four #251-256 which led to Franklin being hospitalized for a period of time.
Sue discovered that she was pregnant in Fantastic Four #257, this second child was conceived in Fantastic Four #254 while the Fantastic Four were exploring the Negative Zone. The reason why Sue's pregnancy is so far along by this story is because -- as explained in Fantastic Four #251 -- is that time moves faster in the Negative Zone. While the FF were gone from Earth for mere hours, months of time had passed in the Negative Zone. Sue's pregnancy comes to term in Fantastic Four #267.
The Vision's body is inert here after he attempted to breach a null-barrier put around the Baxter Building by Annihilus in Avengers #233. The Vision's mind reactivated in Avengers #238. Reed's concerns are valid as the Vision later tries to take over the world's computers in Avengers #254.
Reed's scanners are detecting the presence of the Beyonder, an omnipotent god-like being who later kidnaps various heroes and villains from Earth to pit them against each other in the original Secret Wars as depicted in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1-12. Reed, Ben and Johnny are kidnapped by the Beyonder in Thing #10.
Julie mentions Grey Landers, a fellow actor that Julie became interested in Fantastic Four #251 and began dating in Fantastic Four Annual #17. This is the last mention of Grey, and he is never seen again.
Johnny mentions "just getting over" Julie Angel. Some facts about that:
Johnny used to date Julie's former roommate Frankie Raye on-and-off between Fantastic Four #164-207 and 234-244 when she agreed to become a herald of Galactus.
Johnny became interested in Julie in Fantastic Four #251 and has been oblivious to her interest in Grey Landers. Johnny's attempt to date Julie was waylaid by a trip into the Negative Zone from FF #251-256.
The Thing's recollection of Johnny being able to melt through fighter jets was a recollection of events that occurred in Fantastic Four #1, although Johnny has demonstrated this ability countless times since then.
