Fantastic Four #151

THUNDRA AND LIGHTNING

Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm are at a haberdashery trying on new outfits, but Ben soon gives up in exasperation, saying that nothing in the store will ever improve his appearance. When the owner turns his attention to Johnny, he unfortunately makes some disparaging remarks about Ben, and an annoyed Ben brandishes his fist at the frightened man. Fortunately, Johnny calms Ben down, and a short while later, Johnny and Ben, wearing their new suits, walk back to the Baxter Building. But when Ben and Johnny approach the Baxter Building, they see that it is surrounded by a crackling glow. Alarmed, Johnny bursts into flame, reducing his new $110 suit to a cinder, and Ben flexes his muscles and tears his own $150 suit to shreds. Then Johnny flashes up to the top of the skyscraper, while Ben climbs up the wall. Johnny knows that Reed and Sue are spending the day in the country with Franklin, which means that someone is trying to invade their headquarters. Suddenly the wall next to Johnny explodes, and a powerful figure, glowing with energy, strides forth, demanding to know the whereabouts of the "she-witch," Thundra the Femizon.  Meanwhile, Medusa is walking through a park near the United Nations building, where she had gone to learn the legal status of her countrymen. After being pestered by a reporter, she meets Thundra, and the women strike up a conversation. Thundra explains that she wants to see Reed Richards, who is quite reasonable—even though he is a man. She comes from a future Earth that in a way does not yet exist. In this alternate future, women are dominant and men are reduced to slavery. Of all the Femizons, she continues, she is the strongest and the bravest. There are a thousand million alternate futures, she says, one born every time a decision is made. Thus there also exists a world called Machus, a future in which men are in power. Machus is a bestial place where women are kept as slaves and men fight eternal wars. Somehow, says Thundra, the world of Machus and the world of the Femizons have recently been drawing together, and the normally docile men of her world have begun to rebel. The Femizons have been forced to squelch the rebellion by bloody means, which is not to their liking. For this reason,