Ultimate Fantastic Four #1-12

[Col_Fury]

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #1 (February, 2004)
By Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Millar & Adam Kubert

APPEARANCES:
Reed Richards, Enid Richards (Reed’s sister), Mr. Richards (Reed’s dad), Mrs. Richards (Reed’s mom), Ben Grimm, Lumpkin, Dr. Franklin Storm, Susan Storm, Johnny Storm

SYNOPSIS:
Reed Richard is born. Ten years later, Reed is bullied in school, but his pal Ben Grimm saves him (it happens a lot). Reed’s dad seems to like Ben (the football star) more than he likes Reed. Reed builds gadgets around the house, but it only upsets his dad, who yells at him. Reed starts building things in the garage instead, and makes a teleporter (it shifts things through another dimension). Six months later, Reed shows off his teleporter at the school science fair and gets recruited into the Baxter Building, a think tank for smart kids. Reed meets Dr. Franklin Storm and his kids, Sue and Johnny. Dr. Storm tells Reed the dimension he was using to teleport things is called the “N-Zone.”

NOTE:
Yep, that’s all that happens in the first issue of a book called “Fantastic Four.” Starring a ten-year-old Reed Richards!

Ben Grimm is obviously in high school (he’s the football star and is taking trigonometry), so Reed must be taking advanced placement courses in high school, at ten years old (so he’s advanced by at least four grades). So in theory, Ben is roughly five or six years older than Reed is.

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #2 (March, 2004)
By Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Millar & Adam Kubert

APPEARANCES:
Dr. Arthur Molekevic, Victor Van Damme, Reed Richards, Susan Storm, Mrs. Richards (bts), Dr. Franklin Storm, Gen. Ross, Johnny Storm, Ben Grimm

SYNOPSIS:
Six years after the end of last issue, Reed is still working on his teleporter in addition to other stuff. Sue seems to like him but his dad still doesn’t. Reed catches Victor Van Damme going through his notes and yells at him. When Victor leaves, Reed looks over Victor’s work. The next day, Reed tells Victor his calculations look good, but he was a jerk for not asking first; Reed offers to help Victor with his projects if Victor helps Reed with his. Meanwhile, Dr. Molekevic is fired from the Baxter Building for creating mold-based life forms (on moral grounds). Five years later (now, more or less), the Baxter Building and the military prepare to test Reed’s teleporter. Ben Grimm arrives to watch. Johnny tells Reed that Sue likes him. Victor reprograms the calculations and the teleporter explodes.

NOTE:
Yep, we’re through issue two of a book called “Fantastic Four” and no one has any fantastic powers yet.

Reed is now 21 years old, so Ben is either 26 or 27, roughly. Sue seems to be roughly the same age as Reed, and Johnny is slightly younger.

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #3 (April, 2004)
By Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Millar & Adam Kubert

APPEARANCES:
Reed Richards, Gen. Ross, Dr. Franklin Storm, Ben Grimm, Johnny Storm, Susan Storm, Mole Man

SYNOPSIS:
Reed wakes up in the desert, but he’s all stretched out. The military thinks he’s a creature from another dimension and shoots him to no effect. Ben, now a rocky creature, wakes up in Mexico. Reed goes over the calculations and discovers Victor messed with them, causing the explosion. Johnny wakes up in a hospital in France and sets his room on fire. Sue wakes up in an underground cavern and is greeted by the Mole Man.

NOTE:
Hey, at least they have powers now.

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #4 (May, 2004)
By Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Millar & Adam Kubert

APPEARANCES:
Dr. Franklin Storm, Johnny Storm, Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, Susan Storm, Mole Man,

SYNOPSIS:
Dr. Storm tests Johnny’s new flame powers and Johnny figures out how to turn them on and off (after being freaked out by them). Reed tells Ben that an accident turned him into a rocky creature so Ben attacks Reed. When he notices Reed is all stretchy now he stops trying to kill him. Meanwhile, Sue has to focus to stay visible as Mole Man tells her he created an army of mold-based life forms and lives underground now. He found ancient technology that he uses to spy on the Baxter Building with. Johnny meets Ben when suddenly, a giant monster attacks the Baxter Building.

NOTE:
Sue calls Mole Man “Dr. Molevic” here, even though his name was given as “Dr. Molekevic” in issue #2.

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #5 (June, 2004)
By Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Millar & Adam Kubert

APPEARANCES:
Reed Richards, Johnny Storm, Ben Grimm, Dr. Franklin Storm, Gen. Talbot

SYNOPSIS:
Johnny figures out how to fly using his powers, but not how to project flames. Ben beats up the monster and it retreats into a hole in the ground. Reed, Ben and Johnny go into the hole to investigate. When they get to the bottom they’re surrounded by mold-creatures.

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #6 (July, 2004)
By Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Millar & Adam Kubert

APPEARANCES:
Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, Johnny Storm, Susan Storm, Mole Man, Dr. Franklin Storm

SYNOPSIS:
Mole Man introduces himself to Reed, but gets upset and throws a fit when Reed, Ben and Johnny don’t want to be his friends. He has his mold-creatures attack them, but Ben doesn’t know his strength and collapses the cavern they’re in. Sue uses her force fields (that she instinctively discovered) to save them and bring them to the surface. When they return to the Baxter Building Reed says they need to find Victor.

NOTE:
Dr. Storm calls him “Dr. Molekevic” again.

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #7 (August, 2004)
By Warren Ellis & Stuart Immonen

APPEARANCES:
Reed Richards, Dr. Franklin Storm, Victor Van Damme (also in fb), Mr. Van Damme (Victor’s dad, in fb), Vlad Tepes Dracula (in fb-fb), Sue Storm

FLASHBACKS:
On his tenth birthday, Victor Van Damme learns about his family lineage (he’s a descendant of Dracula) (fb). Dracula fights in wars (fb-fb).
SYNOPSIS:
Two month after the transporter accident and there’s still no sign of Victor Van Damme. Reed, Ben, Sue and Johnny are being kept in the Baxter Building under military supervision. Sue finally convinces Reed to let her scan his body to see what changes have taken place, and she discovers he no longer has internal organs, which explains why he hasn’t eaten since the accident. Meanwhile in Denmark, Victor Van Damme, now a robotic creature, builds a bunch of insect-like mini-robots.

NOTE:
Victor is 22 years old, so slightly older than Reed.

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #8 (August, 2004)
By Warren Ellis & Stuart Immonen

APPEARANCES:
Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, Victor Van Damme, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm

SYNOPSIS:
Victor Van Damme has built a shantytown community in Copenhagen using squatter’s rights to provide free food, water, housing, electricity and communication. He launches his robotic insects into the air. Meanwhile, Reed explains how the accident gave them powers to Ben, and he and Sue try to figure out what Ben’s strength levels are. Outside the Baxter Building, Johnny is allowed outside under military supervision. Suddenly, the Baxter Building is attacked by a swarm of robotic insects.

NOTE:
Ben is only allowed to call his parents once a week, and not allowed to leave the Baxter Building at all.

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #9 (September, 2004)
By Warren Ellis & Stuart Immonen

APPEARANCES:
Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Ben Grimm, Johnny Storm, Dr. Franklin Storm

SYNOPSIS:
Reed, Ben, Sue and Johnny destroy the attacking robotic insects, and Reed figures out they were sent by Victor Van Damme.

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #10 (October, 2004)
By Warren Ellis & Stuart Immonen

APPEARANCES:
Reed Richards, Dr. Franklin Storm, Victor Van Damme, Ben Grimm, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm

SYNOPSIS:
Dr. Storm tells Reed that the military will go after Victor Van Damme. Knowing the military won’t let them talk with Victor, Reed decides to find Victor first so they can get the programming Victor put into the teleporter that caused the accident, in the hopes that Reed can reverse the effects. They get in a flying car Reed built when he was thirteen ad fly to Europe. Meanwhile, Van Damme learns his attack failed.

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #11 (November, 2004)
By Warren Ellis & Stuart Immonen

APPEARANCES:
Victor Van Damme, Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm,

SYNOPSIS:
Victor Van Damme learns that Reed’s friends were also altered by the accident like he was. They arrive in Denmark and Victor attacks them with a rocket launcher and poison gas. Reed gets ready to attack.

NOTE:
This issue is already in the MCP.

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #12 (December, 2004)
By Warren Ellis & Stuart Immonen

APPEARANCES:
Victor Van Damme, Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, Ben Grimm

SYNOPSIS:
Everybody fights. Van Damme uses robotic tattoos he gave his shantytown residents to make them attack Reed and his friends. Reed figures out the encoding to de-activate Van Damme’s control over the people. The US Army arrives and tries to arrest Van Damme, but the Danish Army arrives and stops them; Van Damme is a Danish citizen and the US doesn’t have authority here. Van Damme refuses to give Reed the teleporter coding, so they leave with the US Army.

NOTE:
So we’re twelve issues into a series called the Fantastic Four, and there’s STILL no group calling themselves the “Fantastic Four.” Despite the covers, they don’t have “4”s on their uniforms, and they still don’t have code-names. Why do I find that frustrating?

Placement suggestions:

DOCTOR DOOM/VICTOR VAN DAMME
*ULTFF 7-FB
*{ULTFF 2}
*ULTFF 7
*ULTFF 8
*ULTFF 10
ULTFF 11
*ULTFF 12
ULTFF 30
…

DRACULA, VLAD TEPES
ULTFF 7-FB-FB

HUMAN TORCH/JOHNNY STORM
*ULTFF 1
*ULTFF 2
*ULTFF 3
*ULTFF 4
*ULTFF 5
*ULTFF 6
*ULTFF 8
*ULTFF 9
*ULTFF 10
ULTFF 11
*ULTFF 12
ULTFF 21
…

INVISIBLE WOMAN/SUSAN STORM
*ULTFF 1
*ULTFF 2
*ULTFF 3
*ULTFF 4
*ULTFF 6
*ULTFF 7
*ULTFF 8
*ULTFF 9
*ULTFF 10
ULTFF 11
*ULTFF 12
ULTFF 21
…

LUMPKIN, LT.
ULTFF 1

MOLE MAN/DR. ARTHUR MOLEKEVIC
ULTFF 2
ULTFF 3
ULTFF 4
ULTFF 6

MR. FANTASTIC/REED RICHARDS
*ULTFF 1
*ULTFF 2
*ULTFF 3
*ULTFF 4
*ULTFF 5
*ULTFF 6
*ULTFF 7
*ULTFF 8
*ULTFF 9
*ULTFF 10
ULTFF 11
*ULTFF 12
ULTFF 21
…

RICHARDS, ENID
ULTFF 1

ROSS, GEN.
*ULTFF 2
ULTMTU 2-BTS
{ULTMTU 3}
*ULTFF 3

STORM, DR. FRANKLIN
*ULTFF 1
*ULTFF 2
*ULTFF 3
*ULTFF 4
*ULTFF 5
*ULTFF 6
*ULTFF 7
*ULTFF 9
*ULTFF 10
ULTFF 21
…

TALBOT, GEN.
ULTFF 5

THING/BEN GRIMM
*ULTFF 1
*ULTFF 2
*ULTFF 3
*ULTFF 4
*ULTFF 5
*ULTFF 6
*ULTFF 8
*ULTFF 9
*ULTFF 10
ULTFF 11
*ULTFF 12
ULTFF 21
…