Happy Labor Day, folks!
Today's topic is the ninety-sixth issue of Marvel Two-In-One. The cover showed the Thing recovering in a hospital bed, with flower bouquets from the Avengers and the Yancy Street Gang sitting on a table, as his nurse tried to shush the crowd again, which included Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic), Wolverine, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Colossus, and Cyclops, battling against the Mole Man, Mirage, the Melter, and several Mole Men. The tale was titled "Visiting Hours!" The issue had a publication date of February 1983.
The story started with Ben Grimm lying in a hospital bed after recent injuries sustained during battles with Gladiator (in issue #249 of the Fantastic Four) and the Champion (as I talked about in my coverage of the seventh Marvel Two-In-One annual). He was surrounded by his Fantastic Four teammates, Reed, Sue Richards (the Invisible Girl), and Johnny Storm (the Human Torch), as well as his girlfriend, Alicia Masters, and his comrades from the Avengers, Iron Man and Captain America, who promised to postpone their poker matches until Ben was fully recovered.
Ben was even visited by his old pal Ben Foster (formerly Giant-Man) and his lady Celia. Bill was recovering from radiation poisoning and on the mend. Reed wanted Grimm to stay in the hospital to receive the best possible care, but worried that his old college roommate might be attacked by any of their numerous enemies.
One such foe was plotting in his hideout. The Mad Thinker was confident that at least one of Grimm's rivals would reach him while he was recuperating. Meanwhile, Spidey was purchasing a get-well bouquet for his old pal when a minor villain known as the Mecho-Marauder burst out of a van that was parked in front of the hospital where Ben was. It was easy enough for Spider-Man to clog the finger blasters in his opponent's costume, which caused the suit to overheat and explode. Afterward, Spidey scaled the building and jumped into the open window to offer his well wishes.
Eventually, Ben's nurse ushered all of his guests out of the room once visiting hours were over. She also extinguished the cigar that Grimm had just lit. While Ben was lamenting the loss of his stogie, the villain known as Mirage entered the hospital lobby undetected until he was stopped by Daredevil. His keen radar senses allowed the hero to detect the real villain from his duplicates.
As Ben started to feel bored in his room, Dr. Don Blake was about to pay him a visit when his travel was interrupted by the arrival of the Mole Man and his minions in a vehicle that burst through the surface of the Earth. Blake quickly changed into his alter ego of the mighty Thor and took on his opponents. A lightning storm scared them back underground.
While Ben's nurse was taking his pulse, armed guards outside the hospital were knocked out by a gas round fired by Shellshock (last seen in MTIO #70). The villain had a new costume and upgraded weapon, but ran into a challenge in the form of the new Ant-Man (Scott Lang). Lang telepathically called to his legion of faithful ants, several of which infiltrated the villain's costume and sent him running away, itching as he did so.
The next challengers to arrive on the scene were Letha, Titania, Poundcake, and Screaming Mimi. The female wrestlers wanted revenge against the Thing, but first they had to face Captain America, who dispatched the females one at a time.
Cap was then joined by the current iteration of the X-Men, moments before the Highwayman's newest vehicle bore down toward them. Thankfully, the car was halted by Iron Man's defensive efforts. All the while, Ben's boredom continued to grow, as he tossed paper airplanes at the wastebasket in his room.
News of Ben's hospitalization had even reached as far as Latveria, where the country's monarch, Doctor Doom, read of his condition in a newspaper. Although it would probably be quite easy for Doom to vanquish his foe, he opted not to take advantage of a rival who was in a weakened state.
Meanwhile, the Torch flew down a hospital corridor toward his friends, who were gearing up for a large-scale assault by the villains who were marching there. The next few pages featured a grand battle between characters, including the Hulk, Sasquatch, the Fantastic Four, X-Men, Avengers, MODOK, the Mole Man, Whiplash, the Melter, Daredevil, Spider-Man, Namor, the Rhino, the Beetle, the female wrestlers that Captain America had just defeated, the Mecho-Marauder, Mole Man, and a few others.
The Mad Thinker was right in his prediction that an old enemy would reach Ben. His error was thinking that the person in particular was still a rival. As the conflict raged outside, Grimm was surprised to see the Sandman standing before him. He explained that he used his ability to sneak past the hospital staff to see him. He shared a six-pack with his new friend, and they started up a friendly conversation.
The plot to this issue reminded me a bit of the third Fantastic Four annual, where a bevy of heroes and villains arrived to try and interrupt Reed and Sue's wedding. It was a light-hearted story, and even though the final results of the climactic battle were not shown, I have to assume that the good guys won once more. It wasn't a traditional team-up issue with the Thing, but seeing as how the title was nearing its conclusion, I don't really think that many fans at the time minded. I think they were more concerned with Ben's well-being, and a good old-fashioned clash between several well-loved characters (and some whose names I didn't even know) was probably well appreciated and enjoyed.
That's it from me. Taking off to enjoy the rest of this holiday. Make it a good one! Tomorrow, I'll return to summarize the ninety-seventh issue of Marvel Two-In-One. Ben is lured back to Hollywood again to engage in another production, but runs into the kind of trouble that an Avenger can help him to get out of. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
No comments:
Post a Comment