Fantastic Four (Vol. 3) #51
Eye of the Beholder
1942
German explorer Erik Jaggar led an expedition into the Tibetan mountains where they discovered a previously undiscovered village. There he and his crew were surprised to find a group of children that strangely had inverted secondary eye-lids as well as the ability to manifest metahuman abilities. Seeing this as an interest to the Nazi party and has all the villagers slaughtered and the children taken from this hidden land.
New York City... the Present...
Reed and Sue Richards are taking their son Franklin off to his first day at his new school, having decided that Franklin needs to interact with children his own age. They have set him up in a private school, but to protect the boy, they have established alter-egos so that Franklin won't be recognized as the son of Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman of the Fantastic Four. En route to the school, Reed and Sue coach their son on his alter-ego, telling him that his name at school will be Richard Franklin. Soon they are being shown around the facilities at the Stern Academy by Carmine Stern, the principal of the school. Franklin finds this whole new experience to be daunting, especially when he is introduced to his new teacher -- Miss Candy -- and her class. With Franklin taken care of, Reed and Sue head back to the city, but Sue is concerned if they are making the right decision for their son, especially since they are hiding their identities. However, Reed insists that it is for Franklin's well being.
On their way, they notice a light in the sky over the city and are soon contacted by a representative of the United Nations who informs them that the alien ship is requesting permission to land at the UN Building. Reed knows exactly who it is that is arriving and tells the UN to accept the landing and that he and the rest of the Fantastic Four will greet the visitors. Converting their car for flight, Reed flies back into the city, en route they spot Ben out with Damage Control's Kathleen O'Mara. Suspecting that something is up, Ben is quickly picked up by Sue with an invisible force bubble. As Ben is being carried across the city he takes the chance to transform back into the Thing so he is prepared for whatever will come, joking about how humiliating it is to be changing in front of the entire city.
Meanwhile, at the United Nations, the alien ship has landed just outside the front steps and from within emerges the Fantastic Four's long time allies the Inhuman royal family. With the authorities surrounding their ship, Medusa approaches them to tell them that they have come in peace and are seeking asylum on the planet Earth. However before she can explain any further, another ship suddenly materializes above them and opens fire, blowing up the Inhumans ship. However, instead of incinerating everything in the vicinity the exploding ship is contained in an invisible force field erected by Sue as the three members of the Fantastic Four arrive on the scene. At that moment the attackers, alien bounty hunters under the command of a creature calling himself Sandorr, teleport out of the ship and resume their assault the Inhumans directly. As the royal family defends themselves from their alien foes, the Fantastic Four lend a hand to their allies. Outnumbered and overpowered, Sandorr orders an immediate retreat and they all teleport away, all save for one of their members -- a Chameleoid named Mistur who manages to blend into the scenery with his shapeshifting powers. As the alien ship tries to leave Earth orbit it is blown up by a secret military satellite. Watching the destruction from a base on Earth, the soldiers rejoice their victory. To celebrate, a seemingly innocuous female soldier tells the others that she is going to get some campaign to celebrate. While back in the city, Mistur tries to slip away in human form. However, his attempts to flee the scene are interrupted by two Vault Guardsmen who were able to track him with the information they learned about shapeshifting from a captured Skrull. Before Mistur can defend himself he is blasted into unconsciousness by the two Guardsmen.
Elsewhere the Inhumans and the Fantastic Four discuss what is going on. Medusa explains that there is a bounty on the heads of the royal family after the Inhumans were enslaved by the Kree and Black Bolt was forced into being used in a pawn in an attempt to assassinate the Shi'ar Magistrix Lilandra. However while Black Bolt managed to avoid this and defeat Ronan the Accuser in battle, the Inhumans abandoned the royal family to find their destiny among the stars leaving them rulers of an empty kingdom. Trying to find a place in the world they had decided to try and seek asylum on their homeworld of Earth. The grim news is interrupted by the arrival of Crystal and Lockjaw who had just heard of her family's return to Earth and they are happily reunited. Crystal is also surprised to see that Sue is pregnant again. When Crystal asks where Johnny is, she is informed by the Thing that Johnny has a new acting job that has been keeping him busy.
In a desert shooting location, Hawk Productions is currently working on a film adaptation of the life of the frontier hero known as the Rawhide Kid, with Johnny playing the lead role. As Johnny checks how he looks in the mirror wearing his Rawhide Kid costume he is told that shooting will begin in 15 minutes. While at the Vault Prison in Colorado, Mistur awakens to find himself a prisoner. He is questioned by the military as to what his purpose is on Earth. Mistur explains how he was seeking revenge against the Inhumans botched attempt to assassinate Lilandra which resulted in the death of a fellow Chameleod who posed as Lilandra to thwart the attempt. When the soldier -- and his female assistant -- learn that only Mistur and his crew knew the Inhumans were on Earth, they prepare to leave. The female assistant convinces the guards that this alien is a threat to their families and orders it destroyed. As the two Guardsmen prepare to eliminate their alien prisoner, the woman watches, relaxing her eyes enough for her secondary eyelids to become visible.
Recurring Characters
Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Franklin Richards, Inhumans (Black Bolt, Medusa, Crystal, Gorgon, Karnak, Triton, Lockjaw), Hidden Ones, Kathleen O’Mara, “Lon Zelig”, Bob Diamond
Continuity Notes
The strange children in the flashback in this story are later identified as the Hidden Ones, an offshoot of the Inhumans. The female soldier in this story (obviously one of the Hidden Ones) is the woman known as Senso in disguise. She last encountered the Fantastic Four in Fantastic Four Vol 3 #38-39.
Sue is pregnant again after Franklin used his powers to save the life of his younger sister Valeria who was stillborn in Fantastic Four #267, Franklin managed this in Fantastic Four Vol 3 #49, Valeria is finally born in Fantastic Four Vol 3 #54.
This marks the beginning of a very short-lived romance between Ben Grimm and Damage Control's Kathleen O'Meara. It's referenced once more in Fantastic Four Vol 3 #53 then is never mentioned again.
Ben regained the ability to transform between his human and Thing forms back in Fantastic Four Vol 3 #39, he later sacrifices this ability in Fantastic Four Vol 3 #58.
There are multiple references to how the Inhumans were recently enslaved by the Kree and used as weapons against the Shi'ar. This occurred in Inhumans Vol 3 #1-4. The assassination attempt comes because the Kree were forced to join the Shi'ar empire after they were decimated by a Nega-Bomb at the end of Operation Galactic Storm as depicted in Avengers #347.
Unknown to all on the set of Hawk Pictures, the make-up effects artist Lon Zelig is really the Super-Skrull in disguise, as seen in Fantastic Four Vol 3 #37.
