Marvel Two-in-One #69: Homecoming!


Writer: Mark Gruenwald & Ralph Macchio
Penciller: Ron Wilson
Inkers: Gene Day
Letterer: John Costanza
Colorist: George Roussos
Editor: Jim Salicrup

The Guest Star:
      Guardians of the Galaxy: Vance Astro, Starhawk, Charlie-27, Martinex, Yondu, Nikki

The Villain:
      a mysterious fog

Guest Shots:
      Invisible Girl; Franklin Richards; Mr. Fantastic; Human Torch; Captain America; Vision; Spider-man; Daredevil; Iron Man; Storm; Aquarian; Captain Marvel; Vance Astrovik (later a.k.a Marvel Boy and Justice)

The Set Up:
      Ben is whipping up breakfast for Susan Richards and her son Franklin when Starhawk beams onto their breakfast table. It seems that Vance Astro has gone down to earth with the intent of meeting his younger self, and Starhawk fears that this will create a time disaster. He's come to Ben and the FF for help, and then almost immediately departs to go contact the Avengers.
     Unfortunately, he's a tad late, as we cut to the masked Vance Astro confronting his younger self. As the two walk, talking, a mysterious gray fog begins to creep up around them...
     Meanwhile, Ben and the Fantastic Four have detected a mysterious fog bank coming from upstate, and a mysterious energy source as well. They quickly head up to investigate, and while the others stay outside the creepy dark fog, Ben and Mr. Fantastic head in.
     Inevitably, Vance Astro scares his younger self, who runs off into the fog. Ben and the older Vance Astro come across each other in the fog, and after comparing stories and some physics notes, the two head off together in search of the younger Vance, the source of the fog, or both...

Clobberin' Time?:
      No Clobberin' Time in this issue.

Petunia's Patch:
      Page 1, panel 1. Ben is cooking breakfast for Sue and Franklin. "Well, Suzie, I wanted to try out my Aunt Petunia's recipe for pancakes!"

Things of Interest:
      Vance Astrovik had previously appeared a couple of different times, first in Giant-Sized Defenders 5, later in Defenders 26, and then in Avengers 170 and 173. This is the issue in which his super-human abilities are first activated, and he later goes on to be a supporting character in Ben's solo series, The Thing, in issues 26-32. From there he goes on to be a founding member of the New Warriors, and from there to join the Avengers. Your editor has been a lifetime fan of Vance in his later incarnations due mostly to this very well written and developed issue...
     Ben and the Guardians of the Galaxy had previously met up in MTIO issue 5, in the far future. In the present, Ben had met Starhawk in MTIO issues 61-63. This is the last appearance of the Guardians of the Galaxy in their current trip to this time- they return to the 30th century after this.
     For those completely unfamiliar with the Guardians- in their alternate future, Vance Astrovik grows up to be an astronaut, and travels in suspended animation to Alpha Centauri. During that time, humanity develops faster-than-light travel, and Vance wakes in the 30th century, with all his friends and family from the past now centuries dead and buried, to the realization that his trip was done for no useful reason. When humanity is attacked by the Badoon, he becomes a founding member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. They are in our time in this issue as they had travelled back in time to deal with the threat of Korvac. That accomplished (in Avengers 167-177), they return to the 30th century at the end of this issue.
     Someone else's review of this issue can be found at http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Dimension/5210/com_to69.html.
     Yet another review of this issue can be found at http://www.samruby.com/OtherTitles/FantasticFour/marveltwoinone069.htm.

     --- Original art, from your editor's personal collection, such as it is. I've framed this as a three-part piece with the original art, the original colorists art, and the page as it appeared in the issue. This is the final page in this issue.


     The scan of the original is that provided by the people who sold me the issue- the real piece is not nearly that dark (at some point I'll try to unframe it and scan it myself). The colorist's work, on the other hand, really is that bright! The final published page might look a little odd as some of the color from the printing on the back of it (an ad) has seeped through in the scan. I tried to edit some of it out, but unfortunately you can still tell...
     The really odd thing about the three pages- if you look at the bottom of the colorist's page, you'll see credits for the issue there. These appear on neither the original nor the final printed page. There is a little surface tearing on the bottom of the original, which may be where they were pasted on before later being removed. Credits in that issue ultimately appeared on the first page.