Issue Description

In Manhattan, a mysterious cloaked figure flies down to the Fantastic Four's building and places a strange device on the roof before flying away again. Down below, Ben Grimm and Sharon Ventura return from a shopping trip, only to be caught by the new security systems Reed Richards has put in place. Reed frees them, but is surprised to see them back so early as he though they were out watching the new Batman movie.

Outside the building, a man in a long coat and hat approaches the FF building, suddenly motivated to attack the Fantastic Four.

Inside Reed's lab, Reed, Johnny Storm and Alicia Masters are discussing news reports about the proposed Superhero Registration Act while Reed works on a new retinal-scan recognition system. Suddenly the alarm goes off and the team rush to discover that Constrictor is in the building, but has already been knocked out by the security systems. Only Reed recognizes Constrictor though, as he has never fought the Fantastic Four before. The team hand Constrictor over to the police and go back to talking about the Superhero Registration Act, since they have been called to testify before Congress about it.

Meanwhile, yet another man in a coat and hat moves towards the building, before throwing off his disguise to reveal he is the Beetle and he also moves in to attack. The Fantastic Four discuss what the Act might involve, perhaps it might outlaw superheros, and they plan to travel to DC the next morning. As Reed and Sue put Franklin to bed, the Beetle attacks, but as soon as the Fantastic Four assemble to find him, they discover he has already been chained up by the building's security machinery. Johnny recognizes the villain, but the team are still baffled as to why 'lower order' criminals are attacking them. They hand Beetle over to the police, who suggest the team keep their number handy should this pattern continue.

At breakfast the next day, the team have doubts about the Act, wondering how the government could keep so many secret superhero identities from being stolen. The building alarm goes off yet again as they talk, and they rush to discover the Shocker has been caught attempting to attack the building. The police arrive and suggest posting a permanent guard at the building.

The FF fly off to DC in their Fantasti-Car, but as they do the device planted on the roof latches itself onto their flying vehicle. Meanwhile, Thor and Captain America arrive at the FF's building. Hydrobase has just been destroyed and Cap wants to ask if they can help provide a temporary base of operations for the Avengers. As they try to enter, they briefly have to combat the building's automated defenses, but decide not to escalate the situation and fly off.

Meanwhile, other dark figures in coats and hats board trains, taxis and buses headed for DC, as the FF arrive at their destination.

Fantastic Four (1961)

Publisher

Marvel

Volume Description

The Fantastic Four were created in response to DC's Justice League and soon became the Silver Age's premier superhero team. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby collaborated on the opening 102 issues of the magazine, and told the adventures of Mr. Fantastic, the Thing, Invisible Woman and the Human Torch. This first volume ran through issue #416, before it was rebooted as Fantastic Four (vol. 2) (13 issues) as part of the short lived Heroes Reborn arc. The series was restarted again with issue 1 in Fantastic Four (vol. 3) before it reverted back to the original numbering with issue #500.

Collected Editions

Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four

Vol. 1 (Issues 1-10)Vol. 2 (#11-20, Annual #1)Vol. 3 (#21-30)Vol. 4 (#31-40, Annual #2)Vol. 5 (#41-50, Annual #3)Vol. 6 (#51-60, Annual #4)Vol. 7 (#61-71, Annual #5)Vol. 8 (#72-81, Annual #6)Vol. 9 (#82-93, Annual #7)Vol. 10 (#94-104)Vol. 11 (#105-116)Vol. 12 (#117-128)Vol. 13 (#129-141)Vol. 14 (#142-150, Giant-Size #2)

Essential Fantastic Four - Seven volumes printing #1-159

Fantastic Four Epic Collection: The World's Greatest Comic Magazine (#1-18)S.H.I.E.L.D.: The Complete Collection (#21)Fantastic Four Omnibus Vol. 1 (#1-30, Annual #1)S.H.I.E.L.D. by Lee & Kirby: The Complete Collection (#21)Fantastic Four Omnibus Vol. 2 (#31-60, Annuals #2-4)Silver Surfer Epic Collection: When Calls Galactus (#49, #55, #57-60, #72 and #74-77)Fantastic Four Omnibus Vol. 3 (#61-93)Fantastic Four Visionaries: George Perez Vol. 1 (#164-167, #170, #176-178, #184-186) Vol. 2 (#187-188, #191-192)Fantastic Four: Crusaders & Titans (#164-176)Fantastic Four: Reunited They Stand (#201-203)In Search of Galactus (#204-214)Fantastic Four Visionaries: John Byrne Vol. 0 (#215-218, #220-221) Vol. 1 (#232-240) Vol. 2 (#241-250) Vol. 3 (#251-257, Annual #17) Vol. 4 (#258-267) Vol. 5 (#268-275, Annual #18)Vol. 6 (#276-284) Vol. 7 (#285-286, Annual #19) Vol. 8 (#287-295)Fantastic Four Epic Collection: All In the Family (#296-307)Fantastic Four Epic Collection: Into the Time Stream (#334-346)Fantastic Four Visionaries: Walter Simonson Vol. 1 (#334-341) Vol. 2 (#342-346) Vol. 3 (#347-350, #352-354)Fantastic Four/Inhumans: Atlantis Rising (#401-402)Fantastic Four Epic Collection: Strange Days (#403-416)

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