Fantastic Four Vol. 1 # 554 - World's Greatest, Part One of Four

Overview

MARK MILLAR! BRYAN HITCH! Need we say more? All right, we will! Who is Mrs. Fantastic? And how will her return into Reed’s life rock comicdom’s First Family? Also, get ready to meet the Invisible Woman’s brand NEW super-team! This issue kicks off a year-long storyline that will make FANTASTIC FOUR “The World’s ULTIMATEST Comic Magazine!” Promise!

In the old west, Reed, Sue, Franklin, Valeria, and Ben are outrunning some natives. They are making their escape on a time sled. It seems something went wrong with a plan to go back in time. They had to rescue Ben from 1862 before they ended up here. Riding a train rail, they narrowly miss hitting an oncoming mail train before returning to the present.

With a crash, Ben goes flying and lands at Johnny's feet. He mentions to Johnny that their plan was to go to Disneyland's grand opening in 1955. They notice that Johnny's packing some stuff and ask him what's going on. They thought he wasn't moving out west to be a stunt man anymore. He tells them that he doesn't want to live of the royalties of Reed's patents the rest of his life. He figures the real money is in being in the world's biggest rock band. He bought a loft on the other side of town and is setting it up for a reality television show. He flies off to meet with his manager.

Ben realizes that this is the day he promised his old school that they'd go in and talk to the kids about being superheroes. Sue says she can't because she's forming a new group with Wasp and She-Hulk. It's a charity they're setting up to help victims of superhuman incidents. Ben manages to guilt Reed into going with him.

At the school, the teachers get ready for their arrival. One is thinking this is her chance with a superhero since she read that Reed and Sue were having marriage problems. Two hours later, the class is almost asleep as Reed has been droning on and on. Finally Ben asks them if they want to play in the Fantasicar. As the kids are now having a blast, he flirts and gets a date with another teacher, Debbie Green.

Back at the Baxter Building, Sue, Janet and Jennifer are meeting. Suddenly a woman materializes in front of them. It's Alyssa Moy, Reed's old girlfriend from college. She apologizes for her interruption and tells Sue she's only authorized to talk about the problem with Reed. She also mentions that she has married Ted Castle. Reed walks in and mentions that he's one of the smartest people on Earth. She finally tells them that the project they're working on is the biggest thing he'd ever be involved in and it will affect the entire world. She promises Sue to have him back withing twenty-four hours. They leave and Ben comments on how she's ten times hotter than he remembers. Sue just gives him a look.

Fifty miles from the North Pole, Reed arrives at the Earth-Trust. It turns out that the Trust is the most highly classified organization in the world. They take Reed through a trans-dimensional tube and arrive on Nu-World, the place where they will live when the Earth dies.