Fantastic Four (1961 series) #13

Ben Grimm and Johnny and Sue Storm are horrified by an explosion in Reed Richards' lab. They try to rescue him but he emerges in a protective stretch-suit, explaining that he'd been experimenting with a new type of rocket fuel which turned out to be even more powerful than he expected. It should enable them to beat the Reds to the Moon. He reminds them of the meteor that fell in Siberia some time ago that flattened 100 square miles of forest (presumably the 1908 Tunguska event). He suspects that the Russians developed their rocket fuel by studying the remains of that meteor, so he obtained meteor fragments from a crater in Arizona (the Barringer Crater near Canyon Diablo?) and now has his own version. He intends to convert their rocket to use it and go to the mysterious Blue Area of the Moon next week. He intends to go alone because it's dangerous but the others insist on coming with him, Thing masking his concern as anger.

But at the same time we see scientist Ivan Kragoff in Russia training 3 apes to help with his own spaceflight. A gorilla will operate the spaceship following coloured signal lights. An angry baboon is a crack shot with a gun. And an orangutan can use tools to repair machinery on command.

The next week by coincidence both craft take off together. But there's an extra wrinkle in Kragoff's plan. He's made his rocket totally transparent so when they go through the cosmic ray belt they get even more radiation than the Fantastic Four did which should make them even more powerful than them - powerful enough to rule the Solar System.

When they get to space the FF see the other spaceship and Johnny dons an atmo-web suit Reed designed for him which enables him to become Human Torch and fly in airless space. He approaches the transparent craft with a Soviet insignia and sees a man with 3 apes inside. The gorilla displays its new superstrength. The baboon can transform into anything. And the orangutan can emit magnetic waves which repel Torch from the craft. He flies back to the FF ship and reports what he's seen. Reed deduces the identity of the Russian from what he knows of their scientists.

Our heroes land in the Blue Area and find a ruined Blue City within it. They also discover it has a breathable atmosphere. Mr Fantastic stretches up high to scan for the other ship, but it is the flying Torch who finds a non-ruined transparent futuristic building. MrF picks up Invisible Girl and makes great strides to join him. Thing is left to follow alone and kicks a rock in frustration - which turns out to be the disguised baboon. Then the other 2 attack him until Kragoff calls them off, calling himself the Red Ghost. Ben finds out that it's because he can render himself intangible, and therefore not hittable, but he can still will his hand able to pick up a rock club to hit his foe with.

But a large bald man in a toga calling himself the Watcher appears and tells them to stop fighting. He surrounds the apes in floating force bubbles and then de-ghosts Kragoff. He explains that he comes from a world very far away that has been turned into a giant computer. His people roam the universe observing strange races evolving and others dying out, some through war as humans appear to be heading towards. But they only watch and never interfere. However he has chosen to break the rule. Not because they might wreck their own planet with nuclear war but because they've brought their war here to the Moon. He declares that these 2 men/teams will fight to decide which side gets the Moon. And he leaves them to it.

But suddenly Reed's elongated arm reaches across the surface of the Moon to take Ben to the strange house they've found which looks inhabited. Ben tells them it's probably the Watcher's place, and they see him inside. But the alien warps space-time to scoop them up in a whirlpool of energy and transport them to the Blue City for the contest. Reed thinks there shouldn't be a fight - instead they should agree to cooperate. But Ben doesn't think Kragoff will agree.

The battle begins as Red Ghost fires an ice-gun. He intended it to neutralise Human Torch but Mr Fantastic steps in the way to save his friend. Kragoff grabs Sue as a hostage as the baboon whirls into an asbestos sheet to smother Torch's flame. Thing tackles the gorilla but its superstrength allows it to throw him away. When he returns it stamps on the end of a very long piece of metal so that the other end lifts Grimm into the sky. And Invisible Girl is now magnetically attached to the back of the orangutan and it takes her to join its allies in a pneumatic-powered car which then goes underground.

Thing climbs down his metal pole to join Torch in melting MrF free. Reed decides they can't win with strength so they'll have to outsmart the enemy. They fashion a large metal tube which Thing can sit atop while Torch gets inside to fly it like a jet engine. The pair head off to find the foes while Reed stays behind to look for a futuristic weapon to defeat Red Ghost with.

RG has Sue and his apes in a sealed room. The apes are separated from her and a pile of food by a forcefield. He explains that hunger is how he controls the apes, and then he ghosts out of the room saying that he expects her teammates to come to rescue her and then fall into a trap. She thinks that she'd be better off with the innocent enslaved apes than with Kragoff so she seeks and finds a way to turn off the forcefield. They immediately start devouring the food. And then the superstrong gorilla breaks though the solid metal door to gain its freedom.

Meanwhile Ivan Kragoff has seen the approaching Human Torch jet and allows them to see him before ghosting through the rock wall of a tunnel. He expects the Torch to melt through the rock but he has a disintegrator ray he discovered ready to use on him and the Thing. Johnny does the melting but sister Sue suddenly arrives to warn him it's a trap. She goes through the hole invisibly and points out the ray gun which Torch lobs a fireball at to destroy it. Ghost escapes by climbing through the ground ...

... until he emerges inside the Watcher's house looking for more scientific marvels. But everything is so advanced that he can't make sense of any of it. Then the Watcher's face appears enlarged on a wall and tells him all the things he could do to him. He could send him to a limbo to spend all eternity. He could send him back to the time of the dinosaurs, or into the far future where everything is being destroyed. But instead he just brushes him out of the house like an annoying flea.

Outside he meets the FF. Reed Richards has created a paralysis ray specifically tuned to the Red Ghost, and it works. Watcher shows up and declares the winner. He also says that since mankind has reached the Moon he'll leave to watch from further away. But we see the gorilla pick up the paralysis ray and un-paralyse its master. But the apes refuse to obey him and and he sees hatred in their eyes. The last the FF see is the apes chasing after Kragoff. Our team take their rocket home and Reed intends to donate his fuel formula to NASA.