I: Feature Story: "The Micro-World of Doctor Doom!""

Pages: 22

Script: Stan Lee
Pencils: Jack Kirby
Inks: Dick Ayers
Letters: Artie Simek

First Appearance: King of Micro-World, Princess Pearla, Lizard Men of Planet Tok, Molly Margaret McSnide, Scanner Fish

Villain: Dr. Doom, Lizard Men

Guest Appearance: Ant-Man/Hank Pym, Alicia Masters, King of Micro-World, Princess Pearla

Cameo: Wasp, Molly Margaret McSnide, Scanner Fish

Marvel Milestones: First appearance of Micro-World (Microverse?)

Gadgets & Technology: Crystal Magnifying Amplifier, Molecular Ray

Synopsis: As the Human Torch flies to the Baxter Building, his trail is mistaken for a comet, illuminates an operation at a crucial moment, and throws a spotlight on robbers, who surrender to the cops. He arrives and finds his other three teammates shrunken in size and fighting to not fly into an air duct. He welds the duct shut and the team grows back to normal size. A voice seems to come out of nowhere, mocking them.

They confide in each other that this is not the first time they have reduced in size in recent days. Johnny shrunk while working on a car and was almost swallowed by the engine. Thing shrunk while lifting a 3 ton weight for excercise, then hid out in a guinea pig cage out of shame. Sue shrunk during a television interview with TV host Molly Margaret McSnide. The host assumed she had turned invisible, but Sue was terrified she would be stomped to death underfoot. Reed shrunk while flying the Fantasticar and almost lost control of the machine over Manhattan.

They decide to contact Ant-Man for help. An ant by Reed's feet relays the message and after saying goodbye to the Wasp, Ant-Man shrinks down and fires himself towards the Baxter Building with a tiny cannon. Reed places a Crystal Magnifying Amplifier over him so they can see and hear him clearly. He gives the team his shrinking and expanding serums so they can restore themselves the next time they mysteriously shrink. He leaves riding two flying ants. (Sue thinks he's really cute!)

The next day Reed tries another formula to change the Thing back into Ben Grimm. This time Alicia is alarmed by the metamorphosis. Ben decides to give up searching for a cure to remain with the woman he loves, who seems to genuinely prefer the Thing over normal Ben Grimm. Suddenly they hear a meek voice that cries "Flee for your lives! Beware of Dr. Doom!" In another locale, Johnny also hears the voice as he shows off for his classmates. And Sue, searching for a perfume that will mask her scent to dogs when invisible, hears the same voice!

The name Dr. Doom puts it all together for Reed. The last time they faced Doom, he had shrunk down into nothingness (see FF #10). Reed decides they must take the battle to him. Taking Ant-Man's serum, they shrink all the way down into the "Micro-World", an entire universe smaller than that the FF call their own. Once they arrive, they are immediately captured by Dr. Doom, who sits on a throne and commands a legion of guards to imprison them. Thing attacks but Doom shrinks the team even further until they are each the size of Doom's finger.

Doom brings them up to date on his situation. When he was reduced in size, he found the Micro-World to be a peaceful society. The King of Micro-World was impressed with Doom's scientific knowledge and allowed him to create great machines including the one to shrink the king and his daughter, Princess Pearla. This betrayal of the king is why Doom is now the ruler of Micro-World.

Doom's guards attack the tiny team but even at their reduced size, the Fantastic Four beat them easily. The Invisible Girl tries to destroy Doom's shrinking machine but trips an alarm and he captures her in a jar. Doom gasses them all and when they awake, they are in prison along with the king and princess.

They are trapped in a tower submerged in a lake of acid surrounded by Scanner Fish which monitor their every move. After Johnny hits on the princess, Sue recognizes her voice as the one who warned them of Dr. Doom. Doom wanted to marry Princess Pearla but she refused. Now she is a prisoner and Doom is allied with the Lizard Men of the Planet Tok, a fierce alien race. The huge lizard men will take the Fantastic Four as payment for their services and enslave them to do menial tasks.

Meanwhile, Ant-Man has returned to the Baxter Building to find his shrinking vials shattered on the floor. He assumes the FF has been in trouble, so he follows them down to the Micro-World but is captured by Doom's guards, yet another super-powered person Doom can trade to the Lizard Men from Tok.

Sue comes up with a plan of escape. By stripping the inner walls of their prison, they can make a crude airtight capsule which will resist the acid outside. Thing blows into a bag at the bottom for ballast and Johnny blinds the "Scanner Fish" with his flame. Once they reach the surface, they each step into the enlarging ray and search for Doom. Sue finds Ant-Man, turns invisible and unties him. Ant-Man gets revenge on his guards while the Thing knocks the Tok warships from the sky by swinging a control tower at them like a baseball bat. Sue steals Doom's weapon and he flees, escaping through a trap door and then into the enlarging ray, which brings him back to our universe. With the warriors of Tok defeated and the king and Princess Pearla restored to power, the Fantastic Four return with Ant-Man to our universe to search for Doom.