Marvel Two-In-One No. 10 Is This The Day The World Ends?
What is the Thing's greatest power? If you said 'super strength' that is incorrect. Near invulnerability? Nope. The Thing's greatest power is persistence. He simply will NOT give up.
How about the Black Widow, what's her greatest asset? I mean power. Yah, what's her greatest power? She's an amazing spy. That's right. What's that mean exactly? That means stealth plus smarts.
We're in for a treat in this next story because this next adventure will showcase these two heroes at their best.
It all starts on a perfect afternoon in New York's Central Park which quickly devolves into a car chase and shootout that has both Natasha and Ben conked out and captured and brought to this sea base.
They have been captured by a group called The Sword of Judgement. Apparently a very rich and tech-savvy group to have been able to build the base and this:
Purportedly the world's most powerful atomic bomb. The group plans to place the bomb under the ocean like so:
They will then detonate the bomb and cause a cataclysmic tsunami that will theoretically destroy the world. The Sword of Judgment is a group extremely dissatisfied with the global status quo. In a bit of a hilarious turn, the group reveals no plans of how they will be able to escape the cataclysm they are set to unleash.
Thankfully, our two heroes rush into action as the bomb is placed under the ocean. There is no team-up here. Ben will focus on the bomb while Natasha will have to fight everybody else - keeping them off Ben while the Thing does job one. We'll take a look at both heroes in turn. But first, both will have to escape the prison they've been placed in. As you can see here, it's not a straightforward task.
Ben can't do it so Natasha does the only thing she can - she takes her clothes off. No kidding.
So Natasha has a neat little something under her clothes (not that). And it allows the Thing to bust them out.
Okay. Thing handles the bomb. Black Widow handles the goons. Ladies first . . .
The Black Widow is a spy. Stealth + smarts. First demonstration: evasion.
Setting traps.
Sabotage.
Page after page of Natasha going at it alone and handling everything thrown at her. If you were in doubt about the Black Widow before, this story should make you a believer.
Now to Ben. The Thing is all about persistence. He comes upon the bomb as it is being lowered into the depths. The Thing grabs the cable to stop the descent.
It is not an easy task even through the Thing's rock hard skin the friction is painful but he stays with it. Next, he must manually reel in the bomb with his prodigious strength, meter after arduous meter.
Nothing can erode willpower more than an difficult task that needs countless repetition. As the Black Widow runs interference the Thing fights his own battle.
Bulldog tenacity, that's what the Thing is about.
Ben eventually does it. The story culminates with a showdown with the leader of the Sword of Judgment. The Widow is forced to take the direct approach
Although a formidable hand to hand combatant, the direct approach is not a particular strength of the Black Widow.
She's in dire need of some heavy artillery at this point. And here he comes now.
I'm sure Ben felt really good dishing that out after all the cable pulling.
