Issue(s): Thing #26
Cover Date: Aug 85
Title: "Runaways"
Credits:
Mike Carlin - Writer
Ron Wilson - Penciler
Joe Sinnott - Inker
Mark Gruenwald - Editor

Review/plot:
The Thing comes across a circus poster depicting a woman that looks suspiciously like Tarianna from the Battleplanet.

The woman is no longer working at the circus, but the Thing does come across Vance Astrovik.

Astrovik has run away from home and does not wish to be returned.

The circus is also a front for the Taskmaster (he seems to like circuses!)...

...but he's not at all interested in fighting the Thing, and even the usual unstoppable threat of carnies is no match for Ben.

Taskmaster is actually captured off-panel by an undercover police agent. Vance winds up tagging along with the Thing as he goes after "Tarianna"; he'll be a regular in this series for about half a year.

After a few issues of wandering (which were fine too) this series is starting to get something like a direction.

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References:

• The Thing learned (or confirmed) that everything on the Secret Wars Battleplanet was a figment of his imagination in Thing #22, which makes the poster of Tarianna suspicious.
  
• The Thing quit the FF in Thing #23.
  
• The Thing met Vance Astrovik in Marvel Two-In-One #69.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

So Taskmaster, the cool villain who has escaped from Spider-man and the Avengers multiple times, has never been captured in fact, is caught off panel by a cop. What!?!

Kveto: In the OHOTHM Deluxe edition, published after Thing 26 but before Captain America 334, the entry for Taskmaster actually suggested that it was a book dressed in Tasky's outfit, not the actual Taskmaster that was captured. But since then, it was apparently decided that the real Taskmaster was caught so he could train John "the new Captain America" Walker.

Sorry, I think my auto-correct turned "mook" into "book".