I: Feature Story: "When Strikes the Silver Surfer!"

Pages: 20

Script: Stan Lee
Pencils: Jack Kirby
Inks: Joe Sinnott
Letters: Sam Rosen

First Appearance: Mrs. Binns

Guest Appearance: Silver Surfer, Alicia Masters, Wyatt Wingfoot, Lockjaw

Cameo Appearance: Mrs. Binns

Synopsis: As Reed and Sue plan to embark on their honeymoon, Ben can't get Alicia on the phone. He gets antsy over the idea that Alicia has ditched him because he's the Thing. Sue suggests he go pay her a visit, and he decides to take his sky cycle and visit her. Across the world, atop a remote mountain peak, the Silver Surfer has seen all that his new home in exile has to offer, and he decides to return to the one human who has shown him any kindness- Alicia Masters. He finds her at a seashore retreat along the Atlantic coast and tells her that since leaving her, his observations of humanity's greed and cruelty have left him despondent.

The Thing arrives shortly after the Surfer, and he barrels past Mrs. Binns, the proprietor of the house, when he overhears a male voice coming from Alicia's room. When he finds Alicia and the Surfer together, Ben punches him right through the wall! The Surfer is confused why his former friend would do such a thing, but returns to take him on more directly, sending out a blast of cosmic energy that flattens the Thing.

Johnny and Wyatt travel to the Himalayas to search for the Inhumans once again. They see a mass of locals evacuating from a creature that has been on the prowl in the nearby region. They stop to see if they can be of help, setting up camp for the night. What they don't know is that Lockjaw is watching them from the shadows.

The fight between the Surfer and the Thing turns brutal. The Silver Surfer begins to build up energy in an attempt to bring the battle to a decisive end, and the Thing races to his sky cycle, worried that the Surfer will explode in some kind of atomic blast- he must get the Surfer away from Alicia, so he tries to get the Surfer to chase him. The Surfer follows him over the skies of Manhattan and wrecks Thing's sky cycle. Thing responds by trying to crack the Surfer's board in half.

Johnny and Wyatt encounter Lockjaw, and Johnny realizes that somehow Crystal's pet has managed to move beyond the dome. He realizes that with Lockjaw may come the chance to reunite with Crystal.

Thing uses all his strength but can't even dent the Surfer's board. So he knocks the Surfer through a wall and dumps a building on his head. Reed and Sue arrive to break up the fight. Reed shames his friend, telling him that Alicia called him crying her eyes out, worried about the Thing while he has been out throwing this tantrum against the Surfer. The Surfer blasts his way out of the rubble but does not retaliate. He confides that there is much about human nature he does not understand, and apologizes if he played a part in making the Thing angry. He repairs Thing's sky cycle and leaves him with a bunch of flowers to give to Alicia.

--synopsis by Jonathan Clarke, aka doesitmatter, with Gormuu

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