Marvel Knights: 4 #13
Eyes Without a Face: Part 1
The Puppet Master tells his step-daughter Alicia Masters all about the legends of Wundagore Mountain in his homeland of Transia and how it was the domain of an ancient demon. The base of the mountain where he also found the radioactive clay which made him the Puppet Master, one of the oldest foes of the Fantastic Four. He tells this Alicia from the side of a hospital bed. She wakes up at the sound of his voice and when she opens her eyes she is surprised that she can now suddenly see. The fact that this surgery was a success causes Phillip Masters to cry.
Meanwhile in Manhattan, the Fantastic Four are addressing the public after being given back their headquarters and managed to rehire their staff and pay off the majority of their debts. With the Fantastic Four's announcement over they throw a party. While Sue catches up with Willie Lumpkin, Johnny is upset to hear that his girlfriend Kourtney Keaton is moving to LA to star in a movie. Both Reed and Ben are being interviewed by the press. When they ask Ben if his relationship with Alicia Masters back on. He declines to comment and tells them her absence is because she is working on a new exhibition.
Four days go by and the Puppet Master continues to monitor Alicia's progress with her new eyes, unfortunately, this is not the first transplant and that they all end up rejecting. Phillip goes downstairs to berate Dr. Saunders, who he kidnapped to perform the surgeries. Saunders tells him that he needs a proper hospital. Phillip tells him that they will not be leaving Governor's Island until he succeeds and reminds Saunders that he controls his family with his puppets and will murder them if he doesn't comply. He tells Saunders that he will have a new set of eyes for tomorrow.
Concerned about the lack of contact with Alicia. Ben gives her a call and gets the answering machine. He fumbles through his concerns at the prolonged silence. Still believing that she might be busy with her exhibit and meekly asks if she wanted to go out to see a movie. Three days later, Alicia is being shown around the facility with a new set of eyes. However, as she is talking to her father she suddenly begins to feel faint and passes out. Dr. Saunders is able to revive Alicia, but her could not save her eyes. Saunders tells him that the eyes that Masters has brought are too weak to survive the operation and that a stronger set of eyes. This causes the Puppet Master to ponder.
The next day the members of the male members of the Fantastic Four are off into space to answer distress call leaving Sue alone at the Baxter Building to look after the children. Meanwhile, Daredevil comes across the dead body of a woman floating in the Hudson River. Examining the body, the Man Without Fear notes that someone has surgically removed the victim’s eyes. The next day the Puppet Master takes control of the Invisible Woman and makes her leave the Baxter Building in the Fantasti-Car. As the Invisible Woman heads toward the Puppet Master's hideout, he has Dr. Saunders prep for surgery.
Recurring Characters
Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Alicia Masters, Franklin Richards, Valeria Richards, Willie Lumpkin, Kourtney Keaton, Puppet Master, Daredevil, Iron Man, Captain America
Continuity Notes
The claim that Wundagore Mountain is possessed by demons is true. As per Avengers #167, the demon Chthon was trapped in the mountain.
The Fantastic Four's financial problems were shown from Marvel Knights: 4 #1-12. They lost their fortune and the Baxter Building but won back everything after defeating the Psycho-Man.
Johnny doesn't have a high opinion of the movie Kourtney is going to be in. He states the movie is Donnie Darko 2. This should be considered a topical reference per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616. Particularly since a Donnie Darko sequel, S. Darko was not released until 2009.
He also complains about how Keanu Reeves lives in Hollywood. In Marvel Knights: 4 #2 Kourtney implied that they were dating. This should also be considered a topical reference.
Reference is made of the Thing's former relationship with Alicia Masters. They dated from Fantastic Four #9 to 265. While the reporter says they were "on-again-off-again", at the time of this story they had been broken up for roughly five years per the Sliding Timescale.
