Fantastic Four #61

Issue Details

Synopsis

WHERE STALKS THE SANDMAN? Reed, Sue and Ben return to their Baxter Building headquarters following their battle against Doctor Doom, when suddenly the headquarters' defenses begin attacking the Thing. As Reed shuts down the defenses it becomes painfully obvious that someone is in their headquarters stalking them.   Meanwhile in the dungeon of Doctor Doom's castle in Latveria, Doom's guards continue to taunt their prisoner, the Silver Surfer. Suddenly, the Surfer's board smashes through the wall it returns to its rightful master following the defeat of Doctor Doom. With his Power Cosmic now restored, the Surfer takes to the skies to escape but not before decimating Doom's castle.   Back in America, the Fantastic Four begin searching for the intruder in their headquarters when the room is suddenly flooded with sand. The three are dragged into another room where the sand suddenly reforms into the Sandman. The one-time member of the Frightful Four has come with a new costume comprised of equipment previously stolen from the Baxter Building to get revenge against his foes. With more control over his powers than ever before, the Sandman mercilessly pounds his three foes and gloats how the Human Torch is not around to help them.   Meanwhile, somewhere in Europe the Inhuman royal family has settled into a new location. But Crystal has grown restless as she desperately wishes to seek out the Human Torch, whom she had fallen in love with during their last encounter. Black Bolt gives her permission to go seeking Johnny out. Crystal uses Lockjaw to teleport to America, and she materializes in the middle of the football field at Metro College where a game between Metro and Empire State University is underway. Recognizing Crystal from a description he got from Johnny, Wyatt Wingfoot tells the girl that Johnny rushed off to the Baxter Building after hearing radio reports of the Sandman's battle with his teammates.   When Johnny arrives at the Baxter Building, he gets there too late to stop the Sandman from sealing himself within Reed's Space-Time Chamber. The Torch uses his powers to melt through the wall and he attacks the Sandman along with Reed, but the pair are not prepared for the Sandman's powers. When the Torch tries to use his flame on the Sandman, he reveals a new ability of his costume: a device that mixes the sand of his body with various other substances. He chooses to mix himself with a freezing compound that when melted creates a poisonous gas. As the chamber fills with the toxic fumes, Reed quickly opens the portal to the Negative Zone in the hopes of sucking all the bad air out and saving their lives. With the possibility of being sucked through the portal, the Sandman decides to flee, smashing out of a nearby window. However, Reed is not as lucky and is sucked in through the portal just moments before the door closes. The FF then watch in horror on the view screen as they see Reed pulled into the Negative Zone and toward the area where positive and anti-matter meet explosively, threatening to end his life in the process.