Fantastic Four #530 — Nick Peron

Mar 5

Mar 5 Fantastic Four #530

Truth in Flight

The Fantastic Four have flown into space to intercept an incoming cosmic ray storm based on a theory of Reed's wherein he believes that it is actually a form of communication from an alien world. They are soon bombarded by cosmic rays which cause the ship to start malfunctioning. However, no sooner does the surge of cosmic rays start do they suddenly stop and the instruments begin detecting a pure energy reading coming across the carrier wave. Bracing themselves for impact a massive ball of energy strikes the ship causing the ship to lose power and spiral into re-entry. As the Fantastic Four brace for a crash landing, the Thing notices that they are not alone. While Reed directs Sue and Johnny on how to channel their powers to slow their re-entry, Ben makes small talk with the creature that is aboard their ship.

The ship crash lands in a desert, however the Fantastic Four emerge from the wreckage unscathed. After making sure everyone is okay, Johnny notices what has followed them to Earth. They are all in awe as a massive alien creature, with what appears to be an entire universe swirling inside of it, emerge from the wreckage. However, no sooner do they make this discovery they get shot at by soldiers. The soldiers tell the Fantastic Four that they are to be taken into protective custody. When they spot the alien creature, they begin to open fire, wounding the visitor. The alien entity responds by seemingly incinerating one of the soldiers. When the rest open fire again, Sue protects everyone with an invisible force field and Reed suggests that they make a strategic withdrawal. Suddenly the alien makes most of the other soldiers vanish as well. However Ben explains to them that the creature actually sent them someplace else instead of killing them. Needing to get back to their headquarters, the Fantastic Four are surprised when the Entity teleports them back to the Baxter Building.

By this point, the alien creature is able to communicate with all of them verbally. The alien creature explains that it has been alone for so long and that it was once like them a being of flesh. On its distant world the creature, once a humanoid, searched for the ultimate answer to everything. Using forbidden science that had been locked away by his world leaders, the Entity learned that they had been lying to their people about everything. When he sought to tell others of what he learned he found himself put on trial and found guilty of heresy. Fleeing his persecutors, he led them into the forbidden labs where he hoped to show them the truth. However, they only smashed the equipment, at the moment he became one with the mind of the universe and was transformed into the creature they see before them today.

Discovering that it could transport through the thought waves of the universe itself, it used cosmic rays to try to reach out to like-minded explorers in the hopes of sharing his secrets. He has since traveled from world to world, but his pursuers continued to hunt him, laying waste to those worlds in which he told the truth. No sooner is this spoken does Johnny notice a massive alien ship hovering over New York City. The alien tells them that it is too weak to fight and regrets that he will not be able to share his secrets as they shall all soon be dead.