Fantastic Four #270
Planet-Fall
Johnny has brought Alicia Masters to his newly renovated apartment. He explains that he moved into the apartment to have a place of his own away from the Baxter Building so he can have an adult life outside of the Fantastic Four. The conversation turns over to Alicia's past with her father, the notorious Puppet Master, and her past relationship with the Thing. When the subject of Ben's absence comes up, Alicia tells Johnny that she understands why Ben stayed behind on Battleworld at the end of the Secret Wars. She explains that things had started to change for them as a couple following the attack on the Baxter Building from Annihilus. She spent five months recovering in the hospital and she and Ben spent most of that time evaluating their relationship. She reflects on how that both she and Ben began dating due to their mutual dependence on one another and that over time the dynamic has changed. She remarks on how she still loves Ben but has decided that it is time to move on with her life. Noting the time, Alicia recalls that she has an interview coming up and has to go. After she thanks Johnny for having her over, she kisses him on the mouth. After she is gone, Johnny notices that Alicia left her cap behind and debates on chasing after her to return it, but opts to keep it at his apartment as an excuse for her to come back again. Johnny then opens the skylight in his loft and flames on and flies off to the Baxter Building.
There, Franklin comes rushing into Reed's lab after hearing a crash. Calling out to his mother, Franklin is surprised to find the lab in ruins and his mother crying. When Franklin asks what happened, she explains that she got mad when his father and She-Hulk went out on a mission and she was ordered to stay behind. Susan quietly reflects that she is also still quite upset about the miscarriage she just had, reminding herself that while it hurts the loss of the baby is not her fault. She tells Franklin that she needs to contact Johnny and tells him to finish packing to go back to Belle Porte. After Franklin rushes off, Sue initiates the Fantasti-Flare, calling Johnny to headquarters.
Meanwhile, at a laboratory in Houston, Texas, scientists are trying to make sense of the strange alien craft that touched down in the deserts near Oklahoma, and what ties it might have with the strange alien writing that was carved into the Earth that the Fantastic Four were sent out to investigate....
... While in that very desert, She-Hulk pulls herself free from the rubble following an attack from the massive alien invader calling himself Terminus. She quickly finds Reed, Wyatt Wingfoot and his tribe’s men, who were protected from the blast by Reed's body. Recovering, Reed grimly considers that Terminus is a threat as deadly as Galactus and must be stopped. They suddenly spot a massive explosion where Terminus is laying waste to a nearby town. The massive alien and his power lance makes short work of the buildings, gloating how the human race will become his slaves. Terminus pauses for a moment to check with his minion, an alien he keeps in a massive cylinder. The creature explains that since they left Arianis Major he did not have time to calculate how useful this world might be. Only interested in looting the planet and enslaving its people, Terminus is not interested in words and abandons his minion then begins training his lance's energies deep into the core of the Earth, causing the energies from its molten core to rise up and swirl around him. Observing this from afar, Reed realizes that Terminus is breaking down the planet to its base elements for his own use.
Wyatt soon spots the alien minion of Terminus, who beacons them to him. Dying from the injuries sustained in his fall, the alien explains to them that he tricked Terminus into coming to Earth as he knew that it had super-humans who might be capable of stopping him. When Reed muses over this, She-Hulk is upset and asks if he intends on throwing the entire planet at this invader in order to stop him. She-Hulk's sarcastic comment actually inspires Reed with a solution to their problem. Meanwhile, Terminus continues forward on his march of destruction, approaching the town of Hanover. Before he can reach the town, Reed has She-Hulk distract Terminus by throwing the remains of the Pogo-Plane at him. This knocks his power lance from his hands and distracted Terminus long enough for Reed to attach his acceleration device onto Terminus. Suddenly, the massive alien is pulled deep into the ground. Without his lance to power him, Reed figures it will take Terminus months to dig his way free allowing Reed enough time to develop a suitable means of disposing of the alien invader. He explains to Wyatt that he used his accelerator to give Terminus the twenty times the velocity of Earth's rotation in space, causing him to sink into the Earth. As a side effect, the ground begins to shake as the hole made by Terminus fills in. This causes both She-Hulk and Wyatt to topple over, with Wyatt landing on top of Jen. While Wyatt is somewhat embarrassed, She-Hulk is merely flattered and flirtatious.
In the aftermath of the battle Reed notices that Wyatt is troubled. Wyatt explains that he has been selected to be the new leader of his tribe following the death of his grandfather, but he is unsure if he is worthy of the title or if he wants it. After discussing it with his people, Wyatt decides that he needs to go and find himself again and decides to return to New York with the Fantastic Four to try and sort out what he wants out of his life. She-Hulk is impressed of Wyatt and the strength of his convictions, while Reed welcomes him along as a guest of the Fantastic Four.
Recurring Characters
Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Girl, Human Torch, She-Hulk), Wyatt Wingfoot, “Alicia Masters”, Franklin Richards, Terminus
Continuity Notes
Johnny went hunting for and found his current apartment in Fantastic Four #251.
This is not Alicia Masters, but a Skrull spy named Lyja. As explained in Fantastic Four #358, she was sent to Earth to infiltrate the Fantastic Four while posing as the Thing's girlfriend. Because the Thing is absent from the group at this time, she began pursuing a relationship with the Human Torch in order to maintain close ties with the Fantastic Four.
"Alicia" begins talking about her long-lasting relationship with Ben Grimm:
The pair began dating after the Fantastic Four defeated her step-father the Puppet Master in Fantastic Four #9.
She mentions how the Thing has remained on Battleworld following the Secret Wars. In Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #12, the Thing decided to stay on Battleworld because he could change back and forth between his human and Thing forms at will. Ben's adventures on Battleworld are chronicled in Thing #11-22.
Alicia was tortured by Annihilus while the Fantastic Four were in the Negative Zone in Fantastic Four #251-256
Alicia was seen recovering and sorting out her relationship with Ben in Thing #2-10.
Sue talks about how she miscarried her second child, some facts about this:
Sue and Reed conceived their second child while exploring the Negative Zone in Fantastic Four #254. She did not discover she was pregnant until Fantastic Four #257.
As established in Fantastic Four Annual #6 due to her unique physiology, Sue's pregnancies are potentially lethal to both her and the child she is carrying. She succeeded in giving birth to Franklin thanks to energies taken from the Cosmic Control Rod of Annihilus.
This wasn't the case with Sue's second child, who died during childbirth in Fantastic Four #267.
However, years later Franklin used his powers to bring the baby back to life and give Sue a second chance at this pregnancy in Fantastic Four (vol 3) #49. Sue gave birth to her second child, Valeria, with the assistance of Doctor Doom in Fantastic Four (vol 3) #54.
The alien slave of Terminus is identified as a member of the Zundamite race in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe Delux Edition #15.
That same handbook also identifies Terminus as a member of the Fonabi race. However this is not correct, as revealed in Thor Annual #15, Terminus is actually a member of the Termini a race of world destroyers created by the Terminex.
Following his defeat here, Terminus resurfaces in Quasar #7, however prior to this the Deviant known as Jorro poses as Terminus in Avengers #256-257 where he clashes with the Avengers and decimates the Savage Land for a time. Jorro's deception is revealed in Quasar #7.
This issue also marks the humble beginnings of She-Hulk's long-running relationship with Wyatt Wingfoot. This romance lasts until She-Hulk Ceremony #1-2.
This issue also marks Wyatt's return to participating regularly in the adventures of the Fantastic Four. The last time Wyatt was ever-present with the FF was between Fantastic Four #52-61 when he took a break from his studies to help Johnny try and free Crystal and the Inhumans from behind the Negative Zone Barrier they were trapped in at the time and later battled the cosmic powered Doctor Doom.
