Fantastic Four (Vol. 4) #10

Mar 14

Mar 14 Fantastic Four (Vol. 4) #10

Self-Evident Truths!

Philidelphia, 1776

Three of the Founding Fathers are meeting to discuss the writing of the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson is against the draft because he feels that a declaration of freedom is hypocritical as long as their young nation continues to use slaves. However, Benjamin Franklin and John Adams insist that slavery is a necessary evil of their new world and that the Senate will not approve of anything that would abolish slavery.

As this debate goes on, the Fantastic Four are still traveling through time and space and they are shocked when the Invisible Woman's powers also begin malfunctioning. This forces Reed to reveal to his children the secret reason for their adventures through time and space. Reed sits Johnny and the children down and explains everything, and although Johnny and Franklin are accepting of the reality, Valeria is upset at her father for keeping this a secret. Reed goes over his research and is convinced that what was done to them wasn't a natural occurrence or an accident, and it is something worse than an attack. After showing them proof that suggests that they were attacked, Valeria comes to the conclusion that Reed is driving at: That the Skrulls might be responsible. At that very moment, the man who appears to be Benjamin Franklin traces a strange chronal energy signature. As the Fantastic Four fight with one another other yet another secret that Reed has kept from them, the man posing as Ben Franklin reverts back to his Skrullian form, the Skrull spy finds that his chronal anchor is missing.

Elsewhere, John Adams continues to try to convince Thomas Jefferson to abandon his crusade to have slavery abolished. Adams stresses that they must tackle one issue at a time: First freedom from England, then dealing with slavery. As the Fantastic Four attempt to head to the year 1953 so Reed can learn from Rosalind Franklin the pioneer of DNA to see what they can learn from her. However, their ship is rocked in a chronal disturbance and they soon find themselves in the year 1776 instead. Their ship crash lands on Earth, where Reed quickly assesses the situation and learns that the Skrulls are active in this era.

As the Skrull posing as Benjamin Franklin returns to the other, the Fantastic Four stash their ship. While Sue is fitted with a suit to regulate her powers, Reed determines that the Skrull active on Earth has contacted his people for a pickup and a Skrull ship is now heading to Earth. At that moment, Reed takes Johnny, Franklin, and Valeria into town to deal with the Skrull spy, while Ben and Sue are delegated to deal with the arriving Skrull ship. As the Skrulls are incapacitated, Reed and the others confront the faux Benjamin Franklin and force him to come with them. Back at their ship, they manage to salvage parts to repair their ship from the Skrull vessel. Reed then uses an old hypnotic technique to force the Skrulls to assume the shape of cows and forget who they are. Reed explains the Skrulls mission here was to ensure that slavery endured in the United States so that humanity would be used to slavery when it came time for a Skrull invasion. However, in the aftermath of this battle, Valeria is more upset with her father than ever and storms off. Before the Fantastic Four can go after the Ben alerts them of a new wrinkle to their problem: His stony skin is starting to crumble away.