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Marvel Two-In-One #97

Mar 1983
David Michelinie, Ron Wilson

Story Name:

Yesterdaze


Synopsis

Marvel Two-In-One #97 synopsis by T Vernon
Rating: 4 stars
The Fantastic Four (Thing, Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch) with little Franklin Richards and Alicia Masters are at breakfast when Ben receives a surprising offer in the mail. A movie production company offers to pay $10,000 to a children’s hospital if Ben agrees to film a small role in a movie titled MECHAGRUB MEETS GODDANGIT. Ben is elated though Reed is dubious; he looks over the enclosed contract and it seems legitimate. Ben packs for his trip to Hollywood…

…where down-and-out producer Ted Silverberg is meeting with inventor/film buff Professor Frankheimer who shows him his new device, the Holoflex. This machine can look in on any point in space and time and, at the press of a button, create a holographic model of it which can be controlled by the person using the Holoflex, demonstrating with a Gila Monster. Silverberg anticipates making a fortune renting out the machine to other film companies but first he wants to take revenge against the Thing for messing up an earlier production of his. But the machine has overheated and the holographic Gila Monster has become real….

Meanwhile, Tony Stark has been persuaded by his accounting department to invest in a motion picture and as Iron Man, he has flown out to check on the investment. Changing into his civvies on a jungle set, Tony encounters sexy star Bo Drip, who mistakes him for her leading man. Tony then sees Ben Grimm, dressed in a classy white suit that makes him look silly. A brief conversation reveals that the film Ben is in is the one Tony is investing in. While Ben is in makeup he meets the director of the film, Sid Brute, who explains the scene….

Elsewhere, Silverberg is using the Holoflex to create a pterodactyl, triceratops, and a Tyrannosaurus Rex which he sends to the movie set. The first scene has Ben jumping from a roof to land on the Pterodactyl but when he leaps on it, being a hologram, he flies right through and crashes into a billboard. Then he is told to fight the triceratops; he passes through and lands in a noodle restaurant. Silverberg enters, laughing at Ben and Ben wants to clobber him but Tony warns him that he is under contract. Ben gets mad and kicks the T. Rex—which turns out to be solid, the Holoflex having overheated, making the monsters real. Tony changes into Iron Man while Ben grows angry and they battle the dinosaurs through the studio, wrecking other productions and terrorizing the populace. Iron Man uses his freon to freeze the pterodactyl while Ben electrocutes the triceratops. The two heroes discover that a company filming a South Pole adventure are using freon generations to keep the set cold so they lure the three dinosaurs, ice them down and Tony hires helicopters to transport them to their new home in the Savage Land. They discover the Holoflex has been destroyed in the mayhem. Tony suggests to Silverberg that if he hand over the film of Thing looking foolish, Tony will reconsider suing Silverberg for squandering his investment. The two heroes go home and Silverberg is left miserable.


 

Review / Commentaries


Marvel Two-In-One #97 Review by (May 6, 2023)
Comments: Director Ted Silverberg previously appeared in issue #78. Movie star Bo Drip appears to be a parody of then star Bo Derek in a parody of her film TARZAN THE APE MAN (1981). Oddly, the story uses a mix of both real (Burt Reynolds) and phony (Rock Redford) actors’ names. SUMP THING is clearly a parody of both MAN-THING and SWAMP THING; O.S. is a spoof on E.T. THE EXTRATERRESTRIAL; TRAUM is TRON; THE MESS is THE THING (1981). GODDANGIT may be GODZILLA but don’t quote me on that. Tony refers to famously temperamental tennis star John McEnroe. Ben invokes the classic stinker PLAN NINE FROM OUTER SPACE (1959) and boxing champ Larry Holmes. See the classic sci-fi tale “E for Effort” by T.L. Sherred where a device similar to the Holoflex causes even more trouble. Plus, rocket-powered roller skates!

Review: Amusing if a bit obvious parody of the Hollywood movie industry grabs a lot of low-hanging fruit by adding the Ever-Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Thing, one of Marvel’s best comedic characters to the mix. The story is more than a little silly. Stark’s accountants are investing in movies? And a film with a budget of only $30,000? And Tony goes out there personally to check up on his investment? $30,000? Doesn’t he have more than that in his wallet? And what about Tony’s claim that because Ben signed a contract, he can’t object to anything Ted Silverberg does to him, as though your name on a contract allows someone to abuse you? And then there’s the incident of Iron Man using his freon to ice the pterodactyl’s wing—although the entire monster is clearly iced over? And for the hundredth time, Tony flies somewhere as Iron Man, then changes into his Tony outfit and no one ever wonders why they never saw Tony Stark at the airport. And then there’s the whole matter of the Holoflex—is making monster movies really the best use for a device that can examine all of time and space? Sometimes the funniest bits aren’t the ones intended by the writers.



> Marvel Two-In-One comic book info and issue index

Elektra

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Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Ron Wilson
Jon D'Agostino
Glynis Oliver
Ron Wilson (Cover Penciler)
Dave Simons (Cover Inker)
? (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Rick Parker.
Editor: Tom DeFalco. Editor-in-chief: Jim Shooter.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Human Torch
Human Torch

(Johnny Storm)
Invisible Woman
Invisible Woman

(Sue Storm)
Iron Man
Iron Man

(Anthony Stark)
Mr. Fantastic
Mr. Fantastic

(Reed Richards)
Thing
Thing

(Ben Grimm)