—Johnny StormLike Reed always says -- It's never hopeless!
Appearing in "The Monster's Secret!"
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Synopsis for "The Monster's Secret!"
Meanwhile, Reed comes to Sue's rescue and fights off the Monster. They learn from Rambow that the monster is really Rambow's son Larry, who was changed into an energy creature due to an accident. Reed and Rambow work together to create a device to change Larry back to normal.
After Larry thanks them for changing him back to normal, Johnny remembers that they left Ben back at the Baxter Building. Returning there, they find that Ben is still frozen in a block of ice, and they are left to wonder if their friend will survive the rest of the experiment.Appearing in "And Now... the Thing!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Richard Janus (First appearance)
Other Characters:
- Ebony
- Franklin Richards
- Annihilus (Only in recap)
- Crystal (Mentioned)
Races and Species:
- Humans
- Mutants
- Cats
- Arthrosians (Only in recap)
- Inhumans (Mentioned)
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Locations:
Items:
- Fantastic Four Uniforms
- Negative Zone Portal
- Janus' energy-ray
Synopsis for "And Now... the Thing!"
They are soon joined by Alicia, who was called in after she was informed of the good news. Changing back into human form and putting on specially treated clothing, Ben takes his girl Alicia out on a date. After the happy couple have departed, Johnny laments that Ben's happiness only reminds him that Crystal is gone. Thinking that nobody will help him, Johnny storms off to brood alone. More trouble begins to brew when Sue asks Reed to join her in picking up Franklin from Agatha Harkness' home on Whisper Hill. This leads to a brief spat between the couple when Reed dismisses her request in favor of an important experiment. As Sue leaves to pick up Franklin alone, she begins to wonder if perhaps the Fantastic Four need to spend some time apart from one another.
Things are less than ideal for Ben and Alicia as they ride the subway. When Alicia comments how this is the first time they have gone out without being gawked at, Ben decides to have some mean spirited fun by transforming into the Thing, scaring all the passengers riding with them on the subway. The stunt troubles Alicia, but Ben brushes it off as nothing but fun. As they walk the street they come across a warehouse robbery. When Alicia is almost gunned down, Ben transforms into the Thing and puts a quick stop to the crooks' escape attempt. Giving into his anger, Ben is about to kill them when Alicia manages to talk him down. Ben reverts back to human form, and, when she comments on how different he is now, he decides to take her home instead of on a date.
Back at the Baxter Building, Reed receives a call from downstairs made by Richard Janus. Much to Reed's dismay, Janus has come demanding access to the Negative Zone. Reed admits Janus to his lab and shows him the Negative Zone from his view screen and stresses the absolute danger of that dimension, recounting the Fantastic Four's recent battle against Annihilus in that realm. [1] Dismissing Reed's warnings, Janus pulls out a ray blaster and uses it to incapacitate his host. He makes a break for the portal into the Negative Zone.
Meanwhile, at Whisper Hill, Sue tries to surprise her son Franklin by attempting to sneak up on him while invisible and is shocked when the boy is somehow able to see her. When Sue tries to tell Agatha, the old woman dismisses it, leaving Sue to believe that Harkness is keeping some kind of secret from her. At the Baxter Building, Johnny returns to find Ben reading the paper and demands to know where Reed is. Short of temper, the two men soon begin scrapping when Reed rushes into the room. He stops them to tell them that they have been attacked. Rushing back to Reed's lab, they arrive too late to stop Richard Janus from entering the portal into the Negative Zone.Appearing in "The Dreams of Death!"
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Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Devil Incarnate (Cyrus Black) (First appearance)
- Cyrus Black's Disciples
- Numerous unnamed disciples
- Beast of Nohel (Unnamed) (Illusion or holographic simulation)
- Serpent of Rham (Illusion or holographic simulation)
Other Characters:
- Galactus (Galan) (Mentioned)
- NYPD
- Jartran Radd (Invoked) (Unnamed)
- Barbara Valkyrie
- Black Knight (Dane Whitman) (Petrified Statue)
- Enchantress (Mentioned)
- Aragorn
- Umar (Invoked)
- Nebuchadnezzar (Cyrus Black's Pet Rat) (First appearance)
- Ancient One (Mentioned)
- Zom (Invoked)
- Ikonn (Invoked)
- Hosts of Hoggoth (Invoked)
- Hoggoth (Invoked)
- Neptune (Invoked)
Races and Species:
- Zenn-Lavians
- Humans
- Asgardians
- Mutant Atlantean-Human Hybrids
- Winged Horses
- Rats
- Demons (Illusion or holographic simulation)
- Hydras (Illusion or holographic simulation)
Realities:
Locations:
- Earthspace
- Heaven (Referenced)
Items:
- Power Cosmic
- Cloak of Levitation
- Eye of Agamotto
- Ebony Blade
- Namorita's Magic Earring
- Spells
- Bolts of Bedevilment
- Shades of the Shadowy Demons (Invoked)
- Illusions of Ikonn (Invoked)
- Orb of Agamotto
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Synopsis for "The Dreams of Death!"
The Silver Surfer returns to the Defenders to apologize for the way he acted last time they were together. He finds them being attacked by Cyrus Black and helps defeat him and his henchmen. Black retreats and plans a new attack. He discovers that he can make the illusions in his dreams become real. He uses this ability to attack the Defenders again and overpowers them. However, Namor realizes that they are in a different reality and convinces Black that none of this is real. This causes him to wake up and realize that his plans have failed again.
Detailed Summary:
The Silver Surfer travels to Dr. Strange's Sanctum, in order to apologize for the way he had acted in his last encounter with the Defenders, but finds a strange mystic cube formed around the Sanctum. Able to smash through it, he finds that the Defenders are under attack by Cyrus Black (a mystic bent on proving he is superior to Dr. Strange) and his followers.
Although Black almost manages to destroy the statue of the Black Knight, his attack fails and he and his followers are forced to retreat. The Surfer is introduced to Valkyrie and offers to show her the world and tell her what he's learned about it. She and Namor agree to travel along with him and all three depart.
Meanwhile, Cyrus Black plans his next attack on Doctor Strange. He discovers that he can make illusions from his dreams come to life and plans to use this ability to attack and destroy Strange.
Two days pass and the Surfer, Valkyrie, and Namor return to Doctor Strange. As they arrive, the Defenders are suddenly attacked by demons from Cyrus Black's dreams. As they are not able to defeat the heroes, Black decides to attack them himself. He has become super-powered through his dreams and overpowers them all.
However Namor realizes that they are not currently existing in reality, because he hasn't weakened from the lack of contact with water. He convinces Black that none of his demons and powers are real, which causes him to wake up from his mystical sleep and disappear from the Sanctum Sanctorum. Waking up in his apartment, Black realizes that his plans have failed once again and wonders if he will ever be able to defeat Doctor Strange.