Fantastic Four: First Family #2
Chapter 2
Part 4: Cosmic Ray Rampage
Raymond Perry, a man mutated by cosmic radiation, is on a rampage through the same facility where the Fantastic Four are being held by the military following their failed space flight that gave them their powers. The soldiers are unable to hold him off and are about to be attacked when the Human Torch fends him off with his flame powers. When Perry begins to overpower the Torch, Mister Fantastic stretches in to stop him. Raymond shakes off Reed, and is about to strike Johnny but is blocked by an invisible force field put up by Sue. Although they had the upper hand, the Fantastic Four are not used to their powers and are quickly overpowered until the Thing comes into the fray. Meanwhile, General Montgomery has gathered a group of shock troops to contain Raymond Perry. The Fantastic Four look on in horror as the soldiers mow down Perry. In the aftermath of the chaos, the soldiers discover that Franz Stohl has escaped from his cell.
Later on, General Montgomery meets with Reed Richards and thanks to him and his team for their assistance in trying to help contain Perry. After debriefing on the situation, Reed explains that he wants to discuss a deal. Reed later meets with the rest of his group and explains to them that the military is allowing to give them put on a public face and prove that they could accomplish what they swore they'd do after they survived the crash. Meanwhile, General Montgomery is selling the idea to military brass, proposing they allow Richards and his group to set up operations in New York City and operate in co-operation with the military on dealing with an extraordinary situation. He then turns the attention of his superiors to a series of nuclear weapons facilities collapse into the ground.
Later the Fantastic Four are in Central City when new reports of yet another facility disappearing into the ground. Reed fires off the faithful Fantasti-Flare into the sky summoning the Fantastic Four.
Part 5: Remember the Alamo
Twenty-two hours later, the Fantastic Four are escaping from Monster Island as it explodes, following their battle against the Mole Man. Reed later reports back to General Walter Montgomery about their battle. Montgomery is only passingly interested in Reed's report and tells him that his group is already making the news. He plays back news reports of the damage the Fantastic Four caused when they were first summoned by Reed. He warns Richards that such public displays will not be tolerated in the future.
Later Reed meets with Sue and they discuss if they should operate in secret. When Sue complains that her powers won't allow her clothing to turn invisible, Reed explains that perhaps their spacesuits can solve that problem as they were also altered by the cosmic rays as well. Sue then begins asking Reed were their future is going. Suddenly Reed becomes non-responsive as he is contacted telepathically by Franz Stohl. Reed quickly figures out that Stohl used Raymond Perry's rampage to escape the facility. When Reed chastises him, Franz is disappointed that he hasn't found a kindred soul and cuts communication. Sue is snapping him out of his trance, but Reed tells her he has no recollection of what happened.
Part 6: Domestic Disturbance
Franz Stohl has reunited with his family and as his wife asks him about where he has been all the time, he responds by using his telepathic powers to murder his children. He explains to his wife that they are inferior beings compared to him as he has evolved beyond mere humanity and they are beneath him. Saying that he will bring about the end of humanity, Franz kills his wife as well.
Recurring Characters
Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Girl, Human Torch, Thing), Franz Stahl,
Continuity Notes
The events of this story take place between the events of Fantastic Four #1 and bookend the moment from when the Fantastic Four crash land on Earth and when they battle with the Mole Man.
This story shows Sue being able to create invisible force fields, which seems to contradict Fantastic Four #22 which shows that Sue didn't develop these abilities until later. However, next issue it's demonstrated that Sue had these abilities all the time, just lacked any control over them initially.
