Good morning, peeps,
Welcome to a discussion of the fifty-ninth issue of Marvel Two-In-One. The cover depicted the Thing carrying a couple of people while holding onto the exterior of a burning building, as the Human Torch flew to their aid. The story was called "Trial and Error!" The issue had a publication date of January 1980.
Ben Grimm was relaxing with a stogie and the Sunday funnies when his Fantastic Four teammate Johnny Storm (aka the Human Torch) flew into the room. He invited Ben to go for a ride with him in the Corvette that he'd just finished tuning up. Grimm politely declined, remembering the problems that happened last time.
The two engaged in another one of their friendly scuffles before deciding to go out to eat. On the way, a man on horseback rode past. His unexpected appearance distracted a driver enough to cause them to hit a fire hydrant. Ben rushed to the driver's side, while Johnny pursued the rider.
While Grimm was cleaning up the mess and providing local children with a little fun, Storm caught up with the man on horseback. He picked up the rider and corralled the horse with a flaming circle. A few moments later, the rider, who was named Normal Dunsell, had a woman running toward him. His girlfriend was scolding Norman, who explained that he had a list of things that he wanted to do before he turned thirty.
He walked off while the woman tried to convince the superheroes to dissuade him. There wasn't much they could do in that regard. A short while later, Dunsell was on the back of a fire engine that was racing to put out a fire. In the chaos, he was mistaken for an actual firefighter and climbed up a ladder nervously.
Storm had arrived at the fire's location and was already working to free people. The Thing was climbing up the building to do the same thing, and wound up catching Dunsell and the two citizens he'd been trying to save. The Human Torch swooped in just as Ben started to fall, preventing anyone from being hurt.
Dunsell's girlfriend Deena was there to scold him once more, but Norman was still determined to cross each item off his list. They devoted their time to helping the firefighters and victims. Later that evening, Norman arrived at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. He'd learned of a robbery there and stepped in to play hero.
He borrowed a pistol from a guard who'd been tied up by the crooks, but Norman soon proved to be in over his head. Fortunately, the robbery was reported via radio at a police cruiser that Deena, Ben, and Johnny happened to be next to. The Human Torch and The Thing stepped in and took care of the thieves.
By the time authorities entered, things were under control. Ben and Johnny were about to depart when they found the list that Norman had dropped when he walked off with Deena. He apparently wasn't worried about accomplishing the last item on his list. The two superheroes agreed that item, becoming a husband, was probably one of the most difficult of them all.
This was kind of a nice gap between storylines. It may have seemed like a filler issue, but the message was very clear. One of the rare stories where the good guys didn't face galactic threats or supervillains. Just a guy trying to live out his dreams, even though most of them involved putting his life at risk.
That's it for this morning. Later today, I'll cover the sixtieth issue of Marvel Two-In-One. Ben finally gets some quiet time with his girlfriend, Alicia Masters, at a gallery exhibition. As we all know, even events like that are never just what they seem. Until then, have a great day and don't forget to be kind to one another.







