Fantastic Four #179

Issue Details

Synopsis

A ROBINSON CRUSOE IN THE NEGATIVE ZONE Reed Richards has been cast into the Negative Zone after being beaten in combat against his Counter-Earth doppelganger, the Brute, who switched their costumes in an bid to usurp his position as leader of the Fantastic Four. With his powers gone Reed fears for his survival, even as he is being attacked by creatures native to the Negative Zone. Reed uses his military-honed fighting skills to fight them off and takes a pause to rest on an asteroid in order to determine how to get out of his current predicament.   Back on Earth, the Brute tries to pose as Reed Richards when he's intruded upon when the other Fantastic Four members, Tigra, Thundra and Impossible Man arrive for a meeting. Between Thundra's unappreciated advances on Ben, Johnny ineffectual advances on Tigra, and Impossible Man's immature bantering causes the Brute to lose his temper. However, he passes it off as fatigue and his "loss of powers" and dismisses the rest of the team, deciding to take advantage of the fact that he is on a world where Susan Storm is not only not in a coma like her Counter-Earth counterpart, but also married to Reed Richards as well.   The other Fantastic Four members try to relax by watching TV. Ben gets annoyed by Thundra's continued advances and decides to skip out and go for a walk and think on his own, though his solitude is interrupted by Tigra who decides to zip in and include herself wherever Ben is going. While the two go out for a bite to eat, Reed Richards manages to start a fire in the Negative Zone, attracting a batlike creature that makes a tough meal to eat. Back on Earth, Tigra and Thing's dinner is interrupted when they spot a robot rampaging on the streets with an apparently stolen bank vault. The two battle it across the city smashing it into New York Harbor when their fight takes them to a garbage scow.   While back at the Baxter Building, Susan Richards wakes up from her bed with troubled thoughts: She isn't sure that the man she is sharing her bed with is really her husband and begins to suspect that he might be the evil Reed Richards from Counter-Earth. While in the Negative Zone, Reed Richards' thoughts are similar, wondering how long it will take for his wife to realize something is wrong. His thoughts are interrupted when he is suddenly approached by the Negative Zone's ruler, Annihilus.