Thing and She-Hulk: The Long Night #1

May 2002
Todd DeZago, ?

Story Name:

The Long Night


Synopsis

Thing and She-Hulk: The Long Night #1 synopsis by Peter Silvestro
Rating: 4 stars

In a secret Roxxon lab far beneath the streets of New York, Dr. Jonas Harrow is experimenting on the sedated form of Dragon Man, seeking to discover its secrets and create an army of synthezoids….

Ben Grimm, the Thing, is sitting on a subway platform in disguise when two TV news anchors, Brent Scarsdale and Beth Duncan walk by and he hopes they don’t recognize him. Scarsdale hits on Beth and leaves and a gang of punks come by and start harassing Ben, who tries to ignore them; Beth comes to his rescue and they turn their nasty attentions on her. So, Ben comes to her rescue, leaving the punks piled in a heap. After this, he can’t refuse her request for an interview on the train….

On a different platform, Jen “She-Hulk” Walters rushes for a train and drops the pile of legal briefs she is carrying. A trio of boorish construction workers start making lewd remarks about her looks (and color) while a little girl named Danika recognizes her and expresses her admiration. Jen shuts up the guys by stealing their clothes and tying them up and going back to her young fan….

Farther below the surface, a band of Arthopyr, semi-insectoid vampires, led by Lord Bonham, awaken from their long sleep and plot to prey on the human world. They plant explosives in the subway tunnels to trap their prey and detonate them, wrecking the trains Thing and She-Hulk are on and damaging the underground Roxxon lab. Roxxon’s Chief Compton orders her team to evaluate the damages when Dragon Man breaks loose and escapes. Meanwhile, Ben and Jen are holding up the roof while the people evacuate the separate damaged trains. The three construction workers don’t trust Jen and run off on the own, only to be crushed by a collapsing ceiling. Leading their groups to safety, Jen and Ben encounter each other and team up to escape. And then the Dragon Man arrives, sending the people into a panic. But Jen gets the monster to settle down, at least until Roxxon soldiers arrive and shoot it. When Jen and Ben are hit by gunfire, Dragon Man goes into a rage and tears into the Roxxon agents. Elsewhere, other Roxxon soldiers fall prey to the vampires. Deciding that dealing with Dragon Man is the first priority, Ben and Jen bring the ceiling down upon it and Ben suggests that Jen try to charm it into docility, which idea she doesn’t like. Dragon Man recovers and breathes fire on Ben. Jen moves on and is caught by Lord Bonham; he fastens onto her neck while she thrashes him around. Ben sics the monster on the vampire and it smashes Bonham around. And now the tunnels are filling with poison gas from the lab and Jen, fed up with how things are going, has Ben launch her through the ceiling, tearing a hole to the surface. While the heroes help the passengers climb to safety, the Arthopyr come to the aid of their master and swarm over the Dragon Man. Reaching the surface, Thing and She-Hulk are swarmed by the media, interrupted by Dragon Man, flying through the hole, dragging the vampires with it, and the rising sun burns them all to ash. The media chases after Dragon Man, the police arrest Harrow and Compton, and Ben and Jen go out for coffee.


 

Review / Commentaries


Thing and She-Hulk: The Long Night #1 Review by (February 15, 2010)

Additional Material by P. Silvestro:

Review: Enjoyable pairing of two of the most humorous of Marvel’s heroes gallery is a lot of fun. The Arthopyr are pretty interesting villains and it’s surprising that they were never used again. And Dragon Man is adorable as usual, the huge monster puppy dog. Not a lot else to say.  

Comments: This was intended as a story for SENSATIONAL SHE-HULK in the mid-1990s but the title was cancelled; this was completed some time later, explaining the two art teams, and published as a one shot (according to GCD). Bryan Hitch and Paul Neary were the art team for pages 1-25; Ivan Reis and Randy Emberlin for pages 26-39. Dr Jonas Harrow was an occasional Spider-Man villain up until this point; strangely he now becomes a semi-regular bad guy for the New Avengers. This issue is the sole appearance of Chief Compton and all the Roxxon people and also of the Arthopyr and Lord Bonham.



> Thing and She-Hulk: The Long Night comic book info and issue index

Elektra

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Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

?
?
Paul Mounts
Bryan Hitch (Cover Penciler)
Paul Neary (Cover Inker)
? (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Letterer: Randy Gentile.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

She-Hulk
She-Hulk

(Jennifer Walters)
Thing
Thing

(Ben Grimm)

Plus: Roxxon Corporation.