By the time of the Fantastic Four's struggle against the cosmically-powered Dr. Doom, we'd already seen a good deal of Johnny Storm's steadfast new friend, Wyatt Wingfoot, who had met the youngest member of the FF when the two were enrolled at Metro College and would subsequently become involved in a few of the FF's Silver Age adventures. Before the team was forced to confront Doom's threat, Wyatt and Johnny were already involved in an adventure of their own--attempting to coax the Inhumans' dimension-travelling dog, Lockjaw, into bringing them within the impenetrable barrier surrounding the Great Refuge, where Johnny's new love, Crystal, remained trapped with the rest of her family.
In hindsight, how clever of writer Stan Lee to have Lockjaw roaming the Himalayan valleys on his own when Johnny and Wyatt encounter him, thus avoiding the question of why it never occurred to Black Bolt, Crystal, or the others to simply make use of Lockjaw themselves to escape. Consequently, it fell to Johnny and Wyatt to pursue that approach (though in reverse). Yet when the Inhumans' leader, Black Bolt, manages to destroy the barrier and win their freedom, and Lockjaw has rejoined the Royal Family following their departure from the Refuge, only now does it occur to Crystal that she can reach Johnny in an instant with Lockjaw's help.
But speaking of Johnny, let's backtrack a bit to where we left things with himself and Wyatt once the conflict with Doom had escalated. With Reed working feverishly in his lab to develop a counter to Doom's power, it turns out that Johnny had his own priorities--and Doom simply couldn't stay at the top of his list.
It isn't long before Doom's activities worldwide force Johnny's hand--leaving Wyatt behind to deliver the alarming news to the rest of the FF.
Yet though Johnny fails against the overwhelming power of Doom, the FF's final battle with Doom is epic, and the madman's threat is brought to an end.
As for Wyatt, he and Johnny return to college, where, at some point, the Torch gets news that the FF are under attack by the Sandman and blazes off to join them--thereby missing an entrance that the students of Metro will be talking about for weeks to come.
Take your last look at Wyatt Wingfoot, folks--he's about to be replaced!
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