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Marvel Two-In-One
#68
June 1980 |
Fantastic Four member Ben Grimm -
superhero The Thing - has a variety of adventures with a succession of Marvel Superheroes.
Miscellaneous Comments: 1 August, 1999
Ben Grimm in out on the town with Johnny Storm, when they bump into Warren Worthington at a new club: The Zanadu Zone. However, the club opening is just an elaborate trap to kidnap Warren and when the trap is sprung, Ben is dragged along by mistake.
Type of Series: Super-Hero; Action-Adventure; The Thing was the recurring star of the series, and each adventure partnered him with other superheroes.
Similar Comics: Marvel Team-Up, which (before becoming The Web Of Spider-Man) partnered Spider-Man with other denizens of the Marvel Universe.
Strengths: Mark Gruenwald.
Weaknesses:
Plotting: Fine. A kidnap followed by a fight to escape.
Logic: Wel-l-l-l-l-l, it's a fairly elaborate trap isn't it? For just one guy. I suppose that's why Arcade pulled the (financial) plug.
Also, I'd love to know what Johnny Storm and Candy Southern thought when they returned from the dance floor to find Ben and Warren gone. Did they raise the alarm? Did they panic? Did the notice? Did they resume their dancing? What?!
Originality: The ending to the story is, I think, very original. Rather than incarcerate The Toad, The Angel offers to help him out (financially) as a means towards him earning some self-respect.
Ending: As I said, it's an original ending.
Re-Readability: Zilch. It's just an ordinary super-hero yarn.
Impressive Characters:
Impressive Writers: Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Macchio are credited as "writers" with Jim Salicrup acting as Editor. I love the Gruenwald/Macchio run on Marvel Two-In-One. Starting with #53 they entertained me with sagas like The Pegasus Project, The Coming Of Her and The Serpent Crown Affair. Stories that took up over a year of my young life. And fantastic stories to boot! Gruenwald wrote with a love for the Marvel Universe and it's history that was - I think - unequalled by any other writer at the company.
Impressive Artists: Ron Wilson and Gene Day.
Less-Than-Impressive Characters: The Toad is a weak foe. If it wasn't for the rather enjoyable ending, there would be nothing at all special about this issue. It's a pity Arcade (a villain I really like) wasn't himself running the show.
Less-Than-Impressive Writers:
Less-Than-Impressive Artists:
Continuity: Ben is feeling down following his recent break-up with Alicia.
Guide:
Reviews:
Other Info: The location for this story turns up again in the pages of The Uncanny X-Men, when Dr. Doom lures the team to a trap there. Uncanny X-Men # 146 confirms that Arcade was involved here and explains that it was his dealings here that brought him into contact with Victor Von Doom. We are also told in that self-same issue that The Toad's amusement park was closed down "without warning or explanation." Bummer.
Three Things I Really Like About This Issue:
That ending. (Although, of course, we later learn in the pages of Uncanny X-Men that things don't run smoothly for very long. Shame.)
The fact that the issue is somewhat dated. The story is called "Discos and Dungeons!" The opening line (uttered by Johnny Storm) is: "C'mon, old buddy -- they say disco's dying and you're not helping much with that pose. Get down! Get loose!" And millionaire playboy Warren Worthington makes a contemporary reference to Studio 54.
Arcade's name is never mentioned. But his logo can be seen in the background when Ben and Warren are kidnapped, and The Toad refers to his financier as Mister A at one stage. Plus, the kidnapping and style of torture have Arcade written all over them.
Three Things I Really Don't Like About This Issue:
The Toad isn't the most fearful villain imaginable.
Page 12 is printed after pages 13 and 14. Which is sloppy and irritating.
GRADE: B
Review by Michael Leddy
Comments are welcome: dec@iol.ie
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