Marvel Two-In-One #21 Doc Savage meets the Thing,in this Bronze Age Marvel Turd

Marvel Two-In-One #21 had a neat gimmick of vertically dividing the pages. On the left side was the story of Doc in the 1930s and on the right was the Thing in the 1970s. (Eventually they merge.) That issue (1976) introduced the character Thomas Lightner, who played a major role as the Nth Man in the classic 1979 Marvel Two-in-One "Project Pegasus" storyline.Whoopie.Marvel Two-In-One #21 had a neat gimmick of vertically dividing the pages.Other than this,the story was more utter crap by both Bill Mantlo and Marvel.It looked,since all it was,and Marvel know this,was a throw away trash issue,to help boost sales of a dead comic.

RETRO REVIEW: Marvel Two-In-One #21 (November 1976)

Posted on November 10, 2013 by Matthew Peterson

These days, crossover between properties is a commonplace affair, with The Shadow meeting The Green Hornet, Captain Action being mentored by Operator Number 5, and the quintessential example of the Punisher’s visit to Riverdale.  Back in the day, though, this kind of meeting was something much more rare, but no less interesting…  Your Major Spoilers (retro) review awaits!As if we care-this one was already spoiled before it began

SUMMARY

Pros
A neat conceit for the crossover.
Mantlo clearly loves Doc Savage.And clearly Doc Savage was assraped by Bill Mantlo

Cons
The penciler and inker clash badly.
WAY short…it looked as if Ron Wilson,drew it on a crosstown bus an his way to Marvel and Pablo Marcos inked it with his shoes,on the same bus,while Bill Mantlo handed them pages,while they pased each stop.

Overall Rating: -i give one star,because the pages,weren't printed on toilet paper,although this book came off,like many Marvel Two in One and Marvel Team Up read like turd paper.My brother,often and still does,call this Marvel Two Holer,being reading was like getting ass raped by Marvel

READER RATING!

12 farts of a 10.

MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #21
Writer: Bill Mantlo
Penciler: Ron Wilson
Inker: Pablo Marcos
Colorist: Janice Cohen
Letterer: Gaspar Saladino/Karen Mantlo
Editor: Archie Goodwin
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: 30 Cents
Current Near-Mint Pricing: $6.00-6 bucks ?I felt ripped off when was first in print and wanted my 30 cents back.

Previously in Marvel Two-In-One: Of all the heroes in the Marvel Universe, the most well-traveled is probably the Amazing Spider-Man, but a close second goes to Benjamin J. Grimm, the ever-lovin’ blue-eyed Thing.Both,being popular became the Bronze Age Marvel Whores,out to sell whatever dumassed comic books was either already cancelled or on the road of comic history of doomed publications  Aside from his duties in the Fantastic Four, Ben was the star of Marvel Two-In-One, travelling the length and breadth of the Marvel Universe to fight off low-level villains and minor world-beaters alongside the undercard heroes of the Marvel Universe.This because Reed Richards,Sue Richards and Johnny Storm,had some respect for themselves,whereas old blue eyed Benjy was a big rocky,my ass is for rent..

Marvel Two-In-One #21-23

Issue(s): Marvel Two-In-One #21, Marvel Two-In-One #22, Marvel Two-In-One #23
Published Date: Nov 76 - Jan 77
Title: "Black Sun lives!" / "Touch not the hand of Seth!" / "Death on the bridge to Heaven!"
Credits:
Bill Mantlo / Bill Mantlo & Jim Shooter - Writer
Ron Wilson / Ron Wilson & Marie Severin- Penciler
Pablo Marcos - Inker

Review/plot:
For issue #23, Bill Mantlo wrote pages 1-6 and Jim Shooter wrote the rest. Marie Severin is credited with an "assist". The first two issues are pure Mantlo/Wilson/Marcos.

This arc begins with one of the more unusual team-ups, even in an era that has seen the Thing teaming up with the likes of the Golem and the Scarecrow and traveled to the past to meet the Liberty Legion while Spider-Man has met Killraven and Deathlok in their respective futures. The guest is Doc Savage, a pulp action hero whose stories took place in the 1930s. Doc Savage had been published at Marvel since 1972, first in regular comics and then, as of the time of this issue, in magazine format, but as far as i know the stories were mainly adaptations of his pulp novels. His only other "Marvel universe" appearance is Giant-Size Spider-Man #3, and from what i understand (i don't have it) Savage and Spider-Man don't actually meet in that story, with Savage's portion taking place in the past. So this is Doc Savage's only encounter with any Marvel superheroes.

The issue takes a split-page format for the first half, with the events in 1976 paralleling those of 1936. In 1936, the wife of scientist Raymond Lightner arrives at the Empire State Building office of Doc Savage and his group of companions. In 1976, the daughter of the Lightners arrives at the Baxter Building.

From an office is on the 86th floor of a New York City skyscraper,  Clark Savage, Junior and his associates travel the world in search of adventure, crossing swords with some of the nastiest customers the 1930s have to offer.  In 1976, Marvel Comics had the rights to produce Doc Savage comics, a move that probably had pulp fans thrilled, even if (as was the custom) his adventures were taking place in the Marvel Universe. Doc Savage,on the otgher hand,was screaming ''easy stomack.don't turn over now,like Daffy Duck.Though separated by decades (4 at the time of this writing, closer to 9 now), it comes to pass that both Doc Savage and The Thing are surprised when a mysterious woman arrives at each of their skyscraper homes, each woman telling an incredible tale….Does this smack of just way two impossibly stupid.?

Mantlo does some interesting stuff with the parallel story here, as young Ms. Lightner tells the Thing and the Human Torch of her twin brother’s descent into obsession with his late father’s work, while, four decades earlier, Mrs. Lightner explains to Doc Savage and his retinue about her husband’s own prepossession with his work: a device known as the Sky Cannon.Sky Cannon?Wasn't an early tv series,about a guy in a cowboy hat flying a plane?Wait,no that was Sky King.Wait,Sky Cannon,wasn't a short lived sequile to the Frank Cannon tv series,where William Conrad,fought crime,by way of a big hot air balloon.?

The Lightner men share a strange theory, the theory that their cannon can transfer massive cosmic power, downloading stellar energy and transferring it into a human host. Wow,as if they discovered something many other Marvel characters come upon. Things get worse, as both time-frames suddenly see a massive power outage, causing our heroes to set out in Fantasticar and Autogyro, headed for the Lightner’s country home.  As they arrive, forty years apart, both Lightners fire their cannons skyward, causing a strange temporal anomaly…Boy,only Bill Mantlo,can write cliche garbage,that reads,like your just reading more cliche garbage.Wow,Lightner-get it,Bill is so clever,he misspelled the word ''Lightning '' into Lightner.Both father and son,built their Sky Connon because gee wiz,they wanted to capture the power of the stars,as if a simple solar panel wasn't good enough.                     This is what happens when new age dimwit hippies get to write comics.

The Sky Cannon’s power does more than just draw energy down from space, it seems, as the energy breaches time itself, drawing the 70s and the 30s together somehow. You'd think,that would create 1937 or something? The effect on Thomas and Raymond Lightner is even more dramatic…as the artist,way way,discovers he is drawing shit and erases all the previous panels.No?We can only hope,this one of thosed Quantom Leaps,where Sam Beckett rights things than went wronge.Ohhhhhh boyyyyy.

Sam,Zippy says,there is a 95 % chyance,if you run Bill Mantlo now over with a truck,you can leap.

	ming up with the likes of the Golem and the Scarecrow and traveled to the past to meet the Liberty Legion while Spider-Man has met Killraven and Deathlok in their respective futures. The guest is Doc Savage, a pulp action hero whose stories took place in the 1930s. Doc Savage had been published at Marvel since 1972, first in regular comics and then, as of the time of this issue, in magazine format, but as far as i know the stories were mainly adaptations of his pulp novels. His only other "Marvel universe" appearance is Giant-Size Spider-Man #3, and from what i understand (i don't have it) Savage and Spider-Man don't actually meet in that story, with Savage's portion taking place in the past. So this is Doc Savage's only encounter with any Marvel superheroes. The issue takes a split-page format for the first half, with the events in 1976 paralleling those of 1936. In 1936, the wife of scientist Raymond Lightner arrives at the Empire State Building office of Doc Savage and his group of companions. In 1976, the daughter of the Lightners arrives at the Baxter Building. In the elder Lightner's case, her husband Raymond has gone mad and is engaging in a strange experiment. In the daughter's case, her brother Tom has revived the same experiment. Both male Lightners were also abusive to their spouse/sister. Savage's team and the Thing and the Human Torch both go to investigate in their respective time periods, and halfway through the book the timelines are merged, along with the father and son. The merged villain's name is Blacksun (worth noting that in his pulp stories, a John Sunlight was Doc Savage's only repeat villain), and his powers include dark energy bursts... ...the ability to bend matter and light around his body...

Blacksun's motivation is allowing his molecular density to create a black hole, causing an imploding universe and allowing him to become one with eternity and the stars.

The good guys are basically powerless to stop him, but when the cloud cover that was blocking Blacksun's access to the stars clears up, it turns out that he can't handle all their energy, and he passes out. With his powers no longer active, the temporal disruption that created the merged timeline ends, and Doc Savage and his entourage fade away.

Having just done a regular time travel story with the Liberty Legion, i guess it made sense to come up with something unique, but the problem then becomes that there was very little for the characters in the story to do, especially for Doc Savage and his non-powered friends. So it's not a great introduction to Doc Savage. The pulpy detective introduction is representative of his stories, but his interaction with the Thing and the Torch and even Blacksun is minimal, and we learn almost nothing about the rest of his cast. I mean, what was this guy doing to that pig?

No wear,is it explained wear the black costume comes from.It just chalked up to every comic character get a long underwear uniform,

While it’s not exactly Lester Dent,  Bill Mantlo’s script is pretty respectful to Doc and company, especially as the Man of Bronze crashes to Earth and is confronted with The Thing and the Torch.  If you call,being respectful by involving Doc Savage and crew in one of Marvels most,badly written shit turd of a story,with loads of bad,magic,new age science.He quickly accepts that something odd has happened, figuring out the time dilation in seconds, and is the first to realize that the Lightners have merged into one being.Forget the fact,the father and son,occuplying the same space,would kill both,even with magic Marvel science.  The Thing’s strongest blow is useless against Blacksun’s strange powers, but Doc Savage quickly figures out his weakness…by killing the writer and artist.No,we still can only hope.

The Thing and Doc Savage quickly rally, attacking Blacksun together, when the villain is fells by the greatest villain of the entire Bronze Age…Who?I thought Black Sun just dropped dead.

…the lower page counts caused by the paper shortages of the 1970s.  The story wraps up quickly, with Blacksun’s heart giving out and the villain collapsing.  Interestingly, this story is later revisited in the legendary Project: Pegasus storyline, with Thomas Lightner returning and once again transforming into an inhuman form, the Nth Man.  After again clashing with The Thing, he is sent into another dimension, later reappearing in the Squadron Supreme: Death of a Universe Graphic novel 20 years after this story ended.  The Marvel Doc Savage stories were short-lived, with 8 issues of his series coming out at the same time as this series.  The biggest failing comes in the art team, as Ron Wilson’s blocky penciling style doesn’t mesh well with Pablo Marcos’ inks, creating a strangely elongated and misshapen series of pages.  The layouts are interesting, especially the parallel tracks of the two time frames early in the issue, but things fall apart when faces are involved.  All in all, Marvel Two-In-One #21 is a book more important for its setup of some interesting issues that came later, but it’s interesting to see Ben Grimm telling Doc Savage that he’s always been a fan, echoing the Batman/Shadow crossover that took place a few years earlier, earning 2 out of 5 black holes overall.  It might have been interesting to see what a longer tale (and some more refined art) could have done for these diametrically opposite, yet somehow well-paired heroes…
No,then again,this was too 22 pages too long