I.T. Saga (Fantastic Four event)

I.T. Saga

Purpose: To initiate a nuclear war between three alternate Earths, the energies of which would be pulled through a space/time nexus to permanently empower the light/heat source of Polemachus.

Allies: Albert DeVoor, via Interlocking Technologies, Unlimited; Inter-Politan Thermo-Dynamics, Unlimited; Inter-Related Technocracies, Unlimited; Gaard
formerly Phineas of "Earth-6212" / "Earth-5D" / Fifth Dimension, Thing (Reed Richards) of Earth-721 / "Earth-A,"

Opposition: Fantastic Four (Human Torch/Johnny Storm, Invisible Girl/Sue Richards, Mr. Fantastic/Reed Richards, Thing/Ben Grimm), Thing (Reed Richards) of Earth-721 / "Earth-A"

Location: Earth-616, Earth-721 / "Earth-A,", "Earth-6212" / "Earth-5D" / Fifth Dimension

First Appearance: Fantastic Four I#160 (July, 1975)

History:
(Fantastic Four I#162 (fb) - BTS) - Arkon's scientists learned that a nuclear war between the Earths of three realities (616 [aka "Mainstream Marvel" or the "Marvel Universe"], 721 [aka Earth-A], and 6212 [aka the Fifth Dimension, or Earth-5D]) would generate enough atomic power (shunted through a nexus [hole in space/time]) to run his own world, Polemachus, for millennia. Arkon set about causing just such an inter-reality war.

(Fantastic Four I#163 (fb)) - Having learned of (presumably via his 3D Scopitron) interdimensional theories developed by men working under (presumably Earth-616's) Albert DeVoor, Arkon approached DeVoor. Examining DeVoor's theoretical diagrams of alternate worlds and a hyper-space nexus, Arkon told DeVoor of his scientists' discoveries. Arkon had DeVoor serve as his front-man to buy weapons to ensure a war between those three worlds.

(Fantastic Four I#163 (fb) - BTS) - Arkon designed a hyper-space pocket dimension surrounding the nexus, arranging things so that only two living beings could inhabit that region at the same time; if a third being entered the region, the second being would be instantly slain. Arkon made things this way because it amused him to imagine some world's champion having to face Gaard alone and hopelessly outmatched.

(Fantastic Four I#162 (fb)) <Prior to Zemu's temporary re-conquering Earth-6212 circa Fantastic Four#158-159> - Serving Arkon and working through Inter-Politan Thermo-Dynamics, Unlimited, an apparently blue-skinned DeVoor bought the rights to Phineas-6212's thermal weaponry.

(Fantastic Four I#162 (fb)) - Serving Arkon and working through Inter-Related Technocracies, Unlimited (I.T. for short), DeVoor bought out the rights to Thing/Reed Richards-721's Reed Richards Robotics, Inc., including his army of Andrones; needing cash to continue his work, Richards naively accepted.

(Fantastic Four I#162 (fb) - BTS) - From Earth-721, Inter-Related Technocracies, Unlimited sent Reed Richards Robotics, Inc.'s Andrones to assault Earth-6212.

(Fantastic Four I#161 (fb)) - Soon after the Fantastic Four departed Earth-6212 / "Fifth Dimension," Andrones from Earth-721 arrived and laid waste to most of the city before being temporarily driven off.

(Fantastic Four I#162 (fb)) - The Andrones assaulted Earth-6212's energy plants to soften that world for a full-scale invasion.

(Fantastic Four I#161 (fb) - BTS) - Via his multi-viewer, Earth-6212's Phineas identified the Andrones as coming from Earth-721's Inter-Related Technocracies, Unlimited's Reed Richards Robotics, Inc.

(Fantastic Four I#160 (fb) - BTS) - On Earth-721, when Ben and Sue Grimm visited Reed Richards' castle, they were assaulted by his monstrous robots, now under the control of Inter-Related Technocracies, Unlimited.

(Fantastic Four I#162 (fb) - BTS) - Discovering Arkon's use of his equipment, Thing/Reed Richards-721 opposed Arkon.

(Fantastic Four I#160) - On Earth-616, Arkon subdued Earth-721's Thing (Reed Richards) and then teleported away with him. Confused and initially believing this to have been her boyfriend (Thing-616/Ben Grimm), Alicia Masters rushed to the Fantastic Four for help. Upon learning that Ben Grimm was unharmed, Alicia realized the other Thing had spoken more like Reed, which led Ben to suspect this might be the same Thing (Reed Richards) he had encountered several months earlier (@ Fantastic Four I#118/2). Ben requested the aid of the Inhumans' teleporting canine, Lockjaw, and traveled to Earth-721. Arriving at Reed's castle, Ben/Thing saved Ben and Sue Grimm-721 by defeating Reed-721's robots. Ben & Sue-721 showed Ben-616 that Reed Richards Robotics, Inc. was now a division of Inter-Related Technocracies, Unlimited.

Meanwhile, Albert DeVoor, representing Interlocking Technologies, Unlimited (I.T. for short), convinced Reed-616 to sell his patents to IT to pay their debts. Enraged because he saw "selling out" as a betrayal, the Human Torch took off.

(Fantastic Four I#162 (fb) - BTS) - From Earth-6212, Inter-Politan Thermo-Dynamics, Unlimited used Phineas-6212's thermal weapons to generate intense cold on Earth-616.

(Fantastic Four I#162 (fb)) - From Earth-616, Interlocking Technologies, Unlimited used Reed Richards-616's time machine (originally designed by Victor von Doom) to summon various beings from the past to invade Earth-721: Huns, Roman Legionnaires, primitive savages [and dinosaurs] assaulted that world's New York City.

(Fantastic Four I#161) - Seeking a sympathetic shoulder, the Human Torch located the portal to "Earth-6212" in what was left of the swamp-lands of Long Island, New York City. The people of Earth-6212 mistook Johnny for one of the Andrones that had been assaulting their world, and they subdued him with weapons projecting intense cold. They were about to "dismantle" him when Phineas and Valeria arrived and stopped them. After Phineas had explained the nature of the Andrones' assaults, one of the Andrones attacked them. After destroying it, Johnny agreed to help Phineas identify and stop whomever was behind the attacks.
On Earth-721, Thing-616 accompanied Ben and Sue Grimm-721 to their world's New York City, which was under assault by a Tyrannosaurus Rex, a pteradon, and a group of Vikings sent there by Reed Richards-616's time machine (under Interlocking Technologies, Unlimited's direction). The Thing subdued the attackers and then learned they had come from his Earth, before which he was subdued by a military gas attack and taken prisoner/hostage as a representative of the world attacking them.
On Earth-616, extradimensional energies expanded the world's glaciers, crushing small cities in Northern Canada and Scandinavia while moving relentlessly southward. The source was identified as "some unguessed fifth dimension," which Reed recognized as Earth-6212. Suspecting that an interdimensional war between the worlds might ensue, Reed tuned his scanner into Earth-6212, where he found an invasion force poised to invade Earth, with the Human Torch on their side. One of the soldiers' weapons held the label "Inter-Politan Thermo-Dynamics, Unlimited."

(Fantastic Four I#162 (fb)) - Earth-616's armies prepared to assault Earth-6212.

(Fantastic Four I#162) - On Earth-712, Thing (Reed Richards) broke free from his restraints, but Arkon subdued him with another lightning bolt and then had him bound in a set of (Secondary) Adamantium chains he had obtained. Via a 3D Scopitron Image, Arkon's vizier, Greybeard, reviewed the current status of their plot.
    Thing/Reed Richards-721 futilely asked Arkon to stop this insanity.
    On Earth-616, as Mr. Fantastic worked to design a device to defrost the expanding glaciers, he was assaulted by, but defeated, a Greek Hoplite, a caveman, and an Indian with a tomahawk. Seconds later, he was contacted by Thing/Reed Richards-721 via Arkon's Scopitron, who explained DeVoor's true involvement. Reed-616 then added his will to Reed-721, enabling the latter to shatter his bonds.
    After disposing of DeVoor's lackeys, Reed and Sue-616 then confronted DeVoor in his Interlocking Technologies, Unlimited office, and via the threat of knocking his teeth out, convinced DeVoor to reveal the truth.
    Meanwhile, Reed-721 swiftly located and freed Ben-616, and the two Things broke out of the building, where they were confronted by General T.E. Ross-721 and his US Air Force troops; when Ross refused to listen to reason, the two Things prepared to flatten him. However, at that time, Ben Grimm-721 rushed forward and drew their attention to an interdimensional portal, through which the Human Torch-616 was leading Earth-6212's armies. Reed-721 subdued the Torch long enough to make him listen to reason, and soon the Torch instructed Earth-6212's forces to call off their assault and return to their world while he investigated what was really going on.
    Via an interdimensional portal, Reed-616 contacted them and forced DeVoor to reveal the full extent and purpose of the assaults. Reed-616 then sent Ben-616 a set of DeVoor's skate-like devices so he would be able to travel interdimensionally to reach and navigate the nexus. Noting that (for whatever reason), only two beings could be within the hyper-space surrounding the nexus at the same time, Reed sent Ben-616 there, and he sent the Torch-616 and Reed-721 to Polemachus to stop Arkon in case Ben-616 failed.
    Approaching the Nexus, Ben was confronted by its defender, Gaard (secretly Johnny Storm-721).

(Fantastic Four I#163) - Equipped with super-powered hockey-like equipment, Gaard kept Ben/Thing-616 from the nexus until Reed-616 and Reed/Thing-721 projected an image of Reed/Thing-721 into the void, distracting Gaard sufficiently for Ben to hurl Reed's weapon into the nexus, causing it to implode.
Meanwhile, Johnny-616 and Reed/Thing-721 subdued Arkon.
After everyone returned to their own worlds, with pressure from Richards, DeVoor promised that the various IT companies would quietly fade away on all three worlds.

(She-Hulk II#21) - Some time later, DeVoor used Interlocking Technologies to start a vacation business with his Earth-A counterpart. They sent Earth-A residents with super-powered counterparts to Earth-616 through an Atomic Resequencer to give them the powers of their Earth-616 counterparts. DeVoor greeted the empowered Earth-A residents on Earth-616 and gave them all the info they needed to know about their counterpart to prevent any problems. The plot was discovered and DeVoor got into legal trouble for participating in Secret Identity theft. DeVoor and his clients received help from Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Book. All captured clients were eventually sent back to Earth-A by DeVoor and Mr. Fantastic, who couldn't understand why he let DeVoor keep the technology in the first place.

Comments: Created by Roy Thomas, John Buscema, and Chic Stone.

Despite its appearance (IMO) as an alien world, Phineas and Valeria's world is several times referred to as "Earth of the Fifth Dimension" or Earth-5D, which is supported by the OHotMU DE: Appendix to Alien Dimensions, as well as the Official Index of the Fantastic Four.

Improved images by Ron Fredricks.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The I.T. Saga has no known connections to:

IT (Roger Kirk) - Died @ 1929, became swamp creature created from reanimated human corpse/vegetation which accumulated around his skeleton, murdered those around it until it fell into a stream, which washed the skeleton clean
The Thing That Couldn't Die* (app) @ It, by Theodore Sturgeon; adapted in Supernatural Thrillers#1
IT - see THING CALLED IT @ Strange Tales I#82
IT of Earth-58163 (Ben Grimm) - Fearsome Foursome--Fantastic Four: House of M
IT the LIVING COLOSSUS (Robert "Bob" O'Bryan) - SHIELD's Howling Commandos monster force, immense stone statue constructed by Boris Petrovski to protest oppressive nature of Soviet government, animated initially by Kigors, rampaged briefly in Moscow after being attacked by military, abandoned by Kigor after rescue party arrived, later controlled by Bob O'Bryan, reduced from 100' to 30' by Dr. Vault, used in battle against invaders from Stonus V, eventually destroyed by Hulk, rebuilt as robot, reformed by O'Bryan under control of Lotus Newmark @ Tales of Suspense I#14
It, The Silent One - robot of unknown origin, activated on ocean floor, battled Namor, destroyed after a collision against a submarine--Tales to Astonish I#92
any other characters with similar names

images: (without ads)
Fantastic Four I#162, p3, pan2-3 (diagrams summarizing conflicts between the three Earths)
Fantastic Four I#161, p18, pan1 (Inter-Politan Thermo-Dynamics logo)
Fantastic Four I#160, p17, pan9 (Inter-Related Technocracies, Unlimited logo)
Fantastic Four I#160, cover (Arkon attacks Thing/Reed Richards-721)
Fantastic Four I#162, p9, pan5 (Inter-Related Technocracies, Unlimited logo)
Fantastic Four I#161, cover (Thing/Ben Grimm battles Tyrannosaurus Rex)
Fantastic Four I#162, cover (Thing/Reed Richards-721 and Thing/Ben Grimm)
Fantastic Four I#163, cover (Fantastic Four battle Gaard)

Appearances:
Fantastic Four I#160 (July, 1975) - Roy Thomas (writer/editor), John Buscema (penciler), Chic Stone (inker)
Fantastic Four I#161-163 (August-October, 1975) - Roy Thomas (writer/editor), Rich Buckler (pencils), Joe Sinnott (inks)
She-Hulk II#21 (October, 2007) - Dan Slott & Ty Templeton (writers), Rick Burchett (penciler), Cliff Rathburn (inker), Molly Lazer (assistant editor), Tom Brevoort (editor)

First Posted: 07/21/2010
Last updated: 07/02/2023

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

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