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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jun 13, 2017 0:02:36 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One Annual # 2"Death Watch!"Cover Date: December, 1977 Writer: Jim Starlin Artist: Jim Starlin Feature Characters: The Thing & Spider-Man Villain: Thanos Special Guests: The Avengers (Captain America, Iron Man, The Thor, Scarlet Witch, Vision, The Beast), Moondragon, Adam Warlock, Captain Marvel, Gamora, Pip the Troll, Order & Chaos (First Appearance of the last two) Official Plot: This story continues from Avengers Annual #7 Plagued with dreams from Master Order and Lord Chaos, telling them of the battle between Thanos, Captain Marvel, and the Avengers over the fate of the galaxy, Spider-Man and the Thing are compelled to investigate these dreams by taking a ship out into space. There they find Thanos' ship, and the board it, there they are attacked by the hordes of Thanos, while deep within the Soul Gem, Adam Warlock's soul meets with Gamora and Pip. While in the real world, Thanos joins the fight which takes Spider-Man and Thing into the room where the Avengers and Captain Marvel are being held in stasis. During the fight, Spider-Man frees the Avengers leading to an all out assault on Thanos. Over powered, the heroes prove unable to defeat Thanos until Spider-Man manages to free the Soul Gem, causing the soul of Adam Warlock to appear from it and turn Thanos into stone. After rejoicing over their victory, the heroes have a funeral and bury Adam Warlock on an asteroid in space. While Adam's soul finds peace within the Soul Gem, Thanos finds himself in a living hell made of stone. Brodie's View:F**k yes. No "Meh-ness" here...none at all. Here we have the final chapter, at least as it relates to the 70's part of the story Jim Starlin had been crafting for several years, one involving Adam Warlock and his arch nemesis, the Mad Titan, THANOS. This Annual spills over from the AVENGERS ANNUAL #7, where the Avengers, Captain Marvel, Adam Warlock, and others had fought, and fallen to, Thanos, who was planning to send the Earth's sun into a supernova in order to appease his one true love, Death (or the Marvel version of that entity...something tells me that the DC/VERTIGO version would have told him where to jump off of a long time ago). Adam Warlock had died at Thanos' hands, with the titan taking Warlock's Soul Gem. As a desperate plea, the telepath Moondragon had sent out a distress call to Earth, which is picked up by our Official Guest Star for this issue, the Amazing Spider-Man. He quickly recruits The Thing, and the two invade Thanos' ship, but are quickly felled by Thanos himself (well, Ben is, and Spider-Man, realizing how over his head he is, tries to split, only to realize everything is up to him now). Spidey ends up making a Hail Mary play, which frees all of the Good Guys, who dogpile on Thanos (and his alien flunkies), but once again, Thanos proves to be too powerful for them, forcing SM to make one more Hail Mary, and frees the Soul Gem, which frees the ghost of Warlock, who ends up turning Thanos to stone(!!!) . With that being done, Warlock returns into the heaven within the Soul Gem (along with Gamora, Pip (the Troll), and various others), and he is given a proper burial by the heroes. A powerful bit of foreshadowing is done here by Starlin, as Captain MarVel delivers his eulogy, stating that he hopes when he dies, he goes out as heroically as Warlock did. I say that because a few years later, Starlin would deliver a death to MarVel that, while not as exciting as Warlock's "death," is just as heroic in many other ways. Thanos and Warlock would remain pretty much "dead" until the late 80's, when both would be revived to do battle once again in the lead up to the epic story, THE INFINITY GAUNTLET. This was a fantastic ending to this story, and probably the best single issue of this entire run, or as I stated in the last review, at least the first half of it. With our next review, we head back into the actual issues of MTIO, as Ben will get into a bit of legal trouble that he'll need a lawyer for. Luckily, next issue's Guest Star just happens to be one. (Mwaaaaa!!!) GRADE: A+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jun 13, 2017 23:05:06 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One # 37"Game Point!"Cover Date: March, 1978 Writer: Marv Wolfman & Roger Slifer Artist: Ron Wilson Feature Characters: The Thing & Matt Murdock Villain: Alex Stone Special Guests: Alicia Masters, Foggy Nelson, The NYPD, Crusader, & Eugene Everett Official Plot: When an attack on Ben Grimm leads to a large amount of property damage, Alex Stone demands the police arrest him for the losses he's caused. After a some time in jail, Matt Murdock comes to represent Ben in court. During the court trial, witness after witness recount how Ben Grimm has caused untold damage and rampaged throughout the city on numerous occasions. With nobody coming to his defense, the angered Ben almost busts up the courtroom, but is stopped when Alicia bursts in and calms him down. The court finds Ben guilty and sentences him to prison. Brodie's View:We come back from our AWESOME Annual to a pretty damn good story involving...well, The Thing potentially going to prison. While living in a flop house, The Thing is affected by a weird attack that causes his strength to go out of control, and his wrecking his block and a bus. A "concerned citizen" named Alex Stone calls the cops on Ben, which ends up landing our orange hero in the slammer. Luckily, he has a lawyer friend looking out for him, our Guest Star, Matt Murdock (AKA Daredevil), and Matt does try to get Ben off the hook, even through Ben's self pity pretty much has him agreeing with the Prosecution. However, through all of that, it almost looks as if Ben might get let off the hook, when he suffers another attack, causing him to level the court room. Our story ends with the judge throwing the book at him, and Aunt Petunia's favorite nephew being sent up the river. You would think that this is a tragic story, but actually, Wolfman (and Roger Slifer) get/s quite a bit of humor out of it, well, other than Ben's self pity. Our story will, of course, continue in the next issue, as we'll see how Ben copes with prison life. We'll also see Matt try to solve the mystery behind what happened to his friend in a non lawyer-ly way, but what he'll find will be quite unexpected, as there's more to "Alex Stone" than what it seems on the surface. GRADE: A-
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jun 14, 2017 22:57:06 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One # 38"Thing Behind Prison Bars"Cover Date: April, 1978 Writer: Marv Wolfman & Roger Slifer Artist: Ron Wilson Feature Characters: The Thing & Daredevil Villain: "Alex Stone" & The Mad Thinker Special Guests: Alicia Masters, Foggy Nelson, & Eugene Everett Official Plot: Continued from last issue... With the Thing behind bars, Matt Murdock has only a few days to gather up a defense to try and free his friend. Deciding to check on Alex Stone's background as Daredevil, Matt learns that Stone participates in a car theft ring. However in trying to apprehend Stone, Daredevil is over powered and tossed into the river inside a car, but manages to break free. Returning to the jail in his civilian identity, Matt tells Ben what "Daredevil" learned for him. Ben believing a more direct approach is required to find Stone, breaks out of prison, with young Eugene Everett in tow. Ben returns to the car theft ring and threatens one of the thieves into revealing the location of Alex Stone. The directions lead him to a manhole cover, which turns out to be a secret lair with high tech robots. With Daredevil joining, Ben tries to fight off these robots but both he and DD are knocked out and captured. When Daredevil revives, he finds himself a prisoner of the Mad Thinker, who orchestrated the whole scheme to get revenge against the Thing for his last defeat at the hands of the Fantastic Four. He then makes Daredevil an ultimatum: Serve the Mad Thinker, or the Thing will be destroyed. This story is continued next issue... Brodie's View:The trial is over, and our hero (and the star of this book) is behind bars, awaiting the main trial that could send him to prison for 20 years. This is OK, though, as it allows his lawyer, Matt Murdock, the chance to try to figure this all out by doing his "night job," becoming the masked vigilante known as Daredevil. DD goes to investigate "Alex Stone," only to find that "Foster" has superhuman strength (and a strange heartbeat). This almost puts him down for the count, permanently. However, he gets free, and after telling Ben that there's something rotten in the state of Denmark, our orange hero breaks free, and the two heroes set out to clear his name. However, this quickly turns to crap, as they are captured by the androids created by the REAL villain of this little storyline; The Mad Thinker. Now, you would think that the Thinker was using DD to enlist The Thing for some nefarious scheme, but actually, the plan is quite the opposite, as The Thinker wants DD because of his unique powers, which he figures as being some sort of probability manipulation of some sort. DD tries to convince him this isn't so, but The Thinker is unconvinced, and he's willing to kill Ben to get our blind superhero's help. (Double ) Sadly, the writer behind the plot of this, Marv Wolfman, won't be around to complete this story, but his fill in, Roger Slifer, will. I think this is around the time Wolfman left his position as being the Editor in Chief of Marvel, which he would leave Marvel period shortly after. This would be good news for DC, as he would help revamp THE TEEN TITANS, making it one of DC's most popular books of the early 80's. Anyways, in next issue's review, we'll see the wrap up of this whole storyline, which will bring an Avenger into the thick of things. GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jun 17, 2017 1:47:45 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One # 39"The Vision Gambit"Cover Date: May, 1978 Writer: Roger Slifer Artist: Ron Wilson Feature Characters: The Thing & The Vision Villain: The Mad Thinker Special Guests: Daredevil, Yellowjacket, & Eugene Everett Official Plot: Continued from last issue... Daredevil is coerced into serving the Mad Thinker, who has demanded that he capture the Vision in order to spare the life of the Thing. The Thinker intends on creating an army of androids based on the Vision in order to take revenge on those who have beat him in the past. Worse, he captures young Eugene Everette and uses him as a hostage. Hypnotizing Ben into being loyal to the Thinker and strapping a video device on him to monitor their progress, he sends the two heroes off to Avengers Mansion to collect the Vision. There, when the Vision answers the door, Ban and Daredevil attack at once, knocking out the only other Avenger present: Yellowjacket. When Daredevil incapacitates the Vision with a special rifle created by the Mad Thinker, he leaves the room briefly to get something to carry the Vision in. When they return back to the Mad Thinker's base, the Thinker is quickly defeated thanks to a plan orchestrated by Yellowjacket: Back at Avengers Mansion while Daredevil was momentarily out of the room, he revived Yellowjacket. Then Yellowjacket took Daredevil's costume, while DD hid in the casket, and thousands of ants filled Yellowjacket's costume giving the illusion that he was still unconscious. The ruse pays off, but not before the Thinker was able to create an army of Vision clones. However, with the revived Vision the heroes manage to defeat them all and the Thinker and free Ben from his control. Brodie's View:So, we finally get the Mad Thinker's MAIN PLAN laid out, as he send a brainwashed Thing and Daredevil to capture The Vision, who is also, non coincidentally, the Guest Star of this issue. The Thinker plans on making an army of Vision clones, which, he feels, will CONQUER THE WORLD!!!! Oh course, I notice he doesn't mention the X-Men, which might have ended up being his downfall, as I'm sure Phoenix might have given a Vision army a bit of trouble, let along the rest of that team. Anyways, a few things makes his "Master Plan" fall apart regardless: For one, he probably should have brainwashed Daredevil as well, as he ends up pulling a switcheroo with Vision's Avenger-mate, Yellowjacket (Henry Pym in one of his many alter egos). This ends up leading to the Thinker's defeat, as they end up un-brainwashing Ben, and due to a flaw in the Thinker's copying process, the heroes are able to take down the mad scientist's Vision army. Sadly, with this issue, we officially lose Marv Wolfman as the regular writer for this book, although, Roger Slifer does a decent job ending Marv's story. He sticks around for the next few issues, and then he's replaced by another long time writer, who takes the book on its next great era. Speaking of next issue, we'll see a Two Parter that grows out of the ending of this little storyline, but one that will involve vampires and zombies (the voodoo sort)!!! ( ) Once that story is over, we come back to some characters we saw in earlier issues, more specifically, following up on some of the plot threads started by Steve Gerber and Bill Mantlo. GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jun 17, 2017 1:50:43 GMT -5
Okay, I have to take a break for a few days. I'll be going out of town for the weekend, and then I'm going to have surgery on Monday, which means it might be a few days until the next review shows up. I'll try to get back by midweek, though, so, we can continue on with this run.
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jun 21, 2017 21:15:44 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One # 40"Conjure Night"Cover Date: June, 1978 Writer: Roger Slifer (plot) & Tom DeFalco (Script) Artist: Ron Wilson Feature Characters: The Thing & The Black Panther Villain: Vampir Zuvembi Special Guests: Matt Murdock, Yellowjacket, J. Jonah Jameson, Joe Robertson, & Eugene Everett Official Plot: To reward Eugene for his help in clearing Ben's name and capturing the Mad Thinker, Ben, Yellowjacket and Matt Murdock treat the boy to some pizza and give him a ride to school aboard the Avengers Quinjet. Deciding to go along with Eugene to his classes, Ben soon learns that his teacher is the Black Panther, in his American guise of school teacher Luke Charles. Inviting Ben to his home, T'Challa asks Ben to help him investigate the disappearance of prominent people in the Black community who have disappeared after signs of struggle. Tabulating a list of these people, Black Panther and Ben deduce that the next target is famous musician C.L. Wadsworth, who is scheduled to put on a performance at Carnegie Hall. Staking out the performance, Ben and Black Panther are shocked when a Vampire Zuvembi attacks C.L. and tries to take him hostage. During the fight, C.L. lends a hand and after a struggle, C.L. stabs the creature through the heart seemingly killing it. As all parties leave the seemingly dead Zuvembie, it's master revives it and sends it after the Black Panther. Later at the Black Panther's apartment, Ben tells him that he's tired and wants to sort out the details in the morning. As Ben leaves, the Vampire Zuvembie enters the Black Panther's room and knocks the hero out. This story is continued next issue... Brodie's View:We get a nice little transition in this issue, that takes us fully out of the storyline from the last few issues, and into a new one, which concerns Ben helping the Black Panther (This issue's Guest Star) in the investigation of several disappearances from the black community. This ends up leading to Carnegie Hall, and the attempted kidnapping of a famous musician from what appears to be some sort of giant vampire like creature. The Panther tries to fight off the vampire (or Vampir, if you want to be fancy about it), but is unable to, due to the creature's immense strength and shape changing ability. To make things worse, the entity controlling the creature decides that they'd much rather have the Panther as a captive, however, Ben busts in, complicating the creature's mission somewhat. The fight between these two beings of superhuman strength goes pretty evenly, until the Vampir's original target uses his wooden bow to stake the vampir, apparently killing it. Little does our heroes realize, though, is that this Vampir is not a normal vampire; it is a Vampir Zuvembie. In other words, a creature that is both a vampire and a zombie (!!!), of the voodoo variety, and its master compels it to rise once more, once the coast is clear. That master then sends the creature to capture the Panther once more, and as our issue ends, it appears that the Vampir Zuvembie's mission is quite successful. Obviously, this continues into the next issue, as Ben will be forced to recruit someone who knows quite a bit about voodoo into this whole deal to help save the Panther and the other prominent black people who have been kidnapped. In fact, our Guest Star next ish even has the word Voodoo in his frggin' super hero name, so..... GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jun 22, 2017 19:42:21 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One # 41"Voodoo and Valor!"Cover Date: July, 1978 Writer: Roger Slifer (plot) & David Kraft (Script) Artist: Ron Wilson Feature Characters: The Thing & Brother Voodoo Villain: Vampir Zuvembi, W'Sulli, Kinji Obatu, & Idi Amin Special Guests: The Black Panther Official Plot: Continued from last issue... As the Thing returns to the Black Panther's apartment at their scheduled meeting time, Ben forces his way when he believes that there might be trouble. Inside he finds Brother Voodoo, who has been drawn here because of the Vampire Zuvembie that has been on the loose and agrees to help Ben try and track down the Black Panther and other prominent African-American's that have been kidnapped by the monster. The Vampire Zuvembie turns out to be under the control of Kinji Obatu, formally the criminal known as Dr. Spectrum of the Squadron Sinister. He has captured these prominent figures in order to clear the execution order on his head by Ugandan leader Idi Amin. With his prisoners, Obatu and the Zuvembie load them up on a stolen aircraft and fly to Haiti where they prepare to make the trade off. When Brother Voodoo and the Thing learn the plan, they fly off to rescue the others, and after being shot down in Uganda, the two heroes attack the ceremony where Obatu is turning the others over to Amin. During the fight, Brother Voodoo frees the Vampire Zuvembie from the control of W'Sulli, the tribe leader who put it under Obatu's control. The Zuvembie would then kill W'Sulli and cause Obatu to plummet to his apparent death. With Obatu's plot foiled, Brother Voodoo, Black Panther, and the Thing gather up all the captured people and take them back to the plane that will bring them home to the United States. Brodie's View:The second half of this voodoo story ends kind of strangely, as we kind of go the rare route of mixing real life politics with what had previously been kind of a typical mystical type of tale. Ben winds up partnering with Brother Voodoo to take down not only our Vampire/zombie hybrid monster, who kidnapped The Black Panther at the end of last issue. The villains end up being a witch doctor and the former Doctor Spectrum of the Squadron Sinister, who are capturing prominent black citizens (including the Panther) to appease real life Ugandan dictator, Idi Amin, who seems to be there just because he was kind of the Bastard of the Moment during that period (Had this story taken place a year later, I imagine it would have been more Iran centered). Once again, this kind of makes things strange, as it's mixing the comic bookish story of mystical villains and heroes with a real life monster, who, of course, walks away free at the end of this story. Anyways, Ben, BV, and the Panther end up freeing the souls of the people captured, as well as the Vampir Zuvembie, who officially gets that last bit knocked off, and takes vampiric vengeance on the witch doctor that put him under control, and all's well that ends well....well, other than our heroes leaving and letting Idi Amin to continue slaughtering people for real. I get that the writers were trying, in their own way, to wake Americans up to what a monster Amin is/was, but it just came off very awkward. This is too bad, as the story started off pretty well. Ah well, at least this is the end of that story, as we move on to important plot threads of the past; one that takes us into the mysterious PROJECT PEGASUS. We also get another Avenger as our Guest Star, and some pretty great talent both in the writer's and artists' chairs as well. GRADE: B-
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jun 23, 2017 18:37:20 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One # 42"Entropy, Entropy!"Cover Date: August, 1978 Writer: Ralph Macchio Artist: Sal Buscema Feature Characters: The Thing & Captain America Villain: Cult of Entropy: Victorius, Jude: The Entropic Man, & Thomas Lighter Special Guests: Wundarr & the various workers of Project Pegasus Official Plot: Learning that Wundarr had been taken to Project Pegasus, Ben breaks in to try and free him. However, Captain America is there to calm Ben down and convince him to allow the scientists there to experiment on Wundarr, as they believe his unique powers may help them unlock the secrets behind the Cosmic Cube. After some initial opposition from Wundarr himself, Ben talks the alien man-boy into doing what the Project Pegasus scientists ask of him. However, Project Pegasus has been infiltrated by Victorius of the Cult of Entropy. When the moment presents itelf, Victorius distracts the heroes by charging Wundarr with too much power from the Cosmic Cube, and then steals the Cube itself. Victorius transports himself to the Florida Everglades, where his fellow Cultists prepare for the arrival of Jude the Entropic Man, and continue to worship their original leader Yagzan. When Ben and Captain America track down the Entropists, they arrive too late to stop them from using the Cosmic Cube to bring forth Jude the Entropic Man. This story is continued next issue... Brodie's View:All righty then! We start moving into the next major ongoing story of this book, although, we don't really know it at this point. However, while doing that, we also dip back into one of the first ongoing story-lines in this book, where is considers the Superman-like alien stuck on Earth, the child-like Wundarr, who was Ben's charge in the early issues of this book. Anyways, he's fallen into the hands of the U.S Government controlled Project Pegasus, who want to use his power to unlock the secrets of the Cosmic Cube (which they got after the whole Thanos deal). Needless to say, this doesn't sit right with our orange hero, who busts in to try and rescue Wundarr, before he is talked down by our Guest Star this issue, the shield slinging Avenger, Captain America(!!!!). This being done, the experiment goes off without a hitch, until one of the lab assistants, who isn't what he appears to be, overloads Wundarr, and steals the Cosmic Cube. Ben and Cap follow the man into the Florida Everglades to try and stop him, but it's too late, as he, and the Cult of Entropy he represents, end up resurrecting Jude the Entropic Man, hoping to bring about the end of the world due to this super powerful entity. Of course, the next issue will continue this story, as Ben and Cap try to stop the Entropy fans from bringing about...global entropy, and the fact that the issue is set in the Florida Everglades should tip you off as to who next issue's Guest Star will be. (YAY!!!) To make things even more awesome, we get a bit of Guest Artistry from one of the best comic artists of all time, and definitely THE superstar of this era. GRADE: A-
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jun 24, 2017 18:02:51 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One # 43"The Way The World Winds Down!"Cover Date: September, 1978 Writer: Ralph Macchio Artist: John Byrne Feature Characters: The Thing & The Man Thing Villain: Cult of Entropy: Victorius & Jude: The Entropic Man Special Guests: Captain America Official Plot: Continued from last issue... Having tracked down the Cult of Entropy to recover the Cosmic Cube, they arrive to find that the Cult has used it to bring to life their god: Jude the Entropic Man. The Cult's leader Victorius, explains how he came to become a member of the Cult and how they used the Cosmic Cube to turn the remains of their dead leader Yagzan into Jude to bring about their ideal of universal entropy. When Ben and Cap try to take back the Cosmic Cube, it leads to them battle Victorius one-on-one, as Jude watches waiting to judge on humanity's fate. However, Jude isn't the only one watching, as the battle has also attracted the attention of the Man-Thing. As the struggle continues, the Man-Thing takes hold of the Cosmic Cube. When Victorius asks Jude to end the battle, the Entropic Man tries to convince Captain America to give into Entropy. Cap almost does give in, however the Thing stops him and enters into Jude himself, instead of being killed Ben finds that has been restored to his human form. When Jude begins to believe that mankind is not ready to receive his gift of entropy decides to leave, but to take Victorius with him. As Victorius grapples with the Man-Thing to get hold of the Cosmic Cube, Jude touches Victorius. There is a flash of light, and Jude and Victorius have been transformed into a crystal structure. Recovering the Cosmic Cube, Ben and Captain America return to Project Pegasus. The Man-Thing however, reconstitutes himself, and approaches the crystal. The muck-monster begins to change into human form as it gets closer to the crystal and decides to shamble away. Brodie's View:Kick Ass-ness here, as we come to the second part of our little Two Part story involving The Cult of Entropy, The Cosmic Cube, Cap, and, of course, The Thing, we are joined by an artist that at this time was the hardest working artist going in Marvel at the time, Mr. John Byrne. As always, his artwork is f**king boffo in this issue, as we get the big showdown between Victorious (the leader of the Entropy Cult, who has used a stolen Cosmic Cube to form their "God," Jude, The Entropic Man, and our two heroes in the middle of the Florida Everglades. Needless to say, this brings about our actual Guest Star this issue, The Man Thing, who actually takes hold of the Cube, turning the battle in another direction. Victorious (sing this name in the tune of Bobby Roode's theme; quite fun) tries to use Jude to take out Cap (by mind control) and Ben (by transforming him into his human form), but this all ends up backfiring, as Jude kind of becomes disillusioned by the whole deal, and goes to leave. Another scuffle breaks out, as Victorious tries to get the Cube from Manny, but ends up touching Jude, turning them both into crystal, turning Ben back into his orange rock form, and ending this whole deal. Cap and Ben take the Cube (which apparently has been drained) back to Project Pegasus, and after they leave, Man Thing reforms, and comes near the crystal, which actually starts to turn him human. However, not being smart enough to realize that this could be the answer to his prayers, Manny leaves the crystallized form of the Entropy crew sitting in the middle of the swamp, ending this cool little story. This would be the end for Victorious, but Jude would be back later on. For our next review, we head into another Annual, which will hopefully be as kick ass as the first two we've reviewed. The Guest Star of this will be kind of a new hero on the block at the time, which was kind of the Marvel answer to the Green Lantern idea. GRADE: A
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jun 25, 2017 17:59:06 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One Annual #3"When Strike the Monitors!"Cover Date: September, 1978 Writer: Marv Wolfman Artist: Sal Buscema Feature Characters: The Thing & Nova Villain: Monitors (Nygorn, Ingesteev, & Kordatz) Special Guests: Edwin Jarvis, Bernie Dillon, Roger Cooper, Ginger Jaye, Marvanites, King Suzerain, Kallara, Milandra, & Askare Official Plot: Patrolling the city, Nova is alarmed when a giant alien creature with a strange drilling device appears in the middle of New York. When the Avengers are unavailable, Nova tries to seek the aid of the Fantastic Four, but find that the only member resident is the Thing, who agrees to help Nova try and stop the alien creature. Meanwhile, two more similar creatures appear in both Paris and Tokyo. Fighting one of the aliens, Ben and Nova find that they are unable to damage it or it's device. They are then confronted by an alien female named Milandra, who tells the two heroes that the aliens are called Monitors. She explains that they go to various planets and evaluate the beings that live there, and if they do not meet their strict standards, they destroy the planet. Not wishing the Earth to be destroyed, Milandra offers to aid the Thing and Nova to stop the Monitors. She explains to them the power source of their computers are two other female robots that used as power sources for their devices. During their travels, they free the other two robots, and destroy the Monitors device. Nova is temporarily teleported into deep space, but manages to get back to Earth through a space warp. In the final battle, the female robots manage to convince the Monitors to spare the Earth, and they depart but not before restoring all the damage that they had done since their arrival. Brodie's View:Unfortunately, our run of awesome Annuals ends at two, as this one, while not bad, is definitely not up to the standards of the first two MTIO Annuals. Of course, maybe that's not fair to say, as both of those Annuals were built off of awesome stories in other book's Annuals, while this story is self contained. That being said, the story being self contained is kind of one of the problems in this one, as the writer (Marv Wolfman) tries to cram way too much in this Annual, whereas, maybe a story broken up over two issues might have made this one better, rather than one, REALLY long seeming continuous story. The long and the short of this story is this; Ben and Nova (who was a new hero on the block at the time), deal with a group of Cosmic God level beings called The Monitors, who comes to planet and "test them," and if they fail the beings' standards, they destroy that planet. Needless to say, both heroes end up getting their asses handed to them (With Nova being teleported into deep space, and having to go through some trippy stuff to get back), until a group of hottie female robots, who supposedly have a way to defeat, or at least deter the Monitors. Eventually this happens, and all is good in the hood again. Once again, were this story laid out over a couple of issues, it might have made for a better story, but Marv kind of does the BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN mistake of trying to throw WAYYYY too much into one story, to the point where it become monotonous. Perhaps it's also the fact that Nova was kind of a new hero at the time, and so hadn't developed the deeper personality that he would later, specifically in the NEW WARRIORS and beyond era. You may as well call him "Generic Young Hero" here, as most of the purpose he serves in this story is just being the "Young Hero" that Ben kind of begrudgingly comes to trust and like throughout the story. Ah well, whatever. It's decent, but not as great as it could have been. The next issue will return us to one shot stories for a few, and will be throwing Ben back into the realm of the Gods, as our Guest Star next issue will kinda sorta be one. GRADE: B
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jun 26, 2017 18:40:23 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One # 44"The Wonderful World of Brother Grimm!"Cover Date: October, 1978 Writer: Marv Wolfman Artist: Bob Hall Feature Characters: The Thing & Hercules Villain: Manduu, Y'Androgg, & Korkarr Special Guests: The Human Torch & Zeus Official Plot: Visiting children at a campsite, the Thing relates to one of his adventures with Hercules: The story would begin with an altercation between the Thing and the Human Torch, then with the arrival of Hercules. Hercules has come to ask for the Thing's help in rescuing Zeus who has been captured by a trio of beasts. Ben recounts his travels to Olympus and their battle against Y'Androgg, Krokarr, and Manduu in Olympus and all their forces. They would send Y'Androgg to plummet to his doom, Manduu would meet it's end in a pit of fire, and upon freeing Zeus, the leader of the Olympian gods freezes Krokarr. Finishing his story, the children ask for another, for which Ben begins telling them of a team-up he had with Iron Man against the Ravagers of Raguu. Brodie's View:I didn't expect much out of this issue, as, to be quite honest, was never that big of a Hercules fan. That being said, this turned out to be a fun issue, as it's basically Ben and Herc fighting their way through Olympus, while trying to free Herc's father, Zeus. Marv Wolfman has a lot of fun with this one, and it's infectious to a point, as the writer gets a lot of millage out of Ben's wisecracks feeding off of Herc's noble Shakespeare-esque dialogue. To add to the fun we get this tale being recounted by Ben to a group of late 70's children, whose "modern" ways go to just infuriate our orange rocked hero. Oh, and Ben's teammate, The Human Torch, has a fun little cameo, antagonizing Ben as only the Torch can (well, and the Yancy Street Gang, who we'll be seeing again real soon). Anyways, there's not much to it than that, it's a fun issue that seems to breeze by. A one shot deal, so, it gets to the point pretty quickly, unlike the last Annual, which seemed to go on for a looooonnnnngggg time. The next issue will see our boy Benjy getting shot at by what appears to be 1920's/30's era gangsters. However, as a few words in that last sentence, I'm sure, tipped you off (well, that and the idea of 20's/30's era gangsters still going in late 70's New York at that point) that there's way more to this whole idea than one would think, and our Guest Star, who has a built in hatred of these gangsters that's been pretty much bred in him (literally!), ties into all of this, well, because of that built in hatred. You'll see what I mean tomorrow. GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jun 27, 2017 20:08:09 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One # 45"The Andromeda Rub Out!"Cover Date: November, 1978 Writer: Peter Gillis Artist: Alan Kupperberg Feature Characters: The Thing & Captain Mar Vel Villain: Boss Barker Special Guests: Alicia Masters & Torgo Official Plot: When Boss Baker returning to Earth to get revenge on the Thing, Captain Marvel is tipped off by his Cosmic Consciousness. While out on a date with Alicia, Ben is targeted in a drive by Baker, and Ben tries to stop the vehicle. He is shocked when the car, a 1920's prohibition-era vehicle flies off into the sky. Being knocked free and falls, Ben is saved by Captain Marvel. Together, they learn of Boss Baker's revenge plot, and learn that following the revolt on the planet Kral, he decapitated Ben's friend Torgo and then decided to go after Ben himself. However in the final battle, the head of Torgo briefly revives enough to shoot Boss Baker dead. With Baker defeated, Mar-Vell agrees to take Torgo back to his home planet of Mekka to be repaired. Brodie's View:Mwaaaaa, See?!? The whole story of this issue is Ben being under attack from an old enemy; a Skrull who was among a group of that species that enjoy disguising themselves as/acting like 1920's/30's gangsters. That Skrull, calling himself Boss Barker, takes a hit at Ben, while he's out on the town with Alicia. As the 20's era car, that Ben gives chase to, after the hit does little but piss Ben off, flies away, Ben realizes that there's more to these "gangsters" than meets the eye. He is then joined by the Kree soldier turned Earth hero, Captain MarVel or the original Marvel Captain Marvel, who, like Ben, has a deep dislike for Skrulls (and even more so on MarVel's behalf, as the Skrulls and Kree are centuries old enemies, and their hatred for each other is pretty much in bred, probably literally in the case of the Kree), and tries to help our orange hero deal with Boss Barker and his group of Skrull "gangsters." Barker winds up delivering to Ben the robotic head of Ben's old ally, Torgo (the Master will NOT be pleased ), who handed Barker his defeat the last time. However, perhaps Barker should have made sure Torgo was 100% deactivated before trying such a stunt, as the robot head shoots Barker dead, ending this whole deal. MarVel takes Torgo's head back to its home planet of Mekka (lol) to be repaired, and our little one shot story comes to an end. This was a fun little issue once again; a one shotter that is pretty quick and harmless read. The next issue promises to also be pretty fun, as Ben winds up going to Hollywood, as he's pissed that next issue's Guest Star has his own television show, and he doesn't (well, he did have a cartoon about that time, so....). If you can remember what Marvel character had a successful live action show on at the time, you'll pretty much be able to guess tomorrow's Guest Star. I'll give you another hint; he's the first Guest Star of the first MTIO story (notice I didn't say issue ). GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jun 28, 2017 19:44:00 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One # 46"Battle In Burbank!"Cover Date: December, 1978 Writer: Alan Kupperberg Artist: Alan Kupperberg Feature Characters: The Thing & The Hulk Villain: None Special Guests: The Fantastic Four (Reed Richards, Sue Storm/Richards, & Johnny Storm), Karen Page, Willie Lumpkin, & Howard the Duck Official Plot: Furious that the Hulk has been given his own television series, the Thing decides to go to Hollywood and try to talk the studio into making a show based on the Thing. Meanwhile elsewhere, when Bruce Banner himself sees that a television show based on his alter ego causes him to change into the Hulk. Furious that there is a television show about him, the Hulk also heads towards Hollywood as well. While the Thing tries to talk to a studio exec about getting his own show, the Hulk arrives and goes on a rampage. After a battle with the Thing, the studio exec agrees to not make the Hulk look stupid on television (satisfying the Hulk to leave) and agrees to give the Thing his own show. However, Ben gets more than he bargains for when he realizes that the program is called "Thing in the Family" and turns out to be a poorly conceived sit-com. Brodie's View:Yay! As we head towards our big 50th Issue of MTIO, we kind of end up going back full circle, at least Guest Star wise. We also get a fun little nod towards what was really going on at the time, as Marvel's "Incredible Hulk" television series was the hottest thing going, and we establish that the show was a huge success in the Marvel Universe as well. This, of course, is the reason for this entire story, as Ben finds out, much to his displeasure, that one of his greatest rivals has his own TV show, and it's a hit. He winds up kicking the shit out of his television, while pissing the rest of the FF off in the process, who convince Ben to go to Hollywood and file a complaint. Around this time, Bruce Banner/The Hulk discovers the existence of the show based on him, and isn't happy about it either. Obviously, this sets up the main conflict of our story, as well as the "Team Up" (if you can call two characters beating the shit out of each other a "Team Up"). Once in Hollywood, Ben confronts the producer of the Hulk show, who seemingly is willing to wheel and deal with our rocky hero. Meanwhile, we also see a hidden plot being formed to kidnap former DAREDEVIL side character, Karen Page, which is kind of going on on the side, as the fight is about to start. Needless to say, The actual Hulk arriving and smashing his way through the sets of other popular shows at the time, on his way to the "Hulk" set, kicks everything into action. The two big monsters fight, with Karen Page's kidnapping kind of failing completely due to the chaos. Finally, a collapsing building (with the Thing saving everyone from being crushed) ends the fight, as both ole' Greenskin and Ben are satisfied by producer's wooing and promises enough to end the fight. At the end of the issue is the capper, as Ben's "show opportunity" ends up being a take off of "All in the Family," with Ben playing the Archie Bunker role (actually, that would have worked like Gangbusters, but, ah well), which everyone kind of shits on, ending our tale. This was a really fun issue, which, usually happens when The Thing and The Hulk are involved, and allowed for a lot of Hollywood in jokes, including a cameo of the star of the next book I'll be reviewing . The next issue will lead us into another little multi-part story, with one of the most unusual (but fitting) Guest Stars of all. GRADE: A-
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jun 29, 2017 19:52:04 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One # 47"Happy Deathday, Mister Grimm!"Cover Date: January, 1979 Writer: Bill Mantlo Artist: Chic Stone Feature Characters: The Thing & The Yancy Street Gang Villain: The Corporation (Mister Carnation & Machinesmith. 1st appearance of the 2nd) Special Guests: The Fantastic Four (Reed Richards, Sue Storm/Richards, & Johnny Storm), Alicia Masters, Willie Lumpkin, Agatha Harkness, & Franklin Richards Official Plot: Mister Carnation (a mobster for the Corporation), and a bunch of his men corner the Yancy Street Gang inside of a warehouse. They beat up the Yancy Streeters and question them in regards to a package sent to the Baxter Building. The Gang members always send a birthday prank gift to their former leader Ben Grimm, the Thing. At the Baxter Building, the Thing plays a game of Hide and Seek with Franklin Richards. Sue, Johnny and Agatha Harkness use their respective powers to place various obstacles in Ben’s path. As the game concludes, Ben removes his blindfold and finds a giant birthday cake waiting for him in the family room. He blows out the candles, but his super-breath splatters the cake all across the room. Moments later, mail carrier Willie Lumpkin arrives at the door with a gift-wrapped package addressed to Ben Grimm. Ben knows it's from the Yancy Street Gang, and is startled when the package begins ticking. Sue throws up a quick force field, and the package explodes. The explosion is harmless however, and inside the box is a wreath with a ribbon which reads, "Happy Birthday, Thing". Ben reads the card and knows that something suspicious is taking place on Yancy Street. Elsewhere, Mister Carnation reports back to his mysterious boss. He tells him that they failed to intercept the Yancy Street Gang's package, and that the Thing will soon be in the neighborhood. The mysterious mastermind behind the operation tells Carnation that he expected such action, and was in fact, counting on it. The Thing flies the Airjet-Cycle to Yancy Street and is surprised to see that the avenue is completely deserted. Suddenly, large floodlights from the street side businesses come on, and a fire hydrant spontaneously begins dousing him with water. The Thing punches his way through the ground to tear up the water main to shut the hydrant off, but accidentally grabs a gas line instead. The gas that escapes from the ruptured line however is not natural gas, but rather a special toxin designed to slow the Thing down. Suddenly, bizarre faceless androids begin creeping up out of the sewers. They begin pile driving on top of the Thing just as a group of Carnation's cronies arrive on the scene. The Yancy Street Gang appear as well and fight up against the mobsters. The androids continue to pour on their attack and collectively generate an electric charge that shocks the Thing into submission. From within his hidden lair, the mastermind behind these events reveals himself to be Starr Saxon, the Machinesmith. Brodie's View:So, as we continue the march towards issue 50, we get a little two parter that will end up introducing a long standing villain, The Machinesmith. This all starts with one of the stranger Team Ups we've had in this run, at least where it concerns the importance level of the character/s, as The Yancy Street Gang had been, up to this point, little more than just a running joke; a group of street toughs that messed with our orange hero by pulling pranks on him. However, in this issue, they are forced to ask for his help, as a group of corporate mobsters are putting the strong arm on them. This interrupts yet another long standing Thing tradition of both doing the family thing with the group that had, by now, become his family, The Fantastic Four. This is because our hero is celebrating his birthday, which is how the YSG are able to communicate with Ben about their need for his help, as the gift doesn't end up being some kind of prank. This kicks Ben into action, but it doesn't last long, as he is quickly brought down by The Corporation's androids, designed by our new villain on the block, Machinesmith. In the next issue, we'll continue this story, while bringing us back into superhero territory, at least as it relates to our Guest Star, who, like Nova a few reviews ago, is a new, while also being REALLY powerful, hero on the block. GRADE: B
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jun 30, 2017 23:53:23 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One # 48"My Master, Machinesmith!"Cover Date: February, 1979 Writer: Bill Mantlo Artist: Chic Stone Feature Characters: The Thing & Jack of Hearts Villain: The Corporation (Mister Carnation & Machinesmith) Special Guests: The Yancy Street Gang Official Plot: Continued from last issue... While going through a training session to better control his powers, Jack of Hearts is given a letter from the Corporation by his butler. The letter explains that the Corporation seeks to end their unfinished business regarding the Zero Fluid formula. Deciding to go to the appointed meeting place to meet with the Corporation and deal with them once and for all, he finds that they currently have the Machinesmith in their employ and that they have the Thing as his prisoner. Fighting off the Machinesmith's androids, Jack of Hearts manages to free the Thing, and the two of them go after the Machinesmith himself. However even with the help of the Yancy Street Gang, when the Jack of Hearts finally captures him, the two heroes are shocked to find that the Machinesmith they were chasing was really a robot himself. Brodie's View:We go into this conclusion of the two part story started last issue with a MUCH better Guest Star than last issue, Jack of Hearts. Nothing against the Yancy Street Gang, who also play a role in this issue (although, it cracks me up that the writers/artists of Marvel would go through such lengths to hide the identities of the YSG, as if it mattered), but it's nice having an actual hero as the Guest Star, rather than a walking plot device/comedy figures like the YSG. As for Jack, it's really too bad that character never really hit it big, as you would think he had everything going for him, as far as REALLY getting over as a character; cool name, cool look, cool powers, and even a cool origin. However, the character never really caught on, and probably the highlight of his comic book career would be his usage by Geoff Johns in his AVENGERS run in the early 2000's (and he would die at the end of that run, so.....). Going back to his origin story, this kind of factors in to this issue, as it turns out that our main Baddies for this two parter, The Corporation (no relation to the Vince McMahon led group), are also the people responsible for making poor Jack (who is like a human bomb at times) the way he is. Anyways, after finding the location of where members of the Corporation can be location, JoH heads there, only to get waylaid by The Thing, who is under the control of Machinesmith. The two battle, and it appears that JoH ends up killing our hero , but appearances are deceiving, as JoH merely destroyed the device Machinesmith was using to control our main dude, Benjy. Meanwhile, the YSG brake free of their shackles, and end up whooping off on Machinesmith, the Corporation, and their robots, with Ben and JoH rushing in to seal the deal on this whole thing. It also turns out at the end of this issue that what was thought of to be Machinesmith was nothing more than a robot himself. However, the real thing would appear shortly after in other books. Back to MTIO, though, our next review will be one last one shotter before our big 50th issue (!!!), and it will be a magic based storyline, with a master of mystical arts type of a Guest Star. GRADE: B+
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jul 1, 2017 23:23:45 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One # 49"Curse of Crawlinswood!"Cover Date: March, 1979 Writer: Jo Duffy Artist: Alan Kupperberg Feature Characters: The Thing & Doctor Strange Villain: Ennis Tremellyn & Kemo Special Guests: None Official Plot: When Ben Grimm vacations in a spooky mansion, he also finds that Dr. Strange is staying there as well. While Ben has come for vacation, Strange has come because mystical forces have gathered there that require his investigation. The two end up battling Ennis Tremellyn, an ancient sorcerer who was lost in a ship wreck and now back to life now that the ship has been uncovered by ecological digging, and the proper celestial alignments. While Ben defends the patrons of the hotel from Kemo -- a former ship slave under Ennis' control over him with the Heart of Ahriman. In the final battle, the Heart is crushed, and Dr. Strange manages to defeat Ennis and banish him to his master. Free of Ennis' control, Kemo then also passes along into the after life. Brodie's View:We're one issue away from our big 50th Issue , and we get a decent little one shot story here, involving Ben vacationing in a spooky little mansion in the town of.....Crawlinswood (lol....You can definitely tell writer Jo Duffy was a DARK SHADOWS fan). And like the fictional Collinswood, Crawlinswood is a creepy little town with a few secrets hidden in its dark, spooky castle, and Ben ends up (along with our Guest Star, Dr. Strange) get caught up in a plot involving magic and spirits. An ancient sorcerer and her enslaved spirit battle the two heroes; Ben on the physical plane, Strange on the astral, until the heroes are able to defeat the sorcerer by destroying the object the sorcerer was using to control the spirit, allowing it to pass on to the afterlife. That's pretty much it for this issue; it was a pretty easy read, that while nothing major, wasn't bad either. It was kind of a middle of the road one shot that kind of took most of its Omph from the fact that it was kind of spoofing/paying homage to DARK SHADOWS. The next issue (Issue 50) will definitely not be a middle of the road issue. In fact, it's kind of important, as it's one of the earliest examples of an artist who will become a superstar artist of the 80's, showing that he could write as well as he could draw, and he probably picked the perfect book to show that off on as well, as it's probably one of the main factors that would end up winning the artist/writer role on the team book Ben is a part of . Have I given you enough hints yet as to who I'm talking about? Speaking of doing double duty, though, our Guest Star for next issue will be none other than.....The Thing (?)!!! GRADE: B
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jul 3, 2017 1:01:23 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One # 50"Remembrance of Things Past!"Cover Date: April, 1979 Writer: John Byrne Artist: John Byrne Feature Characters: The Thing & The Thing Villain: None Special Guests: Reed Richards (from two alternate Earths) Official Plot: When Reed Richards conducts another experiment on the Thing's mutations over the years, he comes to the conclusion that Ben's preferred state is that of the rockey hided thing. He shows Ben another serum he had hoped would change Ben back into human form, but deduces that it would have only worked on Ben back during the earlier days of his mutation where his "Thing" form was more reptilian in nature as opposed to a rock-like material. Thinking that he'd be better off if he wasn't the Thing, Ben takes the serum and uses Dr. Doom's time machine to travel back in time to the early days of the Fantastic Four. There, before the Fantastic Four setup shop in the Baxter Building, Ben finds his earlier self. The embittered past incarnation attacks Ben, not believing that he is his counterpart from the future. After a lengthy battle between the two Things, Ben manages to knock out his past self. He administers the serum that Reed had created for him, and the past-Ben changes back into human form. When Ben himself doesn't change to human form as well, he figures he just needs to return to the present. Traveling through Dr. Doom's time machine once more, Ben arrives back in the present where he finds that he's still in his mutated form. When he tells Reed of his adventure, Reed explains to Ben that his past is immutable -- and instead of changing his own history, Ben created an alternate reality. Brodie's View:
Yay! It's our big 50th issue, and what a cool little story we have here. First off, let's mention that our Writer and Artist this issue is none other than John Byrne (Double Yay!!!), and this is definitely an early example (perhaps the first) of Byrne doing double duty like this all on his own. Of course, in the early 80's, Marvel would give him two books (Alpha Flight and The Fantastic Four) to work his magic on, and he would do a kick ass job on both, but we can definitely see the greatness here. Long story short, Reed Richards, while doing research on Ben, winds up concocting a potential cure for our rocky hero. The only problem is, it would have only worked on Ben right after he became The Thing. Ben, considering this, decides to use the time machine Reed built off of Doctor Doom's original machine, and he goes into the past to cure himself, hence, also curing the present version. However, the past Ben (who is FAR more somber and tortured than our current lovable pile of rocks) doesn't want to hear it, and attacks the present Ben. The two Things fight it out, with Present Ben finally getting the advantage due to his being The Thing longer, and knocking his Past version out cold. He then cures him with Reed's serum, and returns to the present, figuring that he'll be cured when he comes back. However, that doesn't happen, and when he asks Reed why, Reed explains that by curing the past Thing, he basically created an alternate time line. Ben, however, doesn't seem that upset about it, claiming that after seeing himself in the past, he feels a lot better about himself. Of course, it will later be revealed by Reed (and by Byrne) that there's a reason why all of the attempts to cure Ben have failed, and that it all comes back to Ben subconsciously not wanting to be cured, due to the fear that Alicia would not accept him as normal Ben Grimm. I will also say that we'll eventually return to this now alternate timeline Ben has created, and show how bad things can get in a world with no Thing to help protect it. However, that won't happen for a long while; the next issue will be a new story, and will involve not only a ton of Guest Stars, but will have another future superstar on the artistic side of things. GRADE: A
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jul 4, 2017 1:32:22 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One # 51"Full House---Dragons High!"Cover Date: May, 1979 Writer: Peter Gillis Artist: Frank Miller Feature Characters: The Thing & Avengers (Ms. Marvel, Wonder Man, & The Beast) Villain: General Pollock Special Guests: S.H.I.E.L.D (Nick Fury and Dum Dum Dugan), Jarvis, & Blake Tower Official Plot: The Thing is hosting the first Floating Super-Hero Poker Game at Avengers Mansion, and is participated by members of the Avengers including Wonder Man, the Beast, and Ms. Marvel. Also in attendance are SHIELD director Nick Fury, New York District Attourney Blake Tower, and the Avenger's butler Jarvis. However, the game is cut short when reports of an attack on the SHIELD helicarrier are reported. Hearing the news, the Thing, Wonder Man, Ms. Marvel, Beast, and Nick Fury take the Fantasticar to stop the invasion. Arriving there, they find that General Pollock is the attacker, seeking to obtain the Sky Dragon weapon and also Ultimate Annihilator. However, the members of the Avengers, and Ben all help defeat Pollock's attacking army and capture Pollock himself and put him into custody. After everything is cleaned up, the heroes return to Ben's apartment, where all except for Wonder Man are too tired to do much else other than sleep. Brodie's View:It's Issue # 51, and the fun continues, as we have both a crap ton of Guest Stars (Ms. Marvel, Wonder Man, Beast, Nick Fury, and the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D), and another super star artist in the house (Frank Miller ), who does a great job with a very fun little story. Basically, Ben is hosting one of the first (but certainly not the last) floating super hero poker game, which involves our Guest Stars, and a few other characters. Meanwhile, an old enemy from Fury's past launches a surprise attack on the S.H.I.E.L.D heli carrier. This ends up killing the game, and just as Ms. Marvel is kicking the ass of the male players (much to Ben's horror). Ben, Fury, and our Avenging Guest Stars kick into action, and wind up taking on the Bad Guy's forces, and after a bit of a tussle, ends up kicking their asses royally. This is not a surprise, as just think of the power Ben, Carol, and Simon possess alone. Shit, having the Beast there was just a cherry on top. However, this all looks kick ass due to Miller's by now pretty damn great artwork, which depicts both the card game and our big showdown in the second half about as well as one could. We also get a bit of plot development on the Avenger side of things, as Wonder Man winds up seriously considering Hank's proposal of becoming a full time hero, rather than just an on the side thing, and of course we know where that will lead, as the Wonder Man/Beast duo will become damn near iconic (not ionic ) in time. Putting that aside, this now leaves one more issue to review before my break on reviewing MTIO (which I'll explain after the next review), and it will involve Ben teaming up with yet another Marvel attempt to create their own Batman like character, although, with this one being a lot cooler (or at least cooler looking) than Nighthawk. GRADE: A
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Post by BrodietheSlayer on Jul 4, 2017 23:18:50 GMT -5
Marvel Two In One # 52"A Little Knight Music!"Cover Date: June, 1979 Writer: Steven Grant Artist: Jim Craig Feature Characters: The Thing & Moon Knight Villain: Crossfire Special Guests: Frenchie Official Plot: When Reed Richards is to accept a reward, Ben is on hand for the ceremony and is present when an assassination attempt is being made on scientist. Although Ben fails to stop the killing, he learns of the masterminds location. When Moon Knight arrives (who had been watching the situation undercover to get at an former CIA mercenary William Cross.) to try and lend a hand. Ben shrugs him off, and refuses Moon Knight's offer of aid. Undaunted, Moon Knight changes into his cabbie identity of Jake Lockley to give Ben a lift to the location. When Ben crashes in on the crooks, Moon Knight is also there to lend a hand. Moon Knight finds out his target -- now the villain known as Crossfire -- as the mastermind behind the assassination. The two learn of Crossfire's attempt to build a sonic device to drive the worlds super-humans to fight each other to the death. Although they are captured, Ben and Moon Knight break free and battle Crossfire, who is seemingly killed when a bomb goes off in his escape elevator. Brodie's View:So, here we are at the halfway point (counting a few more Annuals) of MARVEL TWO IN ONE, and the end of the first part of my reviews on this series (I'll explain why below). Unfortunately, we kind of end on a kind of Meh note, as this issue is just kind of there. That's not to blame things on our Guest Star, Moon Knight, who is kind of a cool character, even if he is just another attempt by Marvel to create their own Batman-like character. However, the story is so uninspired (An old MK foes kidnaps the two heroes, and is attempting to put Ben under his mental control; a plot device so old by now that Ben even cracks on the fact that Crossfire is the 3rd villain, just in recent MTIO issues, to try such a plot) that it seems like it was just kind of a paint by numbers MTIO. Needless to say, Ben and MK end up kicking off on Crossfire and his minions, and the villain seemingly dies while trying to escape the two heroes. Meh, right? It's really too bad that it has to end here for now, as the series gets a really kick ass stretch starting in the very next issue. Ah well, maybe the series needed a pallet cleanser for the kick assness to come, and eventually I will get to that part of it. However, I have to order the next Marvel Essential to do that, and that won't be for a few weeks at least. Of course, don't even think that this is the end of my reviews; far from it. Just consider this this a break, as far as MTIO goes. The break, I hope, will be equally as entertaining, as it was my original choice to do after ASTONISHING X-MEN. What book will I be reviewing? Come back tomorrow and find out. GRADE: B-
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Ultimo Gallos
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Dreams SUCK!Nightmares live FOREVER!
Posts: 15,295
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Post by Ultimo Gallos on Jul 5, 2017 12:46:47 GMT -5
If you lived closer to me sir I would loan ya the issues or essentials ya need to finish 2 in 1.
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