Fantastic Four (1961 series) #17

Picking up from the end of last issue the Fantastic Four wave goodbye to Ant-Man as he flies through the air from a launching platform that Reed Richards has built for him, while Ben Grimm is reading an Ant-Man comics story. The team recall events from last issue:- Shrinking down to Dr Doom's microworld. Doom shrinking them even further and imprisoning them in a cell surrounded by acid. Sue Storm and Reed figuring out an escape plan but Doom escaping back to the 'large' world. Johnny Storm especially recalls (what we didn't see) being knighted by Princess Pearla.

Mr Fantastic uses a new super-radar device to try to detect someone wearing armour (Dr Doom but he might get Iron Man of course). Human Torch flies around using heat waves as sonar for the same purpose. Thing just patrols the streets and does see someone in armour and a green hooded cloak. But (after falling down an open manhole and bursting back up through the roadway and fortuitously saving a woman from an out-of-control car) when he confronts him it's just someone advertising a play about knights. Meanwhile Invisible Girl spots a shady-looking character getting a special gun from a professor, but it turns out to be a prototype toy.

Later they each prepare to leave the Baxter Building for separate social occasions but want to avoid their legion of fans. A janitor shows them a service exit but he was actually Doom in disguise and he's stuck trackers on them. Now he releases 4 floating humanoid forms to follow them. A yellow 1 ruins Johnny's date with a new girl Helen. His flames pass harmlessly though it. A red 1 annoys Ben out for a walk with his blind girlfriend Alicia, and his fist is equally useless. Sue is being photographed for a US Savings Bond advert, which is ruined by a white 1 with pink polka-dots. She can't even escape by turning invisible. A green 1 disrupts a ceremony to give Reed an honorary doctorate. The blobs follow them back to base where Richards  detects and removes the trackers and the blobs fade away.

Having enjoyed embarrassing his enemies Doom now moves on to his true plan to destroy them. He's noticed Thing's attraction to Alicia and now uses a grappler ray to (gently) bring her to his hovering aircraft hidden within an artificial cloud.

Later Ben sees the event reported in a newspaper. He's sure it's Doom's work and the others have to restrain the angry Thing from rushing out to find her. Then Doom confirms their fears by sending an image to warn them to stay out of his affairs or his captive will suffer. Just in case that's not enough he also says he can make the people of New York suffer with an illusion-ray, or sow spores that will choke the city with giant vines. Mr Fantastic is determined to defy him but now it's Thing's turn to urge calm for Alicia's sake. Doom gloats over setting the team against each other.

The villain sends a tape recording to the President (JFK) demanding a post in his cabinet. His request is refused so Doom causes all electronics in the USA to go wrong. Members of the Kremlin Politburo rejoice but Premiere Khrushchev points out that Doom might turn on them next. The Government send someone to ask the FF to help, and Richards says he has a plan (which is news to his teammates).

Mr Fantastic reveals to the other 3 that his electroscanner has found Doom's flying base and a UV-ray (presumably X-ray) scan has shown its insides. The craft is surrounded by disintegrator ray guns which are connected to 4 'models' of the team. Reed explains that the earlier 'followers' took very detailed scans of their bodies and the ray guns are thus programmed to fire on any of the 4 who approach. But of course Reed said he had a plan.

We all know he's been working on a serum to turn Thing human again but his attempts so far have only been very temporary (see #8 and #11). He points out that human Ben would fool the disintegrators, and Ben agrees to try it for Alicia's sake (even though he previously (#11) said that he he wanted to stay as Thing because she preferred him that way). Reed works feverishly (and long enough to get serious stubble) to concoct a solution that will change Thing long enough for him to get past Doom's defences.

At last he succeeds and Thing drinks the potion which changes him to Ben Grimm immediately. He then travels to Doom's aircraft in a magnetically-powered plastic bubble with trailing tinfoil to fool Doom's radar. But just as he reaches the zone of destruction he starts to turn craggy. With supreme will power he holds off the transformation long enough to reach the craft and then smashes his way in as Thing. And his 1st act is to destroy the disintegrator controls so that the other 3 can follow him in a rocket with a giant magnet on the front to attach it to the metal aircraft.

Doom lets them know he's seen them.They split up to search for Alicia and give him 4 targets to deal with. Torch enters a chamber which seals itself and then spins so rapidly he can't keep his flame going. But he throws everything into an explosion of fire which wrecks the spinning mechanism. Then he collapses in exhaustion for a few minutes. Mr Fantastic gets trapped in a room flooding with cement. As it sets he threads his micro-thin body through gaps and then out under the door. The floor opens up below Thing threatening to let him fall to the ground below. He clings to a pole in the centre but it's greased. However he digs his fingers into the end of the pole and then creates handholds to climb back up. Doom has monitored the 3 escapees who have now gathered together. He now sends power spheres attracted by their body heat to surround them and transport them to another dimension.

He dismisses the fact that he doesn't know where Invisible Girl is and goes into gloat mode. But then the 3 male superheroes burst in. However they can't get at him through a forcefield. Torch explains that the 3 bodies sent to another dimension were actually flame images he created. But the baddie refuses to tell them where his captive is.

Meanwhile Invisible Girl has found Alicia despairing in a chair and ignoring food laid out for her. Sue persuades her to hide in a cupboard and then takes her place waiting for Doom to return. She turns invisible and locks them in the room. Then she evades his lunges and trips him up. He hits a switch which fills the room with interlaced rods but she squirms through them to get to the switch. That's what he expected and he grabs her wrists. But she judo throws him (apparently that's something else Reed is expert in). Then he threatens to spray the room with his deadly ultra-heat gun ...

... but of course that's the point when the  other 3 break in. Sensing defeat Doom opens a hatch and dives out into the air. Our heroes see him fall until he's lost in the clouds. Ben is reunited with Alicia, Reed with Sue, and Johnny is disgusted with all his mush (probably because he failed with yet another girlfriend earlier).