Fantastic Four (Vol. 3) #28

Mar 8

Mar 8 Fantastic Four (Vol. 3) #28

Flashpoint!

With the threat of Doctor Doom and his Generals threatening the world, the Pentagon and the Avengers are shown a virtual simulation of what would happen if the powers of the world tried to attack Doom's ship. The simulation ends with the entire world, and its population of heroes decimated within six days. From his throne "Doctor Doom" (secretly Reed Richards trapped in Doom's armor) broods over this situation as he tries to find a way to stop the Generals before they can decimate his world. His wife, the Invisible Woman and brother-in-law the Human Torch, encourages Reed to come up with a solution -- reminding him that even though he is trapped in Doom's armor he has always beaten his old foe in the past. The Thing joins the conversation telling them that the Pentagon has enacted a "snake in the grass" scenario, leaving them in a deadlock. This frustrates Johnny who is upset that Reed's gambit for posing as Doctor Doom has put him in a position where he can do nothing to stop Doom's generals.

Elsewhere aboard Doom's ship, Divinity gathers his strength by consuming his followers while Queen Dorma prepares her Atlan troops for the inevitable invasion of this Earth. Dorma is pleased and hopes that she will get the opportunity to eliminate the Invisible Woman so that she can be Doom's consort in her stead. Conferring with the other Generals it is decided that they will not wait for Doom's orders and attack the planet below them, starting with the Avengers. This is overheard by the Thing, Torch and Invisible Woman who refuse to allow them to carry on their plan. Although the Fantastic Four try to stop them, Technarx manages to signal for the attack. Seeing this from his control room "Doctor Doom" orders Dorma's troops to ceasefire. They refuse to listen so Lancer destroys the nearest turret and is blasted into unconsciousness in the resulting explosion.

The sudden explosion is detected by the Avengers who believe that this was an attack on New York and mobilize an assault on Doom's flying fortress. With the Avengers fight the ship’s defenses, Captain America manages to get close to "Doom", only to have to face Lancer one-on-one. Elsewhere on the ship the rest of the Fantastic Four continue to battle Doom's generals. The Torch uses his powers to shut down Technarx by overheating him, then dehydrates Dorma enough for Sue to knock her out with a single punch. Back on the deck, Lancer is about to use lethal force against Captain America when "Doom" intervenes knocking them both into the water below the ship. When they resurface they find themselves surrounded by the Avengers. But soon the Avengers are surrounded by the Fantastic Four. Cooler heads prevail when all parties agree to compare notes. Learning that this was all an "accident", Captain America agrees to end his hostilities even though he thinks doing so is crazy. Later, in private counsel with Lancer, Reed asks her to seek out and locate the real Doctor Doom, whom he believes might be on Counter-Earth. "Doom," tells her that she will be going alone as he needs to stay and protect his world and family. The Avengers meanwhile have a council of their own and Iron Man points out that they may not be dealing with Doctor Doom. However, Doom arranges to have his generals put in shackles for their insubordination and turns them over to the Avengers.

With the threat of the Generals now over, Mister Fantastic wishes Lancer well on her mission to find the real Doctor Doom. As she takes off inside Doom's vessel, Reed jokingly asks if his royal consort would be interested in a second honeymoon.

Recurring Characters

Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, Scarlet Witch, Justice, Firestar), Lancer, Queen Dorma, Technark, Shakti, Divinity, Edwin Jarvis

Continuity Notes

Mister Fantastic was trapped in Doom's armor Fantastic Four Vol 3 #25 while Doom was stranded on Counter-Earth as seen in Doom #1. Reed eventually frees himself in Fantastic Four Vol 3 #31.

This story mentions that Magneto now rules Genosha. Magneto took over Genosha following the Magneto War event in X-Men Vol 2 #86-87 and Uncanny X-Men #367.