Retro Comic Recap: Marvel Two-In-One #20

Happy Friday, folks,

We made it to the last Friday of the month! It's time for me to discuss the twentieth issue of Marvel Two-In-One. The cover depicted the Thing battling Master Man, U-Man/Merrano, and Skyshark, with images of the faces of the Liberty Legion's heroes the Whizzer, Miss America, Patriot, and Blue Diamond, above the combatants. The tale was titled "Showdown at Sea!" The issue had a cover date of October 1976.

The story picked up right where the first annual left off. Ben Grimm was in New York City in the year 1942, and had just used a flag pole to vault himself toward a flying swastika that was wrecking several buildings in the area. Ben finally managed to grab hold of the strange vehicle and pulled himself up, to find that it was being piloted by a disembodied brain encased in a glass case in the center of the structure.

Ben learned that his foe went by the moniker Brain Drain. It claimed to be the intelligence behind the Third Reich. When instructed to speak, Grimm recounted his journey to that time period and his recent encounter with the Liberty Legion. That included the attempts by Master Man and U-Man/Merrano to steal different aircraft components.

Grimm continued tashing the flying swastika until it landed atop the secret floating base. He was then confronted by Brain Drain's associates, Skyshark, U-Man/Merrano, and Master Man. Ben was briefly subdued by their combined attack, but his Thing exoskeleton (which he was wearing at the time after temporarily losing his cosmic ray-spawned powers) protected him and allowed Ben time to recharge and counter their blows.

Soon afterward, the Liberty Legion arrived on the scene. They helped to turn the tide of battle, but in the midst of the confrontation, Skyshark and Herr Slicer escaped via plane. Skyshark eventually jettisoned his passenger, but Miss America grabbed him as he fell. Skyshark got away, but his companions weren't as lucky.

Ben learned that the Legion had been alerted to his whereabouts by following the image of the Watcher. Grimm now had another container of vibranium that he took with him back to the present before bidding his allies in 1942 a fond farewell. When he returned, Ben gave the container to Reed Richards once the time lock door to his area had been reopened. He was no longer mad, and with the threat gone, was more concerned about his girlfriend, Alicia Masters. 

As I said in my previous article, this story was originally planned for a giant-sized issue, before that line of quarterly books was cancelled. That's why it was split into the first annual and this issue. If you're a fan of the Invaders or other books set in the WWII era, this tale is perfect. I love a good Sal Buscema issue, so I enjoyed it. I didn't know much about the Liberty Legion beforehand. They've been featured off and on over the years, including a short stint in Marvel Premiere. The Whizzer was once believed to be the father of Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, until it was later revealed that Magneto was their father. 

That's all I have for you today. Tomorrow, I'll kick off the weekend with a synopsis of the twenty-first issue of this series. The Thing has a real encounter with a character that also predated him by several decades. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.