Essential Marvel Two-In-One Volume 4

Volume four completes my run of Marvel Two-In-One. This early 80s series starring the Thing of the Fantastic Four was really entertaining and by the end of this book, I was sad to see ol' Ben Grimm go.

Featuring stories starring some very familiar and some quite obscure guest stars. Just about every story was a winner. Bill Mantlo and Tom DeFalco got very creative in these stories almost exclusively penciled by Ron Wilson.

Some highlights:

The Thing is laid-up in a hospital bed. Mr. Fantastic is fearful that some of the FF's enemies might take advantage of Grimm's grim condition and attack him. As the superhero community goes to visit Thing, they intercept the baddies until there's a massive battle royale outside the hospital!

The Thing and his nephew Franklin Richards are having a fun day together at the local arcade. There, the two meet a video game programmer who accidentally takes The Thing to an alien world that seems an awful lot like the video game he and Franklin were just playing.

Lastly, in a moving story, The Thing and his arch-enemy The Sandman bond over brews while Flint Marko reveals his secret origin. Will this be a crucial turning point for a villain on the edge?

I really enjoyed both this series and this volume. The biggest problem for a few of the stories was the endings. I think the writers had so many ideas that they ran out of space to give a couple adventures adequate endings. On at least several occasions, the fighting lasts until the very last page. If the story was to end on a cliffhanger, that would be one thing. But most of the stories were one-and-done issues.

Great fun, awesome art, and exciting ideas and character. Just a little bit rough on the total plotting.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Two-In-One #99

It's a dark and stormy night at the Baxter Building. The Blue-Eyed Thing is reading horror stories alone when the power goes out. As Ben Grimm goes exploring the cause of the outage, he stumbles across the smoking body of Rom: Spaceknight!

As part of Rom's continuing battle with his enemy the Wraiths, the Spaceknight has meet his match. In order to defeat his enemy's new weapon in the battle for humanity, Rom will need assistance! It's a good thing that there's a member of the Fantastic Four with nothing to do on a rainy Saturday night. 

I've been reading the complete run of Marvel Two-In-One as part of the Marvel Essentials line. However, due to licensing rights with Hasbro, this issue is not one of those issues reprinted.

It's like night and day going from reading a black and white collection to a single issue is stark (and yet beautiful) living 4-color! Avengers' Bob Hall did a fantastic job on pencils.

I'm hoping that the regular series of Rom wasn't as stunted as the dialogue was in this issue. Bill Mantlo wrote this story and he was the regular writer on Rom during it's original 1979-1986 run. The plot was good. The Thing's dialogue was good. But Rom sounded too cheesy. Like really, really bad Shakespeare!

I've got the entire Marvel run of Rom that I hope to one day get around to reading. So we'll find out how bad the dialogue really is. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Essential Marvel Two-In-One, Volume 3

The team-up adventures of the Fantastic Four's Blue-Eyed Benjamin Grimm continue in the pages of Essential Marvel Two-In-One, Volume 3. 

This book begins with a massive story about The Thing becoming a security adviser at Project Pegasus. The Marvel equivalent of Project Cadmus, The Thing teams with a number of superheroes such as Quasar and Goliath as an odd assortment of villains try to break in and out of the research center.

After his tenure at Pegasus is complete, Grimm teams with an assortment of characters from the Marvel Universe including the Avengers, the Howling Commandos, and the original Guardians of the Galaxy. That last crossover will result in a strain in the relationship of the Thing and his gal pal Alicia Masters. Thus, the last third of the book gets a little sappy. 

Featuring Tom DeFalco, Chris Claremont, John Byrne, George Perez, and many more from the Marvel Bullpen, this was an great collection of issues from the late 70s rolling into the early 80s despite the corny lost love angle. Fans should really study the Claremont and Byrne issues as they highlight the gelling partnership between the duo that would most redefine the X-Men to become the most popular superhero group for a generation. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars. 

Guardians of the Galaxy: Tomorrow's Avengers, Volume 2

 

When the original Guardians of the Galaxy were cancelled in 1977 with issue #12 of Marvel Presents, many assumed that was the last of the team. I was one of those when I finished Guardians of the Galaxy: Tomorrow's Avengers, Volume 1. I should have known if there's a volume 1 then there must a volume 2. But that's not always the case as some Marvel Essentials such as Marvel Super-Villain Team-Up were issued as a volume 1 without there ever being any material for a second volume. A couple of weeks ago I finally got my answer as I found volume 2 at my local library.
 
  Volume 2 is a cornucopia of different series and issues. It starts with an annual from the first series of Mighty Thor. That tale begins with a prequel of sorts to the Korvac Saga. In this issue, a man in the year 3000 is turned into a living computer and has his sights on conquering the world. Thor is transported to the future and ends up teaming with the Guardians.

    With the prequel to the Korvac Saga comes the complete Korvac Saga from the pages of the Avengers. Fans of Earth's Mightiest Heroes, take note, if you own this book and you're looking for the Complete Korvac Saga- stop right there! It's in this volume and you will not need to buy that series as the trade-only epilogue and the complete set of Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe entries regarding the Guardians and Korvac from that edition are included as well! Plus, every variant cover to the Korvac Saga trade and some cool sketch pages are added as well.

    In addition to the Korvac Saga ( sometimes referred to as the Michael Saga) are several issues from Marvel Team-Up and Marvel Two-In-One. Most of those tales wrap up the end of the Adam Warlock Saga, exploring what happened to his body and the final fate of Counter-Earth. The art in those issues, especially of Warlock's potential mate, Her, and the High Evolutionary are some of the best of the late Silver Age I've ever seen. Yes, the artwork has been remastered but with it's vibrant colors and high-quality paper stock, this is museum level stuff. Then the Guardians re-team with the Thing in a two-parter that explores Lance Astro taking a risk with all of space-time by trying to prevent his teenage self from becoming an astronaut. It's probably my favorite story in this massive volume.

    These final tales wrap up the last of the Guardians appearances in the Marvel Universe until 1990. Well, there was a one-panel appearance of the team in the pages of Sensational She-Hulk. Fret not, that's included in this definitive guide to the second half of the Guardians first trip through the Marvel Universe.

     Worth Consuming.

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Adventures of the Thing #3 (of 4)

The reprint mini-series comes to a close with a classic ‘team-up’ of the Thing and the Man-Thing. Technically, they don’t really meet as Ben Grimm, recruited by Nick Fury to test a new SHIELD jet, crashes into the Florida Everglades and is injured and blinded by the destruction. A band of poachers is on the Thing’s trail, thinking him to be a rare orange alligator. Seeing that the Thing can’t defend himself, the Man-Thing runs interference.

Here’s my take on this story. When I first read it, I was engrossed by the drama, fearful for the Thing’s life. But as I write this review, I realize that nothing the poachers have on them would constitute as fatal to Ben Grimm. He’s made of living rock, so nothing short of a grenade launcher is going to kill him. However, the crash did give the Thing a severe concussion, as falls from great heights can break rock. So, the race for SHIELD to find Ben before his injuries kill him is a justified drama. But, I guess having the Man-Thing keep Ben from falling asleep in swamp water isn’t as thrilling as a pair of Deliverance rejects seeking to have the Thing mounted and stuffed.

Again, I am torn about how to rate this book. I had trouble with the plot. Thankfully, the art was okay. As you may know from reading my previews of the first three issues of this series, I was upset that this book didn’t have any new content. Thankfully, I’ve never read this issue before, so there’s a little positivity.

In the end, I think Marvel should give this mini-series another chance. Include the reprinted Marvel Two-In-One story in each issue, but include an all-new team-up in the book as well. You could have the Thing teaming up with the same heroes he does in the reprint or create a sequel to the story with a different hero or even villain. Also, I would like to see the original talent behind those tales reunite for the all new story.

Marvel, if you’re reading this and you use my idea, the only payment I would like is all 4 issues free and a small blurb thanking me for the idea on the title page of each book. I consider that a fair compensation.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Overall series rating: 6.75

Issue reprinted is Marvel Two-In-One #77

Adventures of the Thing #3 (of 4)

The Marvel Two-In-One reprint for this story involves a team-up between The Thing and several of his poker buddies. Nick Fury, Jarvis, Wonder Man, Carol Danvers, and the Beast all guest star in this comic. That’s an impressive line-up.

I’ve read this one before and yes, I was miffed that this series is nothing more than 4 reprints of the Thing’s team-up comic in the 80s. But, I love this story. It’s zany and extremely funny.

However, what could’ve sent this issue over the top was along with reprinting this classic issue, maybe Marvel could’ve included an all-new story involving another one of the Thing’s poker nights going horribly wrong. Thankfully, in the recent years, Marvel has learned to do this tactic instead of pulling a stunt that dupes loyal fans into buying a bunch of reissues starring the ever lovin’ blue eyed Thing under the guise of a new series.

Worth Consuming, but only because the story reprinted is a classic!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars

Issue reprinted: Marvel Two-In-One #51.

Adventures of the Thing #2 (of 4)

Again, we’ve got another reprint from Marvel Two-In-One. Thankfully, I’ve never read this story involving a bizarre road race between the Johnny Blaze Ghost Rider and Ben Grimm. I enjoyed the art a lot- both the original Ron Wilson art from the 1980s and the new cover penciled by Joe Quesada. I may not be a fan of Quesada’s after some of the crap he pulled as editor of Marvel, but the man has a talented pen and I always give props when props are do, even begrudgingly.

I want to go back to the original artwork. I just love it’s classic 80s style. Ghost Rider is visually one of my favorite characters. I’m just not a fan of the whole demon possession/ selling your soul to Lucifer thing. It’s just not my style ever since I was a kid. There’s touches of that here but most of the story is either the fierce vengeance of Ghost Rider or comic relief provided by the Thing. Either way, the story is penciled, inked, and colored beautifully, making for this a great read- EVEN IF IT IS A REPRINT!

Issue reprinted is Marvel Two-In-One #80.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Adventures of the Thing #1 (of 4)

Ben Grimm, unhappy with his current state- a living, breathy mound of orange rocks, decides to take Doctor Doom’s time machine for a bit of a trip back in time to change him back into human form. See, Mr. Fantastic has just created a serum that will return the Thing back into his human form, but his body has gotten so used to the changes, the cure would’ve only worked right after Ben and the rest of the Fantastic Four’s space shuttle crashed back to earth. So, Ben Grimm travels backwards in hopes of getting himself to take this magic cure, only the younger Thing is so angry and so misshapen, he doesn’t realize that he’s come face to face with himself. So, naturally, the two have an epic fight. Its Thing vs Thi---- Hey, wait a minute, I’ve read this before! Sonofa-

Once I read this story, I flip the page only to find the original cover from when this story was first published back in the 1980s. That’s right- the entire 4-issue miniseries of Adventures of the Thing is a bunch of reprints from the classic 80s team-up series Marvel Two-In-One (This book reprints #50 of MTIO.)  If you already have that series collected, you don’t need this mini.

   Thankfully, I didn’t pay very much for these. No more than $2 apiece or less. But it took me about 2 years to finally get all of the books. I look at this more as a waste of my time than my money. 

  I don’t have all of Marvel Two-In-One yet. So, I may come across a couple of tales I’ve yet to have in my collection or even better- NOT READ YET!!!

I’m torn on how to rate this book. The cover was awesome. The story is a classic. But I got duped into buying a handful of reprinted comics. I’m a bit miffed. Buyer be aware!

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.

Essential Spider-Woman, volume 1

I remember owning many of these issues when I was real young. Like 2,3,4. Do I remember anything other than the pictures? Not a bit. But I did like them. I think it had to do with being big on Spider-Man at the time.

So now, 30 years later, I’m back giving them the ole college try. Some of these issues are really good, especially the Marvel two-in-one issues, and the first 7 issues of Spider-woman. But when she starts to become a bounty hunter, the series loses it spark some. The interesting thing about this series is the weirder the story, the better. Plots involving a killer clown, Werewolves, and spies are really kitschy. But, involve an ego-maniac trying to take over L.A. and I couldn’t care less.

BTW, is it just me, or does anything think that the Shroud is a huge knock-off of Batman???