Friday, September 24, 2010

Marvel Two-In-One #51 (1979)

Is this the first time we saw Ben Grimm get a group together for poker? Probably not, since Peter Gillis' script calls for a bunch of new folks filling in for the Thing's normal buddies.

What's interesting is how great this little group works together. Ms. Marvel wins the poker game and more than holds her own in the fighting. Wonder Man gets his props when he's actually compared to Thor in power level. Beast works best as comic relief, his normal role during his Avengers membership. Fury does what he always does, and is gruff and grumpy while drafting heroes into helping him.

The villain in this is a rogue army unit that steals an enormous flying battlestation, leading to a nice aerial battle with the helicarrier. This story would be a six-part mini these days, but back in the 70's, this is just one issue of Marvel Two-In-One.

Frank Miller's artwork is unrecognizable. It's crisp, clean, and on-model. I love it! Now, Bob McLeod, one of my favorites, handles the inks, but I think I prefer the old Miller to the current, more stylized artist.

Good

1 comment:

Martin Gray said...

Lovely review of a top issue. I remember that one well - I assumed it was the first superhero poker game. Maybe someone even more ancient than me will tell us.