Fantastic Four #217 Apr 1980
"Masquerade!"
As Reed immerses himself in the task of repairing the Baxter Building's systems from last issue,
Sue berates her husband for sending Franklin to Whisper Hill to be looked after by Agatha Harkness,
and for ignoring her protestations before walking out on her husband.
Reed however is oblivious to his wife's complaint and sends HERBIE to the central computer core to run a systems check.
Inside the core HERBIE interacts with the main computer and, with access
to all the secrets of the Fantastic Four's systems, laughs ominously to himself.
Johnny meanwhile is enjoying a night out at a New York discotheque, and meets Alison Blair, the Dazzler.
Having defended Alison from the unwanted attentions of a customer, Johnny settles back to watch Dazzler at work.
As she goes through her act Johnny is mesmerized by her mutant-powered performance.
In Sue's private quarters she comes under attack from HERBIE who threatens to kill her.
Turning invisible and trying to escape doesn't help: HERBIE uses his infrared sensors to track Sue's movements
and then knocks her out with an energy blast. He then binds the unconscious blonde girl helplessly to the wall.
Reed and Ben are busy installing a new lock on the portal in the Negative Zone chamber,
but they too come under attack from HERBIE who manages to blast Ben through the portal and into the Distortion Area.
Reed tries to rescue Ben but is kept at bay by his robot creation, which reveals that it is possessed of the intelligence of Dr. Sun.
Ben makes it back through the Negative Zone portal and grabs HERBIE, but the robot dissipates a massive electrical
current into the Thing, flooring him in the process, though giving Reed precious time to activate the FF's emergency signal.
Across town, Johnny cuts short his dance with Alison, and blazes away to answer the distress call.
As he returns to the Baxter Building, he is attacked first by compressed air guns
and then by flame retardant foam before finally being imprisoned in a vacuum chamber.
Reed manages to enter the circuitry of the building's computers and over-ride Dr. Sun's control,
thus releasing Sue and Johnny from captivity and restoring HERBIE's personality.
Realising that Dr. Sun could easily regain his control HERBIE chooses to
sacrifice himself, destroying the main computer and Dr. Sun in the process.
Written by Bill Mantlo.
Pencils by John Byrne.
Inks by Joe Sinnott.