Fantastic Four #507

Authoritative Action: Part 5

The United Nations has come to stop Mister Fantastic's occupation of t he nation of Latveria. The rest of the Fantastic Four, fearing that Reed has become unhinged, have come to tell Nick Fury to hold off the invasion. Unfortunately for them, Fury cannot back off because of pressure from members of the United Nations and tells them to surrender. The Fantastic Four refuse to do so and head back into the country. When the soldiers prepare to fire, Fury orders them to hold back.

Meanwhile, Reed is Doctor Doom's lab Reed is preparing the final phase of his plan. As he does so he thinks back over the fond memories from with his friends and family. He sets the lab to self destruct and then activates a device and is teleported away. However, before the self-destruct device can go off, Sue contains it in an invisible force field. At that moment in Hell, Doctor Doom is enduring endless torture at the hands of demons when he is suddenly teleported away. Doom materializes in a room where his many defeats at the hands of the Fantastic Four. In the room with him is Mister Fantastic, who informs Victor that they are trapped in a Mobius dimension and endless loop where they will both be trapped with nothing but Doom's failures all around them. While on Earth, Nick Fury decides that the Fantastic Four have had enough time and leads the army into Latveria. Finding no opposition, Fury orders the troops to head toward Doom's castle.

Back in the Mobius dimension Reed and Victor continue their match of wits. When Doom attempts to use his Ovoid mind swapping technique on Reed, he explains that it is a useless ploy as they are both trapped here. Attacking Victor, Mister Fantastic explains that he chose an empty dimension with no escape as the ultimate prison his most enduring foe. Reed explains that Victor has such a promise and that ended when Doom's experiment to contact the afterlife exploded in his face. Reed chastises Victor for all the wasted years. Von Doom counters this by pointing out that Reed is actually the prisoner here and that they are in fact visiting Richards's failures and not his. Just as when Reed finishes reiterating that there is no way out a portal suddenly opens and the rest of the Fantastic Four appear, foiling Reed's best-laid plans. Reed scolds them for interfering with his plans and that Doctor Doom can escape.

Back on Earth, Fury and his armies continue to move forward. They are suddenly confronted by a young woman who calls Nick and his soldiers hypocrites for invading her country, pointing out that the United Nations turned a blind eye on the atrocities committed by Doctor Doom when he ruled over them. Suddenly the people of Latveria come out of their homes and tell the troops to leave. However, Fury tells them that they were merely a distraction as another team storms Doom's cold castle. At that moment the other soldiers break into Doom's lab to find the Fantastic Four passed out in front of the transporter. When the team revives they begin to worry that Doctor Doom has returned to Earth. It turns out to be worse than they thought when Sue suddenly lashes out with her powers and slays the soldiers. As it turns out, Doctor Doom managed to swap bodies with Sue.

Recurring Characters

Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Nick Fury, Doctor Doom

Continuity Notes

• All the trauma caused to the Fantastic Four by Doctor Doom occurred in Fantastic Four Vol 3 #67-70 and Fantastic Four #500. That story ended with Doom being trapped in Hell. Reed's scarred face is eventually healed in Fantastic Four #511.

• Of Reed's recollections, he remembers his time at State University with Ben Grimm, first seen in Fantastic Four Annual #2 and Sue during her first pregnancy back in Fantastic Four Annual #6.

• In the Mobius Dimension, Reed assaults Doctor Doom with images of his past battles with the Fantastic Four. All of the images are from old issues of the Fantastic Four drawn by Jack Kirby. They are:

  • Fantastic Four #5: When the Fantastic Four first battled Doctor Doom.

  • Fantastic Four #6: When Doctor Doom teamed up with the Sub-Mariner.

  • Fantastic Four #10: When Doctor Doom first used the Ovoid mind swapping technique on Reed (the same technique he uses in this story).

  • Fantastic Four #16-17: When Doom conquered the microworld of Sub-Atomica and later threatened to take over the Earth.

  • Fantastic Four #22: When Doom created the Terrible Trio.

  • Fantastic Four Annual #2: Which told Doom's origin for the first time and also his Doom's attempt to strike at the Fantastic Four through the Latverian embassy.

  • Fantastic Four #39-40: The legendary "Battle of the Baxter Building" when Doom faced off against a powerless Fantastic Four.

  • Fantastic Four Annual #3: When Doom tried to crash Reed and Sue's wedding.

  • Fantastic Four #57-60: The epic where Doctor Doom temporarily stole the powers of the Silver Surfer.

  • Fantastic Four #84-87: When Doom trapped the Fantastic Four in Latveria.