Marvel Two-in-One #76: The Big Top Bandits


Plotter: Tom DeFalco
Scripter: David Michelinie
Penciller: Jerry Bingham
Inker: Chic Stone
Letterer: Michael Higgins
Colorist: George Roussos
Editor: Jim Salicrup

The Guest Star:
      Iceman

The Villain:
      Ringmaster and his Circus of Crime: Princess Python, Clown, Tarrax the Tamer, Fire-Breather, Cannonball, and the Flying Gambonnos.

Guest Shots:
      Giant-Man

The Set Up:
      Ben and Alicia are enjoying a day out at the circus in the company of Bill Foster, who Ben has invited along in the hopes of taking his mind off of his radiation poisoning. Unfortunately, the circus is that of the Ringmaster and his Circus of Crime. The Thing is noticed by the members of the Circus of Crime, but the Ringmaster decides to go forward with his plans anyway.
     Elsewhere, Bobby Drake, aka the Iceman, has picked up his date (Terri Sue Bottoms) and is on his way to the circus as well, though he's running a little late.
     Inside the circus, the Ringmaster's hypnotic wheel has hypnotized everyone, except Alicia Masters, who is blind and can't see it. She panics, and is grabbed by some circus folk. Her screams awaken Ben, who heads to her rescue as the Circus of Crime moves to stop him.
     Outside the tent, Bobby and Terri have arrived late, and are being refused admittance. When they hear Alicia's screams, Bobby sends Terri off to find a phone and call the police and then ices up to join the fight inside as the Iceman...

Clobberin' Time?:
      Clobberin' Time in an narrative balloon? Page 11, panel 4. The Ringmaster turns as some people that the Thing tossed go flying by: "Huh? Wh-what?" And the narrative ballooon answers for us... "What it is, Ringmaster, is Clobberin' Time!"
     Also, sort of, on page 21, panel 12. As a mob of circus roustabouts tackle Ben, he yells "Outta my way ya yahoos! I got me some serious clobberin' ta do!" To which one of the roustabouts answers "'Serious?' You call this casual?"

Petunia's Patch:
      No Petunia.

Things of Interest:
      A serviceable if very generic issue. It reintroduces Bill Foster, who will shortly become a supporting character and plot device as his radiation poisoning is resolved over the following nine issues. However, Iceman is given no development and very little to do- you could have substituted any character from the Marvel Universe into those actions and it would have made very little difference...
     There is a web page out there dedicated specifically to this issue of Marvel Two-in-One. It was the first comic someone bought, and as a result they've paid it the kind of obviously fond attention that I'm paying to the series as a whole. He's also posting his own file of professional MTIO original art. Please check out his web page at: http://www.twoinone76.com.