Fantastic Four #44
The Gentleman's Name is Gorgon!
Newlyweds Reed and Sue Richards work on domesticating the Baxter Building. Fed up with the couple treating he and Thing like children, Johnny storms out to ride his car. A large earthquake-like jolt surprises Johnny, and he soon finds himself being held hostage by Medusa, who claims she is trying to get away from Gorgon. Gorgon uses his feet to cause large shock waves as he steals the Fantastic Four's helicopter.
Johnny takes Medusa to the location where the Fantastic Four previously fought Dragon Man. When Medusa uses her vacuum gun on Johnny to make him flame off, it awakens the Dragon Man. The Dragon Man believes that Medusa is the Invisible Girl, so when Gorgon arrives to take Medusa, the Dragon Man defends her.
As Medusa tries to escape the scene, the Dragon Man captures Medusa and flies her back into the city. Dragon Man gets in a clash with both the Fantastic Four and Gorgon. Gorgon claims that he and Medusa are of the same race, and that she is forbidden to mingle with others. During the fight, Sue is taken away by Dragon Man while Gorgon causes an entire building to collapse under the around Fantastic Four.
Recurring Characters
Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Girl, Human Torch, Thing), Medusa, Gorgon, Dragon Man
Continuity Notes
This story takes place after the events of Fantastic Four Annual #3, where Reed and Sue got married.
Up until this point, Medusa was traditionally a foe of the Fantastic Four. Her sudden change in personality is provided in X-Men First Class (vol. 2) #15. In that story it was revealed that a device created by the Wizard was keeping Medusa under his control and kept her from regaining her lost memories. This device was destroyed by Cyclops, causing her memories to gradually return, closing the long standing plot hole explaining how Medusa regained her memories after being found with amnesia in Fantastic Four #36. It’s the position of this index that First Class is part of continuity.
This story is the first reference to the Inhuman race, of which both Gorgon and Medusa are apart of, in a publication. They are a race of genetically modified humans created by the alien Kree as first revealed in Thor #147.
As established next issue, Gorgon and the House of Agon were exiled from their homeland of Attilan by Maximus who usurped the Inhuman throne. Those events were depicted in Inhumans Special #1 which provided some details that flesh out the plot to this issue: Medusa was stricken with amnesia following a battle with the Trikon a few years prior to the modern age. In that same story it explains that Gorgon was seeking Medusa independently for Maximus in order to ensure that his parents, who were being held as political prisoners, could be freed. The reason Medusa is afraid of Gorgon here is because her memories haven't not fully returned and she only remembers how he previously pursued her in France three years prior.
Dragon Man had been hiding below the surface of Dead Man's Lake since his apparent demise in its waters back in Fantastic Four #35.
