Fantastic Four (1961 series) #6

Last issue introduced villain Dr Doom, and #4 brought back the 1940's anti-hero Sub-Mariner.

Human Torch is flying around New York City checking that Dr Doom isn't lurking. Invisible Girl returns to the Baxter Building skyscraper and uses her special belt buckle to open their private elevator which takes her up to the Fantastic Four's base in the top 5 floors where Sue Storm finds her brother Johnny already there with Mr Fantastic and Thing. Reed Richards gets a fan letter from a boy in hospital nearby and he stretches his pliable body to pop his head through the boy's window. During their chat Reed Richards explains about how the unstable molecules in his costume allow the costume to stretch with him. Meanwhile Thing has a letter from the Yancy Street Gang daring him to meet them. In answer Ben Grimm rolls up a thick sheet of titanium steel to send to them with the message that he'll meet them when they can unroll it.

Out in the Atlantic Ocean passengers on a liner see Sub-Mariner teaching tricks to dolphins. But Dr Doom arrives in his plane to suggest teaming up to get revenge on the FF. Namor leads Doom's plane in submarine mode past the ruins of the Atlantean city to his modern underwater base. He agrees to consider an alliance but stipulates that no harm must come Invisible Girl, who he fancies. Victor von Doom reminds Prince Namor how the glorious city was destroyed by a surface dwellers' H-Bomb test. Fortunately Subby was absent and his people had time to flee, but he's never found them again. Doom stokes Namor's desire for revenge on the human race and focuses it on the FF.

Victor demonstrates his invention, a remote controlled magnetic grappler that can lift any weight and take it wherever he wants. He now dismantles the device into small components that will fit in Subby's belt buckle (!). Namor agrees to take it and reassemble it in the FF's home. He heads immediately to New York, pausing only to frighten an airliner on the way, and then stalks regally through Manhattan to the Baxter Building.

Inside Johnny Storm has found his sister's photo of Sub-Mariner and confronts her with it. Sue turns invisible to try to stop him destroying it but he burns it to ash. The other 2 join them to see what the argument is about and Sue can't explain her feelings but she knows there's something good inside Namor. At this point he flies in through an open window. Mr Fantastic restrains Thing from attacking and Invisible Girl interposes herself between Torch and their foe. But Sub-Mariner willingly faces HT and survives his non-lethal attack until his flame burns out. Namor now claims to have come in peace but Reed suspects a trap. He and Johnny check all the security cameras but can't find anything wrong in the building. Namor says he's going to take Sue for a tour of the city.

But just then the whole tall building starts to rise into the air. Subby realises that Dr Doom has double-crossed him and confesses what's happening to the FF. He planted the grabber in the basement and now Doom in his plane is taking them all into space. We see Doom gloating that he's getting rid of all *5* of the people who could challenge his ambition to rule the world. The reinforced windows of the FF's part of the building will keep their air in, and the workers on the lower floors have all gone home for the night, but as a precaution they don space helmets and their costumes are spaceworthy. But their Pogo Plane is damaged in the 'take-off' (and presumably something similar has happened to their intercontinental passenger missile), so they're trapped.

Impulsive Torch flies out into space but forgets that his flame can't burn there so he has to be rescued by MrF's extendable arm. Then they start floating about weightlessly. Thing anchors Reed's feet while he stretches to reach Doom's plane, but a sudden rocket-blast burns his hands and he snaps back into the building. Thing decides to take his frustration out on Subby.

But Doom contacts them to say that he's going to send the Baxter Building on a collision course with the Sun. However Namor refreshes his strength by a swim in FF's water storage tank. And then he jumps out of the building into a passing meteor storm and leaps from rock to rock to reach Doom's plane. Doom switches on magnetism which pins SM to the steel ship, but Namor uses his superstrength to punch his fists through the metal and pull himself into the spaceship. His next move is to open the airlock to the pilot's cabin but he's repelled by an electric shock. But Namor uses the power of an electric eel to absorb the electricity and send it back through to door at Doom, electrifying everything he touches. Victor has to escape from the craft and is last seen carried away by a meteor.

Sub-Mariner uses Dr Doom's spacecraft to return the Baxter Building to its rightful spot. Sue just knew he wasn't *all* bad! The FF locate the grabber but not even Thing can dislodge it. But Subby in the plane causes it to return, and he sinks both plane and grabber in the ocean.