Appearing in "Prisoners of the Pharoah!"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Rama-Tut (First appearance) (See chronology)
Other Characters:
- Mole Man (Photo)
- Doctor Doom (Victor von Doom) (Photo)
- Puppet Master (Photo)
- Yancy Street Gang (Mentioned)
- Napoléon Bonaparte (Mentioned)
Races and Species:
Locations:
- Earth-616
- Sol
- Earth
- North America
- Africa
- Lower Egypt (approximately 2960 BC)
- Earth
- Sol
- Earth-6311 (First appearance) (31st Century)
Items:
- Fantastic Four Uniforms
- Doctor Doom's Time Platform
- Ultra-Diode Ray (First appearance; destruction)
- Optic Nerve Restorative (First appearance)
- Unstable Molecules (Mentioned)
Vehicles:
- Fantasti-Car MK II
- Pogo Plane MK I
- Rama-Tut's Time Ship (First appearance)
Synopsis for "Prisoners of the Pharoah!"
While studying an Egyptian exhibit, Reed Richards reads off a hieroglyph about a substance which apparently restored the blindness of a pharaoh during a mostly unrecorded era of the Egyptian empire. Telling Alicia of this discovery, the Fantastic Four decide to use Dr. Doom's time machine to travel into the past and retrieve this element in order to restore Alicia's vision.[Continuity 1]
There the FF are attacked by an Egyptian army that takes them, prisoner, when their powers fail them. Brought before their master, the Pharaoh known as Rama-Tut,[Continuity 2] the FF learn that he is a time traveler from the year 3000 who came to this time because his future was one without conflict and adventure and he had grown bored. He explains that upon arriving in Egyptian times.[Continuity 3] Upon his arrival, Rama-Tut lost his vision but soon restored it with a radioactive isotope from his ship and was able to conquer the area and rule. Hoping to entice the Fantastic Four to travel back in time, he planted the hieroglyph so that he could battle the historic figures.
Making Sue his "queen" and putting the other members of the Four into slavery, all seems lost until the Thing spontaneously returns to normal due to exposure to the Egyptian sun.[Continuity 4] Escaping, he is able to get a hold of Rama-Tut's Diode-Ray and free Sue, however, the radiation from the weapon returns him to his Thing-form. Freeing the others, the Fantastic Four lead up a rebellion to bust up Rama-Tut's kingdom.[Continuity 5] With no means of defending himself, Rama-Tut fled this era in his time ship,[Continuity 6] leaving the FF to find the isotope that could restore Alicia's vision. The Fantastic Four then use their Time-Platform to return to the present.[Continuity 7] However, upon traveling through Dr. Doom's time machine, Reed realizes that it won't transport radioactive substances, and so they return from their mission empty-handed.
Notes
Continuity Notes[]
- ↑ Fantastic Four Annual #11 explains that although the time machine used by the Fantastic Four here is referred to as the Time-Platform created by Doctor Doom in Fantastic Four #5, it is actually a replica created by Reed Richards. The original time machine is still located at Doom's American castle, as seen in Avengers Annual #2.
- ↑ Rama-Tut is one of many incarnations of the time traveler Nathaniel Richards, past incarnations include Iron Lad and Kid Immortus. Rama-Tut would later go on to become the Scarlet Centurion, Kang the Conqueror and finally Immortus.
- ↑ It is later revealed that Rama-Tut doesn't come from a possible future of Earth-616 but that of a parallel universe, designated Earth-6311 also known as "Other-Earth". This world did not enter a dark age in the 6th Century like on most worlds and technology continued to advance as revealed in Fantastic Four #273. This connection to Rama-Tut's future world is established in What If...? #39.
- ↑ Actually, it was Doctor Strange who freed Ben using his magics. Strange traveled back in time to this era in Doctor Strange (Vol. 2) #53 to collect the soul fragment of his colleague Morgana Blessing.
- ↑ As revealed in Rise of Apocalypse the ascension of En Sabah Nur, making him the first mutant on Earth happened at this time. Rama-Tut attempted to make En Sabah Nur his heir, instead the future mutant who would become Apocalypse was partially responsible for the rebellion against Rama-Tut.
- ↑ In Fantastic Four (Vol. 7) #17, "minutes" after vowing to destroy the Fantastic Four, Rama-Tut attempted it by trying to kill paleo-humans in Arizona 16,000 years before the present day.
- ↑ The group narrowly missed seeing the time lost Avengers West Coast, who were forced to travel backward in time. Trapped in this era, they hoped to hitch a ride back to the present with the Fantastic Four when they defeated Rama-Tut. This story reveals that it was the interference of the Avengers that prevented Rama-Tut from employing his futuristic robots and weapons to quell the uprising in his kingdom.
Chronology Notes[]
Events happen behind the scenes in this story that affect the chronology of the following characters:
Mister Fantastic:
- ⏴ Page 1-12, Panel 2 ⏵ - The Fantastic Four go back in time to Ancient Egypt and are captured by Rama-Tut's minions. Meet Rama-Tut, made prisoners.
- ⏴ Page 12, Panel 3-Page 22 ⏵ - Fantastic Four break free, defeat Rama-Tut, return to the present.
Invisible Girl:
- ⏴ Page 1-12, Panel 2 ⏵ - The Fantastic Four go back in time to Ancient Egypt and are captured by Rama-Tut's minions. Meet Rama-Tut, made prisoners.
- ⏴ Page 9-Page 12, Panel 2 ⏵ - Sue is enslaved by Rama-Tut.
- ⏴ Page 12, Panel 2-Page 13, Panel 2 ⏵ - Sue is paraded around as Rama-Tut's potential bride.
- ⏴ Page 13, Panel 3-22 ⏵ - Fantastic Four break free, defeat Rama-Tut, return to the present.
Human Torch:
- ⏴ Page 1-12, Panel 2 ⏵ - The Fantastic Four go back in time to Ancient Egypt and are captured by Rama-Tut's minions. Meet Rama-Tut, made prisoners.
- ⏴ Page 9-Page 12, Panel 2 ⏵ - Johnny is enslaved by Rama-Tut.
- ⏴ Page 12, Panel 3-22 ⏵
Thing:
- ⏴ Page 1-12, Panel 2 ⏵ - The Fantastic Four go back in time to Ancient Egypt and are captured by Rama-Tut's minions. Meet Rama-Tut, made prisoners.
- ⏴ Page 12, Panel 3-Page 12, Panel 2 ⏵ - The Thing is freed, rescues his teammates.
- ⏴ Page 12, Panel 2-22 ⏵ - Fantastic Four defeat Rama-Tut, who escapes, they return to the future.
Rama-Tut:
- Flashback:
- ⏴ Page 10, Panels 1-3 ⏵ - Nathaniel Richards grows bored of the future he was born into.
- ⏴ Page 10, Panel 4 ⏵ - Nathaniel discovers an ancient time machine.
- ⏴ Page 10, Panel 5-6 ⏵ - Richards travels back in time to ancient Egypt.
- ⏴ Page 11, Panel 1 ⏵ - Richards crashes his time machine in ancient Egypt
- ⏴ Page 11, Panel 2-3 ⏵ - Nathaniel overpowers the Egyptians.
- Main Story:
- ⏴ Page 9, Panel 1-2 ⏵ - Rama-Tut meets the Fantastic Four.
- ⏴ Page 9, Panel 3-4 ⏵ - Rama-Tut reveals that he is a time traveller.
- ⏴ Page 9, Panel 5-Page 12, Panel 2 ⏵.
- ⏴ Page 12, Panel 3-Page 13, Panel 2 ⏵
- ⏴ Page 14, Panel 3-Page 16, Panel 2 ⏵
- ⏴ Page 18-20 ⏵
Trivia
- "Pharaoh" is misspelled throughout this issue.
- This issue features a letters page: Fantastic Four Fan Page. Letters are published from Sidney D. Evans, Robert Purinton, Mrs. Beryl Wright, Curtis M. Wells, Martin Jackson, John Stone, Eddie L. Malone, Jr., Ross O'Connor, Mrs. Jo Shelby, Steve Griffin, Steve Gerber, Herbert L. Patterson, Fred Romanek, and Linda & Percy Smoke.
- This issue contains a full-page, full-color cover reproduction advertisement for X-Men #1. The Special Announcement Section also advertises the publication of Avengers #1.