Marvel Two-In-One #3 - Marvel Comics

MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE No. 3, May 1974

Featuring a Gil Kane cover illustration which would actually go on to serve “as the template for Daredevil’s 1975 Slurpee” cup, as well as promising a sense-shattering shoot-out involving the Man Without Fear and a gang of well-armed Black Spectre soldiers, Steve Gerber’s narrative for Issue Three of “Marvel Two-In-One” probably ended up deeply frustrating the vast majority of its readers in May 1974. Indeed, with the bi-monthly’s repeated references to the storylines of other “Marvel Comics”, such as “Shanna, The She-Devil” and “Ka-Zar”, as well as the book’s unfinished plot disagreeably continuing straight into the next edition of “Daredevil”, it must have been difficult for this nineteen-page periodical’s audience not to see this publication as anything other than a blatant advertisement for some of editor Roy Thomas’ other titles.

To make matters worse, even the half-realised insight into “Daredevil’s ongoing battle with Nekra and the Mandrill” which this comic does depict isn’t arguably all that satisfying, courtesy of the Missouri-born author’s insistence to predominantly focus the opening third of “Inside Black Spectre!” on Reed Richards’ experiments upon the child-like Wundarr in order to design the super-powered alien a brand new costume. True, this sequence does lead to an enjoyable acrobatic display from Matt Murdock’s alter-ego, but it’s then rather trivialised by depicting the blind crime-fighter having to ask the Fantastic Four for his baton back like he was some hapless child who had inadvertently kicked their ball over into someone’s back garden; "Listen… I need your help. I, eh, left my billy club up on your roof, and…”

Adding to this book’s choppiness is an utterly whacky theatre date Murdock ‘enjoys’ with Foggy Nelson’s mysterious sister Candace. Featuring an actor dressed as Captain America who is then brutally gunned down by a suicidal Adolf Hitler lookalike, this farcical fuss seems to have been solely manufactured as a contrivance to have Matt chase after the Black Widow’s “bizarre aircraft” across New York’s skyline, and makes as much sense as Daredevil subsequently attempting to drop-kick Ben Grimm into submission so as to steal the Fantasticar from the top of the Baxter Building.

Resultantly, perhaps this comic’s one saving grace are Sal Buscema’s layouts, which together with Joe Sinnott’s inking, incredibly manage to bring many of the aforementioned oddities to dynamic life. The heroic duo’s fisticuffs against Nekra and her goon squad appear especially well-pencilled, with an enraged Ben Grimm tossing around his would-be attackers like they were skittles, and completely ignoring the best efforts of Natasha Romanova to bring the Thing down with her famous Widow’s Sting.

Writer: Steve Gerber, Artist: Sal Buscema, and Inker: Joe Sinnott

Marvel Two-In-One #2 - Marvel Comics

MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE No. 2, March 1974

Considering that many readers of Steve Gerber’s narrative for Issue Two of “Marvel Two-In-One” most likely bought the comic based upon its cover illustration’s very specific claim to feature a story with “Namor and Ben Grimm -- side by side in battle for a man’s life”, this nineteen-page periodical’s actual plot probably came as something of a disappointment to its audience in March 1974. For whilst The Thing and the Sub-Mariner do eventually “work in tandem for the nonce - - [to] defeat what seems to be a mutual foe”, the pair are portrayed as predominantly going about their separate day-to-day business until Namorita’s desire to protect the child-like minded Wundarr brings them together towards the very end of the book.

In fact, the Missouri-born writer seems infinitely more interested in penning some additional background for his co-creation from Beta Rigel, than he does pitting this publication’s lead characters against the extra-terrestrial robot assassin known as a Mortoid. And rather disconcertingly, the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Famer seems to have been scratching around for inspiration even for that, at least until he appears to have sought inspiration from Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster’s origin story for Superman; “Hektu was our world’s greatest astronomer until that fateful day he went mad, insisting that our planet Dakkam was doomed - - That our sun would go nova, reducing our sphere to a cinder… He built a rocketship to take himself and his family away…”

Mercifully however, none of these quibbles stop “Manhunters From The Stars” from being a darn good yarn, with Namor in particular providing plenty of amusement on account of his infuriating pomposity. Believing panic “is but proof of his guilt” and that none may harm any person “under the protection of Namor and Atlantis” no matter where within New York City they may be, the human hybrid lurches from one misunderstanding to the next, perhaps inevitably ending up trading blows with the Fantastic Four’s strongest member in Times Square.

Providing plenty of prodigiously pencilled panels, not to mention an incredible amount of Namorita’s bare flesh, is Gil Kane, whose instantly recognisable style provides Ben Grimm with some phenomenally powerful punches as he batters away against the likes of Wundarr and the Sub-Mariner. Indeed, in some ways it is a pity that Gerber didn’t allow for this comic’s two central attractions to slug it out against one another for a while longer, rather than cut their violent hostilities short by depicting the pair siding together against a common alien foe.

Writer: Steve Gerber, Penciller: Gil Kane, and Inker: Joe Sinnott