Good afternoon,
The focus of this article is the thirty-first issue of Marvel Two-In-One. The Thing is shown on the cover, frozen in fear by a new threat, one that appears to involve a giant spider. The story was called "My Sweetheart..My Killer!" The issue had a publication date of September 1977.
This story starts right where the last issue left off. The Thing and Spider-Woman are flailing about in the River Thames after having fought each other on the Big Ben clock tower moments earlier. Ben Grimm grabbed the unconscious female and sprang for the surface, where a Hydra boat was waiting. Grimm tossed the craft aside and brought Spider-Woman to the shore.
When she recovered, Spider-Woman explained that she'd been picked up by Hydra after leaving Nick Fury. She was their prisoner once more, but was glad to now be free from their influence. Spider-Woman took Ben's hand, and the duo took a walk, in the hopes that the gaps in her memory would start to fill in.
Meanwhile, in a small London flat, two men named Trevor and Chauncey peered at a map, one that could lead them to a very valuable treasure. During the Second World War, the House of Commons was bombed. Secret agents were prepared for such an inevitability, and one of them, a man named Heinrich Buerer, made his way to the treasury as the air raid sirens were going off all around him.
While many others were headed to bunkers, Buerer continued on. He hid the treasure that he'd stolen somewhere in the House of Commons. Buerer buried the treasure right before the German forces bombed Parliament. After escaping, he radioed his superiors and heard no reply, because his allies had perished during the attacks. Buerer had disappeared until then. Chauncey revealed to Trevor that he was Buerer all along and had returned to reclaim his ill-gotten gains.
Back at the Hydra base, Ben's girlfriend Alicia Masters was bound to a large table. Hydra agents gathered near, as she was about to be their next experimental subject. Ben and Spider-Woman (real name: Jessica Drew) made their way into the compound. Grimm was determined to find Alicia, but was unprepared for what they discovered.
A mutated woman with long legs sticking out of her back burst onto the scene, her blind eyes filled with rage, as the control module on her forehead kept pumping instructions to kill the heroes. Ben knew that his foe was his lady love. He wasn't about to let any harm come to her, but had to do something to prevent her from harming anyone.
Alicia continued to battle Ben and Jessica as the Hydra agents scattered. At the same time, Buerer and Trevor were making their way to Parliament. Once inside, they soon found the treasure's hiding place. Alicia's new form was powerful but undisciplined. Still, it proved to be a significant threat to Grimm and others. On the last page, Ben became entangled in a web Alicia had spun, and she was about to go in for the kill.
Oddly enough, I don't believe that Alicia has ever reverted to this super-powered state since this storyline's conclusion. This wasn't the first time in Marvel history that a supporting character was granted powers by an enemy, but I also kind of felt that this premise was a bit far-fetched. Of course, it was going to be very difficult for Grimm to fight someone he loved. Given the nature and origin of her powers, I'm surprised that she didn't square off more against Spider-Woman in this issue.
That's all I have for you today. Next time, I'll cover the thirty-second issue of this series. We'll see how long Alicia remains in this form, and see another familiar face come to the aide of the Fantastic Four powerhouse. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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