War Between Worlds, Part 1

 

cover art by Gil Kane

Fantastic Four #160 (July 1975), written by Roy Thomas and drawn by John Buscema, starts with a bang. Or rather a series of bangs, as the interdimensional tyrant Akron the Magnificent chases the Thing down a New York street, hurling thunderbolts at the hero.

This by itself isn't all that unusual. The Fantastic Four do lead active lives. What would strike a regular reader of the FF as odd is that the Thing is in a panic. Ben Grimm, by golly, does NOT panic!

He also doesn't recognize his girlfriend Alicia when she arrives on the scene. 

Well, the explanation is that this Thing is NOT Ben. When he's defeated by Akron and the two disappear, Alicia brings a scrap of this Thing's clothing to the Baxter Building, where she finds Ben safe and sound. 

While Reed decides to look up information on Akron, Ben plays a hunch. He calls the Great Refuge and asks to borrow Lockjaw, who instantly teleports to the Baxter Building. Ben has him sniff the clothing scrap and they zap off on the trail.

There's a brief but fun gag in which Lockjaw first takes them to a bizarre dimension where the big dog wants to chase interdimensional "jackrabbits," but Ben gets him back on track. They end up in an alternate Earth outside a castle.

Inside that castle, Ben discovers that Earth's Ben (who is still human) and that Earth's Sue (who is married to Ben) being menaced by robot monsters. Ben destroys these, though a final tussle with a Frankenstein's Monster robot is a tough one.

This is a dimension in which Reed and Ben were the only ones in the spaceship when it was hit by cosmic rays. Reed became the Thing. Ben got both stretching and flame powers, but eventually lost these. It's Ben in this reality who married Sue.

Alt. Ben and Alt. Sue were here to talk Alt. Reed to stop isolating himself in the castle, where he's been working on robotics. But Alt. Reed is missing. Somehow, he ended up on the mainstream Marvel Earth being pursued by Akron. Where he is now is anybody's guess.

So there's a mystery to solve. In fact, that mystery might be even more convoluted. Back on regular Marvel Earth, Reed has announced that the Fantastic Four Inc, funded by Reed's patent, is losing money. Reed has decided to sell out to a corporation, though he's assured that the FF will still control their day-to-day activities.

This, at first, seems to be a separate plot thread from Ben's adventure. But the name of the corporation buying out the FF is very similar to a metal sign the wall of Alt. Reed's lab. The logo is exactly the same. It seems that someone is attempting an interdimensional hostile corporate take-over.

It's a strong start to the story arc, giving us plenty of action while still setting up an intriguing mystery. Buscema's art is great, complimenting the story perfectly. Next week, we'll find out what happens next.