Marvel Two-in-One #23: Death on the Bridge to Heaven!
Writer: Bill Mantlo (pg 1-6), Jim Shooter (pg 7-31)
Penciller: Ron Wilson "with an assist from Marie Severin"
Inker: Pablo Marcos
Letterer: John Costanza
Colorist: Hugh Paley
Editor: Archie Goodwin
The Guest Star:
Thor
The Villain:
Seth; the Devourer
Guest Shots:
Human Torch; Thomas Lightner; Horus; Isis; Osiris
The Set Up:
Ben and Thor are fighting against Seth and a small army of skeletons when they're whipped away across space and time to the Golden Paths of the Gods. The fighting pauses, and Seth leads them to where he's torturing his brother Horus, and where he has the rest of the Egyptian pantheon of gods confined powerless.
Thor and Ben try to free Horus, but Seth stops them easily. Prevented by Thor from killing the Thing, Seth summons an enormous (perhaps 100 feet tall?) monster, the Devourer. While Isis and Osiris wonder if Seth has perhaps overreached himself and if the monster will devour all of them, including Seth, the monsters grasps the weakened and chained Horus and rips him loose. Ben and Thor race to the attack to try to save the Egyptian gods...
Clobberin' Time?:
Nope. But a clever battle cry nonetheless on page 22, panel 5. Shortly after Thor yells "For Asgard!", Ben comes back with "Fer Brooklyn, ya creep!"
Petunia's Patch:
Pg 16, panel 2. "Well, nuts to him! My Aunt Petunia always tol' me-- when a big guy picks on ya, get in close an' chop him down ta size!"
The following exchange comes from the letters page...
Bruce Clayton of Baytown, TX: "...and how about letting us hear more about Aunt Petunia again?"
The Bullpen replies: "What's to hear, Bruce? Ben's Aunt Petunia's just like everyone else's aunt. She knits, she drinks tea. Oh, an occasional eccentricity sneaks in- like when she chews her cigar butts, puts a saucepan on her head, dons her combat boots, hefts her baseball bat, and takes off after the Yancy Street Gang. But then, old people are funny that way."
Things of Interest:
This is the second part of a two-part story that began in the previous issue.
Kind of a clever note- Ben spends the whole story referring to the Egyptian god as "Horace."
Horus and the Egyptian pantheon had first appeared in Thor issues 239-241. Though interesting, the Egyptian gods never seem to get much play in the Marvel Universe...
