The House That Reed Built

Trying to prove himself as a solo villain again, the Trapster attempts to break in the Baxter Building. Floating down to the roof of the world-famous headquarters of the Fantastic Four by parachute, the Trapster's devices indicate that the scanners within the building have not detected his presence. When he lands, the security cameras begin to rise out of the floor, but his quickly blinds them with his paste gun. Using a device to hack into the roof hatch mechanisms, the Trapster breaches the entrance and enters the building. He appears in the hanger room and as he begins scoping out the area, he is unaware that the computers within the Baxter Building have scanned him and determined his identity. The computers mark him as a threat and begin tracking him as he makes his way through the Baxter Building.

The Trapster then tries to access the elevators in the building but find that the will no operate. Unlocking the door to the stairs, the villain continues his descent into the heart of the Baxter Building. Becoming edgy from the constant silence, the Trapster almost shoots at his reflection when he catches it in a window, but continues his progress. As he continues his progress, the Baxter Building's computer systems continue to scan, detecting his paste gun as a weapon and initiating protocols to jam the weapon to prevent it from being used. When he reaches the door to Reed's lab, the Trapster is jolted with electricity when he tries to open it. Deciding to try and use his paste gun, he is shocked to find that it is no longer working. Making a run for it, the Trapster enters the residential area of the Fantastic Four's headquarters. There he is confronted by the robot HUBERT who tells him that he is trespassing. Trying to make a break for it, the Trapster then slips on one of Franklin's toy cars. In a blind panic, the Trapster makes it to an elevator that actually works.

It takes him down to the reception area of the Fantastic Four's headquarters where he is greeted by Roberta. Unaware that she is really a robot, the Trapster tries to grab her. but she easily throws him to the floor. As the Trapster begins to blackout from his impact with the floor, Roberta puts a call into the authorities to pick him up.

Recurring Characters

Trapster, HUBERT, Roberta

Continuity Notes

• The Trapster mentions how he last broke into the Baxter Building while posing as Spider-Man. That happened in Fantastic Four #218.

• Here's some further information about the data displayed by the Baxter Building's computer when it scans the Trapster:

  • It also identifies him as Paste-Pot Pete, the Trapster originally went by this name when he first became a super-villain in Strange Tales #103. The Trapster stopped using this name in Fantastic Four #38, but has never lived it down.

  • The computer identifies him as a member of the Frightful Four, the Trapster was a founding member of that group since its founding in Fantastic Four #36, at the time of this story he had been a consistent member.

  • It also lists nearly every member of the Frightful Four who has been a member up to date, they are. It lists the Wizard and the Sandman who up until now have been consistent members of the group since it formed in Fantastic Four #36. It also identifies:

    • Medusa also a founding member who remained with the group until Fantastic Four #43 when she left the group. Suffering from amnesia at the time her memories were restored in X-Men First Class (vol. 2) #15. She had since had brief returns to the group in Fantastic Four #98 and Marvel Super-Heroes #15, but foiled their plots.

    • Thundra the amazon woman was a member of the Frightful Four from Fantastic Four #129 to Fantastic Four #148 in order to defeat the Thing in battle. She left the group and became a Fantastic Four ally shortly thereafter.

    • Electro had a short stint with the Frightful Four in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #40 and Fantastic Four #218 when they tried to storm the Baxter Building, but failed.

    • Llyra later joined the group in Amazing Spider-Man #213-214.

  • The computer omits other members who had joined the Frightful Four prior to this story. These omitted members appeared in flashback stories that were published years after this story. These omitted members are:

    • The Beetle, who briefly joined the Frightful Four for one mission following the departure of Medusa, as seen in a flashback from Amazing Spider-Man #657. The omission here is because Amazing Spider-Man #657 was published years after this story.

    • Blastaar also had a brief association with the group in Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Comics Magazine #9-10. His omission on this list can be easily explained by the fact that in Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Comics Magazine #12, Reed Richards used the Cosmic Cube to erase all knowledge of the events of that series, this would include all knowledge of Blastaar being a brief member of the Frightful Four.

Home Are the Heroes

At Avengers Mansion, the incredibly pregnant Sue Richards is checking on a meal being prepared by Edwin Jarvis, the Avengers butler, much to the horror of the Jarvis himself. Jarvis tells Sue to please not tamper with his cooking as the dish he is preparing is incredibly delicate. Sue leaves the kitchen and reflects on how tense things are. Thinking back to sometime earlier when she saw Reed, Johnny and Ben go off to investigate a strange energy reading in Central Park, when suddenly they vanished in a strange flash of light that was also seen by Alicia Masters, even though she is blind. Realizing that Alicia is scared, especially after getting out of the hospital following her attack by Annihilus, the two take the spare Fantasi-Car to investigate the situation. When they arrive in Central Park, Sue spots a massive construct that suddenly vanishes upon their arrival. Landing the Fantasti-Car, Sue spots the Vision, Mockingbird, Starfox and the Scarlet Witch of the Avengers who had also come to investigate the situation. Based on the Vision's scans he has come to the conclusion that some force has kidnapped the other members of the Fantastic Four and members of the Avengers and taken them to somewhere off the planet.

With her recollection over, Sue is greeted by Alicia who has just arrived with Franklin. Sue agrees to take Franklin out for a treat. On their way out they bump into Mockingbird who expresses her growing concern over the disappearance of her husband and the others. Later, after Sue and Alicia get Franklin some ice cream they are walking in Central Park when Sue notices a bright glow from behind some trees. Turning invisible, she rushes out to see what is going on. As she reaches the clearing she spots Iron Man flying away from the area. Suddenly there is another flash of energy revealing Reed, Johnny, and the She-Hulk. Much to Sue's surprise, She-Hulk is wearing a Fantastic Four uniform. Sue, Franklin, and Alicia are then happily reunited with Johnny and Reed. When Alicia asks where Ben is, Johnny is about to tell her when Sue suddenly shrieks in pain as her body begins to painfully discharge energy. Reed rushes to the aid of his wife who tells him that the sudden pain was caused by the baby. With no time to lose, Reed orders She-Hulk to carry Sue, while Johnny is sent ahead to Mercy General Hospital to warn them of their impending arrival.

Recurring Characters

Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Girl, Human Torch, Thing (In flashback)), Edwin Jarvis, “Alicia Masters”, Alicia Masters (in flashback), Franklin Richards, Avengers (Iron Man, Mockingbird, Starfox, Scarlet Witch (in flashback), Vision (in flashback))

Continuity Notes

• This story follows the events of the first Secret Wars which saw the Beyonder kidnap heroes and villains from Earth and pit them against each other on Battleworld. This event was chronicled between Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1-12. This is where Reed, Johnny, and Ben have been between issues.

• Sue's flashback takes place moments before Reed, Johnny and Ben were abducted by the Beyonder in Thing #10.

• Sue recalls how Alicia was recently hospitalized after being tortured by Annihilus in Fantastic Four #261-256. At this point in the story, Alicia had been recovering in the hospital from those injuries in the pages of Thing #2-9.

• The woman who appears with Franklin after Sue's flashback is not really Alicia Masters. As Fantastic Four #358, Alicia was replaced by a Skrull spy named Lyja who was on a deep-cover mission to infiltrate the Fantastic Four. Lyja's cover is blown in that story.

• "Alicia" makes mention of "her" long-lasting relationship with the Thing which has run consistently since they began dating in Fantastic Four #9.

• It should be pointed out that the Iron Man in this story is not Tony Stark but James Rhodes, who took over as Iron Man after Stark's alcoholism got out of control back in Iron Man #169. Rhodes remained active as Iron Man until Iron Man #200.

• What's unexplained here is the reason why the Thing is not with the Fantastic Four and why the She-Hulk has joined the group. As revealed in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #2, the Thing discovered that he could change back and forth between human and Thing forms on Battleworld and opted to stay there following the events of Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #12. His adventures on Battleworld are explored in Thing #11-22.

• Here are some facts about Sue's pregnancy seen here:

  • The second child of Reed and Sue Richards was conceived in the Negative Zone in Fantastic Four #254. When they returned to Earth in Fantastic Four #256, many months had passed due to the time difference between the Negative Zone and the positive matter universe. Sue discovered that she was pregnant in Fantastic Four #257.

  • As identified in Fantastic Four Annual #6 when Sue was pregnant with Franklin, due to Sue's unique physiology her pregnancies are potentially lethal.

  • The fate of Reed and Sue's second child is revealed in Fantastic Four #267.