Fantastic Four #274
Monster Mash: Part II
In the town of Belle Porte, Connecticut, local gossip Alma Chalmers is spying on the Benjamin household again by peeping through one of the windows with a periscope. Inside Sue Richards is entertaining her teammate Jennifer Walters when one of her earrings falls off and rolls under the fridge. In order to help Sue retrieve it, Jen turns into She-Hulk so she can lift the fridge off the ground, unaware that Alma is watching the whole thing. Hearing a noise as Chalmers flees, Sue rushes to the window and finds her discarded periscope, but dismisses it as a toy of one of the neighborhood children. Reaching the safety of her home, Alma Chalmers is convinced that the Benjamin household is home to witches and monsters. Eyeing a copy of "Occult" magazine on her coffee table, Alma thinks to herself that she knows how to handle those sorts of things. Back at the Benjamin home, Sue decides they should head back to the Baxter Building in case her cover identity of "Sue Benjamin" has been compromised. As she heads upstairs, Sue passes by the room that was meant for the new baby that she had just recently lost. Seeing the empty nursery stops Sue dead in her tracts and she is suddenly flooded with emotions and can do nothing more than collapse to the floor and cry.
Meanwhile, at the Baxter Building headquarters of the Fantastic Four, Alicia and Johnny are meeting with Reed who has suggested that they move the Fantastic Four's headquarters to a new location. When Johnny balks at this idea due to the long history the Fantastic Four have with the building, Reed points out the practicalities: Johnny and She-Hulk have their own apartments while Reed and Sue have their home in Belle Porte. He also tells Johnny that he needs more room for their company to expand and thanks to the 99-year lease that Walter Collins -- the former owner the Baxter Building -- signed with the other tenants, Reed can't evict anyone as they are legally sound. When they have finished their discussion, Johnny and Alicia leave to check out an art exhibit. Reed can't happen to notice that there appears to be a romance brewing between the couple and wonders what the world will think when "Ben Grimm's girlfriend" begins to date the Human Torch. These thoughts turn to Ben, and Reed wonders how his old friend is faring on Battleworld after they parted company in the Secret Wars....
Note: The following continues from the events of Thing #13.
... Light years away on Battleworld the Thing has crossed paths with the Frankenstein's Monster. This only shocks Ben momentarily as he reminds himself that Reed explained to him that Battleworld was a world that mirrored the thoughts of those on it, per the Beyonder's specifications. Having just fought off Dracula and the Mummy, the Thing is hardly surprised by this new creature given his childhood love of old monster movies. When Ben tries to talk to the monster it shoves him, leading to the two powerhouses to come to blows. They two fight out when yet another man shows up and tags the Frankenstein's Monster and Ben with tranquilizer darts that knock them out. Ben awakens inside a covered wagon as it pushes down a country road. Prisoners with him are the Frankenstein's Monster and a man who introduces himself as Gregor Lupus. He explains that they are being taken to Doctor Ackerman, the so-called Monster Maker. During this discussion, Ben realizes that the man he is talking to is a werewolf. Convinced that his captors have no idea about his ability to change back and forth from human form, Ben shifts to his human self and easily slips out of his bonds.
However, this does not go unnoticed, as the machines in the front of the wagon alert the two drivers of what is going on. The armored man named Kemp goes back to see what's going on, but is suddenly attacked by Ben Grimm, who easily knocks him out. When Ben grabs the other drover -- the Monster Maker himself -- Ackerman warns him against attacking, his eyes glowing all the while. Inside the wagon, Lupus suddenly transforms into his werewolf form and is released from his shackles. The werewolf gets the drop on Ben, who is outmatched until he remembers to change back into his Thing form. With the werewolf being easily trounced in battle, the Monster Maker then uses his powers to call the Frankenstein's Monster. However, the monster attacks the Monster Maker instead of the Thing. Catching Ackerman off guard, the Frankenstein's Monster then snaps the villain’s neck, killing him instantly. With the Monster Maker dead, Lupus changes back to human form. With the battle over, Ben thanks Lupus and the Monster for their help, but tells them that he must part company so that he can continue to search for his female friend. As Ben leaves a fog passes over his two allies, and when it clears they have vanished as if they have never been there.
Back on Earth, a small flying device breaches the security at the Baxter Building. It pilots itself into Reed's lab where it finds the container containing Spider-Man's living alien costume. The strange device then cuts a small pin-prick hole in the containment cylinder. This allows the costume to ooze out. Free from captivity, the alien costume then slips out the nearby window into the New York City.
Recurring Characters
Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Girl, Human Torch, She-Hulk), Thing, “Alicia Masters”, Venom Symbiote, Alma Chambers
Continuity Notes
Reed and Sue purchased a home in Belle Porte back in Fantastic Four #260, the motivation -- per their decision to find a home in Fantastic Four #257 -- was to provide a stable family home for Franklin who was tortured by Annihilus in Fantastic Four #251-256. The adopted cover identities of Reed and Sue Benjamin.
Sue is upset over the miscarriage of her second child. Sue and Reed conceived this second child in Fantastic Four #254. Sue lost the baby in Fantastic Four #267 due to complications brought on by her unique physiology. Years later Franklin will use his powers to resurrect the baby in Fantastic Four (vol 3) #49, Sue succeeds in giving birth to this child in Fantastic Four (vol 3) #54 with the help of Doctor Doom.
The woman seen with Johnny is not really Alicia Masters, but a Skrull spy named Lyja who took Alicia's place, as revealed in Fantastic Four #358. This switch took place during the events of Fantastic Four #265. "Alicia" is pursuing a romance with Johnny after discovering that the Thing had left the team recently, the relationship is a sham to maintain "Alicia's" close ties to the group.
Reed mentions that Johnny and She-Hulk have their own places, She-Hulk has maintained an apartment in New York since joining the Avengers in Avengers #221. Johnny got his own apartment in Fantastic Four #251.
Reed talks about the complicated ownership of the Baxter Building and the leases the tenants maintain. Some facts about the Baxter Building:
According to Fantastic Four #244, Reed had purchased the building prior to the Fantastic Four moving in back in Fantastic Four #3
When the Fantastic Four had to file for bankruptcy in Fantastic Four #9, Reed had to sell the building to Walter Collins. When the FF became solvent again, they then began renting their old headquarters from the new owner. (Collins himself was not identified as the owner of the Baxter Building until Fantastic Four #111)
The top floors were destroyed by Terrax in Fantastic Four #242 when Collins found out he was furious until Reed bought the building outright from in Fantastic Four #244.
Reed wonders how the Thing is doing on Battleworld. During the Secret Wars, the Thing discovered that he could change back and forth between his human and Thing forms in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #2. When the battle ended in issue 12 of that series the Thing decided to stay on Battleworld. His adventures there are documented in Thing #11-22.
The events in this issue featuring the Thing take place immediately after the events of Thing #19 where Ben battled creatures that were based on various movie monsters and villains.
Thing mentions that he is seeking out his "lady friend" is Tarianna, the personification of Ben's idea of the ideal woman, whom he first met in Thing #12. Ben's quest for her continues in Thing #20.
The flying device was dispatched to the Fantastic Four's headquarters by Doctor Doom's Doombots as revealed in Fantastic Four #278.
Spider-Man's alien costume originated from Battleworld when he needed to replace his torn costume, as seen in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8. Recently Spider-Man discovered the costume was alive and was trying to permanently bond to him in Amazing Spider-Man #258, he turned it over to Reed Richards to be examined and contained in that issue and has remained trapped since. It was last seen in Amazing Spider-Man #260 where it tried to trick Franklin Richards into releasing it. Its escape continues from here in Spider-Man/Fantastic Four #2 and Amazing Spider-Man #261. It tries to bond to Peter again but is seemingly destroyed thanks to the loud rings of a church bell in Web of Spider-Man #1.
