Avengers Annual #7 & Marvel Two-In-One Annual #2 – Part 2

In Part One we looked at Avengers Annual #7, the first installment the big Thanos/Warlock finale, and now we’re on to the story's conclusion in MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE ANNUAL #2.

We start with another recap (albeit slightly quicker) where we actually learn a few new things, such as:

“Once inside the ark, Mar-Vel managed to destroy a device which would have set out sun nova, but then collapsed from the effort it required.”

Wait just a minute True Believers! Let’s revisit the actual panel from AVENGERS ANNUAL #7:

Methinks Captain Marvel may be getting a wee bit too much credit for his efforts. I sense his agents were on the line complaining about the backseat he took in the Avengers Annual, clearly leading to a little script revision in this issue.

We also find out, all in flashback mind you, that after that initial setback at the end of AA #7, Thanos was able to defeat the Avengers and begin plans anew to destroy the sun. Do I even need to mention that the two pages Starlin used to move the plot forward would be a six issue mini-series today? Didn’t think so.

So now Lord Chaos and Master Order are forced to bring in the reserves: Spider-man and The Thing. Who are Chaos and Order? Well, they’re plot devices that allow Spider-man and Thing to be dragged in to the tale. Just pretend like they were in the last issue.

First we get a nice bit of interaction between Thing and Spidey.

I like Starlin’s handling of this. He shows a humorous touch he doesn’t often expose and he’s got a nice feel for the Spidey-Thing relationship which should very naturally be similar to the relationship between Ben and the  Human Torch.

Ben co-opts one of Reed’s space shuttles (the FF have these things lying around like rent-a-cars) and they fly off into space and find…

Yeah, that.

Thankfully, instead of simply blasting them out of the sky, which would have made for a real short annual, Thanos uses a tractor beam to pull them in. They battle some minions with enough success that Thanos has to unveil the dreaded Stage Zero Environment! As Thanos directs his troops - over what looks like your garden variety stage mike - Thing recognizes his voice and correctly predicts things may take a turn for the worse for he and Spidey. I’m not sure how Thing was able to tell it was Thanos without those thick squiggly lines around Thanos’s dialogue box that were used throughout the Avengers Annual but have disappeared completely here. Thanos is somehow less menacing without that.

Thing and Spidey are brought before Thanos for the industry standard gloat session which leads to another brief and unfruitful battle. Thing gets knocked out -- again -- and Spidey escapes. Now it turns out that Spidey and Thing were mere pawns of Chaos and Order, put into play to distract Thanos while they work on a more permanent solution – resurrecting Adam Warlock. This is actually one of my favorite passages from the story because it reinforces the idea that Spider-Man is more than just a guy who happened to be bitten by a radioactive spider. Destiny and all that…

Spider-Man frees the Avengers, Benjy comes to, big battle scene…

Benjy and Thor square up on Thanos but, unsuprisingly at this point, Benjamin “Glass Jaw” Grimm goes down for the count, as does Thor. It’s Spidey who saves the day by finally destroying the “globe” that contained the Soul Gem and releasing Warlock who then dispatches Thanos and returns to the Soul Gem.

I love that sequence.

It’s a credit to Starlin that this story holds up so well. Thanos is a great villain and his motivation, destroying stars to please Death, gives him a certain evil nobility. I would have thought Starlin would make an effort to have The Thing be the hero of the story rather Spidey – it’s his book after all – but Benjy is a generous guy and I’m sure was happy to share the spotlight. I think there was only three ongoing Spider-Man books at the time so clearly Spidey needed more exposure.

I haven’t read any of Starlin's later work – any feedback as to the quality of the WARLOCK AND INFINITY WATCH series would be appreciated.

Comments

[Shane]

At the time I liked the Infinity Watch. It's got cool Tom Raney art, but I don't know how it is today.

That Avengers Annual is one of my favorite comics.

[The Mutt]

What I loved about this comic was not that Spidey saved the day, but that he freaked out, ran away, got a grip, came back, and saved the day.

I'd never seen a superhero do that before. It blew me away.

[thugie]

Spidey freaking was very memorable to me too. Loved that story. I picked up a nice page of original art from MTU annual #2 off ebay years ago and still 'maarvel' at it.