The placement of this story between A 26 and 27 does not work for Pym: By A 26 he's changed costume, is retired, is worried about Janet disappearing.
After reviewing this period based on the
chronology of Marvels 3, StrayLamb found this issue has nowhere to go in that vicinity.
People got stuck with anachronisms when they tried to place it later than FF 51 (Negative Zone's first official appearance although it is "sub-space" that is described, cf. FF 37, page 5 for an earlier appearance of sub-space). See the notes for FF #37, 48 and 51 in The Official Marvel Index to the Fantastic Four (1985) by George Olshevsky for background. However Olshevsky makes a slight mistake as he conflates the distortion area (sub space) with the Negative Zone. There are no reasons to think the sub space of FF 37 is different from the sub space of FF 51.
I think the intention of writer Steve Niles was to actually write a prequel (place it earlier) so that the zone would get populated with Kirby monsters. There are a few clues going this way.
Indeed, an element left unexplained in M/MOTP's current placement is Giant-Man's earlier costume, he had a new one from Avengers 15.
To explain the costume we have a few possible placements: Before A 15; After he retires in TTA 69 & ASM@ 37/2; After he regains his powers in A 51.
First hypothesis I will cast aside:
After A 51, Apr 68, when Pym regains his powers. In this case A 51 should occur before X 40, Jan 68. In X 39 when he receives his new costume, Beast complains it's too tight at the sleeves. So Beast might use the old costume while the new one gets adjusted. Captain America is in a jungle in TOS 98-100.
This hypothesis has the big drawback of Goliath going back to his old Giant-Man costume and then back to his Goliath costume.
The same drawback exists if we place the story
After TTA 69.
It leaves
Before A 15. Indeed why assume the creators involved in M/MOTP made a mistake?
I've reviewed arguments here and on other sites which placed it mistakenly later than FF 51 and after Hulk's identity got revealed. My own review below establishes these are unwarranted conclusions.
Review of chronological elements in M/MOTP:
Pages 1-3 Collector and Mole Man, can take place anytime since both characters have been around since before the Marvel era.
Page 4 Banner getting to Baxter Building and talking to Ben Grimm. Ben calls him "Blythe Danner".
Note: Ben Grimm has known Hulk's dual identity since FF 12. He met Banner there and then saw an unconscious Hulk turn into Banner in Hulk & Thing: Hard Knocks 4. So this does not need to take place after Banner's secret is publicly revealed.
Page 5 "Ross attacked me... as usual. I warned him not to make me mad." While it may read as Ross knowing Banner is Hulk, there are other scenarios where this can happen without Ross knowing: 1. Banner warned Ross not to make the Hulk mad. 2. Hulk warned Ross not to make him mad.
"Reed is in the Negative Zone." It has been assumed that this must be after FF 51, where Reed discovers the Negative Zone. There is another possibility: that FF 51 only mentions the exploration of the sub-space, since that is what FF 51 actually says. It suggests the "sub-space" Reed describes in FF 51 refers to the distortion area used to access the Negative Zone. This new sequence of events reads like Reed first discovered the Negative Zone in M/MOTP and then explored and described the sub-space in FF 51. Indded, the lifeline used in FF 51 looks like a further precaution from the loose monitoring in M/MOTP.
If you put FF 51 before M/MOTP, Ben's very casual monitoring after the Zone cost his double's life would be uncharacteristic. It reads better the other way around (M/MOTP before FF 51) with enhanced lifeline security the second time.
Page 6 Ben tries to share memories but Banner explains to him he doesn't remember much as the Hulk. This points to an early meeting between them.
Note: The comment that the Collector has been apprehended can be kept or dismissed. And there is no need to break pages 1-3 from the next pages.
Per Ben, "Cap sent a message the Avengers had business in Moscow and the X-Men are in some jungle."
Ben also says he has not seen Spider-Man for a while.
Notes: By placing M/MOTP earlier than FF 51 we can look for a story where the X-Men or Avengers are in the jungle. I found no story about Moscow. M/MOTP can also be read as the story that makes the Negative Zone more dangerous by populating it with monsters. The plot suggests this interpretation and it does explain Giant-Man's early costume.
Since Beast joins Ben & Hulk, the X-Men are not in some jungle at this time (they were in a jungle in X 9, Jan 65).
Now, Ben Grimm swapped sounds when he called Banner "Blythe Danner." He's in a weird mood, maybe he finds it funny to swap bits of information. So I checked whether the Avengers are in a jungle (and the X-Men in Moscow). The Avengers are in communist Sin-cong in A 18, Jul 65. Cap is in a South American jungle in A 15, Apr 65 but both of those happen after Giant-Man adopted a new costume.
In any case Ben is bored, in the mood for a fight and is not truthful so I suggest to place this soon after X 9 (X-Men in Savage Land jungle) as there is a big enough gap between Spider-Man's appearances in Untold Tales of Spider-Man ’97 Annual and A 11 to match two out of three of Ben's statements. By X 9 all the characters had already met each other (A 1-2, FF 11, 25 & 28, X 9) so they can be chummy.
Timeline:
X 9 Jan 65 X-Men in Savage Land jungle
...
A 15 Apr 65 Cap in South American jungle, new Giant-Man costume
...
TTA 69 Jul 65 last Giant-Man feature
...
JIM 117-119 Jun-Aug 65 Thor in Southeast Asian jungle
...
Avengers 18 Jul 65 Southeast Asian Jungle
Fantastic Four 39 (5 - 20)
Fantastic Four 40-43
...
Amazing Spider-Man Annual 37/2 last Giant-Man app
---
A 26 return of Pym, flood
FF 48-51 Galactus, description of "Sub-Space" leading to Negative Zone
A 27
Placing the story after X 9 places Reed Richards between FF 32 & 37. This is the period during which Richards is planning to travel to the Skrull Galaxy (FF 37) to avenge the death of Sue's father in FF 32. In FF 37 he calls "sub-space" the hyperspace he goes through to reach the Andromeda galaxy. His research into faster-than-light travel most probably led him to the discovery of the sub-space leading to the Negative Zone.
Conclusion: The notion that the story had to happen after FF 51 was a mistaken assumption. Giant-Man's costume, the loose monitoring of Reed's exploration by Ben, the populating event, all point to a prequel. There is nothing either in Ben and Bruce's relationship nor in Collector or Mole Man's chronologies preventing this earlier placement.
Suggested corrections:
BEAST/HENRY "HANK" PHILIP MCCOY
X 9
M/M:MOTP move here
XG /2
FF 36
...
X 21
[M/M:MOTP] move from here
X 22
COLLECTOR/TANELEER TIVAN
A 174 (14:2 - 14:4)-FB
M/M:MOTP (1 - 3) delete range
A 26-BTS
A 27-BTS
M/M:MOTP (4 - 28)-BTS delete
{A 28}
GIANT-MAN/DR. HENRY JONATHAN PYM
X 9
M/M:MOTP move here
ANADA 15-FB
TTA 63
HSMASHA 1
A 11
...
A 26 (5:5)
M/M:MOTP move from here
A 27-BTS
HULK/DR. ROBERT BRUCE BANNER
TTA 63/2 (1 - 3:6)
M/M:MOTP move here
HSMASHA 1
...
M/M:DDINO
M/M:MOTP move from here
TTA 81/2-FB
MR. FANTASTIC/REED RICHARDS
FF 33
M/M:MOTP move here
FF 34
...
FF 51
M/M:MOTP move from here
FF 52
MOLE MAN/HARVEY RUPERT ELDER
FF 31 (7:4 - 21)
M/M:MOTP move here
A 12-FB what is this? It cannot be 3:2. delete?
...
FF@ 3
M/M:MOTP move from here
TTA 80/2
THING II/MAJ. BENJAMIN J. GRIMM
ST 128
M/M:MOTP move here
FF 34
...
FF 51
M/M:MOTP move from here
FF 52