Fantastic Four #565 — Nick Peron

Mar 5

Mar 5 Fantastic Four #565

Don't Eat Valeria!

Valeria has gone missing while she and Franklin were playing in the woods outside of Iarmailt, Scotland, where the Fantastic Four are visiting Reed's cousin for Christmas. Soon a search party is formed and the authorities are called, however, the entire town is searched and no sign of Valeria can be found. After Reed sends Johnny to sweep the forest again, Haimish remarks how nothing like this happens in his town, prompting Reed to comment that danger follows their family everywhere they go.

In the forest, the Thing and his fiancee Debbie Green are searching for Valeria as well. When Johnny arrives, he finds tracks that show Valeria being dragged out to the water surrounding the island. Johnny dives in and swims deep down and finds a tunnel that leads him into a massive temple hidden in a cavern. There he finds Valeria who is scared but safe. When Johnny asks what nabbed her, Valeria tells him that it's behind her. Johnny turns and sees a tentacled creature and flames on, carrying Valeria to safety.

Meanwhile, the Invisible Woman decides to look into the cryptic warning given to her by Rhona King the day before. However, Rhona refuses to talk as she has been forbidden from doing so. Finding this suspicious, Sue makes the front door invisible and they see that someone has blackened Rhona's eye. When Reed demands that his cousin explain what's going on, Johnny and Ben arrive with Valeria and moments after the massive creature known as Korgo bursts from the ground beneath the town and attacks. With Franklin getting Valeria to safety, the Fantastic Four battle the monster. Needing to slow it down, Franklin uses Valeria as bait to get it to slip into their carrier as it is dimensionally larger on the inside. When Korgo breaks free from this trap, Sue has had enough and uses her powers to life a massive castle and uses it to crush Korgo, killing the monster.

The Fantastic Four learn, to their horror, that the people worship Korgo. Haimish explains that the creature eliminates illness, crime, and death from the town in exchange for one child being sacrificed to it on Christmas morning once a generation. Haimish explains that his son Angus was chosen this year and Haimish made a deal with Korgo, offering him Valeria in exchange. The locals try to justify it by saying one life to have crime, death, and poverty eliminated for thousands of people is for the greater good. In response to this, Reed punches out his cousin, and Sue is left wondering if there are any normal people in the Richards family. Debbie remarks that next year, she and Ben are going to her parents for Christmas.

A month letter, the Invisible Woman gets a letter from Rhonda King who tells her that after the incident she found a new home in another town, married and has a new child on the way. Rhona thanks the Fantastic Four for helping her break away from the town she had been trapped in for twenty years.

Recurring Characters

Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Franklin Richards, Valeria Richards, Debbie Green, Rhona King, Hamish Richards, Muriel Richards, Angus Richards, Hector McLeod