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Post by BrodietheSlayer on May 26, 2017 1:27:31 GMT -5
Fantastic Four Annual #11"And Then--The Invaders!"Cover Date: June, 1976 Writer: Roy Thomas Artist: John Buscema Feature Characters: The Fantastic Four (Reed Richards, Sue Richards, Johnny Storm, and Ben Grimm) & The Invaders (Captain America, Bucky, The Sub Mariner, The Human Torch, and Toro) Villain: The Nazis & Baron Zemo (original) Special Guests: The Watcher Official Plot: The Fantastic Four are in a training session to see how well the team meshes now that Ben's powers are derived from an exo-suit instead of cosmic rays since he lost his powers fighting the Hulk. During the fight, Ben manages to break out the floor causing the group to crash to the level beneath them, much to Reed's annoyance because they are short on money. Ben tells them that all they need to do is use Dr. Doom's time machine and get some money, and enters into Reed's lab. As the group follows Ben into the next room they are surprised to find a number of Nazi soldiers waiting for them. Surprised by the Fantastic Four, the Nazi's open fire on them, however they prove to be no match for their super-powers and are easily defeated and tied up for questioning later. Upon investigating the lab, Reed notices that a cylinder of Vibranium he was examining has gone missing and theorizes that it was possibly knocked through Dr. Doom's time machine during Power Man's rampage through his lab a few days earlier. Checking his time machine, Reed's theories are confirmed as the machine has been set to the year 1946. This come as a shock to the group because the war was over by 1944, a fact that Reed and Ben know for a fact having served in the US military during World War II. They begin to puzzle out the fact that the Vibranium must have been sent back to some previous point in history. They are then visited by the Watcher, confirming to Reed that their pasts are all in peril, however the Watcher will not talk having vowed never to interfere with humanity again[1]. Reed puts together a time scope so that they can pin point the time in which history had changed. Scanning back to 1946 they are shocked to witness the Nazi army storming Cleveland, Ohio. Scanning other areas they find that New York City, London England, and Moscow are under Nazi control. Scanning back further they find that Lower Manhattan was taken over by the Nazi's in 1944, and the channel Landing in 1943. They finally find the actually point of divergence in 1942, somehow utilizing the Vibranium sent into the past the Nazi's had perfected their V-2 Rockets earlier and completed a successful attack on London. Calculating the probable point in time when the Nazi's obtained the Vibranium, the Fantastic Four set the time machine to early 1942 and hop on. In 1942, in a secret Allied base, the Invaders have gathered to discuss their plan to attack Castle Cherbelle, a location intelligence has indicated is where the Nazi's are busy creating new secret weapons in their bid to take over all of Europe. When the Fantastic Four materialize in the middle of the room, the Invaders think they are Nazi spies. Insulted and enraged at being called a Nazi, Ben attacks them causing a fight between the Fantastic Four and the Invaders until Mr. Fantastic manages to break up the fight. Explaining who they are, they offer their aid to help the Invaders, pointing out that they have a common goal. Although they are not quick to believe the FF's story about time travel, they agree to let them join the fight since what they speak of matches the intelligence they have collected. Riding to Castle Cherbelle within the Sub-Mariners air-ship when they are attacked Nazi Stukkas, however Namor's craft has superior speed and easily flies away from them. Along the way they spot the image of t he Watcher in the clouds, giving Richards the idea that they have the right idea in mind. Arriving at the Castle, the group silently sneaks into the castle, Reed has to quash his feelings of jealousy when the Sub-Mariner attempts to make a pass at Sue, and then remarks at how neither Sub-Mariner nor Captain America would recall their meeting, before splitting the two groups into teams of three to destroy the Nazi operation. Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Girl and Namor stumble upon a factory where highly advanced tanks and death rays are being constructed that are years in advance of any weapons the Nazi's should be using. In their attack, the Sub-Mariner smashes through one of the castle walls causing a flood of water to immerse the entire factory, destroying everything in sight. Namor then pulls Reed and Sue to safety. Meanwhile, Johnny, Captain America and Bucky stumble upon a battalion of Nazi soldiers and are confronted by Baron Zemo. While Johnny deals with the Nazi soldiers, Captain America clashes with Baron Zemo, striking a barrel of his Adhesive X causing it to spill on the villain's head gluing his hood to his skull for all time. Furious, Baron Zemo strikes Cap with a wrench and manage to escape, vowing to get revenge on Captain America in the future. While elsewhere in the castle, Ben, the original Human Torch and his partner Toro come across the Nazi's Vibranium enhanced V-2 rockets. As the Torch and Toro trash the rockets some of the Nazi's manage to launch one of them towards London. Ben manages to jump onto the rocket and tries to redirect it. He manages to redirect it toward the castle, destroying it. Thinking that he's been killed, Ben wakes up to find himself back in 1976 with his fellow teammates and realizes that Reed had built a device to return them to the present once their mission was accomplished. Back in their own time, Reed points out that they only recovered half the cylinder of Vibranium but considers the mission accomplished. The group goes off to celebrate. Ben tells them that he will catch up with them once he has taken off his exo-suit. As he's doing so he notices that the Watcher is still in their room. Ben realizes that their mission in the past is far from finished, and he decides to go back to 1942 and finish the job by himself. This story is continued in Marvel Two-In-One Annual #1. Brodie's View:And now, another Crossover! However, this was back when issues crossing over actually meant something, and the story involved definitely deserves the 3 parts it's getting. We start with an absolute kick ass Fantastic Four traveling through history story (with a Jack Kirby cover, no less!), as the four heroes come across a future (thanks to Reed Richards being able to somewhat duplicate Dr. Doom's time machine, for the brief time they had the actual device) where the Nazis had won WWII, thanks to their ability to create Vibranium before the Allies could and did. The FF decide to rectify that, despite the appearance of The Watcher, who should be warning enough that this is a bad idea, but despite all that, they go anyways. Once in the past, they Team Up with the original Super Hero team of the Marvel Universe, The Invaders, and the two teams attempt to stop the Nazis from getting the technology that would have changed the tide of the outcome. This leads for a lot of fun, especially given the characters, and how some have interacted since their return in the 60's. Anyways, the Good Guys triumph, but before we can see the full resolution in the past, The Thing (who is in a "Thing" exo skeleton to simulate his power during this brief period where he is actually human Ben Grimm), is transported back to 1976 by Reed. However, as the team all go off to celebrate what they've done, Ben sees The Watcher again, which kind of lets him know that something went wrong in the past, as they only came back with half of the cylinder of Vibranium. He ends the issue with deciding to go Back to the Past to try to finish the job, which will lead into the next part of this story; the First Annual for MTIO, which will depict Ben going back in time and experiencing another super hero team from that era. GRADE: A
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on May 26, 2017 23:57:57 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One Annual #1"Their Name is Legion!"Cover Date: June, 1976 Writer: Roy Thomas Artist: Sal Buscema Feature Characters: The Thing & The Liberty Legion (The Patriot, Red Raven, Jack Frost, Blue Diamond, Miss. America, The Whizzer, & The Thin Man) Villain: The Nazis, Master Man, Skyshark, Slicer, & U-Man Special Guests: The Watcher, Reed Richards, Sue Richards, Johnny Storm, & The Invaders (In Flashback) Official Plot: Continued from Fantastic Four Annual #11.... Having just returned from the year 1942 with his comrades in the Fantastic Four having prevented the Nazi's from taking advantage of a cylinder of Vibranium that was accidentally sent back in time, Ben is before the Watcher and realizes their job is far from over. Having only recovered half of the Vibranium cylinder, Ben is determined to make the Watcher tell him what he needs to know. The Watcher is honour bound to not interfere with the affairs of humans and remains silent. When the rest of the Fantastic Four realize what's going on, Ben bars them from Reed's lab determined to handle the problem by himself. Going over the events that led up to this catastrophe, how he and the rest of the FF travelled back to 1942 and aided the Invaders in crushing Baron Zemo's weapons factory that was utilizing the time displaced Vibranium. As the World Trade Centre vanishes from existence, Ben realizes that the Vibranium cylinder must have been broken in half in the time stream and activates Dr. Doom's time machine before the the entire Baxter Building is erased from history as well. He appears in the middle of New York City circa 1942, where he meets a young boy named John Romita. There even though he reveals that he is a human in an exo-suit he is accosted by the police who think that he is a Nazi spy. Angered again by being called a Nazi he attacks the officers when suddenly the fight is interrupted when air raid sirens go off. Off in the distance a battalion of Nazi Stukkas are crossing over the horizon much to Ben's surprise because as far as he knows history the Nazi's never attacked New York City. Young John recognizes one of the fighters as the one piloted by the Nazi known as the Skyshark, who is joined by the Japanese villain known as Slicer. Before Ben can act Jack Frost, Blue Diamond, Red Raven, Thin Man and Miss America of the Liberty Legion go into action to deal with the threat. Ben climbs up on the Times Building, Ben attempts to use a flag pole to launch himself toward the action when he is stopped briefly by the Patriot and Whizzer, until he can identify himself as an ally from the future. As Ben is explaining things, the Liberty Legion members that are fighting the Stukka's destroy them all except for Skyshark's ship, who flees the scene, covering his escape with a smoke screen. With Skyshark making an escape, the Liberty Legion help Ben take his time machine some place safe. Unable to substantiate his story, the Liberty Legion decide to believe him for now, but leave him behind in order to track down the Skyshark. The Skyshark meanwhile has landed at a secret Nazi's ship hidden in a cloud of mist off the shore of upstate New York, where he explains Slicer that he is the most feared fighter pilot Nazi Germany that Adolf Hitler had appointed him his current position. Knowing that the US Military is developing new weapons for the war effort in upstate the Liberty Legion goes to investigate things. Miss America, Blue Diamond, and Whizzer go to a military site where a special new cockpit is being developed and clash with Master Man, who has come to capture it. Despite the Legion's best efforts, Master Man succeeds in capturing the cockpit. At another laboratory where a new jet engine is being developed, Jack Frost and Red Raven attempt to defend it from the Nazi backed Atlantean known as U-Man, their efforts also end in failure. Lastly, Thinman and the Patriot are flying to the site of a scientist who has developed a new gyro-scope. They arrive too late to prevent the Skyshark and Slicer from gunning down the scientist and taking what they require. After a brief dog fight, Skyshark manages to escape, prompting the Thinman and Patriot to head back to New York City to compare notes with their comrades. In New York City, Ben finds the flag pole he attempted to use as a catapult finds that it can support his weight. Just then the Watcher appears leaving the Thing to wonder what's going to happen next: Next to his astonishment comes a giant flying Nazi ship in the shape of a Swastika. With the ship smashing through nearby high-rises Ben launches himself from the flag-pole looking to smash the device. This story is continued in Marvel Two-In-One #20.... Brodie's View:We finally head back to MARVEL TWO IN ONEville with this (and with another Kirby cover!), the second part of Roy Thomas and the Buscema brothers trilogy of stories involving The Fantastic Four/The Thing going back to WWII era to help the Allies (and the various superhumans that fight under their banner) defeat various Axis forces (and the super powered/ruthless villains they have working for them) in order to prevent a future where the Nazis take over the world. In the last part, which took place in a FANTASTIC FOUR Annual, the four heroes provided the Allies with a substance that would have turned the tide of the war either way; Vibranium, but they only came back with half the cylinder of it, which means that part of the Vibranium is accounted for in the past. This prompts The Thing (who is really, as of this moment, just regular old Ben Grimm, who is wearing a Thing exo suit to replicate his rocky form's immense strength) to go back to the past again, encountering another group of super heroes known as the Liberty Legion. After a bit of convincing, our rocky hero joins up with the LL (which this Annual spends a good bit of time properly introducing, as they had only recently made their debut), and a good thing too, as we see the forces amassing on the other side. It's a good thing that Roy and his art team were given three parts to tell this story, as quite a bit of this Annual is used to build the final fight that will occur in the next issue. This story, as I said before, really did quite a bit in the building of the big fight, as we get plenty of time to get acquainted with both sides; the various superhumans making up the LL, and the various foes they will fight (Including Nazi superman, Master Man, and U-Man (Meranno), who is a rogue Atlantian, hoping that teaming with the Nazis will help bring down Namor's kingdom, as the Sub Mariner is fighting for the Allies (as we saw in the last part). In the next and final part of this story, we get the Thing and LL against the Nazis and their various allies, and we'll see if Ben is able to fix things in the past, or if he ends up just making things worse. GRADE: A-
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Ultimo Gallos
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Dreams SUCK!Nightmares live FOREVER!
Posts: 15,294
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Post by Ultimo Gallos on May 27, 2017 2:32:59 GMT -5
I have always loved the Liberty Legion. And what a great cover.
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on May 27, 2017 23:23:19 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One # 20"Showdown At Sea!"Cover Date: October, 1976 Writer: Roy Thomas Artist: Sal Buscema Feature Characters: The Thing & The Liberty Legion (The Patriot, Red Raven, Jack Frost, Blue Diamond, Miss. America, The Whizzer, & The Thin Man) Villain: Master Man, Skyshark, Slicer, Brain Drain, & U-Man Special Guests: The Watcher, Reed Richards, Sue Richards, & Johnny Storm Official Plot: Story continued from Marvel Two-In-One Annual #1... 1942: With a giant Nazi ship in the shape of a Swastika strikes at buildings in New York City, the Thing strikes out at the ship to prevent it from wrecking the city. Climbing on top he is shocked to find that it is piloted by one being, a disembodied brain calling of a Nazi scientist calling himself Brain Drain. Hypnotizing Ben, he forces the hero to explain that he has travelled back into the past to prevent the Nazi's from taking advantage of a chunk of Vibranium that was accidentally sent back in time. With Ben's tale explained, Brain Drain is shocked to find that Ben has shaken off the effects of his hypnosis. The Thing then tries to trash the ship, forcing Brain Drain to stop his attack and return to the Nazi's hidden ship off the coast of upstate New York. Ben is about to finish his handiwork when he is suddenly surrounded by Nazi operatives Skyshark, Master Man, and U-Man who gang up and easily over power the hero, or so it seems. Waiting for their guard to lower when Brain Drain identifies that Ben is really wearing an exo-skeleton that might give the Nazi's more secret Ben reveals that he was only playing possum and attacks. However, Ben's efforts are ineffective and he is easily over powered again. Before the Nazi's can kill him the Liberty Legion arrives and attacks the super-villains. As Jack Frost, Red Raven, Patriot, Thinman and Blue Diamond dispatches U-Man; Red Raven, Whizzer and Miss Marvel deal with U-Man. When Ben attempts to smash Brain Drain, the villain launches himself on a rocket escaping the fight. Also escaping is Skyshark who manages to secure his escape by ejecting Slicer out of his Stukka and leaves him to be captures by the Liberty Legion. Recovering the other half of the Vibranium cylinder, the Thing notices that the Watcher has appeared again signalling that his mission is over. Returning to New York City with the Liberty Legion, Ben bids them farewell and returns to his own time in his time machine. Arriving in the present just as the Fantastic Four burst through the doors he forced closed on them, Reed wants to know how Ben recovered the missing half of the cylinder. Exhausted after his ordeal, Ben walks away telling them he'll relate the story another time because all he wants to do is see if Alicia is still awake. Brodie's View:So, we come to the end of this little kick ass three parter, as The Thing is ready to attack a giant flying swastika. Once aboard the ship, he realizes that it's being controlled by a brain (of a Nazi scientist), who quickly hypnotizes him into giving us a flashback of what has come before (which was probably needed for those who hadn't read those two Annuals). Ben snaps out of the hypnosis, but is quickly surrounded by all the main villains, who after a bit of a fight, get the better of our rocky hero. This is, however, until our carryover Guest Stars, The Liberty Legion, "Yo Joe!" it on the bad guys, and after a nice tussle, the combined forces of The Thing and the LL are enough to defeat the Axis super villains, sending some packing, while capturing others. With this all done, Ben heads home with the other half of the cylinder of Vibranium he headed back to the past (the 2nd time) to get anyways. He is greeted by the FF upon his return, but it's obvious he's had enough super-hero-ing for one day, and just wants to go check on his chick (Alicia). This 3 Part story has definitely been the highlight of the series so far, as Roy Thomas and the Buscema brothers (not to mention "The King" Jack Kirby providing us some kick ass covers) plotted and drew this story pretty perfectly. With our next issue, we'll go into another multi-part story, but one I don't have the first part to (as the character The Thing teams with, Doc Savage, was a pulp character that Marvel no longer owns the rights to publish in a reprint form), but I will try to make up for that as well as I can (as I, too, will have to go purely on that issue's synopsis when talking about the follow up issue, and the next actual review I'll be doing, #22). GRADE: A-
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on May 28, 2017 23:44:01 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One # 22 (21)"Showdown At Sea!" ("Black Sun Lives!")Cover Date: December, 1976 (November) Writer: Bill Mantlo (same) Artist: Ron Wilson (same) Feature Characters: The Thing & Thor (Doc Savage) Villain: Seth & Blacksun (Blacksun) Special Guests: The Human Torch & Jenny Lightner (Same) Official Plot: (Synopsis 21)(Simultaneously events in the modern age and in the year 1936 are intertwining to a fate that will bridge both eras. In the present, the Thing and Human Torch of the Fantastic Four are visited by Janice Lightner who has come to get their aid in helping her brother Thomas who has undertaken the insane task of reconstructing his ancestor's invention the Sky Cannon, a device that left the family in financial ruin and scandal for decades. While in 1936, Janice's relative Lucinda seeks the aid of detective Doc Savage at his Empire State Building office to ask for his aid to stop her husband from attempting to activate his device. While Janice tells how her brother turned down grants from Tony Stark and attempted to take control of the long neglected family manor, Lucinda tells a similar story of her husbands thirst for absolute power. Both men seek to gain all they desire through the Sky Cannon and how both men intend to activate the device that very night. While the Thing and Torch leave from the Baxter Building in the modern day in the Fantasti-Car, Doc Savage and his associates Monk and Renny leave from the Empire State Building in their autogyro. As both crafts head toward the Lightner estate, both Thomas in the present, and Raymond in the past spot the approaching intruders and fire the Sky Cannon at them. The two identical events being done at the same time cause time to bend and bring the two members of the Fantastic Four side-by-side with Doc Savage and his allies. This also causes an unforeseen side effect: both Thomas and Raymond are merged together into a singular being, a powerful living black-hole calling himself Blacksun. Quickly realizing that they are allies, Doc Savage, the Thing, and the others agree to combine their efforts to stop Blacksun. While Savage, Renny and Monk find their bullets arc around their foe, the Human Torch finds his flame power equally as useless. The Thing and Doc Savage then try brute force, but as the clouds begin to clear and the stars begin to shine through the night sky, Blacksun finds that his powers are being amplified. Suddenly finding his foes beneath him, Blacksun then tries to ascend into the stars, but suddenly collapses when his body cannot contain the massive flow of energies. With Blacksun defeated his time distortion ends, shunting Doc Savage and his allies back to their own era. With Blacksun needing medical attention, the Thing promises Janice that they will take him to see their ally Doctor Donald Blake.) (Synopsis for #22)Continued from last issue... Following the defeat of Blacksun, the Human Torch uses his powers to neutralize the reaction happening in Blacksun's body. Torch, Thing, and Janice Lightner race off in a Fantsti-Car to a nearby hospital. The hospital they are heading towards just happens to be where Donald Blake is currently preforming a surgery. This surgery is interrupted by the arrival of Seth, who has come to challenge Thor once more. As everyone in the hospital flees, Blake transforms into Thor to battle Seth. This is at the exact moment that Thing, Torch, and Lightner arrives with Blacksun. Hearing the battle, the Thing goes to check it out and gets caught up in the battle, as Seth summons an army of the dead. This story is continued next issue... Brodie's View:So, I decided to provide the info for #21, even though I'm not going to be able to review it. This sucks, as I stated in the last review, it was the first part of a multi-part story, although, the good news is that #22 seems to kind of go into a mostly new story, after the aftermath of #21. The villain of that story lies near death, and after some convincing by his sister and Johnny Storm, Ben takes them all to the best doctor he knows, Donald Blake AKA The Mighty Thor. Of course, this is at the same time that another villain is searching for Dr. Blake; the Egyptian God of Death, Seth, and after taking out quite a bit of the hospital staff, the God comes face to face with Blake, who quickly transforms into Thor, and the fight is on. Around this time, Ben shows up, and helps the Thunder God with the fight, until Seth summons an army of the dead to fight the two heroes. Gulp! In the next issue, we get the slam bang finale of this three part (somewhat) story, as The Thing and Thor fight Seth and his army, and we'll see if Ben winds up getting Blacksun the help he needs. We then see a Team Up with a character that will become quite important to the book as it goes on, as he ties into perhaps the greatest running storyline that goes through this book; the Sinister Secret of Project Pegasus. (Double ) GRADE: B+ BTW, here's the cover for #21:
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on May 29, 2017 23:36:28 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One # 23"Death on the Bridge to Heaven!"Cover Date: January, 1977 Writer: Bill Mantlo/Jim Shooter Artist: Ron Wilson Feature Characters: The Thing & Thor Villain: Seth, The Devourer, & Blacksun Special Guests: Horus, Isis, Osiris, The Human Torch & Jenny Lightner (Same) Official Plot: Continued from last issue... Having been transported to the path which leads to the realm of Heliopolis, home of the Egyptian gods. Thing and Thor battle the forces of Seth as Seth plots to unleash the Devourer upon Horus in a bid to take over the realm. After a lengthy battle Horus is freed, but the Devourer still seeks to destroy him. After a lengthy battle against the indestructible beast, Thing gets an idea. Grabbing Horus and jumping off the life bridge, the monster following behind them. While the monster plummets into the void, Thor tosses his hammer to retrieve Thing and Horus. With the threat passed, Thing and Thor return to Earth where they are met by Johnny, and Janice who have been looking everywhere for him. Later, back in his guise of Donald Blake, Thor begins his medical treatment of Blacksun. Brodie's View:We get a Godly battle here, as The Thing and Thor are transported to the pathway on the way to the world of Egyptian Gods, and have to battle first Seth, and then a huge monster that is known as The Devourer, who five seconds after being summoned by Seth, turns on the would be conqueror, and starts wreaking havoc. The two heroes try their best against the creature, until Ben gets the idea for a suicide play, and jumps off the path with one of the monster's intended targets (the God, Horus, or as Ben refers to him as, "Horace"), forcing the creature to follow him. Thor tosses his hammer out, and luckily, Ben is able to grab on to it, saving our rocky hero and star of this book. The issue ends with Donald Blake (Thor's then human guise) finally attending to the villain who has been near death since the end of #21, Blacksun. This was a pretty fun little multi-part story, that while not reaching the heights of awesomeness the two Annuals and #20 did, still make for a pretty solid story (and that's coming from someone who didn't get to read the first part of that story). A little interesting side note for this one, joining Bill Mantlo in the writer's seat for this and the next issue, is someone who despite just basically would be just a writer for hire at this point, will soon end up becoming the head of Marvel for the next decade following, and that's the one and only (and the #1 Fan of the Molecule Man) Jim Shooter. Speaking of next issue, the guest star of it will be someone who will become a reoccurring character in this book as we start to approach the middle of its run. I'll let you guess on that one, but I will say it's a character that the first CIVIL WAR mini series didn't work out so well for. GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on May 31, 2017 0:13:24 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One # 24"Does Anyone Remember....The Hijacker!?"Cover Date: February, 1977 Writer: Bill Mantlo/Jim Shooter Artist: Sal Buscema Feature Characters: The Thing & Black Goliath Villain: The Hijacker Special Guests: The Whiz Kids (Dr. Herbert Bell, Dr. Talia Kruma, & Dr. Dale West), Tony Stark, and Ant Man Official Plot: Helping out with testing for a new environmental protection suit for Bill Foster and Tony Stark, Thing can do nothing but complain, despite the fact that his body can withstand the conditions in the environmental room that they have placed him in. The mood changes when the lab is attacked by the Hijacker, who has come to rob the lab, eliminating most of the staff with knockout gas. However, before passing out, Bill Foster manages to free the Thing, and eventually revives enough to change into Black Goliath. Although the Hijacker is just a normal human, he manages to keep the two heroes on their toes by using various devices, including his high tech crime-tank. However, the two heroes manage to get the best of the Hijacker and easily defeat him. When unmasked and about to reveal his identity, the Thing indignantly throws the Hijacker for a loop. Brodie's View:I was kind of expecting this issue to be kind of lame, but it was actually pretty damn fun, as The Thing and Guest Star Black Goliath (as, with a few exceptions, every African American hero in the 70's had to have the word BLACK in front of their names to, you know, let you know that they were BLACK dammit!!!) wind up battling Grade Z villain, The Hijacker, who busts in while Ben is testing a new environmental protection suit for Bill Foster (BG's alter ego) and Tony Stark. The Hijacker keeps the two heroes hopping for a good moment, until they realize what a loser this dude is, and properly thump him. The ending kind of makes this whole issue, as after Hijacker is unmasked to reveal just some schlubby bald dude, Ben puts him down for the count with one finger flick to the head. Talk about a Major League Chumping Out. However, the nice thing about this issue is that it develops a working relationship between Ben and Bill Foster, one that will continue throughout a good portion of the run of this book, as he will later begin working for Project Pegasus; a secret government research facility with some...dubious secret motivations and plans. All that aside, this was a pretty fun issue, as I said before, am I'm hoping for the same for the next issue, which will involve a guy with a Fist of Iron, in addition to being the 25th issue of this book. GRADE: B+
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Ultimo Gallos
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Dreams SUCK!Nightmares live FOREVER!
Posts: 15,294
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Post by Ultimo Gallos on May 31, 2017 0:48:28 GMT -5
I was a huge Black Goliath fan when I was a kid.And hated when he changed his name to Giant-Man.Even after Foster retired his hero identities he was still a great character. But IIRC he died in Civil War. No clue if he has come back yet.
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jun 1, 2017 0:30:19 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One # 25"A Tale of Two Countries!?"Cover Date: March, 1977 Writer: Marv Wolfman Artist: Ron Wilson Feature Characters: The Thing & Iron Fist Villain: Chonga Special Guests: Alicia Masters, Prince Dragon, & Queen Sen Official Plot: The Thing and Iron Fist are captured by the nation of Kaiwann, they soon find that Queen Sen is being ousted by General Chonga, and after an attempt to try and recruit heroes from the United States to try and train the people to fight the coming invasion, they kidnapped the Thing and Iron Fist out of desperation. After a battle across the land of Kaiwann and facing off against it's best warriors, the truth it told to them by Prince Dragon. Thing and Iron Fist help end the coupe, easily defeating Chonga and his army, after which Prince Dragon and Queen Sen are engaged to be married. Brodie's View:It's the momentous 25th Issue for MTIO, and to celebrate that occasion, we get....an OK issue. That's too bad, as I do like new writer, Marv Wolfman's stuff, but this story is just kind of bleugh. It's almost like an Iron Fist/Shang Chi story that The Thing was just kind of shoehorned into, which makes it kind of a one sided fight, as the armies the two heroes face kind of quickly get owned by someone on Ben's power level, which kind of nullifies any kind of drama that could have been built. I mean, when a loser like The Hijacker puts up more of a fight than entire armies of Asian soldiers, you know you done kind of messed up relating to building up your antagonist/s. Long story short, Ben and Iron Fist are kidnapped by a country that is being invaded by an outside force, and they want the two heroes to train their warriors to be able to defend their country from that outside force. After fighting that county's warriors, the two heroes then join with them to defeat the attacking army, and....well, that's about it. You almost wonder why Kaiwann (lol) needed Ben and Danny to train their warriors, when the two really could have taken that force out by themselves. Shit, Ben could have. Just kidnap him and send him against the enemy. Problem solved. Anyways, kind of a lame start for poor Marv, but that's okay, because he definitely will pick things up in the next couple issues, as we have a two part story that will have various guest stars, including a focal characters who would later be adapted into being part of the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D series, which is fortunate, as our guest star next issue just happens to be the head of that organization. And, no, he won't look like Sam Jackson. Lol GRADE: B
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jun 1, 2017 22:15:39 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One # 26"The Fixer and Mentallo Are Back!"Cover Date: April, 1977 Writer: Marv Wolfman Artist: Ron Wilson Feature Characters: The Thing & Nick Fury Villain: The Fixer & Mentallo Special Guests: S.H.I.E.L.D (Dum Dum Dugan, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, and various agents), Willie Lumpkin, & Deathlok Official Plot: Agreeing to meet with Nick Fury, the Thing is taken aboard the SHIELD Helicarrier, there he is told that the villains Fixer and Mentallo are seeking him out, although SHIELD has no idea why. However, to prevent anything the two crooks might be up to, they have taken Thing aboard the helicarrier as a safety precaution. However, this does not stop Mentallo and Fixer, they storm the SHIELD helicarrier and easily incapacitate all the SHIELD agents that offer resistance and capture the Thing. Taking him to the Baxter Building, the two hope to utilize Dr. Doom's time machine for their own ends. Despite interference from the arriving Nick Fury, they fail to stop Mentallo and the Fixer from accomplishing their goal: Bringing Deathlok to the present. Brodie's View:All right! So, we definitely get a better story for new ongoing writer, Marv Wolfman's second issue on MTIO, and the beginning of an ongoing story involving The Fixer, Mentallo, S.H.I.E.L.D, and various other characters that will come into play over the next few issues. The issue starts with Ben being recruited by Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D, as it's revealed two long time villains (the two previously named) are searching for our orange rocky hero, as they wish to put him under their control to bust into the Baxter Building (the HQ of the team Ben belongs to, the Fantastic Four). Of course, soon after Ben finds all this out, the two villains bust into the S.H.I.E.L.D helicarrier and with very little trouble, actually end up accomplishing their goals. It turns out that what they were looking for was the duplicated time machine that has come into play in earlier issues of MTIO (which Reed Richards duplicated from Dr. Doom's time machine, which the team had usage of for a short time). However, just as they get that device, Fury busts in, and after almost being killed by a mind controlled Thing, he is able to break Ben free from Mentallo's mind control. However, this seems to have been for naught, as the two villains used the time machine to bring someone from the future to aid in their schemes, the cybernetic killer known as Deathlok! Of course, this sets up quite an interesting battle for the next issue, which will over time become quite the interesting story. Plus, I don't even have to hint to you who the "Guest Star" is for next issue, but I will say that he isn't the only one. GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jun 3, 2017 0:36:37 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One # 27"Day of the Demolisher!"Cover Date: May, 1977 Writer: Marv Wolfman Artist: Ron Wilson Feature Characters: The Thing & Deathlok Villain: The Fixer & Mentallo Special Guests: Nick Fury, Reed Richards, Sue Richards, Johnny Storm, The Impossible Man, Jimmy Carter, and Spider-Man (in flashback) Official Plot: Continued from last issue.... Having pulled Deathlok from the future, Mentallo and Fixer easily take control of the android, and Mentallo uses his illusions to distract Nick Fury and the Thing long enough for them to make their escape. They explain to Deathlok that they learned of his existence when Mentallo happened to read Spider-Man's mind following his return to New York after an adventure through time. They also tell Deathlok that their intention is to use him to assassinate the President of the United States, who is to be inaugurated into office in the near future. The Fantastic Four and Nick Fury, believing that this may be Mentallo and Fixer's intention, are guests at the inauguration ceremony. True enough, Mentallo, Fixer, and Deathlok arrive on the scene, Deathlok given a rifle to assassinate President Carter, however he tries to fight his programming the whole way. When Deathlok finally snaps, he apparently shoots the President. The Fantastic Four and Nick Fury manage to defeat Mentallo, Fixer, and Deathlok shortly after and the dead "President" turns out to be the Impossible Man in disguise, who is alive and well. After the battle, Reed Richards takes Deathlok into his custody, and the inauguration ceremony continues as planned. Brodie's View:We have somewhat of a Marvel version of the Manchurian Candidate in this pretty kick ass issue, as we get the master plan of the dastardly duo of Mentallo and the Fixer revealed; they brought Deathlok back from the future to assassinate the then upcoming President, Jimmy Carter (must have been Ford voters). MARVEL TEAM UP actually factors somewhat into this plot, as Mentallo witnessed Spider-Man coming back from his top hopping adventures in that book (where he encounter Deathlok), and by reading his mind, gained all the information needed to hatch this little plan. Nick Fury puts this all together, or at least enough to convince the Fantastic Four to be present during Carter's inauguration. To add to this, Reed Richards decides to enlist the help of a mysterious somewhat that isn't revealed until the end of this issue. The villains' scheme goes, at least at first, according to plan, as Deathlok does appear to shoot Carter. However, that's where everything falls apart for Mentallo and The Fixer, as while The Thing beats the shit out of Deathlok (who very muchly allows him to do such, but we'll get back to that in a second), the rest of the FF handle the two would be history changers pretty quickly. It's then revealed that they in no way succeeded with their plan, as the Carter that was shot ends up being merely the shape changing alien, The Impossible Man (who was hanging with the team quite a bit during this period) in disguise. Sue Richards winds up containing Deathlok, who the other heroes reveal was manipulated into serving Mentallo and The Fixer by a device that they can't remove. This will lead to an ongoing story over the next few issues, as Ben tries to find someone/something that can remove The Fixer's device from Deathlok. This was a pretty awesome little storyline, where the best part was getting to, by usage of an interior monologue by Deathlok, see how reluctant of an assassin he was in all of this, which adds to the tragedy of both the character and his situation. In the next issue, we'll see the start of the effort to save the cyborg, which will lead in some interesting directions. Of course, the direction for the next issue will lead us underwater, and the Guest Star will be someone we've seen before; a King of that region. GRADE: A-
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jun 4, 2017 0:07:50 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One # 28"In the Power of the Piranha!"Cover Date: June, 1977 Writer: Marv Wolfman Artist: Ron Wilson Feature Characters: The Thing & The Sub Mariner Villain: The Piranha Special Guests: Nick Fury, Reed Richards, Sue Richards, Johnny Storm, Alicia Masters, & Deathlok Official Plot: After a thorough examination of the Deathlok android, Reed Richards decides to have it shipped to his colleague Dr. Kort for further study. Ben agrees to take it to England where Kort is residing, and he takes Alicia along with him promising to take her to see the sights. Meanwhile, in the Atlantic, Namor is attacked by the Piranha, who has some how survived his previous attack, however it turns out that they are really mutated piranha's that ate the corpse of the original, and have created their own society. Namor however, manages to fight off the attacker. Spotting the Thing's aircraft, the Sub-Mariner asks Thing for his help fighting the Piranha. The Thing agrees and dives into the ocean, leaving Alicia behind. Alicia is shortly captured by one of the Piranha. This ends up putting a kink in Namor and Thing's plan for dealing with the Piranha's, and they demand that the two fight to the death for Alicia's safety. However, the two pretend to fight each other and cause enough damage to the battle field and cause enough distraction for Namor to rescue Alicia. The trio make their escape as the Piranha's kingdom crumbles down around them. Afterwords, Namor thanks Thing for his help and Ben and Alicia continue their trip to England. Brodie's View:The fallout from last issue's big event continues here, and basically leads into an ongoing new story, as we find out the beginning that neither Reed Richards or S.H.I.E.L.D have been able to remove the Fixer/Mentallo's mind control device from the cyborg assassin/soldier, Deathlok (who is in suspended animation). They basically send Ben (who takes his main squeeze, Alicia Masters) off to London to consult with a scientist that might be able to help with the situation. The rest of this story basically occurs as the two are jetting off to London, and wind up involved in the affairs of this issue's Guest Star, Namor: The Sub Mariner. Namor is lost in his own thoughts over recent events (including being under the mental control of Dr. Doom in the short lived SUPER VILLAIN TEAM UP book), which makes him a sitting duck for an attack for a villain he thought dead, The Piranha. This winds up drawing Ben into the fray, and he, Namor, and Alicia are captured by a group of basically cloned Piranhas. The fishy villains then basically set Ben and Namor against each other in kind of a gladiator pit, and even though it seems as though the two super powered heroes are fighting to the death, they are really playing along long enough to destroy the foundation of the pit. Once this happens, it's a quick series of events to rescue Alicia and bring the Piranha's little kingdom falling down around them, and the two heroes part as friends, with Ben and Alicia continuing their trip to London. In the next issue, we'll see the two Love Birds finally arriving in London, but ending up encountering the group which is the arch nemesis to S.H.I.E.L.D. Lucky for Ben, he'll have a little back up in the form of a certain Master of Kung Fu. Of course, this means Clobberin' and Karate aplenty in the next review. GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jun 5, 2017 1:08:21 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One # 29"Two Against Hydra!"Cover Date: July, 1977 Writer: Marv Wolfman Artist: Ron Wilson Feature Characters: The Thing & Shang-Chi "Master of Kung Fu" Villain: Hydra Special Guests: Alicia Masters, & Spider-Woman Official Plot: Arriving in England to deliver the Deathlok cyborg to Dr. Kort, the Thing and Alicia spend a bit of time sight seeing before going to their appointed destination. Arriving there, they find that the entire mansion has been overturned, unaware that Dr. Kort had been kidnapped by Hydra who intend to have the doctor revive their agent Spider-Woman. When Alicia finds blood at the scene of the kidnapping, her screams bring Shang-Chi, who mistakes the Thing for an attacker. After a brief battle, they realize the reality of the situation and Shang-Chi agrees to help the Thing find Dr. Kort. Tracking him down to a hidden Hydra base, Thing and Shang-Chi fight off the Hydra hordes and save Dr. Kort. However, in spite of their victory, Hydra has obtained the serum they need to revive Spider-Woman. Brodie's View:"Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting!!!" Well, okay, not everyone, but that's kind of the mood of this issue, as we get another "Kung Fu" themed Guest Star (although, I will say this issue was definitely better than the Iron Fist one), in our first issue in this little run of issues I'll call "Ben and Alicia's London Adventures." The issue starts off kind of corny, I will say, which does kind of detract somewhat from the rating I might have given it otherwise. I mean, I love the whole Ben and Alicia thing, but I've had to sit through so many "I'm a Monster, Babe." "No, Ben...you have a wonderful heart that only I, a blind girl, can truly see, beyond your monstrous appearance." moments that they kind of produce instant eye rolls at this point. Add to this, the corny inner monologues when we are introduced to Shang-Chi, who is pondering the various betrayals that have happened to him in his own book. The fun really starts when the two meet up (and, of course, fight before realizing that they're both Good Guys), and Ben's wisecracking takes the piss out of the super serious Chi. The two are in search of the scientist Ben has been sent to London to find (to help remove a mind control device from Deathlok), who has been kidnapped by Hydra agents, who want to use the scientist to help them with a top secret project. This leads to Ben and Shang-Chi kicking the shit out of those agents, and getting their scientist back, but not without leaving Hydra the formula it needs to finish their project; reviving the Jessica Drew Spider-Woman, who after being given powers, fell under the control of the villainous organization. Of course, this will all lead into the next issue, as we'll see this new Spider-Woman take one more step to becoming a hero on her own rights. This issue was pretty fun, other than the corniness of the beginning, and I'm looking forward to what's going to happen next issue, so, Mission Accomplished, I suppose. GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jun 6, 2017 1:53:11 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One # 30"Battle Atop Big Ben!"Cover Date: August, 1977 Writer: Marv Wolfman Artist: John Buscema Feature Characters: The Thing & Spider-Woman Villain: Hydra, Chauncy, & Trevor Special Guests: Alicia Masters, & Nick Fury Official Plot: Continued from last issue... Ben and Alicia are still in 3 enjoying the sights when Ben hears an explosion. Investigating, he finds two crooks who are blasting open the secret locations of map plates which would lead to a long lost treasure. As the Thing tries to round them up, he is attacked by the newly revived Spider-Woman, who is once more loyal to Hydra. She as come to terminate Ben, however, at the last moment she chokes and is later forced to flee. Returning to Hydra headquarters she angers her superiors, but promises to kill Ben Grimm next time. Later, while sight-seeing, Ben and Alicia are once more attacked by Spider-Woman, who kidnaps Alicia and flies off. Ben chases after her, but runs amok of the same crooks trying to uncover yet another piece of their treasure map. Ben fights through them and picks up his trail on Spider-Woman, which takes him to Big Ben, where the two battle it out. Although Ben has superior strength, he's no match for Spider-Woman's speed and venom blasts. However before a victor can be made, the two crooks -- also at Big Ben to find another part of the map, capitalize on the battle to try and eliminate Ben, and so they detonate a bomb which knocks both Thing and Spider-Woman into the Thames River. This story is continued next issue.... Brodie's View:We continue our adventures in London, as Ben and Alicia, once again, sightseeing in London, are beset by nefarious plots, both connecting and unrelated to the events of last issue. We'll get to the later first, as the main story keeps dovetailing around the side story of two men trying to find map pieces that will lead to a long lost treasure. This all seems like just a meaningless side plot, but as we'll see in the next issue, it's meant to lead to more. However, the main story goes back to the threat from last issue, Hydra, and their experimenting with a serum made from the blood of the woman they have, once again, under their mental control (and is the Guest Star of the next two issues), Jessica Drew, the original Spider-Woman. Speaking of SW, she is the tool Hydra uses to at first try to take out Ben, who along with Shang-Chi, handed Hydra their asses last issue, and then when that fails, uses her to kidnap Ben's main squeeze, Alicia Masters. This is definitely an interesting fight, as while SW definitely doesn't have the power to take Ben out, she can definitely cause him some pain. However, there seems to be a part of her that is fighting Hydra's control, as she kind of half asses it during their first fight. During the second fight, on the other hand, she takes it to Ben a lot more, after kidnapping Alicia, which sends Ben into a fury that perhaps makes him sloppy enough to allow Jessica to take an advantage. But before we can find out whether or not SW could potentially take Ben down, a bomb, set by our side plot thieves, blows up, knocking them into the Thames River. This will end up changing things quite a bit between the two as we go into the next issue, and speaking of changes, someone in our supporting cast will definitely undergo them, leading to the next major battle in this story, along with more info about the two thieves; one of which not being who he seems to be. GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jun 7, 2017 2:51:43 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One # 31"Battle Atop Big Ben!"Cover Date: September, 1977 Writer: Marv Wolfman Artist: Ron Wilson Feature Characters: The Thing & Spider-Woman Villain: Hydra, Chauncy, & Trevor Special Guests: Alicia Masters Official Plot: Continued from last issue... Knocked into the Thames River by a bomb blast, the Thing saves Spider-Woman and brings her to shore. Indebted to him, she tells him of her forced servitude in Hydra, and agrees to help him rescue Alicia. While the two criminals continue to search for their lost treasure -- which turns out to be stolen treasure stolen from British Treasury during World War II -- They have almost completed collecting the plates needed to assemble a map pointing out the location of the treasure. Meanwhile, Hyrda exposes Alicia to the serum they synthesized based on Spider-Woman, and mutates her into a woman-spider creature and restore her sight technologically. Giving her order to destroy the Thing and Spider-Woman, Alicia attacks them and their battle takes them across the city of London, finally ending in a department store where the Alicia-creature catches Benin a spider-web. This story is continued next issue... Brodie's View:In the next chapter of our London story, we get a bit more development in the side plot of our two thieves searching for a treasure lost during WW II (where it is revealed that one of the thieves was the guys involved during that time, that helped hide the treasure in the first place). This story will continue into the next issue. In addition, our main story continues, with the product of Hydra's latest experiment, a Alicia Masters who has mutated (by a serum concocted from the blood of our Guest Star for the second issue, Spider-Woman, who has finally come to her senses) into a spider-like form, attacks Ben and Jessica, as they are actually searching for the former helpless blind girl. This puts Ben in a kind of dilemma, as while the Spider-Alicia is definitely out to kill both he and SW, both heroes are trying their damnedest not to hurt her, as they fear that using her new powers too much could kill her, as her mutated form is highly unstable. The battle goes all over London, destroying various building before Ben ends up in a Alicia-Spider created web, and totally at her mercy. The next story will resolve both storylines (at least this particular section of them), as Ben will be forced to call on a friend to help with the now freakish Alicia Masters. Heck, more than a friend....a Teammate. GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jun 7, 2017 22:16:36 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One # 32"And Only the Invisible Girl Can Save Us Now!"Cover Date: October, 1977 Writer: Marv Wolfman Artist: Ron Wilson Feature Characters: The Thing & The Invisible Girl/Woman Villain: Hydra, Chauncy, & Trevor Special Guests: Alicia Masters, Spider-Woman, & Deathlok Official Plot: Continued from last issue... As Ben and Spider-Woman continue to battle the spider-mutated Alicia Masters, the two criminals searching for long lost stolen treasure of World War II. They find the treasure they sought, however when they open the treasure chest, they finds themselves sucked into it by mystical forces. As the battle between Ben, Spider-Woman and Alicia rages on, Ben smashes the control module on her forehead. Losing their ability to control Alicia thanks to this devices destruction, the Hydra agent in charge of this mission is ordered killed by the Supreme Hydra for his failure. Alicia has the two heroes on the ropes until the Invisible Girl arrives. Using her invisible force fields, Sue manages to cut off Alicia's oxygen supply until she passes out. While Dr. Kort tries to restore Alicia back to normal, Thing wanders around London brooding. To make Ben feel worse, the people of London who originally treated him with celebrity when he first arrived are now treating him as a monster following battle. Sue tracks down Ben and tells her that Alicia is calling out to him, and so they return to Kort's lab just as Alicia is being transformed back to normal. Brodie's View:Things finally come to an end for both of our stories in this issue. First things first, our two would be master thieves, Chauncy and Trevor, finally find what they're looking for, but when they open said treasure, something mystical and unexpected explode out of the box and consumes them in light. Obviously, we'll see more of what happened to them in issues to come, I'm sure, but their involvement in this issue is pretty minor, so, I won't harp too much on it. No, our main story is a continuation of what was happening last issue, Ben and Spider-Woman fighting/protecting a crazed Alicia Masters, who has been mutated into a spider-like creature. Thinking that smashing the control module on her head will return her to normal, Ben does so, but that just sends Spider-Alicia into an uncontrollable rage. There are bad results on the other end of things, as the Hydra Agent in charge of this whole thing gets....let go by the Supreme Hydra, as failure is something the group DOES NOT TOLERATE....even though they kind of fail all of the time. Finally, the friend that Ben called comes to help them, as our Guest Star this issue, Sue Richards (AKA Ben's fellow FF'er, The Invisible Girl/Woman) shows up, and the heroes are finally able to take Spider-Alicia down. While Dr. Kort (the scientist who has been working on Deathlok) works to cure Alicia, Ben broods while walking through London (while being pelted by garbage by the citizenry, who have had quite enough of super-heroics for a life time), but we end the issue with good news, as Alicia is returned to normal. We will spend the next couple issues finishing up business in London, and dealing with issues of magic, rather than science. This will also extend to our Guest Star, who will end up helping to deal with the Spider-Woman issue as well as the threats Ben and others will face. GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jun 9, 2017 0:52:25 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One # 33"From Stonehenge With Death!"Cover Date: November, 1977 Writer: Marv Wolfman Artist: Ron Wilson Feature Characters: The Thing & Modred the Mystic Villain: Brothers Four (Aero, Mud, Fire, & Hydro) Special Guests: Alicia Masters & Spider-Woman Official Plot: Taking a trip to Stonehenge, Alicia and the Thing are secretly followed by Spider-Woman. Meanwhile, the chest uncovered by thieves looking for lost World War II treasure unleashes a mystical force. Arriving at Stonehenge, Thing and Alicia are confronted by four elemental demons: Fire, Aero, Hydro and Mud. Their appearance forces Spider-Woman to reveal herself and defend Ben and Alicia. The trio are all transported below Stonehenge where they find that all the tourists there have been transported and are being kept as prisoner. The elementals explain that they were summoned to capture Mordred the mystic for Merlin, who has recently been revived in modern times. They have vowed to capture Mordred even if it means the destruction of the Earth. As the elementals are explaining their mission, Ben and Spider-Woman attack them, but prove unable to make any lasting damage against them. When all seems lost, Mordred arrives to answer the elementals challenge. While Mordred and Spider-Woman battle the the elementals, Ben goes looking for Alicia. Mordred transports himself, the elementals and Spider-Woman back to the surface where Mordred uses his magic to convince the elementals to fight each other. Each opposing element pitted against each other and being destroyed. After the battle, Mordred transports everyone back to the surface and erases the tourists memories of the experience. Afterwards, Ben and Alicia depart leaving Mordred to take Spider-Woman under his arm and take her as an apprentice. Brodie's View:The two plots from the last few issues kind of converge in this one, as we find out what happened to our would be thieves from the last couple of issues, and we get the whole deal with Spider-Woman resolved (at least as it relates to this book) as well. Ben and Alicia go to Stonehenge to try and deal with the crazy shit that went down over the last few issues, only to get caught up (and with them, Spider-Woman, who has been following Ben for lack of anything better to really do) with the results of the mystical forces accidentally released by Chauncy and Trevor last issue. In short, 4 elementals have been released, who are out to kill our Guest Star this issue, the cut rate Dr. Strange, Mordred the Mystic, who promptly shows up. This sets off a battle between our three heroes and the 4 elementals, with the Good Guys finally winning, and we end with SW going off with Mordred, hoping that he'll teach her the ways of being a hero or whatever....as if he could really teach her that, his being lame and all. Despite my cracking on Mordred, this was a decent issue that actually does settle up some business from the last few issues, as Mordred winds up wiping Ben and Alicia's memories of all the horrible shit that's happened to them since they hit London, which eases obvious tension between them. This also was a nice set up for Spider-Woman to get her own book, which would debut shortly after this. She would be quite the popular character for a little while, even briefly getting her own animated series in the late 70's. Speaking of characters who were kind of taken off of other popular characters, our Guest Star next issue is kind of Marvel's attempt (one of them) at making a Batman type of character, and a Defender (at the time) to boot. We also finally finish up with Ben's London adventures, and start to head back towards the States again. GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jun 10, 2017 0:34:44 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One # 34"A Monster Walks Among Us!"Cover Date: December, 1977 Writer: Marv Wolfman Artist: Ron Wilson Feature Characters: The Thing & Nighthawk Villain: Human Beings Special Guests: Shambler, Deathlok, S.H.I.E.L.D (Nick Fury & Dum Dum Dugan) Official Plot: Arriving to his England branch as Nighthawk, Kyle Richmond attends a board meeting where he is shown a mysterious rock, which they agree to have probed by Dr. Kort because there is something inside. Meanwhile, Dr. Kort has finished freeing Deathlok from Mentallo's control, and the cyborg is turned over to SHIELD. When Kort is given the rock for examination, an ugly alien creature breaks free and is instantly hounded by people who consider it a menace. When a local children's hospital catches a fire, the monster helps Thing and Nighthawk save the children trapped inside. The monster is shot dead by the locals for all it's troubles, after the fire is put out Nighthawk scolds the people for killing the monster which rescued their children. Brodie's View:We end off our little "London Era" with an issue that's mostly a one shot story (other than the resolving of the whole Deathlok thing, at least for now) involving what we, as human beings, think of as a monster, versus what actually is monstrous. This is a story that really only could have happened in the 70's, as it certainly wouldn't be tried now (unless we were talking mutants). In it, an alien creature, who certainly fits the description of a monster, is released, and escapes from the lab of Dr. Kort (who had just finished his work on Deathlok, and was investigating the rock that the alien was encased in, which was brought to the lab by our Guest Star this issue, Defender, Nighthawk, or his alter ego, Kyle Richmond), and ventures into the English countryside. It is there that, thanks to thought boxes which shows the alien's thoughts, we find out that while the alien certainly looks like it would be evil, it's actually quite peaceful, and is there to help mankind. However, the local populace don't know this, and predictably views the alien as a horrible monster, and try to kill it. It's shortly after this that a local children's hospital catches fire, and the alien (and our two heroes, who are just side characters at this point) tries to save the children, at the cost of its own life. The issue ends with the unaware people celebrating the death of the "monster," while Nighthawk (who witnessed the alien saving the children) confronts them to the fact that They are the true monsters in this situation. Once again, a very 70's issue that makes a very important, and poignant point about how quick mankind is to attack and kill those that they consider "monstrous." I would say my only complaint is that I wish Ben would have played more of a part in the ending of this issue, as he knows more than anyone about looks being deceiving, as it relates to those with monstrous appearances. Anyways, good issue, and this ends Ben's "London Adventures." We wind up heading back to the states in the next issue, but we don't stay long, as we travel to a land even more mysterious than what we saw last issue at Stonehenge, with another 70's era Guest Star. GRADE: A-
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jun 10, 2017 23:50:48 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One # 35"Enter: Skull the Slayer and Exit: The Thing!"Cover Date: January, 1978 Writer: Marv Wolfman Artist: Ernie Chan Feature Characters: The Thing & Skull the Slayer Villain: Jaguar Priest Special Guests: Raymond Corey, Ann Reynolds, Jeff Turner, & various Dinosaurs Official Plot: On his way back from London, the Thing is asked to make an appearance at Cape Canaveral to test out a new experimental aircraft over the Bermuda Triangle. In doing so, Ben flies towards a strange energy vortex when suddenly a pterodactyl emerges from it and grabs his craft, pulling him into the vortex. Ben finds himself taken into a strange prehistoric world, the same world which James Scully and his friends have been trapped in for some time. Scully, and his friends Raymond Corey, Ann Reynolds, and Jeff Turner are all prisoner of the Jaguar Priest, Villac Umu. The Priest wants to execute them all, when the pterodactyl arrives with Ben's ship. Breaking free of the craft, Ben battles the Jaguar Priest's men, free's Scully and the others, and with the help of the Thing, break down the Jaguar Priest's temple and scare off his people. Checking over Ben's ship to see if it's still able to fly, they are disappointed to find that it is damaged beyond repair. All is not lost when Jeff suggests they try to salvage parts from the plane that brought Scully and his friends to this land, and the group begins their trek to it's location. Along the way they have to escape a tyrannosaurus-rex, and end up in a swamp full of brontosaurus ready for the attack. This story is continued next issue.... Brodie's View:We come back to the states, after several issues of being in Jolly Ole England, but we don't stay long, as Ben, who is piloting an aircraft from Florida into the Bermuda Triangle, only to be sucked into a portal and dropped into Prehistoric Times. It's there that he comes across our Guest Star/s this issue, Skull the Slayer (and his supporting cast), who had evidently been stuck in that prehistoric dimension since the end of his solo book. Ben bitch slaps the baddie who was keeping them prisoner, and the two heroes (and the others) try to escape, fighting various dinosaurs along the way. They end the issue surrounded by hungry looking brontosauruses, which is kind of silly, as they aren't meat eaters, but we'll just assume that wasn't a common known fact in 1978, nod, and move on. This was an all right issue, and I will say that Ben is pretty on form, wise-crack wise, and, hey, who doesn't love to see our orange rock covered hero fighting dinosaurs, but there were also some things that left me cold about this one. The biggest thing being that I had never read an issue of SKULL THE SLAYER, and so neither knew who any of the characters from that book were, nor really cared to know. Skull seems like a Doc Savage rip off type of character, and I was never a huge Doc Savage fan, so, a rip off left me doubly bored, and this issue didn't really change my opinions of him. To add to this, a lot of shit is referred to that happened in SKULL, which I didn't read, so...once again, Meh. In the next issue, we'll finish off this two parter, as a character VERY familiar to Ben travels into this Prehistoric alternate Earth (?) to save him, Skull, and the others. GRADE: B
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jun 11, 2017 23:41:06 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One # 36"A Stretch in Time..."Cover Date: February, 1978 Writer: Marv Wolfman Artist: Ernie Chan Feature Characters: The Thing & Mr. Fantastic Villain: Jaguar Priest Special Guests: Skull the Slayer, Raymond Corey, Ann Reynolds, Jeff Turner, & various Dinosaurs Official Plot: Continued from last issue... Ben, Skull the Slayer, Ann Reynolds, Jeff Turner, and Raymond Corey have to fight off and flee a pack of brontosaurus on their way to find their airplane. Finding the craft, they find it flight worthy, but with only enough fuel to fly to were Ben's ruined jet is. Flying it there, they cannibalize the plane to repair Ben's and they use the plane to escape through the vortex and back out of the Bermuda Triangle. However, the fugitives being spotted by the Jaguar Priest he and his followers go after them riding on their pterodactyls. When Ben and the others arrive back at Cape Canaveral, they find Mr. Fantastic waiting there for them, having come when Ben didn't return to his flight. When the Jaguar Priest and his followers arrive, Reed helps battle them, and when Ann is captured by the Jaguar Priest himself, it's Ben that comes to her rescue. However in doing so, the Jaguar Priest is knocked from his pterodactyl and is send plummeting to his death. After the battle, Ben parts company with Scully and his friends. Scully is planning on turning himself over to the police, and the others will be acting as character witnesses to prove that his killing of his brother was in self defense. As they depart, they leave Reed and Ben to figure out what to do with the pterodactyl's. Brodie's View:We get to the second part of our little "Trapped in a prehistoric Alternate Earth with Skull the Slayer (and his supporting cast)" story, with the gang surrounded by Brontosauruses (which someone must have told poor Marv that Brontosauruses were herbivores, as it's mentioned on the first page), which they quickly escape. After a bit of running, they finally are able to repair Ben's plane, and they take off back through the portal that brought them all there. Unfortunately, the Baddie from last issue (and his men, all on Pterodactyls) follows them back into "our time." Luckily, our Guest Star this issue, none other than Ben's fellow FF'er, Reed Richards (AKA Mr. Fantastic, of course) is there, and the heroes all manage to defeat the baddies, even though it's established that Reed is suffering from some sort of strange power loss (which is going on in the FF book). We end the book with the resolving of the SKULL THE SLAYER story, which Marv probably felt it needed, as the book was cancelled before its main stories could be resolved. What happens to Skull and his cast beyond this is not known to me, and honestly, I don't really care. That's not to say this story was bad. If I were a huge SKULL THE SLAYER fan, I would probably be pretty happy that the series was getting some sort of proper ending, but I'm not, so, Meh. Luckily for us, my next review will be pretty damn far from Meh. In fact, I can say that this will be one of the strongest issues/stories in this entire run (the first half of it, at least). In the next issue, which will be the second Annual for MTIO, Ben will be joined by a f**kton of Guest Stars, and he will need all those Guest Stars, as they will be taking on the Mad Titan himself....(F'N) THANOS!!!! GRADE: B
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