Only two Fantastic Four issues left in the retrospective, and this one isn’t even a Fantastic Four story.
Fantastici Quattro #178 (1978)
Published by: Corno
By this time the Corno books had relaxed the “no dialogue on the cover” rule, and it’s a reasonable translation.
Although I should point out that in the Italian translations, the Thing doesn’t speak with any sort of accent. When I eventually started reading Fantastic Four stories in English I was more than a little baffled that he didn’t speak the same way as the other characters.
Marvel Two-In-One #18 (1976)
written by Bill Mantlo & Scott Edelman
pencils by Ron Wilson & Jim Mooney
Marvel Two-In-One was the Thing’s team-up book, much like Marvel Team-Up was for Spider-Man. And it could include just about ANYBODY in the team-up… including what could easily be the most obscure one: the Scarecrow.
Not to be confused with the Batman villain or even Marvel’s Scarecrow, who begain as an Iron Man villain of all things.
No this is the OTHER Scarecrow that Marvel has, a horror character debuting in 1975 on the pages of Dead Of Night #11.
That’s probably why Scott Edelman is co-writing this issue of Marvel Two-In-One, because he was the one to create Scarecrow.
But let’s move to the story, which begins with the Thing and his girlfriend Alicia attending a party. The Scarecrow is initially there only as a painting.
In fact the painting is integral to the story, as the host narrates.
Because after getting the painting at an auction, some cultists invaded his house and attempted to sacrifice his girlfriend.
But then the Scarecrow came to life from the painting, saving them both.
That was an extremely brief recap of the first Scarecrow appearance, which is a pretty neat little horror story with incredible artwork.
Having heard this story… the Thing is just bored and decides to ditch his blind girlfriend at the party.
Or he WOULD, if he didn’t overhear the host’s brother hit on Alicia.
Classic Thing shenanigans. Although the artwork is either underselling just how huge the Thing is supposed to be or this lady is the Blob’s cousin.
Oh so NOW you’re suddenly a skeptic, Thing? Even considering you’ve had a literal witch living in your house, or that your best friend fought a painter with a magic alien brush ?
Lady, what part of ANYTHING the Thing said made you think he tried???
Until the host’s brother is knocked out by one of the waiters, who jumps straight into the painting.
And he emerges as this thing.
And he’s supposed to be a real threat, because his magic fire is able to burn the Thing’s clothes.
But apparently they’re not hot enough to burn him, so what’s the big deal?
Ah yes, of course, fire’s natural enemy: straw.
This results in, of course, a big dumb… no wait, it’s in no way a big fight. It’s just a dumb fight.
Obviously the Lame Demon is not going to be defeated by curtains, so Scarecrow summons a rainstorm.
Yeah who would’ve thought that fighting a fire demon together with a straw demon would result in setting the place on fire.
But eventually they manage to punch the Lame Demon enough times to reverse the possession of the waiter, and the Scarecrow just chills.
Only to then return to the painting, who is now showing the one who sent the cultists…
…and that’s it. The painting is gone.
Oh no, not the brother who hasn’t done anything except hitting on Alicia!
Historical significance: 0/10
This is probably the most high profile Scarecrow story, but he pops up sporadically. Nowadays he’s mostly called Straw Man to distinguish him from the other Scarecrow.
Personal significance: 8/10
I’m not a huge horror fan, but I vividly remember this one. Obviously I had no idea Scarecrow was an existing character… there were no notes in the translation… so his appearance felt a bit random.
Silver Age-ness: 4/10
Even knowing the context, it’s random.
Does it stand the test of time? 6/10
The setup is fine, but the story doesn’t really do anything with it. The Thing’s skepticism is quite unbelievable at this time, the villain is incredibly boring, and while Strawman is an interesting concept he doesn’t even talk in this period.
You’re better off reading the Scarecrow’s original story, it’s a good one.
Warlock #11 (1976)
by Jim Starlin
If you though it was confusing for me to jump into the Captain Marvel series in the middle of it… imagine trying to get throught the original Warlock/Thanos saga by reading its ending!
This was indeed not just my first exposure to Thanos, but also to both Adam Warlock and his evil future self Magus.
“What the blazes is going on” indeed!
Okay, to make a long story short: Thanos was just about to use his time machine to allow Adam Warlock to avoid becoming Magus in the future, but the Magus and his afro sent his Death Squad to fight them.
As cool as these guys look, you know Thanos has ulterior motives because even this early I refuse to believe he wouldn’t just kill these guys on his own.
Instead he wants Warlock to use his Soul Gem to absorb the souls of the attackers.
He also guilt-trips Adam by suggesting Gamora (who was still working for Thanos at the time) would be one of the victims.
Adam Warlock can be a bit too melodramatic and preachy in the 70s Starlin period. But unlike Silver Surfer in his Stan Lee series, I don’t mind too much because people actually call him out.
By which I mean that yes, IN THIS CASE ALONE, Thanos was right.
So Warlock absorbs the souls of the entire Death Squad.
Which supposedly proves he’s just as rotten as Magus.
But Thanos doesn’t agree, so he katoooshes Magus.
Alright, IN SPECIFICALLY THESE TWO CASES, Thanos was right.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, is when the story gets WEIRD.
Yes.
NOW.
Because instead of usign a time machine to go to a specific place, Adam Warlock (followed by Pip The Troll for no reason) just walks up to his “kismet trail”.
Whatever THAT is. In case you’re wondering: no, it’s not set up in previous issues.
At this point Warlock has decided that, since Magus is his future self, the only way to permanently stop the Magus is to KILL HIMSELF.
This was all part of Thanos’s plan, SOMEHOW.
Warlock’s travel brings him to meet the In-Betweener, the abstract entity that acts as a balance between Order and Chaos.
This book translates his name as “Colui Che Sta Nel Mezzo”, literally “The One Who Is In The Middle”. Which I suppose is a correct translation, but it’s quite unwieldy!
When his name is translated (which isn’t often), the name Intermediario (literally “Intermediary”) is instead used.
I would say that the In-Betweener is a weird concept, but is he really out of place in THIS book?
He’s basically here just to reveal that Adam Warlock is just 5 minutes away from death.
In the real universe, the fight between Magus and Thanos is going out of control.
And Gamora is like “NOPE!!!”.
Meanwhile Adam Warlock is LITERALLY at the crossroad of his future.
A little on the nose, isn’t it?
Which allows him to Marty McFly the Magus out of existence.
But while the Magus disappears, Warlock then jumps INTO his future…
…specifically “maybe two years” in the future.
Future Adam Warlock is… not in a good place.
Which results in Present Adam Warlock killing Future Adam Warlock, by absorbing his soul directly into the Soul Gem.
This SOMEHOW kicks both Adam and Pip The Troll back to reality, but a reality where Magus and his villanous Universeal Church Of Truth never existed.
And so we end the story with Warlock spotting the Matriarch… the leader of the Universal Church Of Truth in the old reality… who has gone back to her original profession.
Not having read the previous stories at the time, however, I had absolutely no idea of who that woman was supposed to be.
Historical significance: 10/10
Remember that Warlock went two years forward in time? That’s accurate: he ended up in the pages of Avengers Annual #7 from 1977, which is both where he’s killed by his past self AND it’s the original death of Thanos.
And he has good reasons for being even more depressed than usual, because in that story Thanos killed Gamora and lobotomized Pip.
Personal significance: 10/10
It doesn’t come up often in my reviews, but I’m a HUGE fan of the cosmic side of Marvel and this story certainly helped with that. Not that I understood a tenth of it, but man was this cool!!!
Silver Age-ness: 4/10
That entire “kismet trail” thing would warrant a higher score, but it’s a story where the protagonist has to kill himself!
Does it stand the test of time? 9/10
Taken on its own it’s a still a bit confusing… okay it’s VERY confusing… but if you take the Starlin run on its own, it holds up remarkably well.
Inhumans #4 (1976)
by Doug Moench & George Perez
cover by Rich Buckler
I completely forgot that Moench wrote the Inhumans; let’s hope this makes more sense than his Wanderers series. At least I’m reasonably sure nobody has sex with a dinosaur here.
The villain of the story is Shatterstar (no relation with the X-Force guy), a Kree soldier who was the adversary of the previous issue. And who begins this issue having already knocked down Black Bolt.
Black Bolt is ridiculously powerful, so you wouldn’t expect the rest of the Inhumans to be able to stand up to Shatterstar. But they do a good job coordinating their attacks.
Until Gorgon basically screws everything up, because that’s basically his role in the family.
Thankfully the Inhumans are not alone in this fight: Shatterstar attacked them in New York, which means the Humans have their back.
Well, up to a point at least. This IS the Marvel Universe after all.
Black Bolt tries a second time, but this is not his day.
Thankfully Shatterstar came to Earth with his own spaceship, which Black Bolt is able to use to take him down.
Shatterstar wasn’t alone: he came with this guy, Falzon, who is about to reveal his backstory.
Which I didn’t get in THIS issue, because this is the moment where the story is interrupted in this book. However I did have the following issue; I will cover the Fantastic Four stuff next time, but for the sake of completion let’s finish the Shatterstar story.
As you could probably tell by the blue skin, these guys are aliens from the Kree empire.
The future Shatterstar was selected to be the basis for a Kree Super-Soldier project, and his own parents were selected to run the program.
One of the things I’ve always liked about Cosmic Marvel is that all of its major interstellar races are bad in their own way: the Kree are the good guys ONLY in the sense that the Skrull are way worse.
It’s also why I never liked any attempt to make the Shi’ar the good guys (the fact that the Shi’ar have always been insufferable is also a factor).
Who would’ve thought that keeping a kid confined inside a tube for twenty years while bombarding him with energy would NOT result in a well-adjusted adult.
Fanatically loyal to the authorities, Shatterstar was even sent to capture or execute his parents after they defected…
WHICH HE DID.
Like I said: this is Cosmic Marvel, where ALL alien empires are just. The. Worst.
Oh, right, this was supposed to be about the Inhumans.
Good thing the Marvel Universe civilians will never be a-holes to the powered individuals ever again.
The ship leave for Attilan, the Inhuman city currently in the Himalayas. Shatterstar was only the first attempt of the Kree to capture the Inhumans.
It’s kind of funny to see Gorgon so insistent on staying on Earth, since the entire city of Attilan has been moved into space more than once!
And we end the issue with a cliffhanger, which reveals that Attilan has been taken over by Maximus.
Which I guess is supposed to feel like a big deal, but come on, Maximus takes over Attilan every other Thursday.
Historical significance: 0/10
Shatterstar has a few appearances here and there, but even in the history of the Inhumans he’s a footnote.
Personal significance: 7/10
I remember really liking the artwork on this one, and no wonder: it’s one of the early George Perez works. The only panel that stayed with me is the one where Shatterstar ages, though.
Silver Age-ness: 1/10
Just in the innocence of believing for one second that quick apologies changes anything with the public.
Does it stand the test of time? 8/10
This is WAY better than I remember; I didn’t really appreciate the tragedy of Shatterstar being so indoctrinated that he murdered his own mother.