224 days and counting...
Fantastic Four #224 (November, 1980)
"The Darkfield Illumination"
Written by Doug Moench /
Art by Bill Sienkiewicz /
Inks by Pablo Marcos
My copies of these issues are deep in storage, so this rather long (sorry)synopsis of FF#224 & 225 is from FF Plaza, one of the best FF fan sites on the net. You can read this synopsis (along with the reviewers comments) at:
http://www.ffplaza.com/
Part One: "The Darkfield Illumination"
On the frozen wastes of the Arctic Ocean stands a crystal dome that glows eerily with a crimson light that intensifies over time, forcing the exotic animals that live there to flee the dome in panic.
In Manhattan the next morning, a red mist drifts in from the sea and lingers around the city's skyscrapers. The Baxter Building's residents are not unaware of the mist's presence. Ben is watching a TV news report and thinks the Soviet Union is behind the phenomenon. Outside, above the roof of the building, Reed and Johnny are collecting a sample of the mist for analysis using a cellotex net. Sue arrives to tell Reed that while she was reading to Franklin, she lost control of her power of invisibility temporarily. Before she can begin, Reed cuts her off as Johnny suffers a similar loss of control, but thankfully Reed and Sue combine their powers to stop Johnny plunging to his death. Ben arrives on the roof to report that part of his exodermis is reverting to human form, and Reed surmises it has something to do with the red mist and suggests further study of its radioactive particulates.
Interlude: Elsewhere, two characters called Wiglif and Hrolf ponder the fate of a third, a god by the name of Korgon whose impending death they blame on the outside world. Without his tears their home for one hundred generations is doomed...
Back at the lab, Reed confirms the mist as radioactive and tracks its origin to a part of the North Pole. The Fantastic Four undertake to travel to the area, in spite of the risks posed by the intermittent loss of their powers. Leaving Franklin in the care of Alicia, the FF are soon on their way to the North Pole. On arrival the FF break out their thermal parka jackets and go on reconnaissance in the Fantasticar. Risking his power failing, Johnny scouts on ahead and spotting a crystal dome from a distance, flies on to investigate. Unfortunately as he does so, his power fails on him and he falls to the snow below. As he waits for his power to return, Johnny is confronted and captured by a group of Viking warriors, colleagues of Wiglif's. As they drag him in chains behind their snow tractor, Johnny manages to send up a weak emergency flare for the rest of the FF in spite of his failing powers. The Vikings assume Johnny to be a sorcerer and responsible for the fate of their god and so render him unconscious.
Inside the crystal dome, Wiglif and Hrolf debate Johnny's fate, and argue over who has authority while their leader is incapacitated. More warriors are dispatched to the frozen wastes to look for more outsiders and to kill them on sight. As the remaining members of the FF approach the dome, they are attacked and the Fantasticar is blown from the sky. Battle is joined, but the FF are hampered by their powers cutting out intermittently, and Reed tries to negotiate with their attackers. The Vikings insist that the FF journey with them as prisoners, with their fate to be decided by Korgon himself. Reed agrees and the team is taken to the dome.
Inside, Reed marvels that the dome is a self-contained sub-tropical ecosystem, containing examples of mutated flora and apparently heated by a greenhouse effect. Reunited with Johnny, the FF are brought in chains before the fifteen foot tall Korgon, whose eyes radiate crimson radiation. Lying on his sickbed, the god explains that it is the radiation from his eyes that powers the society within the dome, and that after one thousand years, the effort of maintaining the dome has weakened him to the point of near death.
Korgon explains that a thousand years earlier, he was a mortal named Harek Korgon, and was in love with Princess Valthjona, much to her father King Rothgar's disapproval. Fleeing their home village by night, the star-crossed lovers were caught in an extra-terrestrial explosion (that Korgon named 'the darkfield illumination') that rendered Korgon blind and Valthjona dead. Ostracized by King Rothgar, Korgon was nevertheless allowed to remain in the village, but the mutations caused by exposure to the radiation from the explosion made the villagers wary of him, and he was eventually exiled. Wandering the frozen wastes of the north, Korgon gathered together a band of followers and they made their way to the North Pole to forever isolate themselves from society. There Korgon constructed the crystal dome from his eye blasts and his followers and their descendents lived there in seclusion for a thousand years.
Korgon explains to the Fantastic Four their choice: they will heal the god so that he may replenish the energy that powers the dome for his followers, in return for which Korgon will halt the effects of the radiation on the foursome. If they refuse or fail, the Fantastic Four will die.
Part Two (#225): "The Blind God's Tears"
Wiglif and Hrolf give the Fantastic Four a tour of the crystal dome's facilities, including the generator that processes Korgon's radiation into the heat required to sustain life. Brought before Korgon again, Reed agrees to help find a way to save the god's life and in spite of Wiglif's protests that it could be the FF themselves who are responsible for Korgon's illness the foursome are freed.
Reed begins the long process of seeking a cure for Korgon's condition, and after a full day's work, the leader of the FF thinks he has the means to solve the problem, provided the FF have full and safe access to their powers again. Wiglif is suspicious, accusing the FF of trying to trick Korgon into restoring their powers so they can escape. Korgon is having none of it and uses the nullifier machine on the team, giving them their powers back. Korgon also entrusts Hrolf with the Darkfield Rod that, 'in case of treachery', can reverse the process for good.
Interlude: in Asgard, Odin the All-Seeing ponders the machinations of Wiglif and the ways of those Vikings who used once to worship the Aesir but who now follow Korgon, and primes his son the Mighty Thor for a possible mission.
Meanwhile, back inside the dome the FF prepare the sickly form of Korgon for the process Reed hopes will restore his health. On his command the machine is activated, and instead of absorbing Korgon's radiation, it returns it to the god. Korgon's almost lifeless form causes Hrolf to remind the FF that, should they have failed, they will be executed, but Reed insists that the process needs time to take effect. Suddenly Korgon stirs inside Sue's force filed and it appears that the process has been successful. Presented to the rest of Korgon's followers as heroes, a banquet is given in the FF's honour. At the height of the festivities a pensive Reed leaves to seek out Korgon, unaware that Wiglif is following him. Korgon asks Reed to make him mortal again, saying that after a thousand years the burden of immortality is too much and that he would like to die a man. Reed is compassionate, and in spite of grave reservations, agrees to conduct the procedure. When Reed starts the procedure it soon becomes clear that the machine has been sabotaged and instead of removing Korgon's radiation it is actually enhancing it. Enraged, Korgon accuses Reed of betrayal and goes on berserk rage, unleashing his radiation on the FF in an attempt to kill them. As the followers come to the aid of their god, destruction rains on the crystal dome. Eventually Korgon subdues the FF and uses the Darkfield Rod to remove their powers. Thor comes to the rescue, and distracts Korgon long enough for Sue to use the Rod on her and her colleagues. As Korgon goes insane with rage and threatens to destroy the dome, Wiglif's deception is revealed. Thor calls upon Odin for help and the Great Father intercedes, removing the excess energy that has caused Korgon's madness. Chastened and humbled, Korgon vows to repair and maintain the dome, and rule in future with wisdom, accepting his responsibility for his followers well-being. And with that the Fantastic Four take their leave.
t: I can't wait until we get into the 12 cent issues. Then we'll be getting close.
