Marvel Two-In-One #52Issue(s): Marvel Two-In-One #52 Review/plot: The goons use a paralyzing ray on the Thing. Luckily Moon Knight is also on the scene to help. The Thing doesn't think it's so lucky, though. He's apparently sick of all these new super-heroes showing up. So he refuses to tell Moon Knight the address that the old man gave him. But Moon Knight just switches to his Jake Lockley cabbie identity and makes sure he's the one that picks up the Thing and takes him to the address. At the location, the Thing and Moon Knight fight through more goons, but then meet the mastermind, who knocks them out with gas. Moon Knight recognizes the villain, who is calling himself Crossfire. Crossfire has a unique motive. He wants to kill all super-heroes. It's not necessarily a sane motive, but it's unique, and it should mean that he doesn't wind up getting stuck in any one hero's rogues gallery. Although early on, at least, he really does become a Hawkeye-exclusive foe. For now, though, his plan is to lure the rest of the Fantastic Four and mind-control them into fighting the Avengers. The Thing says that Reed Richards has "treated" him against mind-control and claims it won't work, but Moon Knight recognizes Crossfire as William Cross, a CIA "brain-washer" that, as Mark Spector, he studied under. The Thing is initially told that if he tries to break out of his chains, they'll kill Moon Knight. But eventually Moon Knight escapes of his own accord, and they manage to locate the room that Crossfire is in. Crossfire uses a sonic attack to render the heroes helpless, but since Moon Knight studied under Crossfire, he's able to resist it. But Crossfire does manage to escape. This issue is Steven Grant's first work at Marvel (by publication date, not by the order of the books listed in this project) and some readers thought the name was a pseudonym since Steven Grant is one of Moon Knight's aliases. Also, the real name of Crossfire, William Cross, was the name of a college roomate of Grant's; he's got a letter in issue #59 jokingly complaining about the use of his name here. Quality Rating: C Chronological Placement Considerations: Placing this in the same gap in the Fantastic Four as Marvel Two-In-One #51-58. Moon Knight was appearing in Hulk Magazine at this time but this can fit in any gap. References:
Crossover: N/A Continuity Insert? N My Reprint: N/A Inbound References (1): showCharacters Appearing: Crossfire, Frenchie, Moon Knight, Thing CommentsFNORD - we should have a drinking game where you take a shot every time someone compares a current experience to a previous one. Just using your site alone, we would all be drunk in a couple of hours. Why was this such a common occurrence? Posted by: clyde | February 26, 2015 3:16 PM This reminds me of those times in Marvel Team-Up annual #3 and Uncanny X-Men #150 when you made similar points. ;-) Actually, i don't think this is a bad thing, depending on how it's done. I didn't include the scan here, but the panel has the Thing basically saying, "Pfff! Mind-control?! People have tried to mind control me twice already this week! It ain't gonna work, loser!" At its best, the references remind us that these are characters in a continuing story that remember their past history. That's nice just for adding some depth to the characters. But it can also show that a character is growing and acting differently to similar situations. Or at least just acknowledge that, yes, this scenario isn't super-fresh but we know it and it's how we react to it that's different. They can get gratuitous, especially when it's of the variety of "Hey, this car is red just like the cape of the main character in Other Book I Am Writing #3". And i'd prefer they only be used for things that were really relevant. But on balance i'd rather they erred on the side of including more than less. Posted by: fnord12 | February 26, 2015 4:14 PM I though this one was good for a first time issue written over a weekend. I liked the way Moon Knight tried to engage in banter but the Thing was having none of it. "By the way, they call me the Moon Knight." No they don't. you call yourself the moon knight. Posted by: kveto | February 27, 2015 4:58 PM Comments are now closed. |
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