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.

MARVEL TEAM-UP #65

Readers may recall that I already wrote about this issue and the next a couple years back as part of my very first review series here, on the subject of Captain Britain. But that post was written primarily with attention to Cap’s side of the story and wasn't done “in-depth”, so here's the revised and expanded version (and forgive me if, between this issue and the next, I regurgitate a bit of that old post).

Stan Lee presents: SPIDEY and CAPTAIN BRITAIN!

”INTRODUCING, CAPTAIN BRITAIN”
Author: Chris Claremont | Artist: John Byrne | Inker/Colorist: Dave Hunt
Letterer: Bruce Patterson | Editor: Archie Goodwin

The Plot: Spider-Man swings across Manhattan to Empire State University, where he changes to Peter Parker for a meeting with the Dean of Students. The dean informs Peter that the school wants an exchange student from England to board with him for foreseeable future. Peter is introduced to Brian Braddock, and the pair leaves the dean’s office.

In England, a mysterious American assassin named Arcade is hired to kill Brian. Back in the U.S., later that night, Peter changes to Spider-Man for a night out, but passing police sirens outside awaken Brian, who spots the web-slinger swinging away from Peter’s bedroom. Assuming Spider-Man has harmed or kidnapped Peter, Brian changes to his alter ego of Captain Britain and gives chase.

The costumed heroes have a brief skirmish but in the end make peace. Captain Britain recaps his origin for Spider-Man, then the duo is captured by Arcade.