Project Pegasus, Part 5

Marvel Two-in-One #55 (September 1979) picks up a short time after the previous issue ended, with Ben's arm in a sling (from the wound inflicted by Deathlok's laser). A few days have passed and Ben has managed to put together a poker game. But I'm pretty sure in the entire history of the Marvel Universe, Ben has never been able to sit down at a poker table without some emergency arising.

Writers Ralph Macchio and Mark Gruenwald, along with artist John Byrne, continue to give us fast-paced storytelling after the exposition heavy issue #53. The action picks up right away, with exposition and character backgrounds provided succinctly in just a few panels when necessary. 

The actual story shows us once again that security at Project Pegasus continues to stink, Not-Quite-Former supervillian Dr. Lightner needs to place the Nth Projector after Deathlok failed to do so, so he's released Nuklo (a radioactive "villain" with a child's mentality) to work as a distraction. 

Nuklo starts causing trouble right away when he nearly squashes Ben and Bill Foster while pushing up on an elevator, but Bill's transformation to giant size allows the heroes to stop this.

It seemed that during the 1970s, there was a Federal law that required all African-American superheroes to put "Black" in front of their superhero name. It was definitely overdone, so I enormously enjoy Ben's ensuing dialogue, in which he comments that "Black" seems unneccesary. 

Any, Bill's thing as a superhero is that, in his short career, he hasn't yet gotten a clean win and feels he needs to prove himself. So, with his fists protected by lead sheeting, he goes at Nuklo alone. He doesn't do half-bad and, though Ben has to step in to deliver the final blow, acquits himself honorably.

But that doesn't stop the scientist acting as Nuklo's bodyguard from giving both Bill and Ben a tongue-lashing. It's another effective character moment for Ben, who immediately sees the parallel between Nuklo and Wundarr. In fact, I suspect that is why Macchio and Gruenwald choose Nuklo as the villain for this story. That parallel gives an already entertaining fight scene a strong emotional backbone. 

And it also leads us into a scene with Wundarr, who is still somehow able to blink off nearby power sources and who is being set up for a key role in the next couple of issues.

We also jump back to New York for a few pages to see Thundra still working as a pro wrestler, with her opponent in one match drugging her in order to win. This continues to set up a situation that will bring Thundra into the main story arc in the next issue.

So we'll leave Project Pegasus for now. Next week, we'll jump back to the 6th Century and visit with Prince Valiant.