Today's topic is the forty-ninth issue of Marvel Two-In-One. The cover depicted the Thing and Doctor Strange battling baddies on the physical and metaphysical levels. The tale was titled "Curse of Crawlinswood." The issue had a cover date of March 1979.
The story started on a boat named Olive off the New England coast. Ben Grimm asked his guide Doyle to steer the boat back to shore, since he'd had no luck fishing that day. He was initially opposed to staying at the creepy-looking hotel up ahead until Ben noticed a woman parked in front of the inn who was having a bit of car trouble. Grimm offered his assistance, and as he did so, he saw someone very familiar enter the building.
Ben followed him inside after the job was done and secured lodging after talking to a rather suspicious couple at the front desk. Meanwhile, in his own room, Doctor Stephen Strange was thankful that Ben was there, although he didn't want to reveal himself just yet. At the moment, Grimm was in the tea room with his hosts and other guests, wondering what had happened to the young woman that he'd assisted earlier.
She was out for a walk. Moments later, her terrified screams sent Ben running through the room to rescue her. Her assailant turned out to be nothing but a pile of driftwood, but the woman swore that there was more to it than that. The old woman from the inn appeared behind them moments later and dismissed Jill's concerns as superstition, adding that she would bill Grimm for the damages to the property in the morning.
Meanwhile, Strange was afraid that things were set in motion. Mystic forces in that region began almost two centuries prior, when a ship that was carrying a necromancer was caught in a violent storm at sea. The wizard Ennis and his target Kemo both perished that evening, but the living spirit of that crewman had been retained by the magician. The legends were all but forgotten once the Crawlins family settled in the area and established roots there.
Stephen postulated that recent geologic activity could unearth the vessel and set the mage and his servant free after all those many years. He was afraid that he couldn't do much more than watch. As Jane Crawlins was tending to her pet cat, the long-dead crewman burst through her door. Ben was summoned to her side by Strange's astral form.
The Thing was evenly matched against the intruder, and they soon became involved in a battle. Jane pitched in, hurling a vase at Ben's attacker. The constellations were finally in alignment to allow for the wizard Tremellyn's release, and Strange tended to that danger while the physical confrontation continued.
Jane was chased upstairs before Ben figured out that the ruby on his foe's neck might be the key to victory. He grabbed the gem, and the wizard and the mighty warrior vanished. Before the villains were vanquished, Kemo appeared briefly in his original form to thank his challenger for freeing his soul. Strange's astral form stayed behind Ben and Jane, noting that he'd hoped to guide Grimm along, but that the Thing had triumphed by following his own instincts instead.
It was good to see Doctor Strange in this series again for the first time in more than three years, but the overall plot seemed a bit half-baked. We didn't learn a lot about the bad guys, and by the time we did, they were gone. I got the impression that this issue was facing the "dreaded deadline doom" and rushed to press. The artwork was fine, and things all worked out in the end of the yarn.
That's all I have for you today. I'll close the work week with a summary of the fiftieth issue of Marvel Two-In-One. The Thing faces someone you'll probably never expect in a landmark story for this title. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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