Issue(s): Fantastic Four #145, Fantastic Four #146
Cover Date: Apr-May 74
Title: "Nightmare in the snow!" / "Doomsday: 200° below!"
Credits:
Gerry Conway - Writer
Ross Andru - Penciler
Joe Sinnott - Inker

Review/plot:
Continuing the "everyone's cranky" phase of the Fantastic Four, Medusa takes the Human Torch along for a ride to the Great Refuge. The Torch had just picked a pointless fight with the Thing due to the fact that he's still upset over Crystal's upcoming marriage. Medusa is summoned back by Black Bolt (i'm sure there's an explanation for how Black Bolt communicates via radio, but it's the sort of thing that might have been better done on panel)...

    

...for something called Project Revival. She won't tell Reed what that is, but we'll find out in issue #149.

Johnny and Medusa never make it to the Refuge, though, because the Pogo Plane is destroyed by cold-skinned yeti people...

...that were once trained by a great monk but now the monk is in a death-like state...

...and the yetis are reverting to their old war-like ways under a new leader, Ternak.

The Thing shows up looking for Johnny for unrelated reasons...

...but the yetis are ultimately defeated when the monk provides Medusa with a device that turns the yetis into regular temperature people, which eliminates their need to lower the temperature of the entire world.

The Thing is shown to be getting stronger, lifting 200 pounds more than he could a week ago! Or he could just be boasting.

Since this is a standalone story with fill-in art by Ross Andru, i wonder if it was originally intended for a different format. Like maybe the first giant-size issue but it didn't have the right oomph? Or it could just be guest art by Andru. But the story definitely doesn't have oomph.

The Marvel Universe Himalayas are just littered with Yeti-like creatures. These guys, the Inhuman called Yeti, the Yetis in Silver Surfer #1, and the ones from Defenders #2. The language of these guys looks similar to the ones in Defenders...

...but they have a completely different origin.

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: Takes place around the same time as Hulk #175. In that issue, the Hulk is in the Great Refuge, and it's said that Medusa is "closer than Karnak thinks", with a reference to this story. It's not clear if the group ever actually made it to the Great Refuge; presumably they did since Project Revival goes into effect, but next issue shows the three returning seemingly directly from here to deal with the problem the Thing was retrieving the Torch for in this issue.

References:

• Johnny learned about Crystal and Quicksilver in Fantastic Four #132.
  
• Johnny coming around on Reed's decision to use the Anti-Matter Ray on Franklin in Fantastic Four #141. "At first, I got mad... after all, the kid's my nephew, his mother's my sister... I had to get angry... if I didn't, I'd have been as cold as Reed. But now, I'm not so sure... maybe I haven't been fair with my brother-in-law."

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

This was almost certainly a guest shot by Andru. Rich Buckler never stayed on any title for a long time.

Marvel should have done a story with all the underground races banding together and getting in a war with all the mountain Yeti/races. Y'know do a little house cleaning.

"Medusa is summoned back by Black Bolt (i'm sure there's an explanation for how Black Bolt communicates via radio, but it's the sort of thing that might have been better done on panel)..."

No-Prize attempt - maybe he was communicating in morse code. In Marvels' Inhumans tv show, he's shown to be using sign language. Maybe he knows a lot of alternate forms of communication.

Also, in regards to Medusa's plan to get Reed & Sue back together, there must have been a safer and easier way to do that.