Fantastic Four (Vol. 3) #38
Flesh and Stone
Reed, Sue and Johnny are paying a visit to the home of Noah Baxter in Kansas, one of Reed's longest friends. There they sit down for a meal with Noah's wife Abigail. Soon after the meal they are visited by some of Noah's fellow scientists who have come to take the Fantastic Four up aboard the Alexandrea Space Station via teleportation. When they arrive, Noah is surprised to see that the Thing is not among them. Back in New York City the Thing is being accosted by members of the Yancy Street Gang after going on a bender, but the youths are chased off by the owner of the Yancy Street Bar who brings Ben into his establishment. He leaves Ben alone in a booth while he goes to fetch him some coffee. Holding of the latest letter from his ex-girlfriend Alicia Masters, Ben laments over it until a beautiful woman in a nightgown approaches him and asks if anyone is sitting with him.
Back aboard the Alexandrea, the Fantastic Four are taken outside in a shuttle where they observe that Noah is building a brand new Baxter Building for the team in space. Noah has constructed it after hearing that their old headquarters was recently destroyed, scoffing over the fact that the Gideon Trust purchased it. Reed also points out that the Trust also purchased some of his more recent patents and wonders what they could be using them for. Back on Earth, the Thing is walking through Yancy Street telling his life story to the woman he met in the bar. When she pauses to kiss him, the Thing is briefly put into a trance. When he snaps out of it the woman is gone and he is suddenly attacked by the Grey Gargoyle. As the two fight it out, Ben rounds the corner and sees that the Gargoyle has been using his powers to turn innocent people into stone. The Thing chases the Gargoyle to the Brooklyn Bridge where he is threatening to transform another victim.
Meanwhile, in space, the other three members of the Fantastic Four are being given a tour of the new Baxter Building. Reed shows them a single room where handprints are on one of the pillars. He explains that the entire building can only be activated by the bio-signatures of all four members of the Fantastic Four. When they try it without Ben it doesn't work. Noah explains that they cannot activate the new Baxter Building without all four members of the Fantastic Four present and tells them that they need to locate Ben Grimm. Back on Earth, the Thing continues to battle it out with the Grey Gargoyle. When the woman he was talking to earlier suddenly appears she distracts him long enough for the Grey Gargoyle to use his powers on the Thing, transforming him into stone. As it turns out this mystery woman was in league with the Grey Gargoyle the whole time. Soon the rest of the Fantastic Four become aware of Ben's location and situation and are teleported back down to Earth where they face off against the Grey Gargoyle and his mysterious benefactor.
At that moment at the offices of the Gideon Trust, the Trust has called in the Trapster to hire him for an expedition. He is shown a room where the Trust has both the Spot and Janus the Nega-Man hooked into a machine that uses their powers to open a portal to the Negative Zone. The long time Fantastic Four foe decides that he is going to take the job, but not as Paste-Pot Pete or the Trapster, as just himself.
Recurring Characters
Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Noah Baxter, Abigale Baxter, Grey Gargoyle, Senso, Gideon Trust (Trapster, Spot, Nega-Man), Yancy Street Gang
Continuity Notes
Abigail mentions the Fantastic Four's battle against Diablo, the destruction of Pier Four and their recent fight with the Super-Skrull this happened in Fantastic Four Vol 3 #35-37.
Sue states that if it wasn't for Noah Baxter there wouldn't be a Fantastic Four. However, this plot thread is not examined any further than the fact that Noah Baxter owned the original Baxter Building and helped the Fantastic Four settle there.
The teleporting technology used here is the same used by the Enclave in Fantastic Four #66-67.
The Yancy Street gang animosity toward the Thing is due to the fact that he was a member of their gang until he was forced to move away. They took his departure as a betrayal, as seen in Thing #1.
The mystery woman -- later identified as Senso -- is a member of the Hidden Ones, an offshoot of the Inhuman race as revealed in Fantastic Four Vol 3 #48-50.
The Fantastic Four first moved into the original Baxter Building circa Fantastic Four #3. The building was destroyed years later by Kristoff Vernard in Fantastic Four #278. The Fantastic Four built the Four Freedoms Plaza in its place and started using it as a headquarters from Fantastic Four #289-416. When the team was seemingly killed by Onslaught in Onslaught Marvel Universe #1, the Four Freedoms was taken over by the Thunderbolts in Thunderbolts #3. When they were exposed as members of the Masters of Evil in Thunderbolts #10, the Four Freedoms was heavily damaged and condemned. Its ruins were partially transported to the Blue Area of the Moon in Fantastic Four Vol 3 #3. The Fantastic Four began operating out of Pier Four in Fantastic Four Vol 3 #2 until it was destroyed in Fantastic Four Vol 3 #36.
The Thing's is upset about the letter from Alicia Masters is due to their long-standing history together. The pair had been a couple starting in Fantastic Four #9 but things got really complicated:
After being together for years, Ben decided to stay on the Beyonder's Battleworld at the end of the Secret Wars to sort out his feelings with Alicia in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #12.
Meanwhile, Alicia was kidnapped by the Skrulls and replaced by Lyja as explained in Fantastic Four #358 circa Fantastic Four #265.When the Thing returned to Earth in Fantastic Four #277, "Alicia" was in a relationship with Johnny. When Johnny and "Alicia" got married in Fantastic Four #300, Ben moved on and eventually began dating Ms. Marvel in Fantastic Four #317.
Things got rocky when Ms. Marvel got cured by Doctor Doom in Fantastic Four #350 and began spying on the Fantastic Four and Lyja's exposure and Alicia's subsequent rescue in Fantastic Four #358. Ben's romance with Marvel ending in Fantastic Four #375 and the Puppet Master's subsequent failed attempts to get Ben and Alicia to get back together in Fantastic Four #393
When Ben next saw Alicia, circa Fantastic Four Vol 3 #4 she was in a relationship with the Silver Surfer. However, their romance came to an end after the Surfer returned to space at the end of Galactus the Devourer #6.
Janus the Nega-Man is seen alive and well here even after his apparent demise back in Fantastic Four #109 when he fell into the annihilation barrier in the Negative Zone. As revealed in Fantastic Four Vol 3 #43, Janus had actually faked his death so he could continue his research on the Negative Zone in secret.
The Trapster mentions his old alias, Paste-Pot Pete, which he initially used when he started costumed villainy back in Strange Tales #104. He later changed his name to the Trapster in Fantastic Four #38 to sound more menacing. However, he has never lived down his original name.
