Appearing in "The Fantastic Four Battle the Mad Thinker and His Awesome Android"
Fantastic Four #15
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Mad Thinker (First appearance)
- Awesome Android (First appearance)
- Various gangsters
- Blackie Skarr (First appearance)
Other Characters:
- Yancy Street Gang (First full appearance)
- F.B.I.
- Bones 'n Bailey Circus
- Pierre (First appearance)
- Peggy (First appearance)
- General Electronics
- Van Dorn (First appearance)
- Cartwright (First appearance)
- Roger (First appearance)
- Higgens (First appearance)
- Fatal Finnegan (First appearance)
- NYPD
- Mad Thinker (Vision or hallucination) (First appearance)
- Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards) (Vision or hallucination) (First appearance)
- Mad Thinker (Vision or hallucination) (First appearance)
- Thing (Ben Grimm) (Vision or hallucination) (First appearance)
- Mad Thinker (Vision or hallucination) (First appearance)
- Human Torch (Johnny Storm) (Vision or hallucination) (First appearance)
- Mad Thinker (Vision or hallucination) (First appearance)
- Invisible Woman (Sue Storm) (Vision or hallucination) (First appearance)
- Mad Thinker (Vision or hallucination) (First appearance)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- Sol
- Earth
- North America
- United States of America
- New York
- New York City
- Manhattan
- Midtown
- 42nd Street and Madison Avenue
- Fifth Avenue
- a beauty salon
- Lower East Side
- Central Park
- a gym
- an orphanage
- Midtown
- Thinker's headquarters
- Manhattan
- New York City
- Florida
- Bones 'n Bailey Circus
- New England
- California
- New York
- United States of America
- North America
- Earth
Items:
- Fantastic Four Uniforms
- Fantasti-Flare
- Vibra-Guns (First appearance)
- Anti-matter shell gun
Synopsis for "The Fantastic Four Battle the Mad Thinker and His Awesome Android"
Fantastic Four #15
After receiving a call from the mayor to deal with the recent surge of mob activity in the city, Reed Richards summons the other members of the Fantastic Four, even though it will interrupt his crucial DNA experiments to do so. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the city, a super-genius known as the Mad Thinker revels over how he and his computing machines have been able to assist the local mobs into committing their crimes without being captured. The Thinker then decides to set higher goals and begins plotting to take over the world. When the mob warns him that the Fantastic Four will try and stop him the Thinker tells them that he has already come up with a means to eliminate the heroes and prevent them from interfering in his operations.
Sometime later, the Human Torch is visited by his cousin Bones who informs Johnny that his circus is starting to fail without an attraction to draw people in. Meanwhile, Reed Richards is offered a research position with the prestigious General Electronics Corporation. This also happens to coincide with the Thing being offered a wrestling career and Sue being scouted by a Hollywood agent.[Continuity 1] Returning to the Baxter Building, each member of the Fantastic Four express their desires to seek out these other opportunities and agree to disband for a short period to see if this is what they truly want.
As it turns out these events were orchestrated by the Mad Thinker, and after a meteor strikes the Earth disabling the Baxter Building's security systems, he and the mobsters take over the Fantastic Four's abandoned headquarters. Meanwhile, each member of the Fantastic Four finds their new careers fulfilling compared to their lives as super-heroes. They all decide to return home and are shocked to find the Baxter Building surrounded by crystal. The Thinker then projects a hologram of himself daring the Fantastic Four to face him in their own headquarters. The foursome easily breaks through the crystal barrier and defeat the mobsters armed with Reed's own weapons. They next battled the so-called Awesome Android, an android created by the Mad Thinker based on Reed's own research. They are able to defeat the creature when Reed points out its single weakness.
The Mad Thinker then faces the Fantastic Four alone, but suddenly finds none of the devices in Reed's lab work any longer and is quickly subdued. Reed then reveals that the Mad Thinker was foiled thanks to a contingency plan that he could not have foretold: Before leaving the Baxter Building to take his job at General Electronics, Reed hired their mailman Willie Lumpkin to press a button outside their headquarters every day that would temporarily deactivate all the devices within. With the Mad Thinker's plot ruined, the Fantastic Four turn the criminal mastermind over to the authorities.
Appearing in "Hereafter: Part 2"
Fantastic Four #510
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Franklin Storm
- Mary Storm
- Franklin Richards (Vision or hallucination)
- Valeria Richards (Vision or hallucination)
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for "Hereafter: Part 2"
Fantastic Four #510
The Fantastic Four have travelled to Heaven itself in order to recover the soul of their deceased teammate the Thing. They appear in a massive field. Reed tells Johnny and Sue that this dimension will base itself upon their own pre-existing theological conceptions as he believes the human brain could not comprehend this dimension as it actually appears. Suddenly they are swarmed by an army of angels who attack them. This comes as a surprise to the Invisible Woman and Human Torch who were expecting a warmer reception. While they fight back they are no match for the angels who easily incapacitate them with the mystical energy emitted from their swords. When Reed asks why they are being attacked one of the angels responds with the words "you don't belong here" on its face in flames. The angels suddenly disappear and Reed deduces that they were merely delivering a warning. Johnny is a little freaked out by all of this, but Reed insists that they still press on and continue their search for Ben. Meanwhile not far away, Ben Grimm and his long dead brother Danny are standing at a massive door. When Ben asks if his friends have turned around yet, Dan informs him that they have not. When Ben asks if he can just talk to Reed, his brother tells him that he can't because they have bent the rules too much already, reminding him that not just anyone can get into Heaven.
The Fantastic Four have reached the end of the field which opens up to a massive void with floating chunks of rock. Noticing that they interlock, Reed starts putting them together to form a bridge. When he tells them to follow him, Johnny points out that the last time they did this -- in Latveria -- it didn't go so well and admits he blames Reed for Ben's death. Reed then lashes out at Johnny, reminding him how he warned the Torch to keep his distance when Doctor Doom possessed Sue's body and how, because Johnny didn't listen, Doom was able to possess him which led to the chain of events leading up to Ben's death. Johnny backs off and says he wants to do everything possible to get Ben back as well and they press onward with Mister Fantastic in the lead. As they continue on Sue can't make heads or tails of their situation but suspects that they mean something. As they press on they are unaware that the interlocking blocks are forming a mosaic of Ben Grimm's face made out of stone.
Suddenly they pass through a fog and find themselves in what appears to be their Baxter Building home. All around them are multiple versions of Franklin and Valeria. Sue suspects that these are her and Reed's children on the best days of their lives. This leads to an argument between Reed and Sue this time. When Sue talks about how relaxing it is to exist somewhere that she doesn't have to worry about her children, Reed impresses the importance of having Ben back so the children can be safe as possible. The argument is cut short when Johnny calls out to them and following after him the scene suddenly changes into a forest and they suddenly smell a campfire and roasting marshmallows. Following the sound of Johnny's voice they find him conversing with his and Sue's parents, Franklin and Mary Storm, by a campfire. Although there is a happy reunion, Franklin gets down to being serious telling them that the powers that be are about to play rough with them. Before he can convince the Fantastic Four to turn back, its too late and a massive torrent of blood washes them away. As Reed struggles to save his wife and brother-in-law, Ben and Dan continue watching on. Dan reminds Ben that he has to open the door at the gates. Ben tries to open it with his strength, but finds himself incapable of opening it by force.
Elsewhere the Fantastic Four are washed up in a cave and are suddenly attacked by a swarm of tiny angels with razor sharp wings. Reed tells the others to keep pressing onward as Ben needs them. Having gotten fed up of his friends putting themselves in danger, Ben reaches out and pulls them the rest of the way to the gate. They are happily reunited and Ben tells them that it's great to see them one last time. Reed insists that this isn't Ben's time to go into the afterlife and that they are taking them home. Dan has an issue with this and Reed realizes that Ben's brother was the one responsible for impeding their progress to keep Ben in Heaven instead. Ben points out that they aren't actually in Heaven, more like the outskirts, and that he has to figure out how to open the door in order to pass through. However the door cannot be opened by Ben, and he can be the only one who does. Dan explains it was actually Ben that kept them away because he didn't want them to see who created the door baring Ben from Heaven. Reed takes a closer look at its design and is horrified to discover that it is one of his designs.
Appearing in "Hereafter: Part 3"
Fantastic Four #511
Featured Characters:
- Fantastic Four
- Mr. Fantastic
- Invisible Woman
- Human Torch
- Thing (Resurrection)
Supporting Characters:
- God (Appears as Jack Kirby) (First appearance)
- Dan Grimm
Other Characters:
- Black Panther (Mentioned)
- Silver Surfer (Mentioned)
- God's collaborator (Behind the scenes)
Locations:
- Heaven (First appearance)
- New York City
Items:
Synopsis for "Hereafter: Part 3"
Fantastic Four #511
The Fantastic Four have come to Heaven to try and recover the soul of Ben Grimm only to discover that they are actually on the edge of Heaven, and it is blocked by a door that appears to have been created by Reed Richards. Upon closer inspection Reed realises that it is comprised of components of his various inventions. Reed sudenly realises what he's done. The spirit of Dan Grimm explains to the others that his brother can't get into heaven because Reed is keeping his body on life support on Earth and the door. Ben explains to the others that he doesn't want to go back to the land of the living and that he has lived a good life. While Reed and Sue make peace with this and say their goodbyes, Johnny suddenly flames on and attacks. Calling Ben out as an impostor because the Grimm he remembers wouldn't give up on life so easily.
Reed pulls Johnny off Ben and a fight breaks out while Sue tries to contain them. The violence is also causing the ground to crack up. During the scuffle Reed explains exactly why Johnny won't return to the team: He's afraid Reed will kill him just like he killed Ben. Reed finally breaks down at this admission telling them he can't possibly live that down. With the place starting to fall apart, Dan explains that the chaos is being caused by the Fantastic Four's emotions, particularly their sadness. Ben rushes the door to try and crack its mystery and begins pulling off parts, eventually he strips away all the pieces revealing a second door underneath -- a stone made out of interlocking bricks like Ben's Thing form. Realising that he needs Reed to help, Ben rushes to the deepening pit where Richards stands giving into his deep sorrows and regrets. Reaching out, Ben begs Reed to snap out of it, promising that he will return and that he'll never leave his side again. This gets through to Mister Fantastic and reaches up to be pulled out. With Reed out of the bit the chaos ends.
Reed suddenly becomes curious about the door and the others tell him to leave it alone. Dan then pipes up with an offer: He offers them all a chance to stay in Heaven so they can be with Ben forever. Even with all the secrets of the universe and all creation laid bare to him, Reed declines the offer on behalf of the entire team. Dan tells him that was the right answer and suddenly the door behind him opens up and a blinding light issues forth. Dan then tells them that they have been awarded a visit with the creator himself. Ben thanks Dan for all his help and the Fantastic Four all walk into the light. Falling through time and space the Fantastic Four come upon a wooden door standing on a floating rock. Realising that they are coming face-to-face with their maker, the Fantastic Four brace themselves for what they will see on the other side.
They are in for a shock as when they cross over into the doorway they appear in what appearas to be a modest den where a middle aged man is working away on a drawing board. He invites the shocked super-heroes into his home. They are surprised by what they see here and God explains to them that he appears as his creations see him and that how he is represented here is a great compliment. Johnny keeps on asking ridiculous questions until God takes a call from his collaborator. When the Fantastic Four are confused about the drawings that appear to be based on their real lives, God explains that is how he creates things and that the Fantastic Four's adventures become his explorations. To illustrate this, God draws a picture of an alien city and no sooner is he finished drawing do their surroundings suddeny change into the strange landscape in the drawing.
With the landscape changing back to the den, Reed finds it difficult to believe that the wellspring of creation is a mere pencil. God explains that greatest inventions were the most simple. The eraser on the opposite end he states as an example, then uses it to erase the burn on Reed's face. When Johnny asks if they are imagining him or if he is imagining them. God tells Johnny that they are not puppets and that they live their own lives. God then tells Ben that he still has a lot of story left and begins redrawing him back into the Thing. Ben is disappointed to be turned back into the Thing. Having condensed their subplot, God tells them it is time to go. He tells Reed that the device he used to get to Heaven will not work a second time. Before sending them back to Earth, God does up a quick sketch for them and hands it over.
Suddenly the Fantastic Four have themselves back in their headquarters. They look at the sketch drawn for them and see themselves many years older that is captioned "to be continued" and they know that they will all live happily ever after.
See Also
Links and References
References
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