MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #35

"ENTER: SKULL THE SLAYER AND EXIT: THE THING!"
Writer/Editor: Marv Wolfman | Guest Artist: Ernie Chan
Letterer: John Costanza | Colorist: Michele Wolfman

The Plot: The Thing is summoned by the Air Force to Cape Canaveral, Florida in order to pilot an experimental plane into the Bermuda Triangle in search of a missing jet carrying a cobalt bomb. As he flies the craft, the Thing is attacked by a pterodactyl and pulled into a temporal warp. He crashes on an island in time to come to the aid of Skull, Ann, Jeff, and Doctor Corey, who are about to be executed by the Jaguar Priest.

The Thing, Skull, and company fight off the Jaguar Priest's minons and then escape into the jungle. They fight off a pterodactyl and then head to the Thing's crashed ship, but find it cannot be repaired. At Jeff's suggestion, the group heads out to find the Army plane that brought Skull and company to the island, in hopes of using some its parts to fix the jet. But on the way, they're attacked by a tyrannosaurus rex. The group escapes by jumping into a river -- but when they emerge from the water, they find themselves surrounded by a herd of brontosauruses.

Continuity Notes: The "missing plane carrying a cobalt bomb" thing was apparently a multi-title plotline! The Thing recalls that the Air Force thought it had been found in Chicago in POWER MAN #45, but that was a false alarm. Later when he crashes on the prehistoric island, the Thing compares it with an "other Earth" he visited in FANTASTIC FOUR #161. One panel later, a quick recap of Skull's situation references SKULL THE SLAYER #8. Leter in the issue, a footnote appears to SKULL #1 when Corey and Jeff discuss Skull's status as a wanted man.

Speaking of SKULL #8, it seems Captain Cochran was unceremoniously killed off since that issue ended. The revelation comes with a footnote from Marv Wolfman which seems to essentially say, "I didn't create that character and I have literally zero interest in writing him." It's kind of funny, though also a bit callous toward Bill Mantlo's storyline.

Also, while it appears that artist Ernie Chan received reference for what Skull's friends all looked like in their final issue, I'm not sure colorist Michele Wolfman got the memo. She sat out the series' final few issues, wherein the group all changed. But here, while drawn in the outfits they were wearing when SKULL ended, Wolfman colors them as if they're wearing their original outfits from before she left the series.

(Marv) Wolfman also seems to have disregarded Skull and Corey making peace with one another in Mantlo's issues, returning them to the hostile sniping they fired back and forth during the early issues of SKULL.

Doctor Corey says the he's been hanging out with Skull for two years, which... really makes no sense. It's definitely been two years in real world time since the first issue of SKULL THE SLAYER, but the events of that series' full eight issues elapsed over no more than a few days! So unless Skull and friends have been languishing in the Jaguar Priest's dungeon for two years -- which doesn't seem to fit with the way they're talking when we first encounter them -- then Wolfman is flat-out wrong with that bit of dialogue.

Is it Clobberin' Time? Jeez, I haven't had cause to use this category in about six years, and when I finally bring it back, the answer is -- no! (Though the Thing does make mention of "a couple a' heads [getting] clobbered.") Hopefully next issue...

My Thoughts: Ahh, the time-honored tradition of finishing off the threads of a cancelled series in another ongoing title! This is something comic creators have done for many years, though I feel like it was more prevalent in the seventies. Probably because a lot of the writers who had their series cancelled where also editors who therefore didn't need to fight anyone over porting their pet projects into their other titles. I seem to recall Wolfman doing something similar with his NOVA series -- when that was cancelled (after a much more respectable twenty-five issue run), he wrapped it up in FANTASTIC FOUR.

On one hand, I like this as something that is pretty much unique to comic books. You never (or very, very rarely) see TV shows wrap up threads from cancelled series. And I can't really think of any other medium where it's even a possibility! But it happens -- or at least used to happen -- often in comics. But on the other hand, I also look at the practice with a bit bemusement. It takes a certain degree of ego on the part of the writer to do it. They're essentially telling readers, "Hey, remember this cancelled series? Or more likely you don't, because you weren't reading it and that's why it was cancelled. But anyway, here's more of that thing that couldn't survive on its own, now tied to your favorite non-cancelled characters for a few issues!"

Nonetheless, while I don't know how readers in 1977 reacted to the sight of a year-gone ex-headliner popping up to hang out with the Thint for acouple issues, I'm happy here in 2022 to see Skull's saga given a proper resolution, even if it means Wolfman is going to swoop in and discard several bits and pieces of plot and character development he didn't like in order to do it.