Fantastic Four 3

The Menace of the Miracle Man
by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby

"Set the controls on automatic, Thing... We're home!" -Mr. Fantastic

The Fantastic Four are in attendance to a performer billing himself as the Miracle Man. Spotting the super group, Miracle Man goads them that his powers are greater than theirs. He then asks that the Thing to come on stage so he can prove it. Miracle Man brings two large tree trunks on stage to see which of them can chop through them fastest with their bare hands. With one swipe of his fingers, Miracle Man is the clear victor. The rest of the team hold Thing back from attacking the man. While the foursome heads home from the show, Miracle Man schemes to make the public fear him using a movie display at a nearby cinema.

The Fantastic Four have come a long way since being hunted by the military last time. They now have their own headquarters at the top of the Baxter Building in Manhattan with many rooms devoted to Reed's science research and various modes of transportation, including a helicopter and rocket. The public seems to give them a degree of respect, perhaps saving them all from the Skrulls shook the public's interest.

As the group arrives home in the tub-shaped Fantasticar, they all start to wind down. Johnny turns on the TV to find them broadcasting the premiere of the movie the display outside the cinema that attracted Miracle Man's attention is part of. Speaking of attention, Sue reveals to the group that she's been working on costumes for the lot of them. She dresses them all in their new blue uniforms, including a helmet for Thing to hide his ugly, rocky face in. Johnny draws their attention to the TV where he spots the Miracle Man at the world premiere. It's just then that the monster display seems to come to life. The creature starts attacking the police before it completely vanishes before their eyes. Johnny correctly guesses it was the Miracle Man and to confirm it the police commissioner receives a letter from the villain stating he will take over the world. The Fantastic Four search the city. Reed finds the big green movie monster first. He attempts to stop it by netting the creature with his stretched out body, but Miracle Man hurls a brick at his head rendering the leader unconscious. After regaining his senses, Reed is berated by the commissioner for failing. Next, Johnny finds the monster. He quickly turns on his flame and tries to draw it's attention away from the atomic tank it has picked up.

Sue and Thing quickly join in to help. But first Thing gets rid of his helmet and tears off the cumbersome uniform down to the trunks. As the two race over, the monster grasps Human Torch in its fist. Just as Johnny predicted, the statue blazes into a heap of wood and ash. Before he can celebrate, the Miracle Man hits Johnny with a chemical foam from below, dousing his flame. Thing confronts the Miracle Man, but he uses his powers to make the ground beneath Thing's feet swallow him up. As the two struggle in defeat, Sue turns invisible to follow the Miracle Man in an army truck he is using to steal the atomic tank.

With Sue gone the three guys quickly lose their temper. Thing is angry again about being ugly and takes it out on Johnny. Johnny quickly hightails it out of the headquarters. Reed and Thing are left contemplating Sue's whereabouts. In a junkyard on the outskirts of the city, the army truck (along with an invisible passenger) has reached its destination. Miracle Man unloads the atomic tank and starts hiding it among the junked cars. The Invisible Girl is suddenly spotted by the nose of a junkyard dog who quickly makes her presence known to the Miracle Man. He hypnotizes her into shooting off her "4" flare gun to summon the rest of her team. Thing and Reed see the 4 in the sky and helicopter over. Johnny, who is cooling off after his tussle with Thing at a nearby diner, is alerted to it as well and flies off.

Ben and Reed land and are confronted by the Miracle Man. He appears to be wielding a giant key, but before their eyes the key's form morphs into that of a machine gun. As Miracle Man begins to fire, Reed morphs himself into a rubber ball and bounces harmlessly out of the bullets' path long enough for Thing to use his body as a shield against them. Miracle Man takes off in the atomic tank just before the Human Torch lands to join the chase. The three men procure an antique racing car to pursue the villain. Still being too slow, Torch flies up to overshoot them and uses his flame to burn bright enough to blind their foe. Thing attempts to clobber Miracle Man, but Reed holds him back. Reed threatens to let Ben loose on him unless he releases Sue from her trance. The villain agrees, which leads Reed to figure out the Miracle Man's powers. He has none, he can only perform mass hypnotism which fooled everyone into thinking he has these awesome powers. Furthermore his hypnotism power has gone away now due to the Torch's flash blinding him. Thing takes an affront to this, that Johnny was the one who saved them all. Before they can continue this argument, Johnny proclaims he's had enough of this fighting with Thing and flies off distraught and alone.

Notes:

1st appearance of Fantastic Four based in the Baxter Building in New York

1st appearance of Fantastic Four's superhero costumes

1st appearance of Miracle Man

Human Torch quits the team