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!

Fantastic Four #403 (August 1995)

For many Marvel superheroes, the 1990s were a crazy time. Spider-Man had to deal with a bloated second Clone Saga, Eric Masterson became Thor, the X-Men conquered the world. Marvel's First Family, the Fantastic Four, were not left untouched. They underwent some craziness in the 90s as well. Their roster got shaken up, and the book got itself a short-lived spin-off title called Fantastic Force. I thought it would be fun to take a look at a comic from that era. The Fantastic Four haven't really made many appearances here on this blog, so this was a great way to remedy that a bit. Let's take a look at Fantastic Four #403!

The cover is pretty awesome. It's a Paul Ryan piece. You have the Thing, Invisible Woman, and Lyja in a forest facing off against what looks like other Things. Ben Grimm's face says it all. He of all of the FF would be the most freaked out by others that look like him. You may be wondering what's up with Ben's face there. Well, that's because of the events of Fantastic Four #374 (March 1993). He got slashed in the face by Wolverine's indestructible adamantium claws in that issue, hence his scarring.

"Things to Come!"
Writer: Tom DeFalco
Penciler: Paul Ryan
Inker: Danny Bulanadi
Colorist: John Kalisz
Letterer: Jim Novak
Editor: Nel Yomtov
Editor-in-Chief: Bob Harras

The story begins with Scott Lang, aka the second Ant-Man (Remember him from my Avengers #223 review?) getting a surprise.

Now I know what you're asking yourself. Wait, what is Scott doing in the FF? Well, at this point in the FF comics, there was a bit of a shakeup in the roster. In Fantastic Four #381 (October 1993), both Reed Richards and Doctor Doom had presumably died. And since you can't have a group called the Fantastic Four with only three people, Ant-Man joined the team in Fantastic Four #384 (January 1994).

Kristoff Vernard, the heir to Doctor Doom (yeah, that's a story), is building a new 90s suit for Scott. He figures that with this new outfit, Scott would finally be somewhat useful to the team. Yeah, Vernard has that Doom arrogance. The shrinking hero gets a call from Roberta, the FF's robotic receptionist. He's got a guest.

Meanwhile, Ben Grimm, the ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing, is getting in the face of Johnny Storm, aka the second Human Torch. Yes, second Human Torch. There was a Human Torch before Johnny. That one is an android, ironically enough. Johnny is off to join the FF's spinoff team going at the time, Fantastic Force. He decided to join the group in Fantastic Force #10 (August 1995), out of concern for his nephew Franklin. He was adventuring as Psi-Lord at the time, and his powers started going a bit wacky in the previous issue. But he does give Ben something to remember him by: His Joe DiMaggio autographed baseball. But back to Scott! Who is his guest?

It's Cassie, Scott's daughter! He prepares to take her on a tour of the headquarters, and she briefly meets Johnny. It's there she also gets introduced to Kristoff.

Yeah, Kristoff is actually a kid around Cassie's age. And despite his youth, he does try to put the charms on the young girl, taking her on the tour instead. Scott is understandably concerned. Kristoff is practically the son of Doom, after all. Ben sees Sue Richards talking to a US Navy admiral, who is keeping an eye on Atlantis. That's Namor's home. The sorceress Morgan le Fay rose it out of the ocean in Fantastic Four: Atlantis Rising #1 (June 1995).  She asks him if he's seen the Inhuman Royal Family at all.

It was during that same comic that Attilan, the Inhumans' home, was shrunken and taken from the moon. The admiral reports that some costumed individuals were seen in the area, but they vanished quickly. Ben and Sue figure it has to be the Inhuman Royal Family. Sue hopes they are alright, and she also thinks about Namor. Quite a lot of Atlanteans died when Morgan le Fay brought the city to the surface. Ben wonders where the Sea King is.

In the North Atlantic, Namor is looking over the ruins of Atlantis, trying to find any surviving Atlanteans. Considering how often Atlantis gets destroyed in the Marvel Universe, you'd think the Atlanteans would have special plans for that kind of thing. The Sub-Mariner goes bonkers and declares vengeance. Remember my Namor the Sub-Mariner #1 review? It established that because of Namor's human-Atlantean hybrid biology, if he stays on land or water for too long, he suffers from oxygen deprivation, which makes him go crazy. I think he's been in the water too long...

Back at Four Freedoms Plaza, Kristoff and Scott Lang are taking Cassie on a tour. Kristoff summons his servant Boris, but he's actually a supervillain in disguise. He and Scott snipe at each other.

In the Brazilian rainforest, one Professor Kenneth Robeson studies some artifacts. He's looking for the temple of the Sun Demons. He's noticed that some of the artifacts bear a remarkable resemblance to Ben Grimm. He had asked the FF for some help on this when he visited New York in Fantastic Four #389 (June 1994), but they had turned him down because they were searching for Reed Richards. Yeah, he and Doctor Doom vanished in Fantastic Four #381 (October 1993), and are considered dead by the rest of the world. He is especially puzzled as to their refusal as you'd think they'd be curious about the whole "ancient idol looks like Ben Grimm" thing. But considering the circumstances...yeah.

Robeson hears a gunshot and catches his guide Rodolfo Mico shooting at a jaguar. Robeson is furious, as his archeology permit does not allow hunting. Mico apologizes, but secretly is hoping to get Robeson out of the way, because he sees treasure in this dig. A member of Robeson's team finds something.

I knew the Thing was the "Idol of Millions", but this is ridiculous. The Professor and his party enter the temple, where they discover an...oddly advanced device for such an old temple.

Professor Robeson warns everyone not to touch anything. This stuff could finally be proof that Earth was visited by aliens in the past. Yeah Professor, I'm sure the Inhumans could confirm that for you. They were created by aliens experimenting on early man. One of the men eyes a diamond in a machine. He tries to grab it, but gets blasted. The scene then shifts to another jungle: the concrete jungle of Manhattan.

Johnny Storm is buying a plumeria for Laura Greene, a blonde woman that the FF's resident hothead is a bit sweet for. She tells him that he's trying too hard to impress her, that he should relax and be himself. He says he is being himself. The lunch was great, but he's got to go link up with the Fantastic Force. She's got an appointment to get to as well.

Laura then reveals a surprise: She's actually a Skrull. In actuality, she's Lyja the Lazerfist. She had been using the "Laura Greene" identity since Fantastic Four #393 (October 1994) to be close to Johnny. She was his ex-wife...by posing as Alicia Masters. Yeah, it's a complicated story. Let's just say, the X-Men were not the only ones dealing with crazy complicated stuff in the 90s. She returns to Four Freedoms Plaza, where the Invisible Woman asks her to join the FF in Johnny's place.

It's then they get a call from Professor Robeson. He exclaims that a bunch of..."things"...are attacking his camp, but is suddenly cut off. By a fist that resembles Ben Grimm's. This is understandably confusing, so the FF go to investigate...well, the Terrific Three. Scott Lang can't come because he can't leave his daughter in the Plaza. It's a school night, after all.

As Ben, Sue, and Lyja leave, Cassie asks Scott if Kristoff has a girlfriend...much to Scott's frustration. Kristoff's steward Boris also watched them leave...and decides now is the time for his real work to begin. Yeah, someone is using Boris as a disguise. That's another story. A few hours later, our heroes arrive in the Amazon. They decide to split up so they can search faster.

Ben traverses through the jungle, alone with his thoughts. He's feeling a bit frustrated due to Kristoff being around (adopted son of Doctor Doom, remember?), and Sue brining Lyja on board without consulting him. It's not that he's got anything against Lyja, but he fears Johnny will never come back to the team if he learns she's around. His thoughts get interrupted as he gets ambushed.

When you get famous, you get impersonators. Sue, Kristoff, and Lyja find Robeson's camp. They notice no blood or bodies, and the destruction is only kept to files and communication equipment. It can't be animals. Nor can it be pirates, because the artifacts are still there, and pirates would find value in those. Before they can investigate further, Lyja and Sue are hit in the neck with blowdarts, and the armored Kristoff is immobilized by a paste grenade.

Back in the jungle, the Thing is brawling with his impersonators. They have the numbers, but Ben is a much more skilled brawler. During the fight, Ben is able to learn where all these false "Things" are coming from. They describe themselves as "The dark spawn of Mico". The thing is, they may have Ben Grimm's power, but they lack his heart. Which he demonstrates by clobbering the wannabe things. Twenty minutes later, Ben is able to make his way to the temple, and discovers the man responsible for this whole mess: Mr. Rodolfo Mico.

He confronts the greedy hunter, basically saying "tell me what's going on, or you're gettin' clobbered". Mico laughs the threat off, as he thinks our resident Idol O' Millions has his own problems to worry about.

Yup. The story ends with Sue, Kristoff, and Lyja somehow getting Thing-ized, and they're out for the real Thing's rocky orange blood. This is an awesome two-page spread, so I want to apologize for it coming out like this. I use a scanning app on my tablet for scans, and it would murder me if I attempted to scan it all at once. And amazingly, I couldn't find it on Google. Incredible.

This comic was great. I really enjoyed it. This story had nice bit of that old pulp adventure/Indiana Jones vibe to it. There was also some nice soap opera stuff with Johnny and Laura/Lyja. I did find it odd that the transformed monsters looked exactly like Ben Grimm, though. Why did they look like the Thing? Was it just do they could make a "things to come" pun? I also liked the nods to previous continuity. That is something I think the modern Big Two is really lacking in their universes currently.

I also have to give a special shout-out to the art. When people think of 90s art at Marvel, they think of what that going on in the X-Books, Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld. But the late great Paul Ryan was bringing some fantastic work here. His style is very clean and classical, appropriate for the First Family. The FF got him on the art for about five years, and they were good years, art wise. Yeah, there is some "90s" creeping in (the design of Ant-Man's new suit mainly), but still, Ryan did some great art.

If you want to read this yourself, I recommend hunting down the 2015 trade paperback Fantastic Four Epic Collection Vol. 25: Strange Days. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, spread it around! Next time, we'll stay in the 90s, but travel to the DC Universe. Next time, we're going to look at the beginnings of the life of the third Flash: one Wallace "Wally" West...