Fantastic Four: 1234 | |
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Cover of Fantastic Four: 1234 #1. Art by Jae Lee. |
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Publication information | |
Publisher | Marvel Knights |
Schedule | Monthly |
Format | Limited series |
Genre | Superhero |
Publication date | October 2001 – January 2002 |
Number of issues | 4 |
Main character(s) | Fantastic Four |
Creative team | |
Writer(s) | Grant Morrison |
Artist(s) | Jae Lee |
Letterer(s) | Wes Abbott Richard Starkings |
Colorist(s) | José Villarrubia |
Editor(s) | Nanci Dakesian Kelly Lamy Stuart Moore Joe Quesada Bronwyn Taggart |
Collected editions | |
Fantastic Four: 1234 | ISBN 0-7851-1040-2 |
Fantastic Four: 1234 is a four-issue comic book limited series featuring the Fantastic Four, written by Grant Morrison and illustrated by Jae Lee and published by Marvel Comics under the Marvel Knights imprint.
Contents |
Plot
As the Fantastic Four experience some downtime, the Thing tries (and fails) to reconnect with his past on Yancy Street, the Invisible Woman and the Human Torch bicker with each other and Mister Fantastic withdraws to his lab to do some thinking without interruption. When the Thing attempts to gain Mister Fantastic's attention, he himself is distracted by a partially dismantled Doombot that Doctor Doom is using to transmit his voice. The Thing is tempted to try on one of the Doombot's gauntlets and is thereby teleported to Doom's castle in Latveria. Here, Doctor Doom reveals a secret about his appearance that shakes the Thing deeply. In his confused state, the Thing is convinced to walk through a time machine in order to restore his original, human form. The process is a success, but the Thing (now simply Ben Grimm) finds himself back in New York where nobody recognizes him and he is denied entry to the Baxter Building. He is then knocked over and badly injured by a hit-and-run driver.
The Invisible Woman visits Alicia Masters in order to attempt to examine and explain her feelings of rejection from her husband, as well as her attraction to Namor. After a lengthy discussion, the Invisible Woman investigates a sound of dripping and is surprised to find Namor on the roof of the building. Meanwhile, the Human Torch arrives at the Baxter Building after an unsatisfactory date as a giant creature from the Mole Man's realm breaks through the street. After struggling to fight the creature due to the rain pouring down, the Human Torch seeks help from his sister. Namor's bio-electric aura prevents the Invisible Woman from intervening and he intensifies the storm such that it snuffs out the Human Torch's flame. The Human Torch falls into the hole left by the subterranean monster.
Ben Grimm wakes in a hospital to find that his right arm has been amputated above the elbow. He remains confused about what is going on and who is responsible for it. He eventually decides to find Mister Fantastic in order to resolve things.
The Human Torch finds himself in the Mole Man's lair, along with Alicia Masters. The Invisible Woman and Namor arrive shortly thereafter and Namor gets into an argument with Mole Man. The debate reveals that Alicia and the Human Torch were promised to Mole Man by Doctor Doom in exchange for his aid. Similarly, the Invisible Woman was promised to Namor. Namor refuses to consider himself a lackey of Doom's and breaks the alliance by smashing the ground of the cave and allowing seawater to flood in.
It becomes apparent that Doctor Doom has created a machine that allows him to manipulate reality (the Prime Mover) and that he is taking down the Fantastic Four one by one. He unleashes a giant Doombot against the Baxter Building in order to destroy his final target - Mister Fantastic. However, Mister Fantastic has been aware of Doom's machinations and has constructed a similar device to the Prime Mover. This allows him to perceive the core change that Doom made to reality in order to disorient the Thing - that Doom himself is merely a physical embodiment of Mister Fantastic's dark side.
The Invisible Woman saves Ben from a blast of energy released by Doom's robot and they find the teleportation gauntlet in the rubble. Namor and the Human Torch team up to fly through the head of the gigantic Doombot, destroying its eyes. The Invisible Woman and Ben teleport to Latveria and use the time machine to revert Ben to being the Thing. The Invisible Woman then attacks Doom as he uses the Prime Mover and the machine is destroyed. The Thing teleports back to New York and clobbers the huge robot.
Collected editions
The series was collected into a trade paperback:
- Fantastic Four: 1234 (by Grant Morrison and Jae Lee, Marvel, 4-issue mini-series, 2001, tpb, 96 pages, 2004 ISBN 0-7851-1040-2)
References
- Fantastic Four: 1234 at the Grand Comics Database
- Fantastic Four: 1234 at the Comic Book DB
External links
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