EARTH-1228 (EARTH-THE ORIGINAL MARVEL BULLPEN HAD BECOME THE FANTASTIC FOUR)

Type: Divergent Earth

Environment: Earth-like

Usual means of access: Presumably vibrational attunement

Dominant life form: Atlanteans, Humans, Skrulls

Significant Inhabitants: Dragon Men (see comments), Fantastic Four (Human Torch/Sol Brodsky, Invisible Girl/Florence Steinberg, Mister Fantastic/Stan Lee, Thing/Jack Kirby), Doctor Murrow, Johnny Romita, Marie Severin, Skrulls, Sub-Mariner, Roy Thomas

First Appearance: What If? I#11 (October, 1978)

History:
(What If? I#11 (fb)) - During a typical day at Marvel Comics, Flo Steinberg brought a mysteriously received package to Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Sol Brodsky. Upon opening the package, they found a strange metal box that suddenly began bombarding them with a shower of cosmic rays. Eventually, Kirby destroyed the box by smashing it with his shoe, but when he tried to put his shoe back on, he discovered that he had transformed into a rock-like thing. Stan and Sol quickly turned to have Flo call the hospital for Kirby, when they realized that she had apparently disappeared; but when Flo started talking, the others realized she had somehow turned invisible, just as Sol caught on fire. In order to save all the stacks of artwork for upcoming comic books from being destroyed by his fire, Sol flew outside of the Marvel offices, only to have his flame go out in mid-flight, and he started to plummet down. But Stan saved him by stretching his arm and hand outside the window to catch the falling Sol.

   Once they had calmed down, Stan read the note that had been attached to the box, which stated that they should open the box and live the ultimate fantasy, signed by the "S" People. The foursome soon decided that they would use their newfound superpowers to find the "S" People and get themselves transformed back to normal; they took the name of the Fantastic Four for the time being.

   Marvel Comics soon began publishing the Fantastic Four comic book, which became so popular that people were shrugging off school to read the books, never realizing that the adventures told within the comic were adaptations of the real adventures of Marvel's own super-powered Bullpen. The comic book company even hired new staff to take up the slack of their normal workload, and to cover for the cosmic ray-powered quartet when they were away on an adventure.

The Fantastic Four secretly leased a spacious headquarters in (their Earth's version of) the Baxter Building. After returning from a battle against the Dragon Men (see comments), Jack Kirby decided that he wanted to quit the team, but the others talked him out of it after they got him to temporarily transform back into his human form. Knowing that he could transform back at will was enough to keep Kirby with the quartet.

(What If? I#11) - Checking out some leads to the mystery of the "S" People, the Fantastic Four first went to an island belonging to scientist Doctor Murrow (see comments), where they encountered a giant caveman. After her three teammates were stunned senseless in the resulting battle, Flo defeated the giant by using a force field to surround him. Then the Fantastic Four discovered that the giant was Doctor Murrow himself; realizing that Murrow could have been transformed the same way they had been, the Four began a search of his laboratory, soon discovering a similar device to the one that transformed them. After destroying the box, the Four boarded their private submarine, bound for a new domain, that of Atlantis (see comments).

   As the FF neared the undersea kingdom, the Sub-Mariner had their submarine shot down and the team captured, claiming that they had returned to the scene of the crime. Having no idea what he meant, the Fantastic Four demanded to be set free, but the Sub-Mariner revealed that he had been given a box by the "S" People as well. As the Sub-Mariner destroyed the box, claiming that Stan Lee had created it, Jack Kirby used his massive strength to break the team out of their prison. The Sub-Mariner and the Thing erupted into a battle that was broken up when the Four explained that they were the first victims of a similar box. The Sub-Mariner then activated a device to identify lifeforms alien to Earth and located one in their immediate presence. Suddenly, one of the Atlantean guards revealed his true colors, knocking everyone in the room unconscious by using a vacuum capsule. Once they were out cold, the guard transformed back into his true form of a Skrull; he then escaped Atlantis as the Sub-Mariner and the Fantastic Four revived.

   The heroes soon traced the Skrull back to his spaceship, where the Sub-Mariner and the Thing ruptured the central section of the craft, causing a chain reaction that destroyed the entire structure, along with the Skrulls' supply of cosmic ray boxes. As they departed, the Fantastic Four had finally learned who the "S" People were, but lamented that the Skrulls would never have helped them return to normal anyway.

Comments: Created by Jack Kirby and Mike Royer.

This reality was designated Earth-1228 in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Vol.2

Roy Thomas was not depicted, nor was he ever referred to by his first name, just as "this new kid named Thomas." Also, Marie Severin was never seen, only mentioned.

Although never depicted, this FF mentioned an encounter with the Dragon Men (plural)--it seemed to be implied that these were extraterrestrial creatures of Reality-1228, so these Dragon Men probably had no connection to the Earth-616 android created by Professor Gregson Gilbert.

In regards to "an island belonging to scientist Doctor Murrow": that was a pun of the H.G. Wells book "The Island of Doctor Moreau".

And to explain the presence of the Sub-Mariner and the Atlanteans in the story, page 22 had an editor's note from Jack Kirby and Roy Thomas which stated: "On this alternate version of our Earth, the Sub-Mariner and other villains have real-life counterparts". No other villains were seen in the story, nor were any other alternate versions of Marvel heroes or other supporting characters. --Ron Fredricks

Profile by Proto-Man. Expansion by Ron Fredricks.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Earth-1228 has no known connections to

Fantastic Four

They were four comic book professionals who gained superpowers after being exposed to cosmic rays emitted from a box that was sent to them by the "S" People. They dedicated themselves to finding those responsible for their transformations and demanding that they change them back to normal. Tracing one of the boxes to an island owned by scientist Doctor Murrow, the Fantastic Four discovered that Murrow himself had been transformed by cosmic rays into a giant caveman. Once Murrow was defeated, the Four followed the trail to Atlantis, where they had a brief battle with the Sub-Mariner before discovering that the "S" People who had sent their box were actually Skrulls. The Four then teamed with the Sub-Mariner to destroy the Skrulls' entire operation.

Members of the quartet included:

Human Torch (Sol Brodsky), who had the same flame-manipulating powers of Earth-616's Human Torch (Johnny Storm).
Invisible Girl (Florence "Flo" Steinberg), who had the same invisibility and force-field generating powers of Earth-616's Invisible Girl (Sue Storm).
Mister Fantastic (Stan Lee), who had the same stretching powers and inventive genius of Earth-616's Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards).
Thing (Jack Kirby), who had the same rock-like skin, super strength, and durability of Earth-616's Thing (Ben Grimm); Kirby could also temporarily will himself back to human form.

--What If? I#11 (fb) (#11

cosmic ray boxes

Created by the Skrulls of Reality-1228, these devices emitted a shower of cosmic rays. The Skrulls apparently intended to use the boxes to mutate the human race into mindless zombies; they transported a large supply of the boxes to Earth in a spaceship and began distributing the devices.

There were at least three of these boxes known to have been sent out--the first transformed a quartet of the Marvel Comics Bullpen into the super-powered Fantastic Four; the second mutated scientist Doctor Murrow into a giant caveman; the third was sent to the Sub-Mariner, but never activated; all three of the boxes were subsequently destroyed.

Later, when the Sub-Mariner and the Thing demolished the Skrull spaceship hidden in the sea, a vast multitude of the boxes were released; but the floating mass of boxes were all destroyed in a chain reaction explosion, putting an end to the Skrulls' operation.

--What If? I#11

Doctor Murrow

Doctor Murrow was a famed scientist who owned an advanced laboratory on a private island for his experiments. After the Fantastic Four traced a box from the "S" People to Murrow, they visited the island and were attacked by a giant caveman wielding a futuristic "club". The giant fired a blast from his weapon that stunned the three male members, but the Invisible Girl surrounded him with a force field. When the giant fired his weapon again, the full force of the blast was reflected back at him, and he collapsed to the ground.

Shortly afterward, the Four discovered that the giant was actually Murrow himself, who had been mutated by the cosmic ray box.

The mutated Doctor Murrow stood about 10 feet tall, and had superhuman strength and durability; he also wielded a metallic "club" which fired an energy blast. Once possessing a brilliant mind, Murrow was reduced to a growling and grunting primitive following his mutation.

(Note: The normal pre-mutation Murrow was not depicted.)

--What If? I#11

Johnny Romita

Johnny Romita was a creative artist hired by Marvel Comics; he diligently worked at his drawing board when Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Flo Steinberg, and Sol Brodsky kept leaving town for mysterious reasons.

--What If? I#11

Skrulls

Masquerading as the "S" People, the Skrulls began sending cosmic ray boxes to various people, all in an effort to turn the world into mindless zombies.

After one of their boxes mutated four of the Marvel Comics Bullpen into the super-heroic Fantastic Four, the quartet began tracking down the boxes in an effort to find the mysterious "S" People. Tracing one of the boxes to Atlantis, the Fantastic Four were knocked out by a vacuum capsule launched by an Atlantean guard, who then revealed himself as a Skrull.

Transforming himself into a fish, the Skrull easily escaped back to his spaceship, only to have it destroyed by the Fantastic Four and the Sub-Mariner after they revived. The explosion of the Skrull ship also destroyed the other cosmic ray boxes, putting an end to the entire Skrull operation.

All of the Skrulls could change their shape at will, just like their Earth-616 counterparts.

--What If? I#11

Sub-Mariner

The Sub-Mariner was sent a cosmic ray box by the "S" People. When the Fantastic Four arrived in Atlantis searching for the box, the Sub-Mariner mistook them for the box's creators and attacked them.

After a brief fight, the Sub-Mariner agreed to help them locate the box's true creators. He then activated a device that would reveal any alien presence within Atlantis, exposing one of his Atlantean guards as a Skrull. The Skrull then knocked them all out and escaped back to the Skrull spaceship.

The Sub-Mariner and the Fantastic Four gave chase, eventually destroying the ship and all cosmic ray boxes within.

Like his Earth-616 counterpart, this Sub-Mariner could breathe underwater, and had superhuman strength, durability, and the power of flight.

--What If? I#11

images: (without ads)
What If? I#11, cover (Earth-1228 Fantastic Four battle Dr. Murrow)
What If? I#11, p2-3, pan3-6 (Stan Lee, Sol Brodsky, Jack Kirby, Flo Steinberg of Earth-1228)
What If? I#11, p1, pan2 (Earth-1228 Fantastic Four)
What If? I#11, p12, pan3 (first cosmic ray box, held by Flo Steinberg)
What If? I#11, p12, pan7 (Stan Lee and Sol Brodsky get bombarded by cosmic rays of activated box)
What If? I#11, p8, pan4 (second cosmic ray box, held by Flo Steinberg)
What If? I#11, p4, pan1 (mutated Doctor Murrow fires "club" at Fantastic Four)
What If? I#11, p4, pan3 (mutated Doctor Murrow)
What If? I#11, p19, pan5 (Johnny Romita of Earth-1228)
What If? I#11, p29, pan5 (Skrull)
What If? I#11, p30, pan1 (Skrull)
What If? I#11, p28, pan6 (Earth-1228 Sub-Mariner)
What If? I#11, p33, pan1 (Earth-1228 Sub-Mariner)

Appearances:
What If? I#11 (October, 1978) - Jack Kirby (writer/pencils/editor), Mike Royer (inks), Carl Gafford (colors), Bill Wray (letters), Roy Thomas (editor)

First posted: 12/19/2007
Last updated: 08/28/2024

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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