Marvel Two-in-One #4 (July 1974)

Back in January 2022, I took a look at an issue of the team-up book called Marvel Two-in-One. The premise of that title was simple: Ben Grimm, the Fantastic Four's ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing teamed up various characters in the Marvel Universe in adventures of his own. The title would be most famous for the Project Pegasus saga. I thought it would be fun to take a look at another issue of the book. This is Marvel Two-in-One #4!

The cover is a Gil Kane and Joe Sinnott piece. It's pretty cool! It depicts Ben Grimm and Steve Rogers doing what they do best: clobberin' bad guys. I think some would not like the masthead logos taking up a third of the cover. It doesn't bother me personally, but I can imagine there was a more efficient way to free up some space. Maybe just Ben and Cap's heads on the corner box?

"Doomsday 3014!"
Writer: Steve Gerber
Penciler: Sal Buscema
Inker: Frank Giacoia
Colorist: Petra Goldberg
Letterer: Charlotte Jetter
Editor: Roy Thomas
Editor-in-Chief: Len Wein

The story begins with the ever-lovin', blue-eyed idol of millions at the Central Park Zoo, being as cheerful as ever, accompanied by a friend.

“Mama always said there’d be days like this…”

In case you're wondering, the man Ben is with is Wundarr the Aquarian. First appearing in Adventure into Fear #17 (October 1973), Wundarr was originally created as a Superman pastiche. Instead of being adopted by Ma and Pa Kent pastiches, he ended up physically maturing inside his pod but would mentally remain a baby. He would go on to be a part of the Project Pegasus Saga. This story is set before Wundarr would end up in Project Pegasus.

At this time, Ben Grimm was basically a babysitter to Wundarr. The Aquarian is fond of the rocky powerhouse, referring to him as his "Uncle Benjy". Awwww.

Ben goes to get Wundarr some cotton candy. However, Wundarr unintentionally causes a bit of havoc. 

The animals are rising up!

Remember, Wundarr has the mind of a child...and the strength of Superman at that time. He had let the animals out of their cages, not realizing they were in them for a reason. Ben is left having to deal with the rampaging animals. However, he soon will get some backup. 

"I have to take off my mask to enter a hospital! Weird."

Yup, Mr. Steve Rogers himself, the original Captain America. Steve sees people fleeing from the zoo, but Ben has the rampaging animals taken care of.

However, Steve spots some looters taking advantage of the chaos to get some free food from the concession stands. Mmmm...free food...

Right, sorry. Cap easily takes care of the looters. He beats up Nazis as a morning workout, a bunch of looters is nothing to him. Let me ask you a question. What is better than two superheroes? Three, that's what! Another hero is on the scene, one Nita Prentiss, aka Namorita. 

"Oh Neptune, he got knocked stupid again."

She had met Wundarr in Marvel Two-in-One #2. And speaking of the future Aquarian, Ben Grimm is pretty angry at him. His anger is understandable, as he could have unintentionally gotten someone killed. Nita speaks up in his defense, pointing out that he's very child-like, and means no harm. She also reveals that she's been attending college on Long Island, and she can take Wundarr in. Ben is all too happy to let her. Cap wonders why Ben let Wundarr go, but Ben assures the Star-Spangled Avenger he'll explain the Aquarian's deal over coffee at the Baxter Building.

Cap, Ben, and Sharon arrive at the Baxter Building to see Reed Richards and Medusa tinkering with Doctor Doom's time machine, which the Four have had in their possession since the events of Fantastic Four #5 (July 1962). And it's very nice to see Medusa. Remember when Marvel actually remembered the Inhumans existed?

As Cap and Sharon shoot the breeze with the scientist and the Inhuman queen, Ben looks over the old time machine, and accidentally turns it on. The group of heroes enjoys a rare bit of good old rest and relaxation. However, this moment of peace is fleeting, as a scream is heard from the lab. The heroes run in and discover a strange woman on Doom's old time platform.

"Oh. This is not Alburquerque."

The woman freaks out, screaming she has done nothing wrong, and wants to know why she's here. Okay, she did forget to return a library book on time, but that is hardly a federal case. She expresses disbelief that she's in the presence of Captain America or the Fantastic Four...as they've been dead for a thousand years.

This whole thing gets the woman so flustered, she just faints.

The group are able to get her to a couch. When she wakes up, she's better able to explain her situation.

Ben points out that in her state, she mumbled something about "baboons". However, the woman corrects him. Not "baboon", but Badoon. She is named Tarin, and she comes from the future year of 3014. She explains that in the year 3007, the Brotherhood of Badoon, a species of reptilian aliens conquered the Earth and the majority of its interstellar colonies. Their invasion slaughtered much of humanity, but Earth's heroes were still remembered. The Guardians of the Galaxy named their starship after Captain America, for example. 

Hearing this, Captain America wants to travel to 3014 and kick some Badoon head in. After all, the Badoon are tyrants, and if there's one thing that gets Steve Rogers in a punching mood, it's tyrants. The Thing agrees to come along. Reed and Medusa stay behind to operate the time machine. Sharon Carter is coming along as well. After all, she's a trained SHIELD agent. And with that, we got a party. Let's get this campaign started!

Ben, Steve, Sharon and Tarin travel to Tarin's home place and time: The New York City of 3014. Ben notices that the city seems deserted. Tarin explains that the Badoon have a strict curfew. All humans must be indoors before nightfall. If not, they face the Zom Patrols. And one just happens to show up.

"Braaaaaaains..."

Our heroes fight the Zoms. They're forced to go all out as the Zoms feel no pain, being humans turned into living automatons created by the Badoon.

And to make things worse, the Zoms got some backup. Big backup.

"GIVE MONSTER HUG."

Thanks to the monster, the tide of battle is turned. The Zoms manage to overcome the heroes, and they carry them off to an unknown destination. Unnoticed by the Zoms or the monster, Tarin has escaped. The story ends with her vowing to make the Badoon pay for what they have done today. 

I enjoyed this comic. I really did. It was a fun action-packed ride. I do wish we got to see Ben and Cap interact more. After all, that's the point of these team-up tales, seeing characters that normally don't get to interact with each other do so. But I was happy with what we got here. I liked the cameos by Reed and Medusa. A nice reminder that the Marvel Universe is supposed to be a shared universe, the characters' stories being interconnected. 

If you want to read this for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2013 trade paperback Guardians of the Galaxy: Tomorrow's Avengers Vol. 1. It can also be found in the 2018 trade paperback Marvel Two-in-One Epic Collection Vol. 1: Cry Monster. Thanks for reading this blog entry!  

Marvel Two-in-One #53 (July 1979)

In the 1970s, Marvel was in the mood to do a little bit of experimentation. One of the titles they used was Marvel Feature. In this series, Marvel would feature characters that they wanted to spin off into solo series. This was a way to gauge a character or team's popularity with readers. This book would lead into the Defenders' first series, and to another book we'll look at here: Marvel Two-in-One.

The premise of Two-in-One was simple: The Fantastic Four's ever-lovin' blue-eyed powerhouse, the Thing, teaming up with various characters throughout the Marvel Universe. The series lasted nine years (1974-1983), getting 100 issues and seven Annuals. The series would be most notable for the "Project Pegasus Saga". This six-issue storyline involved Ben Grimm helping work security at the titular government facility. If you ever saw the first Avengers film, Project Pegasus appeared in the beginning of that movie. So, with that out of the way, for the first review of 2022, let's take a look at Marvel Two-in-One #53!

The cover is a John Byrne and Joe Sinnott piece. It's pretty cool, depicting Ben and Quasar facing off.

"The Pegasus Project Part 1: The Inner War!"
Writers: Ralph Macchio, Mark Gruenwald
Penciler: John Byrne
Inker: Joe Sinnott
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Letterer: Gaspar Saladino, Diana Albers
Editor: Roger Stern
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter

The story begins with Ben Grimm ridin' on a jet plane.

Page 1, Full Page

Well, he's flying the Fantastic Four's Pogo Plane. He's heading for his new job working security at Project Pegasus. He's been allowed to help work security here at the Project. You see, in issue #42, he cut out on a friend of his named Wundarr when he got injured...and Ben's been feeling understandably guilty about it. It's why he's here at Project Pegasus, to check up on him and make sure Pegasus is treating him well. 

Ben arrives and goes through the comprehensive security of the Project. He then is introduced to the chief of security of the Project, a man we've met before here on this little blog: Wendell Vaughn, aka Quasar.

Page 6, Panel 2

Unfortunately, Ben Grimm mistakes him for the Crusader, who the FF fought in Fantastic Four #163-164 (November-December 1975). The Crusader was seemingly the 1950s-era superhero Robert "Marvel Boy" Grayson who had gone insane and become a supervillain. The 2006-2007 Agents of Atlas miniseries would later retcon that the Crusader was not the real Bob Grayson, but an Eternal imposter. Anyway, in that classic superhero tradition, Ben and Wendell end up brawling.

It's here we get a recap of how Wendell became Quasar. Afterwards, he worked with SHIELD as part of a group of Super-Agents in Captain America #217. That gig went bust in Captain America #229-230 and The Incredible Hulk #232, but his work won over SHIELD's high command, so he is here. It's here that Ben runs into another old acquaintance.

Page 9, Panel 2

Ben Grimm has previously encountered Lightner as the supervillain Blacksun in Marvel Two-in-One #21 and #42. Don't expect issue #21 to be reprinted any time soon, as it featured a team-up with Doc Savage, and the Man of Bronze is not public domain. Anyway, since that incident, Lightner is working at Pegasus. And he secretly is a mole for another group: The Nth Command. Meanwhile, another player enters the scene, walking the Lower East Side of Manhattan. 

Page 10, Panel 1

Meet Thundra, an Amazonian warrior woman from Femizonia, an alternate future world ruled by women. She encounters a mugging and breaks it up as a Femizonian warrior can. The man she rescued is in awe of her strength. He introduces himself as Herkimer J. Oglethorpe, and he figures she could make it as a professional wrestler. 

Back at Project Pegasus, Quasar shows Ben around. He takes him to the holding cells. You see, Pegasus isn't just an energy research facility, it's also a sort of jail for supervillains with energy-manipulation powers. Among the cells they pass contain Nuklo, Solarr, and someone that Ben wants to see...Wundarr.

Page 12, Panel 4

The therapist assigned to work with him points out that he's in a coma, thanks to the events of Marvel Two-in-One #42. As a result of a sabotaged experiment, Wundarr's energy-absorbing powers have been enhanced, causing him to generate a null-field that shuts down anything within ten feet of him. Ben discovers that Wundarr's field even affects superpowers. 

Meanwhile, Lightner shuts down the exterior defenses so someone can infiltrate the facility. The story ends with Ben going to see if he can find some people he can play a bit of poker with, unaware that he has a nasty surprise heading his way.

Page 15, Panel 1

Deathlok is here, and he's ready to turn The Thing into The Swiss Cheese. Mmmm, Swiss cheese...

I enjoyed this little comic. I really did. One thing I liked about it was the referencing of the previous events of other books when recapping Quasar's origins and history. It made it feel like the comics are all connected, and the stories mattered. It's something that you don't see a whole lot in modern Big Two books anymore. There was a scene in which Ben passed the cells containing the villains Nuklo and Solarr. A nice bit of foreshadowing the threats of the Saga. The subplot of Thundra being recruited to be a pro wrestler made me chuckle a bit. This story had a little bit of everything. A bit of humor, a bit of intrigue with Lightner working against Pegasus, a bit of action. It's a great read.

Byrne and Sinnott are a very solid penciler/inker team. Their rendition of Ben Grimm almost made me think George Perez was drawing him. 

If you want to read this for yourself, the comic was first reprinted in the 1988 trade paperback The Thing: The Project Pegasus Saga (Where I got the scans here from). But it was also reprinted in the 2009 trade Essential Marvel Two-in-One Vol. 3 (in black-and-white), and the 2010 Essential Marvel Classics hardback Thing: Project Pegasus. The Project Pegasus Saga is a fun little story, and I highly recommend it. 

Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves, and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get vaccinated! See you next time!