In an effort to catch up on my comic book readings, I am going back to an issue that was released slightly over a year ago. In Marvel's Fantastic Four #26 (LGY #671), Johnny Storm and Sky visit the Nexus of all Realities, which is currently being guarded by Ted Sallis (or you may know him as Man-Thing). By doing this, The Human Torch thought it might help them to better understand their own Forever Gate, which Valeria helped create by channeling the Zero Force energy that was released when the Cormorant opened Container Zero. This came about from a battle in which Doctor Doom joined together with the Fantastic Four to battle the Cormorant.
Valeria uses this new portal to visit Arboro, who wanted to make her his queen. To Valeria's disappointment, she soon finds out that she would be one of many queens sharing the throne with Arboro. She returns in a down mood only to find Franklin Richards trying to get to Krakoa. Franklin receives equally disappointing news upon his arrival when Professor X informs him that because he is not a mutant, no one there can restore his mutant powers.
Dan Slott does a masterful job of handling the many stories that are within this story, including the aside where the parents who had kids go into space with the Fantastic 4 invading Yancy Street to find out how they could get their kids back. Bringing Slott's story to life are artist R.B. Silva and color artist Jesus Aburtov. The Forever Gate is utilized to bring the space travelers back but with a few surprises.
Enter Lyja, Johnny Storms' ex-wife. In addition, she is a Skrull, who doesn't have a clue about the treaty between the Skrulls and the Kree. Needless to say, this doesn't sit well with Sky. As they are going back and forth about their relationship, various alien life start entering through the portal. Instead of monitoring the portal, Johnny Storm was distracted protecting his current relationship.
Then, everything becomes clear! These aliens are coming from the different worlds that Franklin has created. They are actually survivors from realities that have been destroyed! They are running from The Griever and the portal cannot be closed due to the possibility of killing anyone still on their way through!
