FF (Vol. 2) #2
The Big Goodbye
After the Human Torch stays goodbye to his girlfriend Darla Deering, the replacement Fantastic Four and the Future Foundation bid farewell to the original team who are venturing into a mission through time and space. Although Mister Fantastic assured the replacements that they would only be gone for about four minutes in real-time, that time elapses with no trace of the Fantastic Four. This is received badly by the press, particularly the Daily Bugle, which digs up Ant-Man's past history as a criminal. While the children are sitting down for breakfast, Scott has to explain himself and finds it hard to do. When they ask where Medusa is, Lang figures she is still in bed. He's not wrong, as Medusa is still in her chambers ringing a bell expecting servants to come to her aid.
Meanwhile, Artie and Leech go up to the roof of the Baxter Building where Darla Deering is waiting in vain for the Fantastic Four to return from their mission in time and space. The two mutant children tell her that one of the machines in Reed's lab is raising an alarm. She is brought down there where she finds Dragon Man monitoring the machine and welcomes her. While She-Hulk is teaching the other children about civic law, Dragon Man explains to Darla that the Fantastic Four will probably return home and that the device has detected that something is coming through the portal.
Just then, the Mole Man and his Subterraneans launch a full-scale assault on New York City, in protest over the new Fantastic Four team. While Ant-Man, She-Hulk, and Medusa leap out of the Baxter Building to stop this attack. When Dragon Man learns that Darla has no powers to assist in the battle, he takes her to a room where an exoskeleton once worn by Ben Grimm when he lost his powers is being stored. She puts on the suit and goes out and helps the rest of her team defeat the Mole Man and his minions. However, the press publishes more negative news about the group. This is too much for Darla to handle and she decides to leave the team. Before they can stop her there is another alarm that goes off. Leading them to the roof, the Fantastic Four and the Future Foundation are shocked as what appears to be the Human Torch emerges from the portal. Announcing that the original team is dead, the Torch uses his powers to seal the portal behind him.
Recurring Characters
Fantastic Four (Ant-Man, Medusa, She-Hulk, Miss Thing), Future Foundation (Alex Power, Dragon Man, Bentley-23, Leech, Artie Maddicks, Onome, Turg, Tong, Korr, Mik, Vil, Wu), Old John Storm, Human Torch
Continuity Notes
Mention is made about Ant-Man's criminal past, this was first explored in Avengers #181.
When the Thing lost his powers in Fantastic Four #167, Mister Fantastic built him an exoskeleton that mimiced his powers in the following issues. Grimm's powers were eventually restored to normal in Fantastic Four #175.
This Johnny Storm is an alternate who was transported to the present of Earth-616. The events leading to this are revealed in Fantastic Four Vol 4 #14.
