Fantastic Four 6

Captives of the Deadly Duo!

Coming back from a search for Doctor Doom, the Human Torch and his sister the Invisible Girl race past a crowd of startled onlookers. When Sue reaches the Baxter Building lobby, she is greeted by a young mail delivery boy who is having trouble opening an elevator. Sue explains to the kid that this particular elevator can only be accessed by members of the Fantastic Four. She demonstrates with her special belt buckle that shoots a beam to unlock the doors. Reaching the living quarters, Sue is greeted by the rest of the team. Johnny, who I assume came in through a window, informs the team that he couldn't find any trace of Doctor Doom.

Going through their mail, Reed finds a letter from a young boy in a hospital. He realizes the hospital is right across the street, so he stretches through the window into the boy's room. The boy has so many questions, the answer we are privy to is about how the Fantastic Four's clothing remains on them when they use their powers. Reed explains...

Back in the Baxter building, Thing receives a letter from the Yancy Street Gang. They've been trying to rile him up. Thing responds by using his strength to roll a 6-inch block of titanium steel up like a newspaper and sending it to them. Ben wishes for a proper fight with the likes of Namor or Doctor Doom. Sue expresses she'd rather fight Doctor Doom rather than Namor because he is just misunderstood. He is villainous because he is hurting from losing his mind and his people for so many years.

Off the coast of New York, a group of dolphins are spotted at play. Among the porpoises is one Namor, the Sub-Mariner, also at play. While guiding them through maneuvers, an aerosub from above seeks his attention. Inside is Doctor Doom, he draws Namor out to greet the Atlantean. Doom tells Namor that their goals are the same in defeating the Fantastic Four and then mankind.

Namor guides Doom down into the ocean to his home among the Atlantean ruins. Once inside Doom expresses his desire for them to team up. He notices a photo of Sue Storm and realizes that his attraction to her is why Namor has softened in his attacks on the surface. Doctor Doom coerces Namor to join him in the team's defeat. Namor agrees, if they spare the Invisible Girl. It is then Doom reveals his method for their destruction, a small, red, cylindrical gadget he calls a "Grabber" that can attach itself to any object and, no matter the weight, draw it back towards the person with the remote control. With the plan agreed upon, Namor takes the device before he breaches the ocean.
Now on the surface world, Namor flies off to New York. Walking among a busy, startled crowd towards the Baxter Building.

Inside the Baxter Building, Johnny finds a photograph of Namor tucked behind some books. Immediately figuring out it belongs to his sister, Johnny confronts her about it. Being the obnoxious teenager he is, Johnny burns the photo up with his flame while Sue rightfully expresses that he has no right to do that. Reed and Thing find out what is going on and also express their frustration towards Sue. As she tries to explain herself, Namor himself appears in the doorway.

The three men go to attack mode, but Sue guards Namor using herself as a shield. Namor brushes her away to battle the Torch, but his flame goes out before they can really get into it. Reed asks Namor to explain himself. Namor responds he is there to offer his friendship, but Reed immediately thinks it's a trap. Johnny and him search throughout the building for any signs of tampering. Coming up short, Reed can't shake the feeling that Namor is up to something. As Namor makes plans to take Sue out of the building a loud CRACK! is heard by all.

The Baxter Building's foundation is split and the building itself starts ascending through the Manhattan sky. As the structure lifts off, Namor realizes Dr. Doom has betrayed him. He gives himself away to the Fantastic Four, explaining that he planted the Grabber device in the basement of the building and now Doctor Doom is in an aircraft above them, essentially towing them up into space. They all head to the orbit plane only to find it damaged and unusable from the tower shifting. They all don space helmets as soon as they leave the atmosphere. Johnny stupidly tries to flame on and fly out a window, before he remembers he needs oxygen to flame on. Reed stretches his arm out to save the lad.

With Thing holding onto him as an anchor, Reed attempts to stretch himself up to Doom's rocket. Just out of reach, Reed fails and the rocket flames burst in his face sending him reeling back. After they patch the injured Reed up, Thing decides to strike back the only way he knows how, by beating up on Namor. As the two of them tussle, Doctor Doom's voice reverberates throughout the room. He announces his plan to send them careening into the sun.

With the Fantastic Four basically defeated, Namor comes up with a plan. He finds a water storage tank the FF conveniently have. He douses himself in the water to renew his strength. Feeling refreshed from his bath, Namor hurls himself out to an oncoming meteor swarm. Leaping from rock to rock, Namor bounces onto Doom's rocket.

As soon as he lands, Namor is pulled down magnetically to the hull. Using his mighty strength Namor tears into the side of the rocket with his bare hands. Breaching the insides of the rocket, Namor attempts to force open the cabin door to reach Doom, when he is electrocuted. Hearing Namor's commotion cease, Doctor Doom prepares to detach the Baxter Building when suddenly he is electrocuted. On the other side of the cabin door, Namor is revealed to have absorbed the electric charges into his body and resupply them into Doom's cabin, wracking the villain in pain. Doom leaps out on to one of the passing meteors, holding on tightly as it takes him far away into deep space.

With the threat of Doctor Doom gone, the Fantastic Four are able to get the Baxter Building back into its proper space in Manhattan with Namor driving Doom's rocket to help guide it back. Sue reasserts her belief that Namor is not their enemy, but is full of pain and bitterness towards humanity for what they did to his people. Johnny finds the Grabber in the basement, but even the Thing's strength won't budge it. It suddenly drops by itself and flies off out a window. The Grabber homes in on the controls inside Doom's rocket being piloted by Namor over the ocean. Namor lets the Grabber destroy the rocket, making them both inert at the bottom of the sea. Namor decides he will return there too where humanity will not stir him up yet again.

Notes:

This marks the first team up of Doctor Doom and the Sub-Mariner. A team that will resurface several times way down the road. They even get a brief lived title in the 70's. Three other firsts in this issue, we get a name for the FF's headquarters, The Baxter Building, and we get the Unstable Molecules explanation for their costumes. Also, the first mention of the Yancy Street Gang.

We see a new power of Namor's. He can absorb and channel electricity through his body like an eel. It's an ability that is rare to use, but does come up again every so often. The explanation of him having "eel" powers is silly, but I do find it interesting that he has this ability.

Sue Storm and Namor's attraction to one another becomes a broad issue in this story. I think Johnny's obnoxious behavior is explained that he is afraid of ruining the family dynamic the team has been building. He & Sue have already lost their mother and father(as far as they know) and doesn't want things to change further. This is a very important story for Sue as a character, despite all the men in her life yelling at her about it, everything she believes about the morally ambiguous Namor turns out to be true.

The List

1. Amazing Fantasy (Spider-Man) #15
2. Fantastic Four #1
3. Fantastic Four #4
4. Incredible Hulk #1
5. Fantastic Four #5
6. Amazing Adult Fantasy (X-Men) #14
7. Fantastic Four #6
8. Journey into Mystery (Thor) #83
9. Fantastic Four #2
10. Journey into Mystery (Thor) #84
11. Tales to Astonish (Ant-Man) #27
12. Fantastic Four #3
13. Incredible Hulk #2
14. Incredible Hulk #3