By Marv Wolfman, Jim Starlin, Roger Slifer, Tom DeFalco, David Anthony Kraft, Ralph Macchio, Peter B. Gillis, Alan Kupperberg, Ron Wilson, Sal Buscema, John Byrne, Bob Hall & various (Marvel)
ISBN: 978-1-3029-1815-6 (HB)
Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Blockbuster Epic Adventures… 8/10
It’s the anniversary of the Fantastic Four this year and we couldn’t let it go without celebrating the team’s most iconic member…
Above all else, Marvel has always been about team-ups. The concept of team-up books – an established star pairing, or battling (often both) with less well-selling company characters – was not new when Marvel awarded their most popular hero the same deal DC had with Batman in The Brave and the Bold. Although confident in their new title, they wisely left options open by allocating an occasional substitute lead in the Human Torch.
In those long-ago days, editors were acutely conscious of potential over-exposure – and since super-heroes were actually in a decline they may well have been right.
Nevertheless, after the runaway success of Spider-Man‘s guest vehicle Marvel Team-Up, the House of Ideas carried on the trend with a series starring bashful, blue-eyed Ben Grimm – the Fantastic Four‘s most iconic and popular member. They began with a brace of test runs in Marvel Feature #11-12, before awarding him his own team-up title, with this fourth eclectic compendium gathering in hardback or digital editions the contents of Marvel Two-In-One #37-66, MTIO Annuals #2-3 and Avengers Annual #7, covering November 1977 to December 1978.
Preceded by a comprehensive reminiscence in Roger Stern’s Introduction, the action begins with ‘The Final Threat’ by Jim Starlin & Joe Rubinstein) from Avengers Annual #7, wherein Kree warrior Captain Marvel and Titanian mind-goddess Moondragon return to Earth with vague anticipations of an impending cosmic catastrophe. Their premonitions are confirmed when galactic wanderer Adam Warlock arrives with news that death-obsessed Thanos has amassed an alien armada and built a Soul-gem powered weapon to snuff out the stars like candles…
Broaching interstellar space to stop the scheme, the united heroes forestall the stellar invasion and prevent the Mad Titan destroying the Sun, but only at the cost of Warlock’s life…
Then Marvel Two-in-One Annual #2 undertakes a ‘Death Watch!’ (Starlin & Rubinstein) finding Peter Parker plagued by prophetic nightmares, disclosing how Thanos had snatched victory from defeat and now holds the Avengers captive whilst again preparing to extinguish Sol.
With nowhere else to turn, anguished, disbelieving Spider-Man heads for the Baxter Building to borrow a spacecraft, unaware that The Thing also has history with the terrifying Titan. Although utterly outpowered, the mismatched champions of Life subsequently upset Thanos’ plans, allowing the Avengers and the Universe’s true agent of retribution to end the Titan’s threat forever… or at least until next time…
Marvel Two-In-One‘s apparent function as a clearing-house for old, unresolved series and plot-lines was then briefly put on hold as issue #37 teamed Ben with Matt Murdock (not alter ego Daredevil) for legal drama ‘Game Point!’ (Marv Wolfman, Ron Wilson & Pablo Marcos). Ben had been framed for monstrous acts of wanton destruction, and when the case went badly, he faced decades in jail.
However, the Man Without Fear and eccentric street punk “Eugene the Kid†determine the Mad Thinker is behind the plot to place the ‘Thing Behind Prison Bars’ (by Roger Slifer, Wilson & Jim Mooney): tackling the maniac whose ultimate game plan is cornering the future and mass-producing his own android Avenger in #39’s ‘The Vision Gambit’ (inked by Marcos).
Slifer, Tom DeFalco, Wilson & Marcos then detail a spooky international yarn as the Black Panther is involved in a monstrous reign of terror with a zombie-vampire stalking the streets and abducting prominent African Americans. Concluding chapter ‘Voodoo and Valor!’ by David Anthony Kraft, Wilson & Marcos) sees Jericho Drumm (AKA Brother Voodoo) volunteer his extremely specialised services to Ben and T’Challa, in hopes of ending the crisis. The trail takes our heroes to Uganda for a confrontation with Doctor Spectrum and the far more dangerous real-world crazed killer Idi Amin…
Crafted by Ralph Macchio, Sal Buscema, Alfredo Alcala & Sam Grainger, Marvel Two-In-One #42 introduces a new mainstay of Marvel Universe continuity as Project Pegasus debuts in ‘Entropy, Entropy…’
The Federal research station designated Potential Energy Group/Alternate Sources/United States is dedicated to investigating alternative power sources and becomes the most sensible place to dump energy-wielding super-baddies once they were subdued. Ben finds and begins trashing the place whilst tracking down his educationally- and emotionally-challenged ward Wundarr after the kid was renditioned by the Government. The furious Thing is soon confronted and contained by Captain America in his role as security advisor and together they stumble over a sabotage scheme by martial maniac Victorius who unleashes a deadly new threat in the ghostly form of Jude, the Entropic Man…
This phantasmic force easily trounces Cap and Ben but find the macabre Man-Thing a bit harder to handle in concluding episode ‘The Day the World Winds Down’ by Macchio, John Byrne – & Friends – & Bruce Patterson)…
Marvel Two-In-One Annual #3 then hosts a great big, old-fashioned world-breaking blockbuster wherein Nova the Human Rocket battles beside the Thing to free captive alien princesses and save the Earth from colossal cosmos-marauding space invaders: a simple yet entertaining tussle entitled ‘When Strike the Monitors!’ all carefully crafted by Wolfman, Sal Buscema, Frank Giacoia & Dave Hunt.
Back in the monthly comic book issue #44 strays away from standard fare with ‘The Wonderful World of Brother Benjamin J. Grimm’ (Wolfman, Bob Hall & Frank Giacoia) with the Thing telling rowdy kids a rather fanciful bedtime story concerning his recent partnership with Hercules to free Olympus from invading giants…
In issue #45 Kree Captain Marvel’s Cosmic Awareness warns him that the Thing had been targeted by vengeful Skrulls in ‘The Andromeda Rub-Out!’ (Peter Gillis, Alan Kupperberg & Mike Esposito), after which the Incredible Hulk‘s new TV show compels an outraged Ben to head for Hollywood, only to become accidentally embroiled in a ‘Battle in Burbank!’(Kupperberg & Chic Stone) to end this tranche of titanic team-ups on a classic note…
Added interest comes in the form of tantalising house ads and original art by Starlin & Rubenstein.
These stories from Marvel’s Middle Period are admittedly of variable quality, but whereas some might feel rushed and ill-considered they are balanced by truly timeless classics, still as captivating today as they ever were. Even if artistically the work varies from only adequate to superb, most fans of Costumed Dramas will find little to complain about and there’s lots of fun to be found for young and old readers. So why not lower your critical guard and have an honest blast of pure warts ‘n’ all comics craziness? You’ll almost certainly grow to like it…
© 2019 MARVEL.