Ultimate Fantastic Four Vol 1 4

Alternate Covers:
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	Published
	May, 2004
"The Fantastic: Part 4"
	Writer Brian Michael Bendis; Mark Millar; Penciler Adam Kubert; Inker John Dell; Colorist Dave Stewart; Letterer Chris Eliopoulos; Editor Ralph Macchio; Nick Lowe;

Well, let's see... Took you a good fourteen years to find a way to mess my life up this bad. Guess I can wait around another fourteen... see if you ever figure out if you can fix it.

-- Ben Grimm

Appearing in "The Fantastic: Part 4"

Featured Characters:

Supporting Characters:

Franklin Storm

Villains:

Arthur Molekevic

Other Characters:

Locations:

Earth-1610
- United States of America
  - New York
    - New York City
      - Manhattan
        Baxter Building
- Subterranea

Items:

Vehicles:

Synopsis for "The Fantastic: Part 4"

Johnny Storm has been brought back to the Baxter Building for testing. His father, Dr. Storm tries to get Johnny to tap into the psychological trigger that causes his body to spontaneously combust. Unconsciously, Johnny finds his trigger but demonstrates it by mouthing the words, "Flame on".

Later, Reed finds the disfigured Ben Grimm sitting in the lounge. He has been outfitted with an impact suit so that his increased mass doesn't cause damage to whatever surface he is standing or sitting upon. Ben asks him if Reed is responsible for his current condition and Reed says yes. Flying into a rage, Ben attacks him. Reed uses his newfound stretching abilities to wrap himself around Ben. He calms him down and promises that he will find a way to turn him back to normal.

Meanwhile, 1.4 miles below the Earth, Dr. Arthur Molekevic has found Susan Storm. He had his cloned Ani-Men take her from the Nevada desert and bring her to an enormous underground valley. Molekevic has been living here for years. He believes that the theory of a "Hollow Earth" is true and that there are substantial links between it and the theory of lost Atlantis. Using the alien technology left behind from an unknown species, Molekevic has power over the Baxter Building mainframe computer – a huge tower of databanks and video monitors that lie within the cavern. Molekevic even goes on to explain how he used blood scraped from an ancient weapon to form the DNA template for his bio-technological experiments. This is how he has created his army of Ani-Men. But more than anything, Arthur is in love with Susan Storm.

Later, Johnny is finally brought out of quarantine where he is reunited with Reed and Ben. Astonished by Ben's appearance, he refers to him as some sort of "thing". Everyone is still at a loss as to what could have happened to Sue and Victor Van Damme. But before the conversation can progress, there is a tremendous rumble from outside. Racing to the window, they find that a gigantic reptilian monster has broken through the streets of Manhattan from underground ready to wreak destruction on everything it finds.

Notes

The Mole Man's surname is misspelled as Molevic in this issue whereas in issue #2 it is spelled Molekevic.

The Mole Man gives a detailed description of his sub-terrain world this issue. It is "1.4 miles below the surface world" and a "cave system connected by millions of tunnels across the world".

No letters page is published this issue.

Trivia

During testing, Johnny keeps repeating the words, "Flame on. Flame off". This is likely a reference to a scene from the movie The Karate Kid where Mister Miyagi is quoted as saying, "Wax on. Wax off".

At one point, Dr. Molekevic makes reference to Edward Bulwer-Lytton. Edward Bulwer-Lytton was a 19th century writer who crafted, Vril: The Power Of The Coming Race, an effort which suggests the existence of ancient Atlantis as well as the existence of a subterranean race of people that predates modern man.

Links and References

Footnotes

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