Fantastic Four Annual #15
Time for the Prime Ten
Ben, Johnny and Sue have just finished sending young Franklin off with Alicia when they all note that Reed has been working almost non-stop on this project recently, and Sue decides to see what her husband is up to and try to get him to relax. In his lab, Reed is working on a new device that will beam power into one of Franklin's toy cars in order to make it move. After making the final calculations, Reed activates the device causing the car to drive around, making this experiment a complete success. As the others enter the room, Reed explains his discovery and how it could help ease the world's energy needs. The celebration is cut short when they hear someone knock at the front door, alarming the group as the alarms didn't go off.
When Reed rushes to answer the door, it appears to be their old mailman, Willie Lumpkin, who has come to deliver a package to the group. Sue, Johnny, and Ben take Willie to the kitchen for some coffee, where the mailman becomes insistent that they open the package and see what is inside. As Reed continues to experiment with his new device, a group of people outside becoming interested in what is going on within the Baxter Building. When Reed powers up his energy transmitter again he is completely shocked when the device a portal to open between his lab and another one far away. Through the portal, Richards watches as Captain Marvel smashes through the wall and begins attacking the other lab. Before Reed can figure out what is going on he is forced to power down the portal when debris comes through the portal and threatens to wreck his lab.
Deciding to tell the others what he has discovered, Reed goes into the kitchen and finds only Sue and the empty parcel waiting in the room. When he asks where Ben and Johnny went his wife tells Reed that they went to the movies. But when Reed takes his "wife" into the lab to see his latest discovery, "Sue" reveals that she was also "Willie Lumpkin" as well and that in reality "she" is actually a member of the Skrulls. The Skrull explains that he has come for Reed's transmission device and had smuggled a weapon into the Fantastic Four's headquarters that had incapacitated his foes. The Skrull then explains that he has Sue, Ben and Johnny prisoner and will not release them until Reed turns over the device. The Skrull goes on to explain that such a device would give his empire an advantage over their mortal enemies the Kree, whom they have been deadlocked in a stalemate in their centuries-long war. They had been trying to develop such technology for months when they discovered Richards had somehow beat them to it when his energy transmitter technology inadvertently opened a portal to Earth and their secret asteroid lab.
Refusing to turn over the device, Reed fights back against the Skrull warrior, when suddenly he is blasted by what appears to be Captain Marvel. "Marvel," tells Reed to activate the transmitter and when Reed does, it opens the portal up to the Skrull lab again where he sees another Captain Marvel fighting. The "Captain Marvel" within his lab tells Reed to destroy the "impostor", revealing to Reed that this is actually a Skrull spy. Reed instead uses the transmitter to bring the real Mar-Vell into his lab. As Reed and the Kree warrior battle the Skrulls, the energies from the Skrull weapons can be seen from the street outside. This prompts a number of seemingly normal New Yorkers to rush into the Baxter Building.
Back inside, Reed is unsure if Captain Marvel he brought into his lab is the real man or just another impostor. But Richards is convinced when he looks into Mar-Vell's eyes, and the hero's Cosmic Awareness is able to convince Reed of his identity. Suddenly the New Yorkers from outside bust into Reed's lab and reveal themselves to be a specialized army of Skrull warriors known as the Prime Ten. Completely surrounded by the Skrulls, Reed and Marvel are about to fight to the finish when suddenly they are joined by Ben, Sue, and Johnny, who have returned right on time. The Fantastic Four and Mar-Vell are easily able to overpower their foes and Reed activates the portal to dispose of their foes. However, in order to close the gateway off and force the Skrulls back, Reed is forced to overload the transmitter, causing it to explode. They are shielded by Sue's force field, and Reed explains to them that the device cannot be rebuilt. But with his family back and their foes vanquished, Reed's primary concern is what happened to the rest of his team when the first Skrull ambushed them. Sue tells Reed that she will explain it to them when they finally get to that cup of coffee...
... A short time later, Sue, Johnny, and Ben -- from hours in the past -- appear in the Baxter Building via the Time-Platform. Rushing to face the Skrulls, they instead find their future selves just finishing their explanation of what happened to them after the Skrull incapacitated them: They were pushed forward a few hours in time by the Time-Platform. After a confusing encounter with their future selves, the past versions of Sue, Johnny and Ben are convinced that all they need to do is return to their proper time and help Reed and Captain Marvel win their battle against the Skrulls.
Recurring Characters
Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Girl, Human Torch, Thing), Alicia Masters, Captain Marvel, Franklin Richards
Continuity Notes
A Skrull poses as Willie Lumpkin, the man who has delivered mail to the Fantastic Four since Fantastic Four #11.
The Skrull mentions that the Skrulls have been in a stalemate against their enemies the Kree. He is referring to the centuries-long Kree-Skrull War that began centuries ago as seen in Avengers #133. In recent times this war had a resurgence in the pages of Avengers #94-96 when the Kree and Skrull armadas were incapacitated by the Destiny Force wielding Rick Jones.
Mar-Vell convinces Reed of who he really is using the Cosmic Consciousness, an ability he gained in Captain Marvel #29.
The Power of the People!
Since Zorba had taken over the Latverian throne from Doctor Doom, he has struggled to restore democracy to the land. Forced to raise taxes, Zorba soon became a much-hated man in Latveria, despite his attempts to revitalize the country after years of the rule of Doctor Doom. He asks his adviser, Starn what could be done, but finds that easy answers are hard to come by and that those still loyal to Doom seek to destabilize his efforts to democratize Latveria.
Recalling how Doom was driven mad during his last battle with the Fantastic Four, Zorba decides to check on the padded cell where the former monarch has been kept since his defeat. When seeing his nemesis, Zorba becomes concerned that Doom's body is too motionless and order Hauptman to open the cell. Removing the bandages from "Doom's" face, Zorba is angered to find that Doom has been replaced with a robot. Even though there are traitors among his staff, Zorba refuses to spy on his people to find out who it is.
Elsewhere, Doom's longtime servant Boris is pulling the body of his catatonic master through the Latverian mountains to a secret laboratory hidden within a cave. They are soon joined by Hauptman, the man who helped facilitate Doom's escape to warn them all that Zorba had discovered that Doom had gone missing and because he is the only one capable of completing the experiment that will restore Doom's mind. As preparations are being made, some of Doom's elite guards are sent back to the castle to recover his armor.
Back at Castle Doom, Zorba is awoken from a nightmare of the horrific experiments that Hauptman's brother conducted on him, endowing him with his cybernetic eye. Awoken by an attack on the castle by Doom's men, Zorba tries but fails to stop them from recovering Doom's armor, although one of the soldiers is captured. In order to learn where Doom's hideout is, Zorba arranges for the captured soldier to escape so that one of his own loyal men can follow him back to where the Doom loyalists are hiding out. Sure enough, when given the opportunity, the captured soldier escapes out of the back of an ambulance and flees back to the cave where Doom's mind is now being restored.
When Doom is fully revived, he kills the escaped soldier as he has surely led Zorba's army to their location. Sure enough, an army does arrive but they are no match for the full fury of Doctor Doom, who easily decimates them all. With is mindfully restored, his loyal followers praise Doctor Doom's return. Doom then mounts a jetpack and takes off to begin his plans of retaking the throne of Latveria.
Recurring Characters
Prince Zorba, Gert Hauptmann, Boris, Doctor Doom, Gustav Hauptmann
Continuity Notes
Zorba became ruler of Latveria in Fantastic Four #201 after Doctor Doom was driven insane battling Reed Richards in Fantastic Four #200. Both were last seen in those issues.
Gert Hauptman is the brother of Gustav Hauptmann. Gustav was killed by Doctor Doom in Fantastic Four #86. Gert last appeared in Fantastic Four #199 as one of Doom's lackeys.
Doom has revived this issue and begins his plans to retake his throne, a plan that does not succeed until Fantastic Four #247.
