Fantastic Four Masterworks Vol. 6
Issues 51-60, Annual #4
A random man kidnaps Thing and then poses as him to infiltrate the FF
Reed discovers another dimension in sub-space and full of negative energy which is directing all of it to Earth which is full of positive energy meaning there will be a bad reaction
The man who kidnapped and is posing as Ben Grimm is a scientist who became a laughingstock and wants to destroy the FF to prove that he’s the most superior mind
Reed and Sue don’t believe the real Ben Grimm when he confronts the impersonator at the Baxter Building and he storms off
As Reed is inside the sub-space dimension, the cord attaching him to Earth snaps which fake Thing is supposed to be looking out for
Thing impersonator jumps after the cable and finds Reed
Finding that he actually admires Reed and has no one to blame but himself for his failures, he throws Reed back to Earth while making the sacrifice to stay
Real Ben returns
An African chieftain called the Black Panther gives the FF a ship as a gift and invites them to Wakanda where he is from
The FF and Wyatt Wingfoot go to Wakanda
There, the king puts on a panther habit and tests their skills
He tells the story about how his father T’chaka was chieftain before him and was slain by a man named Klaw and his men when they came into Wakanda searching for the rare metal vibranium
He explains that he tested them so that he would be ready for Klaw
After Klaw had killed T’chaka, T’challa shattered Klaw’s hand with a sound blaster
In the present, Klaw creates large physical manifestations of animals by converting sound into solid mass and uses them to attack Wakanda
T’challa confronts Klaw who has a force glove replacing his hand now which can convert mass to sound
T;challa overloads the machine which creates the physical manifestations causing Klaw’s lab to blow
Klaw survives as does the machine and he enters it to convert himself into sound
The same Prester John of Arthurian legend wakes up after 700 years on the Chair of Survival. He is found by Johnny and Wyatt
He proclaims he’s not an enemy and has a weapon called the Evil Eye from Avalon which manipulates matter
Torch takes it and wants to use it break the barrier trapping the Inhumans but Prester tells Wyatt to shoot it down before it becomes too volatile
Wyatt shoots the Evil Eye which drops to the ground as Torch is carrying it in the air and explodes
Torch is downtrodden and depressed
A few mountaineers find Silver Surfer atop a summit in the Alps who decides to go back to Alicia Masters after he’s seen everything on earth
Ben Grimm is having doubts about Alicia’s feelings for him and decides to go visit her
Ben finds Surfer and Alicia together and immediately assumes the worst
Ben starts a fight with Surfer and is no match
Johnny and Wyatt find Lockjaw in the Himalayas and plan to follow him to find the Inhumans
Reed and Sue confront and stop Ben and convince him Alicia loves him
Ben apologizes to Surfer who was only using a fraction of his power. Surfer forgives and forgets
Surfer departs and rebuilds the damage he and Thing made and gives flowers to Thing to give to Alicia
While Mister Fantastic is studying the Negative Zone so he can try helping the Inhumans escape, Klaw attacks them
He traps them within a sonic barrier in the lab but Reed gives Thing a sonic harness to get through
Thing sees Klaw attacking Sue and protects her. Thing and Klaw battle
Reed intervenes after Klaw destabilizes the barrier and uses vibranium bands that Tchalla sent him to negate and absorb Klaw’s sound attacks
The FF defeat Klaw
Doom witnesses Silver Surfer flying over the mountains in Latveria
The Mad Thinker reactivates the original android Human Torch from the 1940s
He commands him to attack the FF if he wants to keep living
The two Torches do battle. The android has an advantage because he’s not human
Mad Thinker uses his AI machine Quasimodo to keep track of the Torch
Android Torch says he must defeat Torch but will resolve to take him to Thinker alive because he’s no murderer
The FF appear with Lockjaw who teleports everybody to the Thinker’s hideout
Seeing that Android torch failed, Thinker commands Quasimodo to activate a lever that dissolves the protective coating of nitrogen cells on android’s body causing him to combust uncontrollably and dies
Thinker escapes while Quasimodo yearns to be given a body
Doom tricks Surfer and takes his power
Doom defeats the FF and lets them live, telling them they’ll never know when he’ll strike again
Black Bolt releases a scream so powerful it breaks the barrier around their city
Doom flies around the world on the Surfer’s board causing chaos
The Inhuman council decrees the Royal Family (Black Bolt, Crystal, Medusa, Karnak, Triton, Gorgon) to go into the world, not in exile, but to learn
Torch attacks Doom
The other members arrive and Thing attacks and is no match
Reed tricks Doom by provoking him with a flying wing that shoots at him prompting him to follow it into space but cannot because Galactus confined Surfer’s board to stay on Earth thus causing Doom to lose his power