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Fantastic Four Annual Vol 1 3

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Quote1 We're married, at last! And nothing will ever part us, my beloved! Quote2
—Invisible Girl (Sue Storm)

Appearing in "Bedlam at the Baxter Building!"

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Synopsis for "Bedlam at the Baxter Building!"

Reading a newspaper announcement of Reed Richards and Susan Storm's wedding day, Doctor Doom plots to ruin it by using his emotion changing device to incite the entire super-villain community (whether or not foes of the Fantastic Four) to attack the ceremony. A crowd has gathered outside the Baxter Building, where the wedding is to take place, to watch the celebrity guests arrive. The onlookers include both Millie the Model and Patsy Walker.

Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. are providing security for the wedding, and prevent a guest whom the Puppet Master is controlling from poisoning the Thing. While the Thing is considering whether to tell Reed about the incident, Mole Man and his subterranean Moloids attack from beneath the building. Professor X summons the X-Men to aid the Thing in warding them off. Meanwhile Reed, Sue and Johnny are attacked by the Red Ghost and his Super-Apes, until the latter are banished to another dimension by the newly arrived Doctor Strange.

With the initial attacks defeated, Dr Doom increases the power inciting villains including the Mandarin, the Black Knight, Kang the Conqueror, the Awesome Android, and the Grey Gargoyle to attack. Whilst on his way to the wedding, Thor is attacked by the Super-Skrull. Daredevil spots Hydra agents attempting to collide a missile with the Baxter Building and succeeds in driving it off, dumping it into New York harbor: the missile's detonation destroys an attacking undersea force led by Attuma the Barbarian. The arriving Avengers, Captain America and Hawkeye battle the Cobra, the Executioner, the Enchantress, Mr Hyde and the Mad Thinker, with the help of Spider-Man.

While Daredevil is being chased by the Black Knight, assistance from the X-Men is interrupted by the arrival of the Mandarin, Electro, the Unicorn, the Melter and the Beetle, whilst Quicksilver simultaneously battles the Human Top.

These events rapidly culminate in an all-out battle between the heroes and villains, until Reed Richards is summoned to the Watcher's citadel, where he is given a device that will allow him to transport all the attackers away, with no memory of what has transpired. With the villains defeated, Reed and Sue are married. Outside, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby are turned away from the ceremony as they do not have invitations, and leave muttering dire threats of retribution.

Appearing in "Captives of the Deadly Duo!"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Fantastic Four #6

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Other Characters:

  • Numerous unnamed New Yorkers
  • NYPD
    • Four unnamed police officers
  • Pete (First appearance)
  • Harry (First appearance)
  • Unnamed Messenger
  • Tommy (First appearance)
  • Yancy Street Gang (Mentioned) (First mention)
  • Hiram (First appearance)
  • Matilda (First appearance)

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Synopsis for "Captives of the Deadly Duo!"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Fantastic Four #6
Fantastic Four Vol 1 6 Part 1 Title

After scouting for Dr. Doom, the Human Torch returns to the Fantastic Four's Baxter Building headquarters to report on his lack of success in finding Doom. He arrives just as his teammates are reading fan mail.[Continuity 1] When Reed gets a letter from a fan who is presently staying at a nearby hospital, Reed stretches out his body to pay the boy a personal visit.[Continuity 2] Meanwhile, Ben gets a mocking letter from the Yancy Street Gang, challenging him to a fight. Ben responds by rolling up a titanium steel tile and telling Johnny to mail it out for him. Ben laments over not being able to face a worthy foe like Dr. Doom or the Sub-Mariner.

These words turn out to be prophetic as, at that very moment, Dr. Doom is seeking out the Sub-Mariner and tracks him down in his aerosub, confronting Namor over the ocean. Doom manages to convince Namor that they should work together to destroy the Fantastic Four and take over the world.

Part 2:

Fantastic Four Vol 1 6 Part 2 Title
Victor von Doom (Earth-616) and Namor McKenzie (Earth-616) from Fantastic Four Vol 1 6 0001

Namor invites Doom back to Atlantis, where Doom notes his infatuation with Sue Storm. Doom, however, stirs the Sub-Mariner's anger by reminding him how his kingdom was annihilated by atomic weapons tests[1].[Continuity 3] Namor agrees to destroy the Fantastic Four but refuses to harm Sue Storm. Doom agrees to let Sue live and then shows off his latest invention which he wishes to use against the Fantastic Four: a magnetically powered "grabber" device that can pull any object no matter how heavy. Namor then goes to the surface world to confront the Fantastic Four as part of their plan.

Meanwhile, at the Baxter Building, Johnny finds a picture of Namor hidden behind a bookshelf and confronts his sister Sue about it. When she tells Johnny that he has no right to go snooping on her property, Johnny alerts the others about Sue's little secret before burning the picture with his flame powers. When Reed asks for an explanation from Sue, she is at a loss for words to explain her infatuation with the Sub-Mariner. Suddenly, Namor makes his presence known to them.

Part 3:

Fantastic Four Vol 1 6 Part 3 Title

While the male members of the team try to attack Namor, Sue comes to his aid. The others find that Namor is prepared for their attacks, and Reed suddenly realizes that Namor must have planted some kind of trap. Reed and Johnny go to search for it. When they fail to find it, Namor gloats when, suddenly, the Baxter Building is pulled out of its foundation and is drawn into space.[Continuity 4]

Part 4:

Fantastic Four Vol 1 6 Part 4 Title

The Fantastic Four and Namor quickly put on breathing helmets. When Johnny fails to escape in the vacuum of space, Reed tries to grab Doom's ship that is pulling them closer to the sun, but Doom has prepared a defensive rocket that burns Reed's hands. With the void of space being close to that of Earth's oceans, Namor -- realizing he had been betrayed by Doom -- agrees to stop him. He then exits the Baxter Building and "swims" toward Doom's ship.

Part 5:

Fantastic Four Vol 1 6 Part 5 Title

There, he breaks through the hull into the ship but finds a locked and electrified door blocking his way into the control room. The Sub-Mariner then uses his ability to mimic the electricity generating abilities of electric eels to begin shocking Doom through the door, forcing him to retreat.[Continuity 5] Namor breaks in and hurls Dr. Doom into space. In the void of space, Doom is suddenly struck by a passing meteor and is carried away. Namor then takes control of the ship and reverses its course, returning the Baxter Building to its original foundation. The Fantastic Four then find Doom's grabber device stashed away in the basement, but they cannot remove it. Suddenly, it flies away to rendezvous with Namor over the ocean. The Sub-Mariner then crashes the ship and the grabber device into the waters below so they cannot be used again and returns to the ocean himself.

Appearing in "A Visit With the Fantastic Four"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Fantastic Four #11

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Synopsis for "A Visit With the Fantastic Four"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Fantastic Four #11
Fantastic Four Vol 1 11 Title

After visiting with some local fans of theirs, the Fantastic Four get another mail delivery from their mailman Willie Lumpkin. Reading their fan mail, the FF responds to readers' letters:

After trying another serum to change him back to human form, Ben and Reed tell the story about how they met in college and eventually fought in World War II.[Continuity1 1] They then retell the origin of the Fantastic Four.[Continuity1 2] When Sue gets upset by reader mail that expresses people's dislike of her and questions her usefulness on the team, the FF angrily defend Sue by telling of the times that Sue helped the team defeat the Skrulls, and when she saved the team from Dr. Doom's death traps.[Continuity1 3] To cheer Sue up they take her aboard the flying saucer they have had since their adventure on Planet X,[Continuity1 4] where Sue finds a surprise birthday cake waiting for her. As they celebrate Sue's birthday, Willie is slogging back to the Baxter Building with another bag full of fan mail for the FF.

Appearing in "The Impossible Man!"

Reprint of the 2nd story from
Fantastic Four #11

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Other Characters:

  • US Army
  • NYPD
    • Mike (First appearance)
    • Joe (First appearance)
    • a deputy inspector
  • Mr. Howell (First appearance) (bank manager)
  • "Killer" (boxer)
  • a taxi driver
  • crew of a TV show
  • Numerous New Yorker by-standers

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Synopsis for "The Impossible Man!"

Reprint of the 2nd story from
Fantastic Four #11
Fantastic Four Vol 1 11 Part 2 Title

An alien being from the planet Poppup arrives on Earth and appears before a group of hobos seeking entertainment.[Continuity2 1] When he asks the homeless men for food they tell the alien that the only way he can get food is with money. Taking this as literally as possible, the alien goes to a nearby bank and takes bags full of money, using his shapeshifting powers to get past a teller. When he is stopped by police they begin to shoot at the alien, who quickly turns into metal to deflect the bullets, sending the police fleeing. The authorities then call in the Fantastic Four to handle this alien being and they find the extra-terrestrial gorging on food at a fancy restaurant. Asking where he came from, the Fantastic Four learn that this alien came from the planet Poppup where his people evolved into beings that could change shape into any form in order to deal with any threats to their lives.

Impossible Man (Earth-616) and Fantastic Four (Earth-616) from Fantastic Four Vol 1 11 001

When they tell the alien that he cannot just steal money, he points out that nobody tried to stop him. The Thing and Human Torch to try to subdue the cocky alien, but his shape-changing powers defend him well from any attack. Learning that this alien is on vacation, Sue tries to reason with him explaining that he can't just break Earth laws. When she asks the alien what his name is, he explains that Popuppians do not have names because they "know who they are." When he tries to walk out of the restaurant another fight breaks out and the Thing coins this alien as "impossible," prompting everyone to begin referring to him as the Impossible Man.

The Fantastic Four chase the creature outside where they battle him some more. When the army sends in soldiers, Reed tells them to stay back, prompting the Impossible Man to change into a bomb. Reed quickly uses his stretching power to toss the "bomb" into the air where it explodes harmlessly. Flying around on wings, the Impossible Man is then brought down when the Human Torch uses his powers to create a hypnotic pinwheel out of flame.[Continuity2 2] Eventually, Reed deduces that the Impossible Man is encouraged by people's reaction to his antics and that he is starved for attention. He then sends out a message to everyone in New York to simply ignore the Impossible Man. Miraculously the people of the city do just that and begin to ignore the impish alien's destructive games until the Impossible Man grows so bored with the lack of attention he decides to leave Earth, vowing that neither he nor anyone else from his race will visit the Earth ever again, much to the relief of the Fantastic Four.

Notes

Continuity Notes[]

Bedlam at the Baxter Building

  • This story takes place between Fantastic Four #43 and 44
  • This story is told from another perspective in Marvel: Heroes & Legends #1 as well as in Marvels #2. Both of these tales confirm that the Time Displacer device not only wiped out the memories of the villains who attacked the wedding, but everyone on Earth. It also wiped out any photographic evidence of the villains' attack so that the record of Reed and Sue's wedding was not marred with reports of the battle.
  • Phil Sheldon, Plantman, Batroc the Leaper, Grogoom, and the Trapster were all among characters present during this story when it was depicted in Marvel: Heroes & Legends #1, as such they are listed as being behind the scenes here.
  • Doctor Doom was seeking revenge against the Fantastic Four after the Thing crushed his hands at the end of Fantastic Four #40. As such, he's shown barely capable of using his hands aside from tearing up a newspaper. Doom had been hatching this scheme since Fantastic Four #43.
  • Notably absent from the festivities were the Hulk and the Sub-Mariner. During this period of time, Namor was trying to reclaim his throne from Warlord Krang as depicted in Tales to Astonish #70–76. While the Hulk was being manipulated by the Leader into stealing the Ultimate Machine from Tales to Astonish #70–74.
  • Following their wedding Reed and Sue were briefly brought to the future of Earth-60166 where they met numerous versions of their future selves who were gathered by their Earth-60166 counterparts to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary as seen in Fantastic Four: The Wedding Special #1. When Reed and Sue are returned to the exact moment that they were taken from, they retained no memory of the festivities. It was revealed in that same story that Reed and Sue spent their honeymoon at the Watcher's citadel on the moon.

Chronology Notes[]

Events in this story occur behind the scenes, affecting the chronology of the following characters:

Mister Fantastic:

Invisible Girl:

Human Torch:

Thing:

Alicia Masters:

Captain America:

Iron Man:

Hawkeye:

Thor:

Quicksilver:

Professor X:

Cyclops:

Marvel Girl:

Iceman:

Angel:

Beast:

Daredevil:

Nick Fury:

Attuma:

Awesome Android:

Beetle:

Black Knight:

Eel:

Mandarin:

Melter:

Mister Hyde:

Unicorn:

See Also

Links and References

References

Captives of the Deadly Duo[]

  1. ↑ This issue features the first mention of the Yancy Street Gang, however the gang does not make a physical appearance until Fantastic Four #15. While it is established that they are a gang that originates from the Thing's old neighborhood, it is later revealed in the Thing #1 that a young Ben Grimm, used to be leader of the gang before his life turned around. It was his departure from the group that led to their animosity toward him.
  2. ↑ The Fantastic Four's costumes are noted as being made to withstand the extreme conditions of space, requiring only the addition of a space helmet. They are also said to be made from Unstable Molecules, which are mentioned for the first time in this issue.
  3. ↑ Sub-Mariner #1, states that the ruins that Namor came upon were really part of an Atlantean outpost decimated by atomic testing. The true Atlantis that Namor resided in was near Antarctica until it was decimated by Destiny. As per Saga of the Sub-Mariner #7 the people of Atlantis had fled to the Atlantic to set up a new kingdom under the rule of Byrrah.
  4. ↑ Kristoff Vernard revisits Doom's plot from this issue, with considerably more success. He succeeds in launching the Baxter Building into the sun in Fantastic Four #278, although the team survived.
  5. ↑ Namor is depicted as having the ability to discharge electricity like an electric eel. The ability to mimic the abilities of other sea life are mostly phased out by his appearance in Fantastic Four #14.

A Visit With the Fantastic Four[]

  1. ↑ It is stated that both Reed Richards and Ben Grimm fought in World War II. This is further depicted by an appearance of Reed working with the OSS in Sgt. Fury #3 and Ben fighting for the USMC in the South Pacific in Capt. Savage and his Leatherneck Raiders #7; however, this has been retconned out of their histories as per the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616. More recently, Reed is no longer referred to as having any military service, while Ben's "service" has been retconned into being an Air Force test pilot in Before the Fantastic Four: Ben Grimm and Logan #1. To date, Marvel has not officially explained their appearances in Sgt. Fury and Captain Savage. However, any references to Ben and Reed fighting in World War II should be considered topical references as per the Sliding Timescale. As such, any references to Reed and Ben serving in the military should be generalized as part of the general rule.
  2. ↑ This origin story is told in Fantastic Four #1
  3. ↑ Sue was instrumental in the defeat of the Skrulls and Doctor Doom in Fantastic Four #2 and 5 respectively.
  4. ↑ This ship was captured by the Fantastic Four in Fantastic Four #7.

The Impossible Man[]

  1. ↑ It has been later established in New Mutants Annual #3 that while the Impossible Man can change shapes, these shapes adopt his basic color scheme of green and purple. This story shows him changing color as well as shape, as the basic rules regarding his shapeshifting powers were not implemented at the time of publication. That or one could chalk up the different colors as being a coloring error, though in his next appearance in Fantastic Four #175, the Impossible Man perfectly imitates Susan Richards, fooling Reed, Johnny, Ben and everyone present.
  2. ↑ At this point in the story the Impossible Man gets caught up in a battle across time between the New Warriors and Doctor Yesterday as seen in Marvel Comics Presents #160–163.
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