Fantastic Four #341 Jun 1990
"The Ultimate Solution"
The Fantastic Four and their allies Thor and Iron Man have come to a solution
to stop the Time Bubble that is threatening their futures: they must destroy
the future version of Galactus in order to stop him from consuming the universe,
his unyielding hunger being the source of the Time Bubble. Reed recalled their
previous attempt to stop Galactus by feeding him
the Black Celestial,
and how it only served to restore the sanity of Galactus for a brief moment.
Making eye contact, Reed believes that Galactus was giving a silent plea to
the Fantastic Four to end his life. This brings Reed to consider his first encounter with
Galactus years earlier in which the Watcher provided them with the Ultimate Nullifier,
a device that was so powerful that it could destroy an entire universe, and thus brought
enough fear into the heart of Galactus that he vowed not to consume the Earth.
Before they could go to the Worldship of Galactus, they get a sudden call from Sue on
the surface of the Earth. She and her brother Johnny had miraculously survived the
destruction of the Celestial's base hidden in the Diablo Mountain Range. Returning to
the Earth's surface in their Time-Sled, they find Sue and she explains that earlier she
was led away form the others and attacked by Johnny. She was able to knock Johnny
out and use her force field to protect them both when the base was destroyed, she
has since kept Johnny trapped in an invisible force field in order to keep herself safe.
When Reed examines Johnny, his only response is to mutter "blue woman" over and over.
Restraining Johnny aboard the Rosebud II, they then have Thor teleport them to the location
of the Worldship of Galactus. Upon entering the ship they are caught in a defense system that
seems more like a trap for pests rather than a real threat. Iron Man easily deactivates the
device with his armor and they are able to land. They then begin searching the massive ship
for the Ultimate Nullifier, with only Reed's recollection of Johnny's account where
he located it for the Watcher. Luck plays out for them when Ben stumbles upon
the Nullifier hidden in plain sight, appearing to be a mere light switch in the wall.
When Reed removes it, suddenly Sue snatches it from him with her invisible force field.
As it turns out, Sue has been possessed by
Nebula, the former member of the Council of Cross-Time Kangs
who was seeking the Black Celestial's weapon. She explains how after Reed resisted her mental control,
she took control of Johnny instead. When the others began to become suspicious of Johnny's behavior,
she then lured Sue away from the others, and swapped minds. Reed's
pleas to Nebula go unheard and she tries to activate the Ultimate Nullifier.
Instead of destroying the Fantastic Four, it feeds back and forces Nebula from Sue's body freeing her.
However the Nullifier is trapped in a sphere of nothingness that will destroy any of them upon contact.
Back within her own facilities, Sue uses her powers to pull the Nullifier to safety so that they can use it.
Returning to Galactus, they then have Thor unleash the full fury of Mjolnir, firing enough lightning into
the maw of Galactus that he briefly regains his lucidity. Reed then hands the Ultimate Nullifier over to the
world devourer, and Galactus uses it to destroy himself. With a massive sphere of nothingness expanding
outward, the heroes flee en route to the outside of the Time Bubble. As they traveled outward, Johnny
spots Nebula trapped within the bubble and tries to reach out to her in a panic, but is pulled back by Ben,
as the void seemingly consumes her. As they begin to speed back to their own time, both Iron Man and
Thor are knocked loose and lost in the time stream. The Fantastic Four meanwhile continue
to speed forward and on course, until their Time Sled is shattered and they end up crashing
in the middle of the Four Freedoms Plaza, where they believe they are home.
Story and Art by Walter Simonson.