You'd think punching out Skrull Ben Franklin would be more fun.

...and that only happens on the cover. Also, Marvel re-numbering is a nightmare, and variant covers a plague. From 2013, Fantastic Four #10, "Self-Evident Truths!" Written by Matt Fraction, pencils by Mark Bagley, inks by Mark Farmer.

Let's see...this was after Jonathan Hickman and before James Robinson's. I don't think I had read any of this run, but I probably hadn't read Fantastic Four regularly since Waid and Wieringo's run ended in 2005! Still, there's a good recap page here: Reed had discovered he, and probably the rest of the four, was dying; and had taken the whole family on a multidimensional journey to try and find a cure. He had also tried to cover up his condition, but Sue had found out, and Ben was showing symptoms as well, like unusual rages. This issue, Sue's condition shows, as parts of her body become invisible.

Valeria is angry over the secret; and while Reed has figured it may be an attack, she's figured it's the work of the Skrulls. Johnny's not thrilled to realize he may be sick as well, and he might have a point, with the harshest line I can recall in Fantastic Four history:

Reed had planned on visiting Dr. Rosalind Franklin in 1953; partially as part of the educational portion of their trip, but also because he knew Skrull agents were monitoring DNA research. Interesting as that might have been, they get knocked off course and end up in 1776. Their sensors show their temporal anchor was gone, but there was a Skrull nearby...as Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and John Adams work on the Declaration of Independence!

Now, the history here may be a bit dicey, and that's before you throw a Skrull in there: Jefferson was determined to include language condemning slavery. Adams pointed out the southern states would never go along with that, and that Jefferson himself owned slaves. Adams argues a more pragmatic view: the southern states were needed to gain their independence from England, and the fight against slavery would have to wait for another day. Franklin takes Jefferson's side, which Adams believes would cause the south to secede, and they would probably all hang separately, as it were.

Ben Franklin was a Skrull here, though; because he wanted slavery to continue, telling Reed, "We want you to recognize chains when we come for you." Franklin Richards and Valeria have a chat with Jefferson about slavery, with seemingly mixed results; as Reed has the Skrulls hypnotized and turned into cows. Valeria is again pissed at her dad, which Reed seems to write off to her (emotionally) becoming a teenager, rather than maybe having a point. And Ben Grimm notices the rocky shell of his fingertips seems to be crumbling...

This series ran for 17 issues--16 and a nonsense #5AU for Age of Ultron, an event I have absolutely no recollection of. Like it was retconned right outta my head. I wonder how much effort it would be to find the rest of this one out of the quarterbins (I got a lot of Robinson's issues that way) and if they're ever going to run out of ways to make poor Reed act like a dick. Seriously, I liked it better when he was bland science guy; multiple writers seem to have confused "interesting" and "unlikeable."