Fantastic Four (1961 series) #7

Our tale begins on Planet X many light years away where it's supreme ruler Kurrgo has been long-range spying on the Fantastic Four. Despite their science being a thousand years ahead of Earth's they can't stop their world being hit by another asteroid/planet. And not being big space travellers they only have 2 spaceships to evacuate their 5 billion population. So Kurrgo sends his personal robot in 1 of them to capture the FF because Reed Richards might be able to save them.

On Earth Reed tells the others that they've all been invited to Washington for a Government banquet in their honour. The other 3 make up excuses why they shouldn't go to avoid confessing their real reasons:- Johnny Storm thinks he'll burst into flame in nervousness, and his sister Sue thinks the same about her invisibility. Ben Grimm thinks he'll have to stay totally wrapped up to avoid scaring everyone and losing his temper. But Reed won't take no for an answer. Johnny has a shower to get ready until Ben turns the temperature way up, and Human Torch responds by flaming on creating lots of steam which spreads everywhere. But Reed still insists they go, even though it's interrupting his rocket fuel experiment.

As they leave in their Fantasti-Car satellites detect the approach of the spacecraft. The flying saucer is so fast that it avoids jets sent to investigate it, and the robot lands in a deserted spot and scans the world for the FF. Meanwhile the FF attend the dinner and are presented with an award for their activities. But the robot takes his saucer into the air again and bombards Washington with a hostility ray which causes the populace to get into arguments and fights and the people at the banquet to turn against our heroes. They flee from the place and have to avoid armed troops.

They make it to the F-Car but the saucer follows them and they can't shake it off. So they land on the roof of their Baxter Building HQ and confront the robot who leaves his ship to show them a mob besieging the building. It warns them that humans *will* find some way of defeating each of them. And it says that Kurrgo offers them asylum on Planet X, requesting only 1 favour in return. Reed agrees out of curiosity and the 4 board the spaceship.

When they get to Planet X they are lowered to the ground by anti-gravity in a futuristic city. The robot takes them to Kurrgo who explains about the approaching planetoid which is already causing tidal waves and volcanic eruptions, and the panicking citizenry are turning on each other. The FF only have 24 hours to save this world. Thing decides to force the robot to take them back to Earth but is batted away. Torch flames on (because *he*'s the only 1 allowed to humiliate Ben) and allows himself to reach super-nova heat, but Invisible Girl stands (visibly) in his way until he calms down.

Reed has an idea and Kurrgo shows him to their best lab. We next see the FF working away under Reed's direction. And the scientist creates a reducing gas which he tests on 2 volunteers, reducing them to 1/1000 size. He says he can't save the planet but he can save the people by firing projectiles of gas to all parts of the world. At this size they can fit all the population in *1* spacecraft, in this case a rocket. He's also created an antidote which can be released when they get to a suitable new planet.

Kurrgo says the FF can use the saucer craft to get back to Earth. But they face problems along the way as the planet continues to buckle, which require Thing's strength and MrF's stretching to overcome. As they take off we see the planets almost touching. Meanwhile the miniature alien people arrive by shuttle rockets and all board the big rocket. But miniature Kurrgo has the cannister of enlarging gas and hangs on to it because he plans to be the *only* 1 to get enlarged at the destination, to ensure his reign. However struggling with the large cannister means he misses the rocket and is left alone to die with the colliding planets.

On the way back Reed admits to the others that there was *no* enlarging gas. But they'll all be the same size at their destination, and in this universe size is only relative.