Good afternoon, folks,
I'm winding down the weekend with a synopsis of the eighty-eighth issue of Marvel Two-In-One. The cover showed the Thing and the She-Hulk rushing toward a nuclear reactor that a villain was standing on top of. The tale was titled "Disaster at Diablo Reactor." The issue had a cover date of June 1982.
The story started at the Baxter Building in New York, headquarters of the Fantastic Four. Ben Grimm's exercise session was interrupted by the arrival of his girlfriend Alicia Masters and a pair of guests. The newcomers introduced themselves as Pacific Energy and Utility Corporation president Stephen Shields and his assistant Rodney.
They had arrived to seek the Thing's help in stopping someone who had been assassinating members of their organization. Rodney then unpacked a small television to show Ben video footage of the one calling himself the Negator who claimed responsibility for the attacks. He planned to stop the El Diablo reactor's uranium rods from arriving and annihilate the reactor and the city of Los Angeles itself.
Grimm was convinced to join their cause. He and Rodney hopped aboard the company's private jet en route to Los Angeles. Ben flew the plane, which ran into engine troubles during the flight. He stayed aboard while jettisoning the corporate lackey minutes before making a crash landing. The Thing emerged unscathed and set out on foot toward his destination.
Meanwhile, a Mr. McClure at the People to Protect our Environment was answering a call from Negator. He'd initially agreed to work with him, but now had second thoughts that he knew about the villain's sinister plot. McClure attempted to void the contract, but it was too late. He didn't know that Negator was watching him from a building across the street, and before he could do anything, McClure was fatally shot from behind by a gun fired by this mysterious foe.
The Thing made it to a small store and grabbed a cigar that he didn't have cash to pay for. The proprietor asked him to move some refuse outside his domicile while he watched a TV commercial featuring the Savage She-Hulk (Jennifer Walters). The heroine was starring in a live promotion, and starting to realize how low quality the car dealer's merchandise really was.
The store owner had no vehicle or telephone, so Grimm moved the trash before heading out to L.A. by himself. After the commercial was over, She-Hulk demanded the custom Cadillac she'd been promised. However, it was missing the options that the dealer had agreed to install. She drove off in anger after having a brief conversation with the dealership's owner for the last time.
At the same time, Rodney was hitching a ride with a pair of truckers from his company. Shields' assistant had reached the rendezvous point by helicopter. As the truck drove off, we saw the helicopter pilot slumped in his seat, never to fly again.
Ben wound up trying to hitch a ride along a busy stretch of highway. The truck carrying Rodney and his associates drove past, but the She-Hulk stopped to give Grimm a lift in her pink convertible. Ben wasn't very fond of her driving, and the duo soon stopped at a local restaurant.
Walters found a booth in the back for them to become more acquainted. She-Hulk made a pass at the Thing before their romantic reverie was interrupted by a news broadcast. Rodney Stack was on TV, stating that the Negator had stolen the uranium shipment and killed the two men who had been riding with him.
Ben left the restaurant, not wanting to compromise his relationship with Alicia. She-Hulk insisted on driving with him, and as they talked, she somehow convinced the Thing to spend even more time with her after their objective was accomplished.
Rodney had reached the El Diablo reactor. The ransom drop was about to take place there, but the guards had no clue that Stack was behind the evil machinations. He'd taken out the drivers and brought the uranium rods into the reactor facility to build a time bomb. The ransom was just a ruse, and Rodney intended to keep the cash.
The guards and Rodney were alerted to the sound of She-Hulk's car nearing the front gate. Rodney shot the guards before shutting the heavy steel doors. The car just narrowly made it inside before the gate closed. She-Hulk and the Thing got out of the car to find the Negator staring down at them.
While Walters leapt at their foe, Ben went to find a Geiger counter to track down the missing uranium. During the battle, Rodney admitted that he was the Negator. He was once a mine worker, but regular exposure to uranium ore was slowly killing him. This was his revenge plan, one that was foiled by the heroes.
She-Hulk and the Thing managed to ensnare the Negator in a net before using their opponent's jet pack to fly the box of explosive uranium out into space before it detonated. Afterward, Rodney was arrested, and Shields insisted that Ben and Jennifer stay in quarantine for three days to decontaminate after their own uranium exposure. It looked like the She-Hulk was going to get her weekend with the Thing after all. Ben was worried about how he'd explain that situation to Alicia.
The She-Hulk was one of the last Marvel characters that Stan Lee co-created. She had her own title that ran for 25 issues, the last 24 of which were scripted by this issue's writer, David Anthony Kraft. She would also guest-star in Marvel Team-Up with Spider-Man before joining the Avengers and eventually taking Grimm's place on the Fantastic Four while Ben stayed behind on the Secret Wars' Battleworld for a while. I'm glad she wasn't relegated to obscurity once her title was cancelled, as is sometimes the case with some heroes. The Negator's predicament is a bit similar to that of Ben's friend Bill Foster (Giant-Man). As far as I know, the Negator has not returned in any other subsequent Marvel stories.
That's all I have for you today. Tomorrow, I'll begin a new week with a discussion of the eighty-ninth issue of Marvel Two-In-One. The Thing pairs up with one of his Fantastic Four teammates to take on one of She-Hulk's recent rivals. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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