Happy Tuesday, peeps!
It's time for me to talk about the fortieth issue of Marvel Two-In-One. The cover depicted the Thing preparing to attack an unknown man who was restraining the Black Panther. The tale was titled "Conjure Night!" The issue had a cover date of June 1978.
The story started with Ben Grimm preparing a large pizza, as his friends Matt Murdock and the young boy Grimm had been imprisoned with (during the last storyline) were waiting and playing a friendly game of craps. Murdock won the contest before the food was ready. The Avenger Yellowjacket (Hank Pym) joined them for the meal, which proved to be quite filling.
A while later, Ben, Hank, and the boy flew from Murdock's apartment to a local elementary school, where the child named Eugene rejoined his classmates. Grimm recognized one of the instructors as his old friend T'Challa (who we also know as the Black Panther from Wakanda). He taught there under the identity of Luke Charles and invited Grimm to sit in on his next class.
The kids engaged in a bit of mischief after their instructor left the room for a while. One of them even went so far as to pour glue on the Thing's hands that were behind his back. When he woke from his nap, Ben struggled to free himself. The guilty culprit was reprimanded by Charles just before the bell rang.
Ben was unharmed. He even laughed about the incident afterward, because it reminded him of similar pranks played during his younger years. Meanwhile, in another part of town, the disappearance of another prominent black member of the community was being investigated by local officials. The dwelling had been ransacked. All that was left behind was a strange, old odor, one that would be more in line with a garage, sewer, or possibly a cemetery.
As the detectives examined the crime scene, a hand rose from a grave not far away. Not long afterward, Ben and T'Challa were catching up. Ben informed his friend of the Fantastic Four's breakup, which saddened his host. He suggested that his friend consider Avengers membership, but Grimm wasn't ready to join another group just yet.
T'Challa then donned his Black Panther costume, noting the rash of disappearances. At the same time, Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson was berating the assistant who was handling the paper's microfilm library in the wake of his missing supervisor. Minutes later, the assistant took a call from T'Challa and provided him and Ben with some valuable clues about the people who'd recently gone missing.
Two people on the list had not disappeared yet. T'Challa went to check on the musician C.L. Wadsworth, while Ben paid a visit to the millionaire industrialist, Edward B. Nelson. When Grimm arrived, he saw that something had burst through the front door. He entered to find a rash of destruction. Ben also found the businessman's wife, who later told him about a horrible being that took her husband.
Meanwhile, Wadsworth was performing a free show. His audience applauded, and the performer took one final bow before a large bat swooped down from the rafters at him. The animal slowly transformed into a vampire. However, before he could harm Wadsworth, the Black Panther stepped in his path.
The two engaged in a battle while the Thing waited for a subway train. It arrived and let Grimm off at his destination in time for him to intervene right as things looked most dire for T'Challa. The vampire was clearly being controlled by someone else. It appeared to have met its demise after being stabbed from behind by the musician's bow.
Wadsworth left the concert hall with the heroes a short time later. None of them witnessed the glowing eyes that commanded its slave to rise. Ben saw T'Challa to his flat. There, the Wakanda native opened a telegram from the Bugle right before his foe returned, placing him in a chokehold as Grimm slowly disappeared from sight.
Most Marvelites know that the Black Panther debuted in the first Fantastic Four series. He was later added to the Avengers' roster and had several solo stories from time to time. He returned to popularity with his addition to recent Marvel movies, but I think he's still been underutilized, especially in the years immediately after his first appearance was published.
The young boy that folowed Ben as he burst out of jail in the last storyline was another wasted opportunity. They talked about his special powers of prognostication, but to the best of my knowledge, I don't think he's appeared in another Marvel comic after this one. At first, I thought he was an imitation of Jim Wilson, the boy who befriended the Hulk and acted as a sort of substitute for Rick Jones when he went off on adventures with the Avengers, Captain America, and Captain Marvel. Wilson also disappeared after a while, only to return years later when they announced that his character was dying from AIDS.
That's all for now, folks. My birthday post tomorrow will be dedicated to discussing the forty-first issue of Marvel Two-In-One. We'll dig a little deeper into just where the vampire came from, and Ben meets another hero whose assistance is important in saving T'Challa's life. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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