Happy Saturday, folks!
Hope all's well. Today's topic is the thirty-third issue of the Thing. You can barely see the titular character on the cover, as he's swarmed by more than a dozen female wrestlers. The story was called "Battle of the Sexes!" The issue had a publication date of March 1986.
The tale began in the wrestling ring, as the female fighter known as Battleaxe was eventually declared the winner in her match against the grappler called Titania. You may remember Titania and several of her comrades from a Project Pegasus storyline in Marvel Two-In-One.
With her triumph, Battleaxe boastfully stated that it was time that she take her rival's place as spokesperson for the Unlimited Class Wrestling Foundation's female grapplers, much to the chagrin of Titania. Ben had to jump into the ring to help separate the combatants and prevent further conflict.
Battleaxe chatted with the Thing for a while as Titania and her fellow Grapplers conferred in their locker room. They followed the advice of their trainer, Auntie, but some expressed concerns over how their group was viewed because of the original Grapplers' prison records. Titania finally decided that she'd heard enough and went to take a shower.
The group soon dispersed. One of the stragglers, a newcomer who went by the name Golddigger, exclaimed she was going to try to calm Titania down. She entered the locker room alone and began assembling a weapon.
Meanwhile, Grimm and Battleaxe continued to talk as they walked past the ring setup. Ben was thinking about how he hadn't heard anything from Sharon Ventura since he visited her on the movie set (in issue #31), but when he did see her in the crowd, he walked past, promising he'd be back soon.
Titania asked the new girl for another bar of soap, only to find the newbie standing before her with a rifle. She fired the gun and proclaimed that justice was served. Ben and Battleaxe heard the shot. Golddigger emerged from the locker room moments later, stating that a man had shot Titania and fled.
Battleaxe ran to the shower, while the Thing opted to check around back. Battleaxe confirmed Titania's death and was angered because she was certain that her teammate had been murdered by a man. She even lashed out at Grimm for expressing doubt.
Auntie vowed to get to the bottom of the matter, as multiple Grapplers ganged up on the Thing. Eventually, Ventura entered the locker room and urged the ladies to back off. Auntie observed quietly, thinking that Sharon might have what it took to join their group.
The ladies slowly dispersed, and learned after Battleaxe returned that the Thing was not the gunman, because she was with him when the shot had been fired. Everyone left the room, except for Auntie and Ventura. Auntie expressed interest in Sharon's fighting skills and gave her a card for the Power Broker.
Some time later, Battleaxe met with UCWF's leader, Ed Garner, to express her interest in fighting a man. She wanted to battle Ben in the ring. Ed entertained the idea before discussing it with Grimm. Ben was not willing to participate, at least not at first.
He joined Sharon for dinner at a nearby steakhouse afterward. He explained what had just happened before Ventura showed him the business card that Auntie had given her. Ben snatched the card, knowing that name as someone who had given other wrestlers additional strength and ability. He wanted to check it out, fearing for her safety. Sharon resented Ben's position, assuming he thought she couldn't take care of herself. Before storming off, she informed Grimm that she'd already called the Power Broker.
Left alone, he stood in place for a few moments before finding the nearest phone. He called Garner and told him that he'd agreed to the match against Battleaxe. The contest was held the following week. Battleaxe was confident that she'd win. Grimm held his ground for as long as possible, refusing to return the punches that were thrown at him.
Battleaxe finally knocked Ben down and was declared the champion. Because Ben didn't fight back, she felt cheated and threw the championship belt down. She declared the match to be a forfeit. Grimm thought he had taken the right course of action, but now he was focused on learning more about the Power Broker.
I remember first reading this issue, which was part of a polybag comic book set. I didn't know much about the Grapplers at the time, but this was the second appearance of the Scourge in this series. The villain-killer would go on to eliminate different foes in various Marvel titles at the time, and was mainly featured in Captain America's comic. I was kind of surprised that we didn't see more of Titania's original allies, including Screaming Mimi, who was later known as Songbird in the first iteration of the Thunderbolts.
That's all I have for you today. Tomorrow, I'll start the day with a discussion of the thirty-fourth issue of the Thing. Ben heads back into the ring until he runs across a couple of longtime rivals. Until then, have a great weekend, and don't forget to be kind to one another.
No comments:
Post a Comment