January 1962
The Fantastic Four #2 (vol. 1)
“The Fantastic Four Meet the Skrulls from Outer Space!”
EIC: Stan Lee
Cover Artists: Jack Kirby, Dick Ayers
Writers: Stan Lee
Pencilers: Jack Kirby
Inkers: George Klein, Sol Brodsky
Colourists: Stan Goldberg
Letterers: John Duffy
Editors: Stan Lee
Cover Date: January 1962
Release Date: September 1961
Pages: 24
Cover Price: $0.10
SYNOPSIS:
The Thing destroys an oil rig at sea.
The Invisible Woman steals a valuable jewel.
The Human Torch shows up at the unveiling of a new monument in the Mid-West and melts it to slag before flying off.
In New York City, a snakelike arm stretches into a power plant and shuts off the power to the entire city. It appears as if the Fantastic Four have become criminals.
But soon it is revealed that the crimes were actually committed by a group of shape-shifting aliens known as the Skrull, who are trying to frame the Fantastic Four to get them out of the way as they see them as the only true power that could stop a full-scale invasion of Earth by their race.
Meanwhile, the Fantastic Four, off on a hunting trip, hear the news of their supposed misdeeds on the radio, ant that the authorities are hunting them.
But while they make plans to clear their names, soldiers surround their cabin.
No sooner are they in custody, however, than the four heroes start looking for a means of escape. Sue turns invisible and gets free.
The Human Torch melts through his cell wall whereas The Thing simply crashes through his. Mr. Fantastic finds a unique way of escaping, forcing his pliable rubber body through a vacant rivet hole in the steel cell wall.
Before the authorities can stop them, the four escape in a commandeered helicopter. Later, Reed dreams up a plan to fool the aliens into taking the Torch back to their hideout.
Once he’s there, Johnny signals his teammates with a flare gun and soon the other three members of the Fantastic Four arrive and together they subdue the Skrulls. Reed thinks up a plan to turn the tables on the Skrulls and their sinister plan for invading Earth.
The Fantastic Four, posing as the Skrull spies, take the Skrulls space craft and fly to the mothership. There, they show the Skrull leader pictures of horrible monsters, powerful weapons, and giant insects, all taken from science fiction movies and magazines.
The alien leader insists that they must flee for their lives, but Reed tells him that he and his ‘fellow Skrull spies’ will stay behind and sacrifice themselves to remove all evidence of Skrull presence on Earth to protect the Skrull empire. The leader commends them for bravery and the mothership flees the Earth’s atmosphere.
The Fantastic Four fly back to Earth, where they are still wanted fugitives, and are immediately picked up by the police. Reed tells them about the three Skrull they have held prisoner, so the police speed to the apartment hideout of the aliens. When the police open the door, they are met with horror. The Skrulls have shape-shifted into a giant snake and a metal cactus-like being.
The Fantastic Four leap into action and defeat them. The third Skrull changes into a buzzard, and flies out the window, trying to escape, but Reed stretches his arms and catches it. Now that the police believe the Fantastic Four, the heroes only have one problem – what to do with the aliens?
Shortly, Reed comes up with a brilliant plan.
He has the Skrulls shape-shift into cows and hypnotizes them into believing that they are cows. The Fantastic Four leave the transformed Skrulls in a pasture to live out the rest of their lives blissfully unaware of anything that has happened.
<<<Previous Issue in Reading Order————-Next Issue in Reading Order>>>
<<<Previous Issue in This Series————————-Next Issue in This Series>>>
No Comments