Of Super Soldiers and Cosmic Cubes, Part Two

Marvel Two In One #43 (September 1978)

"The Day The World Winds Down"

Writer: Ralph Macchio

Artist: John Byrne

Inkers: John Byrne "and friends"

Karen: The art in our second half is much more to my liking. By John Byrne 'and friends', it is a much more polished book. I'm not certain whose hands touched this issue, but I can see several different styles. Byrne himself is evident, and perhaps also Dave Hunt. The official Marvel website also credits Walt Simonson. So part of the fun with this issue is trying to guess who inked what. Regardless, it looks really spectacular.

Karen: Things pick up in the Everglades, where Victorius holds the Cosmic Cube and proclaims that he shall use it to bring about all-encompassing entropy. Ben starts to go after him but Cap stops him, predicting the villain is about to explain his plan, and Victorius happily obliges. He explains that he survived his battle with Ka-Zar (see last week's review) but felt directionless. That's when he discovered the Cult of Entropy (by picking up a book in an occult bookstore!). Feeling that the universe was always heading towards decline and decay, the philosophy struck a chord with him. He sought them out and became their new leader. When he heard that Pegasus had the Cube, he knew he had to get it in order to fulfill his new scheme. He used it to re-create the cult's former leader, Yagzan, from his skeletal remains and the Earth itself. This new creature became the personification of Entropy -Jude, the Entropic Man. What kind of a name is Jude for the embodiment of entropy? Personally it makes me think of the Beatles' song! Anyway, the cult happened upon two lovers in the swamp (?) and Jude "initiated" them -turning them to the dust they'd once been. Outraged about how casually Victorius describes the murder, Ben flings himself at the man, but is knocked back by a burst of energy from the Cube.
Karen: The blast leaves Ben unconscious, but Cap is raring to go! He goads Victorius into fighting him one on one. Seeing it as a great opportunity, to test himself against the original super soldier, Victorius agrees. He leaves the Cube floating in mid-air as he and the Captain go at it mano a mano. The two are well matched, although I would assume Cap really has the upper hand in the skill deppartment. The two super soldiers and the cultists do not notice as the Man-Thing makes his way from the swamp. Ironically, we have another would-be super-soldier here, as the Man-Thing was once scientist Ted Sallis, another man who had tried to reproduce the Super-Soldier formula, but with disastrous results. Just an aside, I think it's a cool idea that in the Marvel films, Bruce Banner became the Hulk because he too was trying to make a Super-Soldier serum. Of course, that's taken from the Ultimate universe, but even so, it ties things together nicely.
Karen: As Cap and Victorius fight and debate their philosophical positions, the muck monster is drawn to the Cube. It reaches out and grabs it. Just at this moment, Ben groggily rises, and can't believe what he sees before him: Cap and Victorius slugging it out, the Entropic Man calmly watching, and in the middle of it all, the Man-Thing groping at the Cube. The Entropic Man decides that Victorius' battle is a waste of time, and he begins to "indoctrinate" Cap, basically mind -controlling him. Just as he's about to pull him into his cloak of non-existence, Ben leaps and grabs Cap and throws him aside. However, the Entropic Man grabs Ben instead and pulls him in. You'd think this would kill him -but instead, it turns him back into plain, human Ben Grimm!

Karen: Ben is a bit shocked but he knows he has no time to waste. He tries to stall the Entropic Man, arguing with him over his idea of entropy being peace. The creature begins to have doubt about whether his way is the best one. "I did but desire your happiness," he says, somewhat hurt. Victorius realizes that Ben is beginning to sway him, and punches Grimm in the back of the head. Cap has recovered though and intercedes. Victorius figures his only chance is to use the Cube and erase any doubt from his ally. But the Man-Thing is still holding onto it. The AIM Super-Soldier angrily yells at the monster and seems on the edge of panic. This draws the Entropic Man's attention. He tells Victorius that it is not his time, that life yet prevails on Earth. But he is more than willing to share entropy with Victorius! The man becomes terrified, filled with fear - and as we all know, whatever knows fear burns at the Man-Thing's touch! The combination of entropy, Cosmic Cube, and that burning touch causes a massive explosion. Cap picks himself up from the goo and finds that Ben has turned back into the Thing again. He doesn't seem concerned about it. At this stage Ben has accepted his fate. They discover that Victorius and the Entropic Man have merged into a strange crystal-like substance. All around them, the swamp has flowered and burst with new life. Ironically, the cult of entropy has become a source of life. Cap scoops up the Cube, which appears to be dormant again. "All ya got there is a cosmic paperweight," Ben says.

Karen: The two men head off together, but behind them, the Man-Thing re-forms from the swamp. He wanders over to the crystal and touches it -and his hand becomes human. The creature pauses and looks at its new hand, as if almost remembering that it was once human. But then it wanders away into the everglades, reverting to its monstrous state.

Karen: This was really a fun story to re-read. I've always found the Thing and Captain America to make a great team. Maybe it's that shared respect of veterans (recall, originally Ben and Reed were WWII veterans!) but whatever it is, they work well together. The Man-Thing was slipped into the story and one could say he was unnecessary but I thought it was a nice touch, and didn't detract from anything. Heck, it's one of the things I love about the Marvel Universe -these crazy characters were always running into each other! Everything in this issue was really top notch. All in all, a nice two-parter.

Of Super Soldiers and Cosmic Cubes, Part One

Marvel Two In One # 42 (August 1978)
"Entropy, Entropy..."
Writer: Ralph Macchio
Artist: Sal Buscema
Inkers: Alfredo Alcala, Sam Grainger

Karen: This post kicks off a two part review of a story in Marvel Two-In-One that deals with the both the super soldier serum and the Cosmic Cube. Originally I had intended this to be a longer series of posts, as the story actually started in Astonishing Tales, featuring Ka-Zar, back in 1973. But after having read those issues, I decided to spare you the pain and just go with the condensed version. Honestly, those Ka-Zar stories are pretty dreadful. All you really need to know from them is that both AIM and SHIELD were working hard to rediscover the super-soldier formula of Dr. Erskine -the formula that turned Steve Rogers into Captain America. A scientist, Victor Conrad, at AIM got ahold of the original formula and used it on himself. He went on to fight Ka-Zar and lost, and presumably died in a great fall into a moat. Got it?

Karen: Present-time: Bashful Benjy tears through a six-inch thick titanium steel door at the new Project Pegasus research center. He's surrounded by men knocks them around like children. Leaping from the other side of the room is none other than Captain America. He orders the men back and lands just in time to block a huge orange fist with his shield. Ben is raging, beyond reason. it turns out he's upset about Wundarr, the alien super-teen with the mind of a child who was once Ben's ward. Project Pegasus has taken him and Ben wants to know why. Cap tries to calm him but it does no good. Finally, the Captain triggers a device that puts Ben into a force field. Unable to do much more than float, Ben finally settles down.

Karen: Cap gives Ben a quick tour of the facility run by "the new Department of Energy" (started by Jimmy Carter, remember?) but all Ben cares about is Wundarr. The two men take an elevator down to a lower level, in the cosmic radiation section where Wundarr is being held. The scientists want to use Wundarr's abilities to see if he can stimulate the Cosmic Cube back into functioning. Just like in the Avengers film, the technos theorize that the cube could be a tremendous energy source. It's interesting to note here that when Ben complains about Wundarr being held captive, Cap says that Wundarr is an illegal alien after all! Where's that Englehart Cap when you need him? But he also assures Ben that the scientists are trying to help improve his intelligence, which has been badly stunted. Wundarr is brought out in a fancy shackle, which he promptly bursts, and goes running off. Ben jumps in to intercede and protect him. The youth sees him and cries out "Unca Benjy!" and runs to the one person he trusts. Ben wraps him in a protective bear hug.

Karen: Ben tells Wundarr that he's going to be OK, he won't let anything happen to him. But he feels badly about taking him back to the lab. Wundarr is strapped into a chair with a big colander over his head and the dormant Cube hangs before him. The helmet gizmo apparently activates Wundarr's power, and the Cube begins to pulsate with power once again. Wundarr begins to get panicky, and Ben, watching from another room, is in agony. Suddenly, one of the scientists throws a switch and Wundarr is bombarded with energy. He screams in pain, and that's enough for Ben. He once again tears a wall down to get to his young friend. Cap immediately suspects sabotage and spots a figure on a catwalk. He jumps up and the scientist there says "Blast! I- of all people -should have known you could reach me up here!" This perplexes Cap enough that he's caught off guard, and the mysterious saboteur backhands him hard, sending him flying. The man jumps down into the cell with Wundarr and grabs the Cube and teleports away.
Karen: Our scene switches to a swamp and a group of red-robed cultists chanting in an unearthly tongue. They seem to be praying around a human skeleton. Suddenly, the man with the Cube appears before them. He tears off a mask (here we go with the masks again! A running theme for comments here at BAB) and reveals himself as Victor Conrad, aka Victorius, the AIM scientist who took the Super Soldier serum. It appears he's become the leader of these 'Entropists'.

Karen: Back at Project Pegasus, things are not looking good for Wundarr. The energy he absorbed from the Cube has rendered him comatose. Ben is crushed and Cap does a sort of poor job consoling him, almost as if he's preparing Ben to lose Wundarr. Since he can't help Wundarr, Ben wants to go after the man who hurt him and took the Cube. Cap points the way to a jet equipped with devices from Stark Industries designed to detect energy signatures. Ben jumps in the cockpit despite the protests of the technicians, and he and Cap are off.

Karen: They trace the Cube to the Florida everglades. Landing the VTOL craft in the swamp, Ben questions whether the equipment is working properly. Who would take an object as powerful as the Cube and go here? Moments later, they get their answer, as they are faced by Victorius and his followers, included a cloaked dark being called the Entropic Man. Victorius declares that he is going to usher in a new order for the universe. Just like everyone else who has ever had the Cube! But as Ben says, "Wotta revoltin' development."

Karen: I enjoyed this story, although it really is mostly set-up for part two. The art is all right, although I think another inker on Sal might have worked better. It sometimes looks rushed. This was our introduction to Project Pegasus, which would have its own saga in MTIO #53-58 . I have to say I think George Perez did a great job in getting the size and scope of the lab across in those issues. But I thought it was interesting how some of the ideas from the Avengers film appear to have originated here. I had not remembered that the Cube had been taken to Project Pegasus after Thanos' defeat. The base at the beginning of the film is shown to be Project Pegasus on a sign briefly seen. I also did not recall the idea that the Cube could be an energy source- I thought that originated in the Captain America and Avengers films alone, but obviously that is not the case. Now if they'd only call the thing the Cosmic Cube, I'd really be happy!