Marvel Two-in-One #84: "Cry for Beloved Canada!"


Writer: Tom DeFalco
Penciller: Ron Wilson
Inker: Chic Stone
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: George Roussos
Editor: Jim Salicrup

The Guest Star:
      Alpha Flight: Sasquatch, Northstar, Aurora, Vindicator, Shaman

The Villain:
      Ranark the Ravager

Guest Shots:
      Mr. Fantastic; Giant-Man; Invisible Girl

The Set Up:
      In Saskatchewan, Ranark the Ravager flies down and lands in a campsite of two honeymooners. He proceeds to destroy all their equipment, slap around the wife, and drive the husband into screaming fits of pain. Satisfied, he flies off again.
     In Ottawa, the Thing, Sasquatch, Shaman, and Vindicator are discussing the situation over "tea and biscuits." Ben agrees to help out as its the only way to get Walter Langkowski (Sasquatch) to go with him to New York to try to help Giant-Man. James Hudson (Vindicator) summons what he can of Alpha Flight.
     Aurora and Northstar both receive the call from Vindicator, but Northstar wants nothing to do with Alpha Flight. Aurora flies off to help out.
     Ranark, meanwhile, has destroyed three Canadian jet fighters, and has now landed in the middle of Winnipeg. He proceeds to try to destroy the city by means of giant growing vines and earthquakes, but Alpha Flight and the Thing quickly show up and the fight is on...

Clobberin' Time?:
      Page 22, panel 6. After Ranark the Ravager boasts of conjuring the branches that are holding the Thing, Ben smashes free. "Good, I was hopin' you'd say that 'cause... that officially makes it Clobberin' Time!"

Petunia's Patch:
      No Petunia in here today.

Things of Interest:
      This is one of several occasions where the official guest star is an entire team. It happened in issues 5 and 69 (Guardians of the Galaxy); issue 20 and Annual 1 (Liberty Legion); issue 47 (Yancy Street Gang); issue 51 (four members of the Avengers); issue 72 (Inhumans) and issue 75 (Avengers).
     Okay, Ranark travelled from Alberta to Saskatchewan to Manitoba. That makes sense. Ben, Sasquatch, and Shaman, meanwhile, flew all the way to Ottawa and back again to Manitoba. I know this was before the days of cell phones, but couldn't they have found a more efficient way to contact Vindicator than flying across half the continent, sitting down for tea, and then flying back again, all while Ranark is terrorizing campers and destroying the Canadian air force?
     Alpha Flight really is still new to the world in here- the Canadian newscasters report the fight as involving the Thing and "an as-yet unidentified Canadian task force." This is apparently the fight which brought Alpha Flight into the eyes of the Canadian people!
     Snowbird is mentioned as being "off on maneuvers" and thus does not appear in this issue, except as an image on a card.