Fantastic Four (Vol. 4) #8
The Mobsters are Due on Yancy Street!
New York City, circa the 1930s, the Yancy Street Apothecary is visited by members of the Yancy Street Gang. There they pressure Ira Rosenburg, the owner of the business, to pay their protection racket. When Ira refuses to pay, the leader of the gang has one of his goons break Ira's nose. They then knock over one of his display cases and warns the Jewish store owner that they will return and that soon everybody eventually starts paying them.
As the Yancy Street Gang makes their getaway, the Fantastic Four appear at this point in history via their time and space machine. Inside, the Thing has reverted back to human form and is now dressing up in vintage clothing so he can carry out a personal mission in the past. After saying goodbyes and being warned that he will revert back to his Thing form at 8 pm the following evening, Ben is transported to the streets below. After buying a candy bar and a comic book from a magazine stand, Ben is splashed by a speeding car containing members of the Yancy Street Gang. Recognizing them, Ben follows the mobsters to 55 Yancy Street where he prevents them from leaning on Ira Rosenbaum some more. Ben convinces Ira to let him in and is introduced to his wife, Petunia Rosenbaum. Ben tells the young couple not to worry as he will make sure that nothing happens to them.
Meanwhile, aboard the Fantastic Four's ship, Franklin tells his parents and Uncle Johnny about a strange dream he had: where the Fantastic Four left for a mission on Earth, leaving him and Valeria behind. He tells them how they didn't survive and that the Thing's final recording told of how he felt guilty about creating Doctor Doom by messing with the experiment that scarred his face. Valeria is shocked because she had the same dream as well, and Reed is shocked by this revelation.
Back on Earth, Ben sits down for dinner with the Rosenbaums. He tells them how he intends on tracking someone down he knows will harm a young girl and break his hands to prevent him from doing so. This shocks Petunia who hysterically tells Ben that he is no different than the thugs who came to their home, calls him a monster, and rushes out of the room. Later, Ben helps Ira clean up his story. When he explains his reason for coming a little more, Rosenbaum questions how Ben knows something is going to happen. Just then the Yancy Street Gang returns to the store, but they are quickly driven off by Ben who warns them that Yancy Street doesn't bend. Although Ira is horrified by what happened, Ben assures him that nothing bad will happen.
Sure enough, the Yancy Street gang returns in full force, yet their tommy guns are useless to Ben who has just transformed back into the Thing. The Thing quickly disarms the gang. When they warn him that they will come back when he is gone, they shirk on this threat when the people of Yancy Street band together to chase the mobsters out of their town. As the Yancy Street gang leaves, the Thing tells Ira that this won't be last they will hear from this gang. Ben then decides that he has no right to harm the man that he knows will commit a horrific crime. When Ben returns to the ship he finds Reed and Sue in a grim mood. When Ben asks what's going on, the children cut through the serious talk to tell him that they going back to Ben's college days.
Continuity Notes
The Thing has come back in time to harm Phillip Masters who later becomes the Puppet Master in the modern age. He is responsible for blinding his step-daughter, Alicia Masters as revealed in Marvel Team-Up #6. As revealed in New Mutants Annual #4, Phillip Masters was only a child in the 1930s.
Ben tells Ira and Petunia that his "favorite aunt" is named Petunia. This is in reference to his Aunt Petunia, who was first mentioned in Fantastic Four #25. However, as revealed in Fantastic Four #238, Petunia Grimm is a much younger woman, making the possibility that the grown woman seen here could not be Ben Grimm's aunt.
Franklin talks about the dream wherein he recounts the events of Fantastic Four Vol 4 #5AU which took place in an alternate reality of Earth-61112. Doctor Doom's accident was first depicted in Fantastic Four #5.
