Wolf at the Door: Part 3

Willie Lumpkin, the Fantastic Four's long time mailman, has come by the Baxter Building seemingly for the last time as the team is moving out their things after being evicted from their headquarters by the City of New York. Sue invites Willie into her home for a cup of coffee and tells him how the Fantastic Four lost their fortune and have to get jobs and move out of the Baxter Building. However, she remains optimistic that her family will be able to survive this. She explains how she has drawn inspiration from Jody Williams, who defended her disabled brother in school and worked her way up to being an activist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997. She punctuates this story by saying that they don't need a fortune in order to be heroes. Willie is sad to see the Fantastic Four go but asks them to keep in touch. Just then Alicia Masters enters the room and tells Sue that Johnny and Ben are fighting again.

Elsewhere in the Baxter Building the Human Torch and the Thing are sparring, the Thing is upset that Johnny gave away his DVD collection. Sue tries to get into the lab to try and stop them, but Reed causes her to pause by explaining that this is their way of coping with the situation. He assures her that they will eventually run out of energy and stop. Sue notices that Reed has shaved and he explains it is because he has some interviews and assures her that no matter what he'll remember to pick up Franklin from school. However, these "interviews" are a white lie, as Reed is spending his afternoon in the Unemployment Office. There he talks to a man who has had experience here after losing his high paying job in digital media. When he gets to the front window the woman is about to close up for the day when she recognizes that she is talking to Mister Fantastic. Grateful to the Fantastic Four for saving her life once, the elderly clerk decides to bend the rules a little and help Reed get some work.

Meanwhile, at the construction site where the Thing makes his living, he is pulled aside by the job foreman who wants to talk to him. His boss tells Ben that he needs to slow down otherwise he's going to work them all out of a job and affect everybody's ability to make money. Elsewhere in the city Johnny is still hustling for a new job when suddenly he gets a call from Howard, his agent. Howard offers Johnny the opportunity to be on a reality television show called Who Wants to Marry a Super-Hero? but Johnny has other ideas in mind and tells him he'll pass on the job for now. As he hangs up the phone Johnny stops to look at a poster advertising the New York City Fire Department. Back at the Baxter Building, Sue decides to take a dive in the swimming pool on the 39th floor for one last time. She recalls how much she enjoyed swimming in high school and how her time her made her feel truly invisible.

At that moment, Reed finds himself stuck at the bank when a group of would-be robbers shows up. While Reed makes short work of the crooks, this delay makes him late in picking up Franklin from school. Franklin is disappointed in his father when he arrives. Franklin, however, explains that he didn't call home because he knew if he did his mother would get upset. He also shows Reed that he is now using the wagon that he got for his birthday. When Franklin learns that his father got a normal ordinary job working for a computer company, he thinks it's cool. Reed tells Franklin they should head home before the others start to worry.

That evening the Fantastic Four and their family stand outside of the Baxter Building giving it one last look before leaving it, possibly forever. Each member of the team has a fond memory of all the great times they had there. When the others get into the rental truck, Reed and Sue discuss how this move might change them. Reed points out all the wonderful things they accomplished and all the changes they have gone through, seeing them as all for the better, the way she makes him better. Sue is touched, and Reed suggests that they get rolling. As they pull away in their moving truck, Reed takes one last forlorn look at the Baxter Building, former home of the world's greatest superheroes.

Recurring Characters

Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Franklin Richards, Valeria Richards, Willie Lumpkin, Alicia Masters, HERBIE

Continuity Notes

• The events of Marvel Knights: 4 #1-12 occur between Fantastic Four #516 and 517.

• Willie suggests the Fantastic Four can keep in touch and how he can help them like he did "with the Thinker that one time." This is a reference to Fantastic Four #15 when Willie's intervention foiled the Thinker's plot to take over the Baxter Building.