The FF are coming off a narrow victory over the Frightful Four. Real narrow, even with the help of Thundra, Tigra, and (unwittingly) the Impossible Man. But it's not a complete victory because Reed Richards, who has lost his powers somehow, is floating in the Negative Zone in his underwear. In his place, is the Reed Richards of Counter-Earth. Rather than stretching powers, he can transform into a giant purple guy (with green trunks, which explains why he left Reed his blue underwear but took the rest of the costume) called the Brute.
He stomped Reed, tossed him into the Negative Zone, and assumed human form. The FF are none the wiser, even when they gather for a team meeting (their) Reed arranged. Brute doesn't know what it was for, but when he snaps at them over Thing and Thundra's arguing, he's able to play it off as stress, and Sue sends everyone else away. Not like Reed being a bossy, condescending jerk is that unusual. For Brute's part, he's just ecstatic to be able to hold Sue again, since his Sue is in a coma. He plans to let her live, but kill the others, not realizing Sue is starting to notice something's off.
The rest of the team is busy watching "The Bionic Woman". Well, except Ben and Thundra. She won't stop trying to get him to admit he should dump Alicia for her, since she's a better physical match. Ben calls her a 'drag', then a 'wet blanket' and a 'millstone'. He does apologize, admitting he's distracted wondering whether he should go ahead and propose to Alicia, or let her go. Thundra, not reading the room, encourages him to dump Alicia and hook up with her instead, so Ben storms off, musing that Thundra might make a swell date - for King Kong.
Tigra slips in just before the elevator doors close, but it's not to flirt. Instead, she's wondering why Reed hasn't rescued his other self from the Negative Zone, something Ben admits to wondering himself. They head off to get some food and discuss it further.
Reed's stuck in the Negative Zone, wondering why his friends haven't rescued him. Because you're an unpleasant person to be around, Reed. But he tells himself to snap out of it, reminding himself, 'you didn't come out of World War Two just a few medals shy of Audie Murphy by standing around feeling sorry for yourself!' This is actually the second reference of the issue to Reed serving in World War 2. Reed finds some rocks floating in space that just so happen to resemble flint, and creates a fire. Which attracts some sort of bat thing he snatches out of the air, kills, cooks, and eats.
Back in NYC, Ben and Tigra are at dinner, although he seems more interested in, as she puts it, 'shocking the rubes', by eating his steak with his hands, and lighting a cigar of the next table's candles. Right about then, Tigra notes Ben's kind of cute. before Ben can come to grips with being pursued by three women, and robot runs by carrying a safe. Oh thank goodness, something to hit. The robot chucks the safe at them, but Ben catches it easily and throws it back. The robot turns out to be really hot as well, so when it catches the safe, the whole thing melts. Ben tries a direct assault, only to get baked and pummeled.
Tigra manages to buy him some time with a kick to the face (weird that worked when it shrugged off a punch from the Thing), and the fight continues to the East River. Ben throws it onto a garbage scow and smashes it and the barge with one final punch. At least in this issue, there's no hint of who sent the robot or why, as Ben notes it must have cost more than the money that was in the vault it stole.
The issue wraps up with Sue more certain than ever the Reed in their bed isn't hers, and Reed being attacked by Annihilus. Also, the Impossible Man has decided he's a Humphrey Bogart fan, which partially explains his appearance in Spider-Woman a few years later.
[4th longbox, 121st comic. Fantastic Four #179, by Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway (writers), Ron Wilson and Joe Sinnott (artists), George Roussos (colorist), Joe Rosen (letterer)]
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