Wizard

The Frightful Four - Marvel Team-Up #2

by Ross Andru, 1972

As the remaining Frightful Four members (Wizard, Trapster, and Sandman) witness Spider-Man swinging by, the Wizard comes up with a scheme to "recruit" Spider-Man as their fourth member and use him to attack the Fantastic Four.

Off-panel, the Frightful Four (presumably) captures Spider-Man and brainwashes him using the Wizard's ID machine.

Using Spider-Man, the Frightful Four ambush the Human Torch as he's home alone in the Fantastic Four's headquarters at the top of the Baxter Building. After binding the Torch in an asbestos straight-jacket and the Trapster's paste, the Wizard tries to tap into the Negative Zone to drain its energy to power his own cosmic device. His actions get the attention of Annihilus, and while the Frightful Four is distracted, the Human Torch escapes.

While the Sandman and Trapster try to deal with the escape Human Torch, the Wizard attempts to prevent Annihilus from entering our world through the Negative Zone portal. The Wizard finally panics and attempts to flee, but he's stopped when Spider-Man flings the helpless Trapster into him. Spider-Man prevents Annihilus from entering our world by throwing the breaker switch on the machine and powering it down.